Animal cannibals

[Roma_Victrix]

I read long ago about how chimpanzees would sometimes commit cannibalism, but I was unaware lions did as well:



However, this isn't so much cannibalism for the sake of staving hunger and gaining a food source. Killing off the cubs in this way is what male lions will do to provoke the head male lion of another pride into a fight. If the other male lion is too old or weak, or loses the fight, then the new male lion will simply kill all his cubs and mate with the females of his pride, producing his own cubs to replace them. That's some alpha male right there.

[RubiconDecision]

Animal cannibalism will likely happened based upon overcrowding. It can be seen in livestock under those circumstances of enormous stress in a commercial poultry operation. Even common pets will cannibalize their dead offspring, or sometimes kill the runts in a litter.

If you watch a special on it, you might never eat chicken again unless it is free-range.

Zoos are highly unnatural habitats for the most part, as few people would pay money to see but a single lion family in an exhibit. Animal behaviour changes based upon human encroachment to their habitat. That family called a pride usually has a huge range and consists of 2-3 males and the rest females and offspring (it can add up to 15 animals in total). Add more males and you have issues of competition. Since they're predators and you've removed that element from their routine behaviour, well anything is possible under stress.

[Ciciro]

I know of an animal cannibal far worse than the lion.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

ITS

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

ITS

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

THE LEMUR

[Roma_Victrix]

I know of an animal cannibal far worse than the lion.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

ITS

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

ITS

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

THE LEMUR

The horror! The horror!

@RubiconDecision: excellent points, although I'd rather just eat chicken and not have to think about it. I love being a mindless consumer.

[RubiconDecision]

Chickens produced on small scale farms or free range chicken are a far cry from huge poultry operations. Try free range chicken sometime, as the extra muscle tissue built up by that kind of livestock operation produces a very fine bird. It is excellent in any dish, from stir-fry to fried to roasted.

I see no problem with hunting if well managed. I love to eat duck and goose. But when you hunt, one seldom catches them if responsible in your practices.

If more people actually had to hunt, raise, and butcher an animal, there would be a lot more vegetarians. Even this needs to be balanced based upon having diversity in meals, particularly for young people and for men due to plant estrogens in things like soy.

Current practices in some livestock operations are extremely cruel. Look up standard veal operations with crating versus other practices by small scale operations.

Cannibalism happens to animal species under stress. It's a product of Malthusian factors. Note that chimpanzees will eat meat, not necessarily from intraspecies acquisition, but outside as well, but rarely. Jane Goodall notced it long long ago, but she was discounted as well as her research. Some species of monkeys in Costa Rica ended up being isolated by estuaries in mangrove swamps, and so altered their diet to eat crab since their typical diet was altered. They adapted to cope. Others of the same species might not ever eat crab.

[Roma_Victrix]

Current practices in some livestock operations are extremely cruel. Look up standard veal operations with crating versus other practices by small scale operations.

Yes, yes, I'm well aware of it, I was just being sarcastic. One of the first introductions to this for me was about ten years ago when driving along the highway and watching a long truck go by that had about a hundred tiny cages, each filled with a fattened chicken that couldn't move, because of both their overweight bodies and the fact they had no space to do so. It was pretty revolting to look at, honestly.

And yes, Phier, cannibalism is certainly a trait among humans. Liberia is not a fun place to be, right now.

[Magister Militum Flavius Aetius]

My dad had a demonic hellspawn of a cat named Angel (ironically) that would eat all it's kittens except one.

[weirdoascensor]

I once saw my own cat did this, and made a thread about it here in TWC Athenaeum
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...ic-Infanticide

Out of Topic, Free Range Chickens are great. Tastes better - compared to Broilers whose bred industrially, those do have more meat. Free Range are harder and have less meat since they actually used the muscles to move around; however their meat have much better texture.

[Phier]

Cannibalism is a very human trait.

While the above is modern, and wide spread, cannibalism, we have evidence around the world for historic cannibalism. In Europe its evidence has been found as well and one reason there seemed to be a lot of immunity to mad cow disease when it came out was that our cannibalism in the past selected for it. Cannibalism is the best way to spread prion diseases.

[hellheaven1987]

Cannibalism is the best way to spread prion diseases.

And other diseases.

I remember reading somewhere that cannibalism is generally avoid in animal world largely because the risk of contracting those diseases.

[Quintus Dias]

Deleted.

[Phier]

That's some alpha male right there.

Based on the much higher death rate for children with step fathers, its not just lions.

[hellheaven1987]

Based on the much higher death rate for children with step fathers, its not just lions.

Unless it is step daughter...

[Roma_Victrix]

Unless it is step daughter...

Well, it didn't take long for this thread to go there.

[hellheaven1987]

Well, it didn't take long for this thread to go there.

Well, I speak from biological view anyway, since I am biology major.

[Kyriakos]

There is that whole Praying Mantis creature too

[Logios]

I had calamari made from Humboldt Squid yesterday. I think it was chopped, mixed with batter and made into uniform-sized "fake" rings. Did not have the rubbery feel in the middle, but did taste squiddy, and it said Humboldt Squid (but not how much or little of it) on the package.
Humboldt squid grow to about human size in two years if they survive that long, and I guess only the greediest, most agressive ones do. To grow that fast they need to eat a lot, and cannibalism seems an obvious strategy here - To become the biggest sea monster, eat the other sea monsters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humboldt_squid

[Roma_Victrix]

El Diablo Rojo (The Red Devil)...now that's a badass squid! 40 kg? Damn. It's pretty scary looking too, I have to say.

[Kyriakos]

Indeed.

Those deep-sea beings with tentacles tend to look horrible. As does their patron-deity in sunken R'Lyeh.

[Roma_Victrix]

R'Lyeh.

LOL. What an obscure fun reference; good ole H.P. Lovecraft.