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Asked by charlyjoy to Charlotte, Jo, Kevin, Louise, Valeria on 19 Jun 2012.
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Kevin Mahon answered on 19 Jun 2012:
Hard to say if an animal would develop a ‘taste’ for it – but it is important to know that cannibalism occurs naturally and is common in the wild, from insects to higher mammals.
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Joanna Cruden answered on 19 Jun 2012:
If you force animals to eat other animals they don’t really become I think cannibals because cannibalism is a choice, however you are likely to give them a disease as some of the animals you use to feed them may have had underlying health problems that only cross over if the animal is eaten
Animals will eat each other to survive, but unless there was no other food available they are unlikely to eat each other through preference
Comments
Kevin commented on :
Not strictly true – sexual cannabilism happens throughout the animal kingdom where females eat the males after copulation and fillial cannabilism where parents eat offspring is also something that is routinely obseved – these are complex social behaviour patterns and are not a ‘last resort’ meal in that sense – hunger is rarely the driving force in these instances.
Jo commented on :
Yes Kevin you are right, I was following on from what you said rather than talking about all the other cannibalism, you are right to clarify thank you 🙂