Can a Vulture Eat a Lion

In this article we’re going to talk about if a vulture can eat a lion

Do vultures actually eat lions?

In short – No they don’t

You see vultures will never eat a live rabbit let alone a lion!

They are scavengers and will only eat dead animals and rotten carcass

Vultures are actually harmless birds

I actually talk about this in my article – Are vultures dangerous?

They don’t hunt for animals, rather they eat carrion as their main diet

Here’s what you’re going to discover in this article

  • What animal would eat a lion?
  • What animals do vultures eat?
  • Do vultures eat lion corpses?

Lots to cover and some really interesting topics

Sound good?

Let’s get started!

So we know vultures don’t eat live animals especially a lion!

I mean they are the king of the jungle!

I am more than 100% sure they wouldn’t even go near a lion let alone eat a lion

So a question you may ask is..

What Animal Would Eat a Lion?

Good question

Lions being king of the jungle, it makes you think what animal would hunt a lion and eat it

Do lions have predators?

The answer to this is no they don’t have any predators

They are top of the food chain!

Animals get eaten by lions and not the other way round

So does that mean no animal would eat a lion?

Well not really

No animal would dare to hunt a lion to eat it

But Hyenas are a different story

They wouldn’t eat or hunt a full grown lion

No chance!

But the old sick lions are sometimes attacked, killed and eaten by hyenas

And the very young lions can get eaten by hyenas, leopards and other predators

This can only happen when they are not carefully looked after by their mothers

In reality, a fully grown lion has nothing to worry about being hunted or eaten by any other animal

So what do vultures eat if they don’t eat lions?

Let’s find out

What Animals Do Vultures Eat?

Well vultures would pretty much eat any animal

But it has to be dead!

They are carnivores so their diet is mainly meat

You see, vultures are scavengers so they would only eat animals that are pretty much dead

They make sure it is dead completely so they would wait a couple of days to make sure it’s not alive at all!

You could say they are opportunists

Why

Because they would never hunt or kill an animal

But they would hunt and attack very sick animals or animals that are pretty much taking their last breath

They have excellent sense to smell dead animals which they could locate from miles away

Question is – Why don’t a vulture eat a live animal?

I mean why won’t they hunt and kill instead of scavenging around for dead carcass

There are plenty of reasons why

Let’s briefly look at why they don’t hunt and kill

  • They lack hunting essentials
  • Specialists in scavenging
  • No hunting motivation

They don’t have the features of a predator that can hunt

What do I mean by this

For example

They have chicken like feet which they only use for walking and sometime hopping

Vultures don’t have the stealth and swiftness like a hawk or an owl

They have large heavy wings and are bulky

So swift and stealth is not their main strength

Vultures don’t have the hunting instincts as other raptors have

Their beak strength is not strong enough to kill a prey

Yes, they can tear away bite sized meat chunks when they are eating dead carcass

But they wouldn’t use to to kill a prey

You can check out my article Do vultures eat live animals where I go into more detail so deffo worth a read!

Do Vultures Eat Lion Corpse?

Yes, vultures would eat a lion corpse

As long as it’s dead a vulture would eat

They wouldn’t dare to hunt or kill a lion

Vultures would eat any dead animal and a lion is no different

Wrapping Up

A vulture can eat a lion

But only if it’s dead

There would never hunt or kill a lion

No chance at all!

Vultures are scavengers and will only eat dead animals

Sometimes they would kill and hunt very sick small animals or animals that are pretty much nearly dead

But they would much prefer dead carcass as vultures are scavengers

Here’s some related articles about vultures that you may find interesting

Why do vultures circle?

Do vultures attack humans? 

Do vultures attack dogs?

Why do vultures spread their wings?

Do vultures eat dead vultures?

 

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