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Just a question about cannibals
Yeah that got your attention! haha, anyway I been watching a few dinosaur documentaries and I know its all computer animated but when a carnivore dies hunting for dinner, no other creature from that species seems to think "hey food."
So, moving to more modern times, I was wondering if, for example, A lion is walking around and getting hungry and see's a dead lion, is it going to eat it or will it continue on its path and get some zebra? lol
Just one of those thoughts that will bother me as it seems logical but I've never seen/heard of it being done!
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I've heard of cannibalism in wild animals but I think its usually for their own reasons.
Male lions will kill the offspring of another male lion, in an attempt to get the female (the mother of the offspring) to mate with him, so HIS genes continue.
I believe some wild cats will eat their young (at a very young age) if they feel threatened in some way.
Possibly, if a carnivore was that hungry, it would eat whatever it found not to die of starvation.
Hope this helps, best wishes X.
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You know, I once watched a documentary. It was about cannibalism in wild animals! I've been trying to find the same documentary to watch again but can never find it!
It was showing how various animals actually eat their own species. Lions and such were a feature.
But was was more suprising, were animals like mice and rats. I remember a mother mouse in a burrow. There was a larger animal shoving its paw into the hole to try and get the mother mouse and her newly born young. She obviously knew that she wouldn't make it, and so ate her own offspring as if "I certainly will not let *you* kill them".
Another shock was with apes. A male ape had just killed a baby. He then took the body so he could eat it. He virtually mauled it, and a huge number of other apes ran towards him, going crazy, screaming, as they wanted the meat. I specifically remember one female ape offering sex (by shoving her *parts* in his face and rubbing them) in return of the brain, which (apparently) was the best tasting part.
This show was an hour long, and so was filled with video footage of animal cannibalism. The most shocking were the herbivorous animals!
So yes. Not only is it a matter of convenience i.e. eating your species when you seem to be low on food, but it is also a choice for some animals.
Good question :)
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Actually, to use your example, lions do tend to chow down on their own dead.
Most carnivores will eat their dead in at least some cases. Many carnivores and omnivores will eat their own young - for example - still born babies or weak runts often become food for the adults around them, even healthy offspring can get eaten.
A lot of the larger carnivores out there are NOT scavengers though, so they tend to shy away from long-dead bodies. They know to protect themselves against bugs and spoiled food their bodies can't handle that way.
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