The concept of cannibalism comes from the word “canniba”. This is exactly what in ancient times they called those tribes who ate the bodies of enemies killed in battles. However, it did not have to be a killed enemy. Quite often they ate the corpses of their fellow tribesmen. Depending on this, cannibalism was divided into two types - passive and active.
Cannibalism, as a phenomenon, is inherent not only to humans, but also to animals. To a greater extent, it manifests itself in them when there is a shortage of classical food, and goes to a minimum when it is abundant. This phenomenon also occurs if the number of offspring born goes beyond acceptable limits. With the help of cannibalism, for example, rodents regulate the number of babies born. Birds begin to engage in cannibalism when there is a shortage of food. They simply eat their chicks. If, for example, the number of the same seagulls exceeds the permissible limit, then they begin to engage in cannibalism. Not only chicks are destroyed, but also eggs. So it turns out that in animals and birds, cannibalism is a natural reaction to an acute shortage of food and overpopulation of the habitat.
Cannibalism also exists in insects. The same black widow, after mating, eats the male. The female praying mantis does the same. The reason for this behavior here is somewhat different, and lies in the lack of protein, which plays an important role in the process of bearing future offspring.
The larvae of the well-known ladybug are also real cannibals. Their appetite is excellent. They eat everything they find, including their newly born brothers. The tadpoles of the spadefoot frog also left not far from them. However, in frogs the phenomenon of cannibalism occurs quite often. Larger individuals can eat smaller ones. As a rule, those who suffer are aliens who accidentally wander into foreign territory.
In the primate animals closest to humans, the phenomenon of cannibalism is also observed. For example, a hamadryas can devour its relatives. As a rule, this happens during a fight. The stronger one kills and eats the weaker one.
Cannibalism, as a phenomenon, is characteristic even of the cubs of some animal species. For example, in hyena puppies it is genetically determined. From birth they begin to fight. The stronger one kills the weaker one and eats him. The baby shark, which was born first, does the same. He attacks his newly born brothers and devours them. Wolves, tigers, and lions suffer from cannibalism. Lions, for example, tend to kill lion cubs belonging to someone else's pride. At the same time, they do not touch their offspring.
This behavior, as we have already found out, can be caused by various reasons: overpopulation, food shortage, the presence of danger, struggle for territory, etc. In any case, its meaning is the struggle for survival and maintaining the population at the required level.
After the first lambing, the family's favorite, kind and affectionate cat Marusya ate almost all of her kittens. This terrible story was told to SK by Kaliningrad resident Snezhana Rumyantseva.
“This happened right after Marusya gave birth: first she licked and sniffed all the kittens, and then...” shares Snezhana. “I was horrified when, some time later, I found only three of the eight kittens in the box where I had placed my mother cat.
What is the reason for this behavior and how to reduce the risk of cannibalism to a minimum, says Anastasia Farafontova, a veterinarian at one of the Kaliningrad veterinary clinics.
Nervous breakdown and natural selection
- “She ate newborns! Unprecedented cruelty! As a rule, such emotions arise in inexperienced animal owners, says the specialist. – For some, what happened makes them angry at their pet, and sometimes they even want to get rid of it. But we must understand that cannibalism occurs among cats and hamsters, and sometimes it also occurs among dogs. But it is impossible to evaluate the actions of an animal from a human point of view.
Cannibalism has its reasons. Among domestic cats, such cases are quite rare, but in wildlife this is the norm. Cats strive to help their offspring when there are many hungry mouths and little food, the mother selects the strongest and leaves them so that they have enough food, she eats the rest - less strong and healthy. This is how natural selection occurs. The cause of cannibalism in domestic cats can be a nervous breakdown (stress) when the room where newborns are located is noisy and crowded. It is recommended to place the cat and kittens in a secluded place. But, as a rule, domestic cats also eat only sick and weak kittens. The cat conducts a “diagnosis” of her offspring and decides which and how many kittens she can feed for sure. And so that diseases and defects are not passed on to future offspring by inheritance at the genetic level.
