Do lions eat camels?
Yes, in India, Gir Forest Asiatic lions eat camels albeit relatively rarely. One point four percent (1.4%) of kills by Asiatic lions in that habitat were camels according to Table 56 OCCURENCE OF WILD AND DOMESTIC PREY ITEMS IN THE DIETS OF GIR FOREST LIONS (PERCENTAGE OF KILLS) at page 302 of the book Wild Cats Of The World ISBN 0-226-77999-8 (cloth). The sample size was 142. For the sake of completeness the other lion prey items listed as percentage of kills for this region were:
- Chittal (Axis axis) 43 percent
- Sambar (Cervus unicolor) 14.8 percent
- Other wild animals 7 percent
- Domestic cattle 21.1 percent
- Domestic buffalo 12.7 percent
- [Camel 1.4 percent]
Lions eat a very wide range of prey items from eggs to elepants. They are adaptable and flexible. I guess they have to be to survive. There is a photo by Richard Rhee on Flickr of a female lion hunting a herd of camels in Amboseli National Park, Kenya (see below). Camels are not native to Kenya but a Masai herder had brought them into the park. The picture is clean evidence that lions eat camels.
Lion hunts camels in Kenya. Photo: Richard Rhee on Flickr
Lions are very optimistic in their abilities to take very large prey animals many times their size such as giraffes at 750 kilograms.
SOME MORE ON LION PREY:
Do lions eat elephants?
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Do lions eat fish?
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Which big cats eat fish?
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Do Lions Eat Birds?
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How come lions don’t eat hyenas after killing them?
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Hunting success rate of lions
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Lioness attacks and kills a stork in the Maasai Mara, Kenya
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