Mar 20, 2025, 04:24 PM IST
Cannibalism in wild, here are eight animals that eat their own offspring.
These animals are more likely to eat their young in the spring and summer, as the seal populations - and ice floes on which to hunt for them - begin to become less accessible.
Females of the species will typically get pregnant by a number of different males at a time, and they carry many eggs but only have two uteri. That creates a situation where multiple offspring will devour one another until they’re reduced to only two.
These animals eat their young when they’re suffering from a calcium deficiency. Ironically, a lack of calcium also leads to more fragile eggshells, compounding the issue in a way that can be frustrating to chicken farmers.
Not all prairie dogs kill their young, but it’s been observed with some frequency in three different species: Gunnison’s, Utah, and black-tailed.
Lions who take a new pride will kill the cubs both to remove competition and bring the females back into heat.
Mother hamsters have been known to eat their own young, especially if they feel threatened or if the babies are weak or deformed.
Female black widows might eat their own egg sacs if stressed, hungry, or if the young are unlikely to survive the environment.
Hippos are also primarily herbivores, but also carry out the occasional 'infanticide' when the food is scarce.