Do not disturb or handle the cubs
A hamster can eat stillborn, non-viable, defective cubs and the weakest ones with a large litter if she feels that she is not able to feed everyone. This is necessary so that possible infections that may appear in weaker hamsters do not spread to healthy ones. In addition, cannibalism can occur when there is a lack of nutrients in the diet and fluid; at a moment of “danger”, for example, when you disturb the female too often (you shouldn’t look into the house every minute and a half and arrange a viewing for all relatives, acquaintances and friends) or if the hamster is too young. In all these cases, the animal simply feels that it will not be able to feed the offspring, and seeks to replenish the nutrients lost in the body during the process of bearing the young. Nature is very economical! Most often, all these problems are fixable. There are, of course, pathologically bloodthirsty females who eat their offspring at every birth. Such animals should simply be excluded from breeding. But with them, most likely, it’s not a matter of bloodthirstiness, but the fact that the cubs are simply born with some kind of genetic defects.
“To prevent the female from eating the offspring, hamsters must be kept separately,” says Anastasia Farafontova. – The living conditions and diet must be at the same level, a pregnant female a few days before giving birth and a nursing female should not be disturbed, the cage must be removed to a quiet, shaded place where the female will feel safe.
In dogs, inexperienced women in labor most often eat their offspring; they are too nervous. And if something continues to frighten the dog, it may react inappropriately by eating its young. For example, this can happen when the place where the mother is in labor with the puppies is not far enough away from prying eyes, where she is constantly disturbed. Cannibalism can also be the result of excessive maternal instinct. For example, a dog eats the placenta and umbilical cord, but gets carried away and starts eating the puppy too. Also, this behavior is most often seen in breeds bred specifically for dog fighting.
“And lastly, neither cats, nor dogs, nor rodents ever keep a male with a female and newborns together,” the doctor sums up.
Cannibalism is the eating of animals of their own species. For more than 140 species of living beings, it is a characteristic manifestation.
Child killer lions
They stand out among predators due to their tendency to eat their own kind. There are known facts of not only killing, but also devouring lion cubs by adult males. The reason for cannibalism in lions is not hunger or excess quantity members of a population, such as in rodents. A sad fate befalls only the children of the rival lion. The leader's offspring remain intact. In overwhelming numbers, these cases are still infanticide and not cannibalism, since lions devour killed lion cubs extremely rarely.
Lions are one of those who do not disdain cannibalism.
If the old leader is replaced by a new one, the heirs of the first are mercilessly destroyed. Also, infanticide in a pride is caused by prolonged gestation, subsequent care and upbringing of babies. During this period of time, the lioness does not allow the male to approach her, depriving him of the opportunity to mate.
Infanticide among primates
Killing offspring is not exclusively a feature of the lion kingdom. Representatives of primates, hamadryas, after attacking a foreign tribe with different-sex individuals, first of all kill all the males and babies in it, in order to then mate with the captured females. But like lions, in most cases everything ends only in the killing of potential rivals.
Frilled baboons can also kill their own children, but according to scientists, only in cases where the male suspects that the baby born is not his. According to Darwin's theory, this aggressive behavior is a way to control the size of the flock.
Eating their own kind is common among some birds, as well as vertebrate and invertebrate predators, as they view members of their own species as potential prey.
Soldier bug: Cannibalism is common for these insects. The origin of the name “cannibalism” arose in the pre-Columbian era; the inhabitants of the Bahamas gave the name “caniba” to tribes of cannibals from the island of Haiti. The tradition of these tribes was to eat the bodies of their killed or captured enemies.
There are two types of cannibalism - passive and active. Active cannibals eat those they killed themselves. Passive cannibals are satisfied with the corpses of their own species.
Cannibalism largely depends on the habitat; if it is favorable, then devouring one’s own fellow tribesmen comes to naught. And vice versa, it flares up when there is an increasing danger to existence.
Many rodents become bloodthirsty killers and satisfy their hunger with their own offspring in cases of unacceptable increase in the size of their family. Lack of food and a sharply increased population provoke cannibalism among birds, which are capable of killing and eating not only their own but also other people’s chicks. First of all, this applies to the crow family. In flocks of skuas and gulls, the number of which has exceeded the permissible limit, eating the chicks and eggs of neighboring birds also flourishes. Consequently, cannibalism, in some cases, is a reaction of animals to a clear shortage of food and habitat.
Animals confined in an unsuitable small space are also capable of cannibalism. A case was recorded when a bandicoot of a smaller species killed and completely ate a bandicoot of a larger species in the same cage overnight. Although, however, these animals in their natural environment can eat their fellow tribesman when under stress. And some predators simply do not distinguish between their own and others
Crickets can also be cannibals. Cannibalism is a specific form of nutrition, which contains a specific program for the destruction of representatives of one’s own species.
