r/Naturewasmetal • u/aquilasr • 2d ago
A confrontation between a huge cave bear and two cave lions at Barova Cave (by Petr Modlitb)
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u/Personal-Fix-2713 2d ago
I still wonder how they were able to kill it, I'm guessing cave bears had a thick layer of fat and a muscular neck, not easy to bring down with the ol' grab and suffocate method.
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u/aquilasr 2d ago
Yeah mature male cave bears were linearly about the size of mature male Kodiak bears but were denser boned and more massive by around 20-30% over those bears IIRC, compared to a male cave lion which weighed around 255 kg on average, at around twice the size a mature cave bear is definitely not going to be in the range of animals the lions can typically bring down.
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u/Personal-Fix-2713 2d ago
Sure, but so many fossils and experts say cave bears were a substantial part of their diet.
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u/Weary_Increase 2d ago
Most of those were likely cubs and smaller females, this isn’t too surprising as modern Tigers also target cubs and smaller females when hunting Brown Bears
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u/aquilasr 2d ago edited 1d ago
Agreed, almost all potential big cat-bear relationships today play out this way, although adult males of smaller species than brown bears are in the prey spectrum of tigers even in those species they greatly prefer smaller, easier targets of bears of less than 5 years old. Another key aspect of a big cat being able to kill a bear is to come upon it in an ambush, a head-on confrontation is very risky and almost always avoided by the big cats. Especially a big mature male of a species of species as large as brown bears or cave bears is going to potentially give a big cat or even two a very rough time.
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u/TerribleLizard2355 2d ago
I mean I doubt that the Lions first choice was a large healthy male. Also correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Cave Bears vary in size greatly throughout their range?
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u/Noman9410 1d ago
Cave bear is guarding a choke point and is drawn to be WAY bigger/stronger/more well defended than the lions. I don’t think they have a chance here.