Carnivorous Mammals

Leopards belong to the largest member of the cat family in Sri Lanka. A list of features that proves it belongs to the cat family are: Long whiskers, Long retractable claws, Sharp canines, Strong jaws, Long limbs, Long tail makes it a top carnivore in the cat family. They can be seen in Wilpattu and Udawalawa, Galoya, Wasgamuwa with the highest concentration at Yala. As Leopards are solitary hunters, they have developed sharp binocular vission and high intelligance to maintain their survival rates. As they are ambush predators, they relly primarily on night fall to hunt successfully. Their diets include deer, saambar, rabbit and small rodents.

Some features of a Carnivorous Mammal.

Lions are the only cats that live in groups, which are called prides. Prides are family units that may include up to three males, a dozen or so females, and their young.

As Lions are social hunters, they rely mostly on the females to hunt for prey. Male lions hunt during dusk as its much easier for the heavier male to ambush prey.

As Jaguars look very similar to the leopards they can be easily confused, however two striking differences should be noted:- Jaguar spots are more circular with markings within the circular spots while Leopard spots appear as random paw marks. Jaguars are also more heavily built than leopards and have less ability to climb trees. As they are native to S. America, their diet consists of Peccaries, Capybaras and other rodents.

Jaguar predatory skills are similar to Leopards as they also use ambush strategies to hunt for prey.

The presence of elongated canine teeth suggests that its a carnivorous mammal. Forward pointing eye sockets are a good indicator that this mammal is an active hunter.

Jaguar teeth are bulkier as they need to drag the prey away from the hunting sites towards a more safer area where its able to eat.

The Striped Hyena is an omnivorous mammal that lives in Africa, Middle East, Pakistan and western India. Striped Hyenas are primarily scavengers, but have known to hunt smaller prey. They are also know to eat fruits and berries when plentiful.

Unlike its larger cousin the spotted Hyaena who's a pack hunter, Striped Hyaena's are mostly nomadic, moving from water hole to water hole. Striped hyenas hunt in solitude but do congregate in small family groups like spotted Hyaenas. Like many other animals of hot climates, their ears radiate heat.

The skull shape of the River Otter appears more streamlines than other carnivores. This physiological adaptation enables the otter to navigate through the water with minimum resistance. A high nose opening also enables the otter to breath while keeping a majority of its body below water.

The small Asian Mongoose is widespread among Asian countries (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal) that have tolerable climatic condition. As its habitat is diverse, it has flourished throughout the world with little help from mankind. They are also capable of living among dense human populations while finding scrublands and dry forest more habitable.

These mongooses mostly eat insects but are opportunistic feeders and will eat crabs, frogs, spiders, scorpions, snakes, and birds. Mongoose are mostly solitary hunters, however males occasionally form social groups and share burrows. One interesting aspect of the mongoose is the ability for it to tolerate snake bite venom to a certain degree.