re: Toddler, 3, is snatched and eaten by leopard at safari park in Uganda

None of you people arguing about what the leopard will or won't do now that it has killed a child know what the frick you're talking about.

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So...when these big cats in zoos, or even LSU's own Mike the Tiger, "play" with kids outside their exhibit by following them around, watching them intently, or jumping at them when they sit at the glass, it's just a learned behavior to hunt small animals and not innate predatory behavior?

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There is a difference between (A) generally attempting to eat a small animal that happens to be there and (B) successfully, and very easily, killing and eating a particular type of small animal in a particular environment.

If LSU actually let Mike eat the little kids he "attacked", he'd probably try to eat every one that he saw. Instead, when he tries he is blocked by glass, so he doesn't try that often. The attempts to eat little animals reflect innate predatory behavior, but not trying to eat every small animal is learned behavior (as in, learning how tiger-proof glass works).

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well that nanny should be let go from her current employ

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Her job was gobbled up by the economy, or something.

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leopard

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I wish I had been there. If I can destroy a bobcat, I'm sure I could have at least saved the kid.

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In your opinion, now that this leopard has learned it can hunt, kill, and eat a small human, what would this animal do if it came across another child and saw the opportunity?

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Probably the same thing any other leopard would do if it happened upon a small child (irrespective of prior human interaction). Predators naturally target the sick, weak and young.

Often times these animals will be hunted due to a concern that they’ve developed a “taste” for human flesh. I don’t particularly buy into that idea. I think they develop a taste for what’s easy and available. So I don’t think this says much about the leopard’s future interest in human prey, unless said prey is made readily available.

The leopard went leopard

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Probably the same thing any other leopard would do if it happened upon a small child (irrespective of prior human interaction). Predators naturally target the sick, weak and young.

Often times these animals will be hunted due to a concern that they’ve developed a “taste” for human flesh. I don’t particularly buy into that idea. I think they develop a taste for what’s easy and available. So I don’t think this says much about the leopard’s future interest in human prey, unless said prey is made readily available.

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dumbasses will downvote you

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How so? This leopard obviously sees humans as potential prey and has learned that the small ones are easy targets. It’s just doing what all predators do, namely go after easy prey. It’s in their nature to learn. Now that’s it’s successfully hunted a human, odds are it will do it again.

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I understand this argument and why people make it but the underlying reasoning is pretty flimsy. There’s a lot of circular logic going on.

The leopard didn’t need prior experience with human prey to target this child in the first place. It targeted the child for very obvious reasons. It’s not going to abandon its other hunting strategies to pick off children unless there are a bunch of children walking around with little to no supervision. In which case, any leopard (not just this one) will be waiting for an easy shot at prey, just as this one was before it supposedly learned how easy it was to prey on easy prey.

Also keep in mind that humans (especially children) aren’t a great source of nutrition for these animals. Relative to their size when compared to other animals, humans carry little in the way of muscle (protein).

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Probably the same thing any other leopard would do if it happened upon a small child (irrespective of prior human interaction). Predators naturally target the sick, weak and young.

Often times these animals will be hunted due to a concern that they’ve developed a “taste” for human flesh. I don’t particularly buy into that idea. I think they develop a taste for what’s easy and available. So I don’t think this says much about the leopard’s future interest in human prey, unless said prey is made readily available.

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Exactly. It’s not that the leopard has acquired a “taste” for human flesh. It’s that the leopard learned that small humans are easy prey. If it comes across another small human, the leopard will see it as an opportunity to eat.

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If it comes across another small human, the leopard will see it as an opportunity to eat.

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It didn’t need prior experience with human prey to do it in the first place though. Any leopard can spot easy prey. Should we kill all leopards?