can a lion be turned vegetarian?

Question

can a lion or its cub turned vegetatrian throughout its life

Answer 1

No...thats why they are called "Obligate Carnivores" because they are obligated to eat meat in order to sustain their bodies.

Excerpts from Wikipedia...
Animals that subsist on a diet consisting only of meat are referred to as obligate carnivores.
An obligate or true carnivore is an animal that subsists on a diet consisting only of meat. They may consume other products presented to them, especially animal products like cheese and bone marrow or sweet sugary substances like honey and syrup but, as these items are not essential they do not consume these on a regular basis. True carnivores lack the physiology required for the efficient digestion of vegetable matter and, in fact, some carnivorous mammals eat vegetation specifically as an emetic.


Excerpts on vegetarian diets...

Cats (Felidae) are obligatory carnivores, whereas
Dogs (Canidae) are actually omnivores
The reason for this is that cats (domestic and wild) do not have the chemical systems in their body to efficiently utilise or synthesise some nutrients, so they must be present in the food that they eat. Domestic cats have the following special nutritional needs compared to dogs :

A high protein content in the ration
The amino acid arginine
The amino acid taurine
The essential fatty acid arachidonic acid
The vitamin niacin
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
Vitamin A
These nutritional needs are typical of those expected for obligate carnivores. Vitamin A is only present in food of animal origin, and the inability to convert linolenic acid into arachidonic acid is a metabolic characteristic shared with other carnivores including the lion, turbot (a carnivorous fish) and the mosquito !

Cats therefore are obligate carnivores and MUST NOT BE FED AN EXCLUSIVELY VEGETARIAN RATION. Dogs on the other hand are omnivores and a vegetarian ration can meet all their nutritional requirements. Other pets have very specific nutritional needs which you must meet if you want to keep them fit and healthy, and happy. The general nutritional requirements of some of our common and exotic pets are listed in the following table - but it must be remembered that some species have highly specific nutritional needs which must be provided.

Answer 2

Sounds like something PETA would do, all the while, claiming that Lions are "murdering" their meals to eat!!!

You need to see this site:
www.petakillsanimals.com

NO, lions were made to be carnivores and sometimes ominvores. And for the record, so were humans. Humans were not meant to be herbivores. Any animal who has it's eyes on the front of it's skull is an carnivore, i.e. meat eater. It is instinctive. It's difficult to breed out or take out even with genetic recomposition an instinctive trait of any animal.

Why would you want to make a lion an herbivore anyway? Lions are not domesticated animals and never will be. They are jungle animals and should be left there. They have their purpose. Just because you don't like what he eats or how he hunts and kills doesn't give you or anyone else the right to change his instinctive behaviors.

Feeding a lion herbivore food would be a certain death sentence. He would suffer, as well. Lions' biological complexities demand certain enzymes and proteins that can only be obtained from eating meat. Why make an animal suffer because you are offended at it's behavior?

Mother nature knows best. It's not nice to mess with Mother Nature. Leave the lions alone!

.

Answer 3

Lions can thrive on plant and synthetic proteins. It's about nutrients not lifeforms. Humans commonly eat completely processed foods as do their dogs. Almost every grocery store now carries vegetarian dog food. Do the dogs like it? Probably not. Likewise, they could subsist through an I.V. drip of nutrients.

Vegetarianism is a choice made by humans. It is not likely an animal like a lion will choose to forgo the opportunity to chase down and kill a prey animal. They do not face the moral and ethical questions of resource use, environmental degradation, and the value of life. They do not think. A human might have guilt about their pet being a killer or a carnivore but there are human concepts.

Answer 4

In a perfect world, one could argue that humans eating animals/meat is a part of the food chain. That would involve a natural, cruelty-free life for the animal, and a humane slaughter. However, factory farming has turned the lives of 'food animals' into an abused, if not tortured existence. These helpless animals are denied any quality of life or a life the way nature intended. Their slaughter is even more gruesome. This reality does not have to exist, but the corporate mentality behind factory farming is about feeding the masses and doing it in a way that is the cheapest, with the highest profit margin. Factory farming does not take into consideration the way the process should be done. Therefore, certain foods and animal products that should not involve animal cruelty or slaughter, such as dairy and eggs... and even wool... have wound up becoming items that morally-conscious consumers should avoid. Another aspect to consider is that by physically consuming factory-farmed meats and animal products that you are eating tortured souls.

Answer 5

a lion a the young loin a cub will not stop eatting meat on there own . the loins do eat some green things like grass and such but this is much more a nibble here and there not a meal of it.
A loin could in survive on a vegetarian diet but they dont do that on there own and no one could force a loin to eat it vegetables
In the bible one day in the future the lions and lambs will lie down together. that means the lions and lambs and all the other animails even people will no longer kill each other or even fight
with one another not so they can eat are for any reason.

Answer 6

This seems impossible. Their teeth are highly adapted for cutting flesh and breaking bones. they have carnivorous set of teeth. Pionted teeth i mean. They cant eat vegetables and plants due to absence of flat herbivorous teeth. Same with the vegetarian animals. Their teeth are flattened and adapted to cut the brances and chew the saplings. They cant eat Flesh and break bones etc.


Moreover, the digestive system of carnivorous can only digest meat and flesh. It is not adapted to digest plants and vegetables. So Lions cant be turned vegetairan throughout their life.
Same is with the herbivorous. We cant Interfere with nature. Whenever man tried to interfere in the laws of nature, he saw the disastrous results.

Answer 7

Yes. Infact this has been achieved. In India P.C Sorcar has trained lions for his magic show & one of his lions is a vegetarian. The lion is fed protien rich vegetarian food like tofu & soya. In addition the lion is given multi-vitamin & protien shots to ensure a healthy existence. Personally I dont like the idea of making a lion into a veggie - but to answer your question = Yes its possible & it has been done before.

Answer 8

no unlike humans they need the nutrients in animal proteins to survive. They are carnivors not herbavors like us. It is part of genetics and the only way to change that would be messing around with stem cells.

Answer 9

If you keep a lion far away from meat for a long time, that lion may begin to eat vegetables. But after he meets meat again, he continues to eat meat again.

Answer 10

as on today,the answer is no.
secondly,no one ever tried to do this.
so,at the last,as a veterinary doctor,i feel that this is possible if started from the time of birth onwards.
but,if done,that lion will not as good as his partners in jungles,in all aspects like physical strenth,moving around at will,doing shikar(hunt) for him/herself,finding mate and unknown number of behavioural changes.