The female praying mantis begins to devour the male during the mating process, since her body during the gestation period requires a huge amount of protein for the development of future offspring.
The larvae are pronounced cannibals in essence. And in tadpoles, the incredibly prolific spadefoot frog, this instinct is genetic.
Frilled baboon, also known as the hamadryas. Cannibalism also occurs among representatives of this species of primates. Cannibalism and aggressive, competitive behavior are inherent even in the cubs of various predatory representatives. For example, hyena pups compete with each other from birth, killing their siblings in a brutal struggle for survival. The baby shark, the first to hatch in the womb, kills and eats its younger brothers and sisters. Tigers and wolves are also prone to cannibalism.
Does cannibalism occur in animals? and got the best answer
Reply from User deleted[guru]
Cannibalism (from French cannibale, Spanish canibal) - in biology - eating by animals (cannibals) of individuals of their own species. It is usually observed when the population is overcrowded, there is a lack of food, water, etc. (for example, female wolves and lynxes can eat their offspring, flour beetles can eat their eggs).
Cannibal squirrels, devouring other squirrels, save nuts and trees, thereby maintaining the balance of vegetation and the squirrel population.
Ecologists associate the cannibalism of polar bears with global warming, as a result of which the area of ice from under which bears get their food has noticeably decreased.
Constant cannibalism is also known, which arose in the process of evolution (female karakurts and mantises eating the males that fertilized them).
Sexual cannibalism is a feature of the sexual behavior of some insects (mantises, some types of flies and mosquitoes) and many spiders, which consists in the fact that the female eats her partner during the mating process or after its completion.
One meaning of this behavior is obvious: the female accumulates strength to raise offspring, in which the deceased male is also interested. Some researchers also see this as the selection of the best males to produce offspring.
Females of all species that are characterized by sexual cannibalism are much larger than males (see sexual dimorphism). A widespread theory is that they simply do not select males from the multitude of animals that serve as their prey (that is, they eat them as if “by mistake”).
For a male, the benefit is less obvious, since the specificity of the male sex is the ability to fertilize several females. There is quite a lot of evidence that males try to minimize the risk of being eaten. For example, males of some species of flies slip insects they have killed to females, using the time for mating when the female is distracted by eating the “substitute.” The situation is complicated by the fact that the male can be eaten before he fertilizes the female, and accordingly serve as a resource for someone else's offspring. Slipping a “substitute” prey to the female often does not save the male from death, but allows him to perform sexual intercourse.
The minnow fish is a real cannibal: adult fish devour their offspring, or at least try to do so. “They try” - because nature prevents these heartless parents from destroying their family. When an adult fish attacks a young fish and barely scratches its skin, the latter secretes some substance that causes horror in the aggressor. He immediately retreats. A similar odorous substance was found in another genus of the same group of fish - the famous goldfish.
link
Source: h ttp://aqua-room.com/2008/03/06/golyan-i-shhuryata-kannibalizm/
Answer from Denis Denis[active]
I think so
Answer from Running on the waves of life....[guru]
Often
Answer from Klim.[guru]
Of course, especially in winter, when there is nothing to eat...
Answer from Oliya Antonova[active]
Yes.
Answer from Tatyana Dyachkova[guru]
Cannibalism is widespread in nature - predatory animals happily feast on their relatives, brothers, sisters, and children.
If we remove the already not very deep cultural layer from a person, we get the same wild animal with the habits of a predator.
Primitive tribes living in the jungle today South America and the islands of Oceania, the deserts of Africa and Australia, devoid of the morality of a civilized society, with their primitive cults, see no reason to refuse easily accessible animal protein during times of famine.
As a rule, no animal eats members of its own species unless there is another food source, otherwise cannibalism would lead to the death of the entire species.
Hunger is the only reason that explains, so to speak, “normal” cannibalism. The instinct of self-preservation, one of the main ones, is aimed at preserving the life of an individual at any cost. Cannibalism during famine is the voice of dying flesh. This is a way to stay alive, cruel, but in its own way logical and rational.
When the European traveler first met the Indians living on Tierra del Fuego and became acquainted with their life and customs, he learned about the cannibalism accepted in the tribe. A traveler asked one Indian why, during times of famine, old women are the first to be eaten, and not dogs, the only domestic animals known to the tribe. The Indian looked at the white man as if he were an idiot and replied: “Dogs catch otters, but old women don’t.”
