[ad_1]
Cannibalism is considered taboo all over the world, and the act becomes even more terrifying when babies are added to the equation. This is why it can be surprising to realize how many animals are eating young members of their species. These cases of offspring cannibalism can be found in mammals, birds and spiders – and scientists have long puzzled over why and how this could develop as a survival mechanism. In fact, up to one in three mammalian species are known to commit infanticide.
The point is that the circumstances that lead to this behavior can be different and are often unambiguously influenced by environmental conditions. Here are 7 examples of animals eating their young offspring, as well as the context we have about why this cannibalism arose.
# 7: Polar Bear – Cannibalism Due to Climate Change
Much has been written about how climate change is destroying the Arctic environment and pushing polar bears and other species into increasingly desperate acts of survival, but National Geographic photographers were still shocked when they captured footage of an adult polar bear killing and devouring more. a young bear. And while this behavior is believed to be caused by more than just climate change, there are fears that it is becoming more common as a result of the dramatic decline in the habitat of these giant beasts.
These animals are more likely to eat their young in the spring and summer as seal and ice floe populations to hunt become less available. Cannibalism usually manifests itself in the form of larger, more aggressive male bears targeting smaller females and vulnerable cubs. This is not always the case, as the mother of the polar bear at the Nuremberg Zoo ate her starving cubs after the zoos tried to minimize human contact with them during their formative years.
# 6: Sand Tiger Shark – Cannibalism Before Birth
Sibling competition is common in the animal kingdom, but few animals start out as early or as violently as the sand tiger shark. This is because mothers eat their young while they are still in the womb. More precisely, the embryos of potential offspring vie for survival. Females of this species usually become pregnant from several different males at the same time, and they lay many eggs, but only have two queens. This creates a situation where several descendants will devour each other until there are only two left.
This appears to serve multiple purposes in the evolution of the species. Casual mating habits mean that adult males do not fight so fiercely for reproductive rights, but the process of cannibalism in the mother’s body provides a smaller gene pool, favoring the strongest. The nutrients obtained from this process also make the born sand tiger sharks stronger and more capable.
# 5: Chicken – Cannibalism for Calcium
Chickens are not considered the smartest birds on the planet, so it’s only natural that their acts of infanticide and cannibalism aren’t always deliberate. In many cases, the eggs of domestic hens are simply broken by an overcrowded chicken coop, and then the hen accidentally eats them without realizing what it is. Unfortunately, this can cause the chicken to taste the eggs and even share them with others.
But for the most part, these animals eat their young when they suffer from calcium deficiency. Ironically, a lack of calcium also leads to more fragile eggshells, exacerbating the problem, which can upset poultry farmers. In fact, many use baits that will change the chicken’s habits. Many chickens cannot tell the difference between an egg and a golf ball and would be discouraged from continuing to chew on their own eggs as soon as they see how difficult it is. Others use specially designed pacifiers to discourage their bird.
# 4: prairie dogs – cannibalism of nieces and nephews
Not all prairie dogs kill their young, but three different species do this with some frequency: the Gunnison, Utah, and black-tailed. But this problem is especially acute in the communities of black-tailed prairie dogs, where up to a third of the offspring can become victims of infanticide. Usually, the young are not killed by the mother, father or even a competing male. Instead, female members of the mother’s family will kill and eat her droppings when she leaves for extended foraging.
There are a number of reasons why this violent behavior is common. First, it leaves more resources for the litter of prairie dogs that committed the crime, but it also means that the grieving mother will have more time to help raise the extended family once the short grieving process is over. It has also been suggested that prairie dog mothers might act in this way ahead of time to prevent a sibling from doing the same with their own droppings. Despite their infanticide tendencies, prairie dogs are adorable and highly endangered creatures that are critical to the ecosystems they occupy.
# 3: Leo – cannibalism for social domination
While male lions keep harems of females with whom they breed, these big cats are known for being good mothers and fathers, and female lions are often even willing to feed the cubs of other females in the pride. Unfortunately, infanticide is not uncommon due to the lack of available breeding partners. Fathers chase their cubs out of the pack at a certain age to keep them from becoming competitors, and these roaming young lions will often seek an established pride to assert themselves as their own. In many cases, the lions, who are gaining new pride, kill the cubs to remove competition and bring the females back into heat.
Unfortunately, there are times when the mother kills and eats the cub after the rest of the litter has died. Instead of devoting an extended period to raising a single calf, it makes evolutionary sense to just start with a new litter. Infanticide by conquering males is much more common, and it is estimated that up to a quarter of all young are killed in this way.
# 2: Chimpanzees – Competitive Cannibalism
Chimpanzees are some of the smartest animals on the planet and one of the species most closely associated with humans, but they also tend to eat their young. This behavior is most common and dramatic during conflicts between chimpanzee groups. Forced to compete fiercely for control of food, they kill juveniles from warring tribes, divide the meat, and then retreat to the trees to eat it. But there have also been cases where males simply stole newborn babies from their mothers’ hands, killed and devoured them, and scientists believe that this allows them to increase the number of breeding opportunities.
Females have also been seen killing unrelated babies, but this is even rarer. Cannibalism is not common in the animal kingdom, but it helps explain why female chimpanzees tend to hide during childbirth. Non-territorial infanticide is considered to be an attempt by males to improve their breeding opportunities, rather than an excuse to eliminate competition in the future.
# 1: Blenny Fish – Cannibalism Driven by Impatience
The fish, known as the blend, is refreshing by sharing parenting responsibilities between male and female. Mothers lay a large number of eggs at a time and leave their male partner to protect them alone until they hatch, but when the number of eggs is not large enough, the male dog will sometimes get bored and this animal will eat them young. Researchers once thought this was a simple matter of nutritional value, but it’s not clear that these canine canines comply with the biological imperative to reproduce as efficiently as possible.
This is because the level of androgens in a blenny is directly related to whether it is fertilized in the presence of eggs. The fish are unable to regulate their androgen levels while the eggs are nearby, and so they hastily devour eggs or try to push them over the edge of the nest to remove them from their presence and mate with a new female. As soon as possible. This usually happens when the number of eggs is particularly small – usually less than a thousand. In most cases, male canine dogs will find a new breeding partner the next day.
Next: whale shark baby: 5 images and 5 facts
[ad_2]
Source link