are wild animals merciful in killing their prey?

Question

for example: a lion killing a zebra. will it kill the zebra before it starts to rip it apart or does it just go ahead and start eating while it is still alive?

Answer 1

lions and wolves usually cause serious bleeding injuries, their prey is left to loose its blood and dies slowly.
lionesses hunting zebras are reffered to bite the zebra into its nose and mouth to prevent it from breathing.
hyenas do uqite the same, serious injuries and wait.
when hunting a large prey it is the best way for them, they do not risk getting hurt.
orcas often play with prey seals, still living.
live is tough.
cats are playing with mice, too.

Answer 2

Mercy is purely a human concept... it doesnt exist in the natural world where the law of the wild is "Eat or be eaten, Kill or be killed" in the words of Jack London. Lions especially have no modicum of mercy, and big cats are some of the most merciless killers in nature... Have you not seen how lions kill Buffalo? Its hard work, the buffalo are almost too big and strong for the lions to take down, and it takes at least an hour to suffocate the prey once they have pinned it... the hide of the buffalo is so thick and their bodies so strong that a lion cannot deliver the fatal spinal bite it uses on smaller prey, so a whole pride of lionesses latch on to a buffalo, hold it down and one bites it on the nose and holds it there slowly suffocating the beast while the others, commence devouring the still living buffalo. No there is no mercy.. male lions even kill the cubs of rival males without mercy, one troop of Chimpanzees recently studied have been found to be merciless cannibals and actually hunt, kill and eat other Chimps of neighbouring tribes to expand their own territory. Now humans may feel mercy but we are just as cruel in our killing as all the other predatory animals on the planet... maybe worse because we often torture our prey first, chickens stuffed in tiny cages, battered, kicked, abused and tormented before they are killed none to mercifully, still living cows strung up by the heels and get their throat slit.. no killing to eat is not merciful, ever. The only killing that is merciful is that which is done to relieve suffering only, as in the case of euthanising a dog that is injured or sick beyond all hope of health and happiness again. Or the wolf pack who takes down the crippled deer that is injured beyond recovery... that is the only mercy killing that exists in nature and it is not purposely done with mercy in mind, it is done to feed the hungry.

Answer 3

Animals have no concept of "mercy". If you watch enough wildlife shows you will see that most prey animals are not completely dead before the predators start eating them. For example, you will see a group of lions begin eating the hindquarters of a zebra while one lion is still choking it to death.

Answer 4

It doesn't matter--predators feel no remorse about doing what they have to do to survive. Yes, the cats will either sufficate their prey or snap its neck before eating it, but that could be a prevention measure, to keep the prey from injuring the predator as the feeding starts. But look at hyenas or wild dogs--they kill their prey by eating it alive.

Answer 5

Nature is "red with tooth and claw" (Tennyson). It is not filled with cute and cuddly pets. Actually, the house cat is a very efficient killing machine, when it is raised in the wild.

Animals which are able to get their food efficiently have a survival advantage. The only aspect of this that is 'merciful' is that the prey likely dies quickly. Except for a few primates, including humans, animals' behavior is wired into their brain, so moral terms like mercy are not really appropriate. They just do what they are 'wired' to do.

Answer 6

Humans are the only animal that feel and know the term merciful. Even a dog or a bird or a worm for that matter does not known the meaning of merciful.

Answer 7

No, mercy, when it exists, is strictly a human attribute. The biology is such, though, that the prey often go into a deep shock and do not suffer as much as you would expect. Still, it can't be very pleasant.

Answer 8

They are useful to other species in taking away first the wounded and sick animals. Like police officiers do with criminals in order to preserve peace in societies.

It's a fact that cats happen to kill more individuals than they can eat, but remember that mice, lemmings and the like also reproduce more than we can give them to eat. Btw I'd rather see a cat kill a rat, than thousands of rats spread plague in the streets.

Other predators like the snake and the wolves seem to handle their preys with care: snake smoothly hugs or poisons its victim, while many wolves can feed on one prey and leave the rest of the tribe in peace.

Answer 9

Wild animals have evolved to specialise in what they need to do to survive... in the case of big cats, many of them have realised the best way to render prospective dinner lifeless is by asphyxiation (which leads to a quick and relatively painless death) this could be considered merciful.

But my little cat enjoys catching mice, putting it in the middle of my garden and allowing it to try and escape for hours on end!

Answer 10

Sin has "quickly" replaced God's creations into imperfections. Sin is in charge. extra rather, our "possibilities" to sin, from the 1st guy to the main recent, has corrupted the equipment of nature. seem at how acceptable nature works all on that is very own and be conscious how something guy-made, with out the process God, corrupts nature. that is precisely how despicable some human beings would nicely be because of the fact we proceed "our" approaches understanding the impacts we've on nature. the forged information is that we are able to alter and people who do no longer desire to alter will have not have been given the different selection. thank you be to God and Jesus Christ.