One of the more disturbing things I've observed about lion predation is that they will eat their prey while it is still alive, they don't always bother killing it first. There's videos of predations on other animals youtube, I wouldn't recommend watching them if you are squeamish.
A lot of predators will do this because they want to get those calories in their bellies fast, before some other creatures come and chase them off. They'll often eat certain organs first because of their high nutrient content. If the prey is dead or alive doesn't matter so long as it can't injure them or run off.
If that’s disturbing, see African wild dogs and hyenas.
That said, I think the majority of prey is killed before consumed (say >65%). Big cats are used to suffocating or biting necks. It’s rather clean, compared to other animals even bears. There is an unlucky percentage, but the general rule is probably killing the prey first. The examples that I mentioned is because dogs and hyenas aren’t powerful enough to kill big prey like big cats. The hunt seems very brutal, but the duration of suffering might be limited: the whole prey is fully consumed within minutes. The prey is exhausted initially, hyenas then tear it apart from areas around intestine or below that. Massive shock and bleeding.
There's a myth floating around among certain "crunchy hippie" types that predation in nature is relatively humane and usually results in a quick kill. That myth could be dispelled easily by watching just about any wildlife video of course. Life survives because of its tremendous capacity to endure suffering beyond imagination. Life goes on in spite of nature. "Mother nature" is cruel and uncaring. Our survival is all but guaranteed, but our ability to avoid horror and misery hangs in a tenuous balance that we had best strive to preserve.
Watching a video doesn't tell you what's going on internally. Here's how Dr. Livingstone describes being attacked by a lion:
"Growling horribly close to my ear, he shook me as a terrier dog does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a mouse after the first shake of the cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess, in which there was no sense of pain nor feeling of terror, though quite conscious of all that was happening."
I'm not guaranteeing you'll have similar results in every attack by a predator, but just because soemthing looks horrifying doesn't necessarily mean it'll be experienced as such
Yes, if you're lucky you'll pass out or go into shock or dissociate. But you might not get lucky.
I also wasn't focused only on predators. Actually being shaken around and ripped apart by a lion is probably not the worst way to go. You could die of a skin infection being attacked by maggots, or thirst, or drowning, or be picked at by scavengers while you are in the process of dying from something else. There are lots of ways to suffer on your way out.
Moreover, there are lots of ways to suffer tremendously and not die for a very long time, remaining fully conscious and aware of your suffering the whole time.
That is his memory of the event, something very different than the actual event. Being eaten by a predator is, evolutionarily, the most horrible thing that can happen.
Yes, of course, a report of an event is a different thing from the event itself, but do you have more reason to suspect this report than an average one? It seems the difference between pain and a surprising lack of pain would be a salient feature of an experience, which we would normally take to be well-remembered.
And I don't know why you bring in what is bad "evolutionarily". I was talking about how an animal undergoing the experience would feel it. Evolution is an explanation for why we see the diversity that we do in living things, but it doesn't confer an evaluation about what is better or worse. Evolution is fine with you being eaten by a predator, as long as, on the average, you've done enough reproducing first.
Groups can be defined both by people's intrinsic properties that they can't change (e.g. sex, race, age, sexuality, heritage) and their beliefs which they can definitely change (opinions, philosophy, religion).
Different big cats typically kill in different ways. Tigers bite the neck/throat, Jaguars bite through skull. Lions are more pack hunters and overpower/tire their prey, then I guess start eating it as soon as it is down.
When the prey is dangerous and could cause them injuries, like a buffalo or a giraffe, the lions will first suffocate it to death, which may take 10 minutes or more, but as soon as the prey is no longer a threat, they will start eating it, dead or alive.
For their biggest preys, like adult buffaloes or giraffes, lions are not powerful enough to break their necks or spines, their only killing method is suffocation.
Breaking the spines is a method much more typical for bears, e.g. when killing cattle.
On the other hand, hyenas and wild dogs kill big prey by evisceration, which is gruesome, but actually faster than suffocation.
I have been a member of /r/natureismetal and I can tell you without a doubt that most prey are eaten alive. Even baboons and chimps eat their prey alive.
> The HPP seafood meat extraction process involves pressure levels around 3,000 – 4,200 bar (44.1 – 60.3 kpsi) and holding times between 45 – 90 s. Shucking with seawater (4 – 25 °C) improves flavor as high pressure infuses salt into the lobster meat. HPP shucking should occur with live lobsters
What I've read over the years is that when a submarine implodes from external pressure, the implosion happens SO fast that the human occupants are never aware of it. [0]
That sounds to me like the one time I was ever under general anesthesia: One instant I was chatting with the medical staff as they were putting me under, the next instant I opened my eyes and saw my wife standing over me in the recovery room.
