This is a question I ask myself a lot.
You know its very ironic when a game gives you the option to be very abstract and colorful that most people tend to make realistic characters, environments and vice versa. We have a majority of Feralheart that like realistic coloring, or at least semi realistic and roleplay 'realistically' (I'll get to that in a moment) but then there are other games, such as wolfquest, where many players desire this sort of creativity and usually have to describe there character with a paragraph or two just so there others understand since they cant see the character.
An about the roleplay. You have to remember that not everyone on feralheart are exactly.... how should i put this nicely... mature and intellectually inclined in the realistic field they claim to be rping.
Newsflash people: Books such as warrior cats, guardians of gahoole, wolves of the beyond are NOT what realistic roleplay really would be! It's called fiction for a reason.
The animals can not communicate through words and simply use gestures and facial expressions. Like Suga said, lions would be sleeping most of the time and wolves would never be alone unless they were asking for death. And a lone wolf CERTAINLY can not take a grown elk. Its just not realistic.
Honestly, if you can follow the life of an animal exactly, then kudos. I can't do such a thing because it personally bores me to. Then again, I am more of a human, fantasy creature roleplayer myself.
Really, this all just seems like a section of people who yell. "OMG. Illiterate! You cant join us because you're not like us!" It really annoys me because this community really does have some unique characters and to see people demeaning such creativity is a real shame. In the end, we all roleplay and make these characters because these alter egos give us a break from the harshness of reality. If someone wants to be a wolf/lion/bird/bear/human/alien/custom species, then let them and give them a chance! Who knows, you might end up loving their character!