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10 points for the Lionel Ritchie reference!

I have done another sweep of the interwebs with no luck. I am stumped, Mafunyane.

haha thanks lettuce

Okay I will give the first part of the question..

So the problem it creates is that the big pieces of meat start to rot in their stomachs faster than they can digest it this can cause some lethal problems, what is their solution..

You need to be more than up into the interweb

you need to be up in the books 2..

i'll try to remember to check my reference books this evening

i wonder if the answer involves flatulence

oops - forgot about this. please give me one more day. i have set a reminder on my phone. i am determined to get this one.

still can't find anything

i give up

A carnivore's stomach secretes powerful digestive enzymes with about 10 times the amount of hydrochloric acid than a human or herbivore. The pH in the stomach of a lion is less than or equal to 1 with food in the stomach. For humans or other herbivores, the pH ranges from 4 to 5 with food in the stomach. Hence, man must prepare his meats with laborious cooking or frying methods. E. Coli bacteria, salmonella, campylobacter, trichina worms (parasites) or other pathogens would not survive in the stomach of a lion.

A lions large intestine is relatively short and simple. This passage is also relatively smooth and runs fairly straight so that fatty wastes high in cholesterol can easily slide out before they start to putrefy.

Animal flesh, composed of the most highly complex type of protein that exists, requires vast amounts of uric acid to process. Uric acid is released into the system in amounts necessary to break proteins down into amino acids. Uric acid is a toxic substance responsible for the aging process and must be flushed out and dealt with. That is one of the jobs of the liver. In relative terms, a lion's liver is a tool designed with the capacity to eliminate ten times as much uric acid as the liver of man. Therefore the digestive process in lions has adapted, allowing them to cope with the huge amount of meat they consume.

To everybody I am so sorry for disappearing for a while..

I am currently working in Sierra Leone for a contract and as you can imagine internet is not BIG in some areas. As to the answer, Siobain is correct in his answer--Well done, it was a tough one.

As for those wanting to know what the natural areas in Sierra Leone. The bush is absolutely breath taking, very think forests. I have seen some amazing birds including: Great blue Turaco, African pied hornbill, Blue spotted wood dove, stone partridge, Palm nut vuluture and many more.

Unfortunately not allot of mammals as EVERYTHING gets eaten. I have spotted some "green monkeys" but at the first sight of man they disappear without making a sound. I saw a Civet but it was strapped to the back of a bakkie for that days dinner. There has been people selling baby primates of different kinds, where they have slaughtered the mothers for food.. Other than that there are many many snakes, by far the most I have seen in a short period of time.

All the best Mafunyane

Thanks Mafunyane, enjoy your stay in Sierra Leone!

I'm choosing 2 predators here, the lion and leopard.
Do you think it possible that either of these cats, would mate with more than one female at a time? Singularly of course., but during the same 5 days or so, keep both females with him. Hope I'm explaining this correctly.

The lion living in a social structure, the leopard solitary, but still sharing his territory with more than one female.

I think lions does that, not so sure about leopards though.

Lions will mate with more than one female in the pride



Leopards I must say I don't know..............and can't find any thing now................

I have how ever seen a program about Tigers where the male will mate with all the females in his territory, but never more than one female with him at one stage.

Might be that leopards behaving very much the same as tigers that the male will mate with more than one female in say 2 weeks time, but never the"happy family" situation????

I once watched a documentary about leopards in the Okavango. Part of it was a fight between two females, one was the territory holder and the other had followed the male leopard into the territory. So its possible a male leopard will mate with 2 females but 2 females will not tolerate each other in the same territory without a fight.