Just got a tricky question from a journalist. Is there any data out there on which body parts / organs different mammalian carnivores eat first? She had heard that most predators start with the internal organs. I sthere any data on this?
For bears - on sheep they often start with opening the internal and eat liver, heart, lungs etc. They also start with the udder,
For Lynx - they often start With teh larger meat parties.
For Wolf: I think (on sheep) they often sterated With the breast bone - opened the chest and often eat the breastbone before taking intestines etc. later the often parted up the animal and carrioed smaller or larger part away for storing.
For Wolverine: I cannot say for sure - they often store and hide the body (if small) and part it up and carry parts away. We have writen a lot about this - but mainly in Norwegian and popular articles
I observed a female cougar (~ 2 years old) start eating at the head and neck area. She actually entered through the top of the skull, exposing the brain, then moved to the neck area.
A very good reference manual is Wade, D.A.;Bowns, J.E. 1989 Procedures for Evaluating Predation on Livestock and Wildlife. The Texas A&M University System. Bulletin-1429. There they cover distinguishing kills by species and also from scavenging for cougars, dogs, foxes, coyotes, bobcats and bears. There are some general patterns by species but also individual variation. One example, for the cougar they wrote, "Cougars generally begin feeding on the viscera (liver, heart, lungs, etc.) through the abdomen or thorax but like most other carnivores, individuals differ. Some begin feeding on the neck or shoulder while others prefer hindquarters."
In my experience working with tigers, they will even eat the gastrointestinal tract (although they manage to squeeze the gastrointestinal contents out). Tigers usually start on the rump, before they open the abdominal cavity. I am sending you a paper attached with our findings on this matter.
I am doing my Master Thesis on the diet of captive iberian lynx (Breeding Center in Silves, Portugal) and most animals kill the prey (rabbit) by it's neck and then start eating by the head. As Maria Fàbregas told you, I saw my self these lynxes doing what she describe. It's impressive.