Animals That Eat Their Own Kind

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19 July 2024

Wildlife is unique and weird at the same time. It might sound gross, but there are some animals that eat their own kind, as per the BBC

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Here's a list of 8 cannibalistic animals, including some that might surprise you, that eat their own species 

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Although primarily herbivorous, chimpanzees do enjoy eating meat occasionally. They show cannibalistic behaviour by killing and eating other chimps and animals 

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Lions may kill babies of their own kind. When a male takes over a pride it commonly kills any existing cubs, as it doesn't want to invest resources into young that aren't its own 

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Hippopotamus are another species that occasionally carry out “strategic infanticide”. They eat adult corpses likely due to extreme need and food scarcity 

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Female hamsters are known to sometimes eat their own newborn babies. It is believed they do this only when they are deficient in important vitamins and minerals

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Black widow spiders practice sexual cannibalism. Females often eat smaller males,  sometimes mid-copulation

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Most cases of polar bear cannibalism involve males killing cubs or sub-adults. However, both male and female polar bears scavenge on the carcasses of dead polar bears 

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Praying mantis females often eat male mantises immediately after breeding 

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Cannibalism can also happen between siblings. In the case of tadpoles of cane toads, larger tadpoles often feast upon their just-hatched younger brothers and sisters 

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