Did the Predator think Cantrell was not a threat

Question

In the movie Predator 2 (1990) there is a scene where detectives Cantrell and Lambert take the subway train. The Predator is on the roof of the train & scans train with his infra-red vision and sees who has guns

The Predator attacks & kills them all including detective Lambert.

When Cantrell is captured by the Predator outside the train the scan of her body reveals that she's pregnant.

At this time Cantrell has her gun but the Predator doesn't kill her.

Why didn't the Predator kill detective Cantrell even though she had a gun in her hand?

Answer 1

As you say...

Because she was pregnant

Certainly the Predator WAS going to kill here, she was armed and a threat. The creature has her in mid-air by the throat, obviously with the intention of killing her.

The issue here is that the baby is not a threat...so killing Cantrell would also kill the baby and we can safely assume that the Predators have some form of code/honor about who or what they kill.

So the Predator simply disarms her....we don't see what actually happens.

An alternative might be, and I'm not a hunter myself, but I understand that it's the accepted norm not to kill mother animals when they have young. It maintains the supply of future prey...

Answer 2

That last bit's not right: a hunter doesn't care about the young. I totally agree with your top part, but—sorry if it's wrong—if you listen to the paramedic, she's in deep shock.

Now, I understand that when a certain predator sneaks up on its prey, it can grab you so quickly that your heart can stop for a few seconds (maybe a couple of minutes). This gives time for this predator to check its source of food. 9 times out of 10, it won't eat it if pregnant, so to my understanding, the predator has been watching life on this planet for so long, that it's picked up all sorts of tricks.