Research overview: prey-handling time and consumption rates in big cats

A survey of how big cats process and consume their kills, and why handling time matters for kill-rate estimation and competition. Larger carcasses take longer to consume and force predators to remain at risk of kleptoparasitism, shaping decisions about feeding speed, caching and abandonment. This overview synthesizes data on how much biomass cats extract from carcasses, the influence of competitors and scavengers on residence time, and how consumption rate links to the functional response through Holling's handling-time term. It covers differences among species, from lions feeding communally to leopards hoisting kills into trees, and how interrupted feeding inflates apparent kill rates. Accurate handling and consumption estimates are essential for converting raw kill counts into meaningful predation pressure on prey populations.