In the civilized world there are outbreaks of famine worse than those primitive people, despite the developed Agriculture, trade, communications. All the positive achievements of civilization are balanced by money invented for some reason, world wars and politics.
Suffice it to recall the famine in Ukraine in the early thirties and the besieged Leningrad. Numerous cases of cannibalism due to hunger have been recorded - from simply eating the corpses of deceased neighbors and relatives, to episodes of murder. These people, who have sunk to the level of animals, cannot be blamed - their body simply wanted to survive.
The strong eat the weak, the useful useless. Man to man soup. This was the case before God and religion appeared in people’s lives. belief afterworld forced to bury the dead rather than eat them. This is the beginning of civilization.
Man rose above his animal nature, but at the same time fell even lower. Cannibalism outside of hunger is a product of the human mind. An animal is not capable of eating another similar animal by magical ritual or due to sexual problems, only a person can do this.
Cannibalism (from French cannibale, Spanish canibal) - in biology - eating by animals (cannibals) of individuals of their own species. It is usually observed when the population is overcrowded, there is a lack of food, water, etc. (for example, female wolves and lynxes can eat their offspring, flour beetles can eat their eggs). Constant cannibalism is also known, which arose in the process of evolution (female karakurts and mantises eating the males that fertilized them).
In biology, the concepts of “cannibal” and “cannibal” are not identical. A cannibal is an animal that eats animals of its own species, while a cannibal is any predator that eats a person.
Answer from S-e-r-g-i-n-i-o[guru]
A female praying mantis eats her boyfriend after lovemaking.
Answer from Brush[guru]
of course... in hamsters for example. they eat each other for nothing (
Answer from WerWolf_Wlad[guru]
Certainly!
Rats, hyenas, many fish. Spiders (females eat males).
So this is not a personal human invention %-((
Answer from Veronica Morozova[guru]
often, for example in polar bears. males kill cubs. they even eat the dead
Answer from Alexander Davydov[newbie]
of course yes
Answer from Postal[guru]
Yes, I saw a friend’s dog gnawing on the corpse of another dog O_o! And they said that dogs don’t eat their own!!!
Answer from Alex[guru]
There are even entire taxocenes built on the fact that large individuals feed on small individuals of their own species. These are perch and pike lakes. The small ones feed on plankton, and the large ones feed on small fish. In broods of large birds of prey, the younger chicks usually serve as food for the older ones on hungry days.
Many people are simply obsessed with cute animals, and can spend hours on the Internet looking at adorable cats and dogs. Looking at all this cuteness, people forget that these animals are actually predators, or at least omnivores. Sometimes these cutest animals do not at all cute things, for example, they eat their children or their own kind. 10 charming cannibals whose abilities you had no idea about are waiting for you next.
Cats
Unexpected isn't it? Cats may eat some of their own young offspring. 12.5% of kitten deaths are caused by cats.
Dogs
Sometimes a dog may not recognize its own puppies, as a result of which it can kill them and even eat them
ladybugs
If you see that ladybug If she is left without a wing and cannot fly, then it is better for you to kill her, otherwise one of her God’s sisters will act unchristianly towards her.
Hermit crabs
These are fun beach buddies, unless you're another hermit crab. During molting, their shell becomes very soft, so during this period the chance of being eaten by other hermit crabs increases sharply.
Hamsters
It turns out that hamsters' cheeks are not just for grain. 75% of mother hamsters eat part of their litter, and 95.5% of hamster deaths occur due to cannibalism
Tadpoles
Before going through metamorphosis and turning into frogs, tadpoles fight and eat each other. Whoever survives has a serious chance of growing into a big and strong frog.
prairie dogs
Like all rodents, prairie dogs are very prolific. Therefore, during storms, their underground tunnels are overcrowded, causing a shortage of food in the shelter. Prairie dogs have figured out a way to solve both of these problems in one fell swoop - they eat each other.
Caterpillars
The nutrients some caterpillars need to turn into butterflies are found only in other caterpillars, so they are forced to eat their own kind. This is the price of beauty.
Jerzy
When mother hedgehogs feel threatened, they may “bravely” eat their offspring to prevent predators from getting them.
Ducks
When teenagers are bored, they form a music group or go to sports clubs. What do ducks do? Ducks eat each other!
