Trying to answer my 9 year olds carnivore question. Please help!!!!?

Question

My daughter has yet again stumped me with one of those fasinating questions, You know the ones where you dont actually know the answer to yourself. The one where you begin to question too.
Humans eat a variety of meat including Cow's, sheep, pigs, chicken, fish etc.
Have you noticed the main diet of the animals (not including fish) seems to be plants,grain ect. The main question here is : Do humans actually eat and animal which is a carnivore ( eats meat) as a major part of its main diet?
In UK we do not eat cats,dogs,tigers,bears,lions etc.
Can anyone answer this please.
I tried to explain that humans have domesticated cats and dogs. I have no idea why dont eat tigers, lions, bears etc. ( not that I would ever want to )
Any one out there with a better explanation for my daughter??

Answer 1

When our ancestors were hunting, they obviously preferred to hunt animals which they could kill using a spear or a bow and arrow etc., and thus they started eating deer, pigs and so on. They were naturally avoiding lions, elephants, tigers etc., which could kill them (elephants are vegetarians and don't eat flesh, but they may kill when angry). The largest animals which humans tried to eat are the camel and the ox.

As they started settling down and succeeded in domesticating animals like cats, dogs, oxen etc., they avoided killing and eating them because the animals are capable of showing their emotional distress and the same human being who raised the animal can't kill it too easily. So, the meat was coming from a professional who doesn't raise the animal.

Coming back to your question, men do eat cats, dogs etc., in China, Korea etc. And in times of starvation, they eat almost anything which is available.

Answer 2

Apart from fish (incl shark) I don't think so. It would probably be difficult to domesticate and tame to the extent of being dinner. Alot of what we eat and don't eat is based more on societal views and 'ethics'. We don't really eat to many animals we can find other uses for. Common people Eating Chickens and sheep is reasonably new especially in the UK. A sheep would become lunch when it had no further use providing wool, cows and chickens were the same. Unless of course you were wealthy enough not to care about when you would get eggs next or how your milk got there. So carnivores were trained to act for mankind's benefit and are mostly to small to be individually a meal for a family. And you wouldn't kill a hard worker for no reason even if it was an animal.

However you know what causes Mad cow disease don't you?

Answer 3

Wonderful question.

Think in terms of the food chain. Predators obviously come on top of herbivores. The densities as we go up the chain also become less. For example, for a tiger to live, it has to kill at least fifty medium-sized herbivores like deer. For the tiger to sustain year on year, there should be a good breeding population of the deer and because of that the tiger commands a territory where thousands of these prey species live. In the Indian forests, it's been said that for every two tigers tiger, there are three leopards, and a couple of thousands of small to large herbivores (kinds of deer and buffalo).

Obviously, herbivores occur in high densities and that's why they are a common target for most predators. However, it's been proven (with photographic evidence) that tigers kill other predators given a chance and it's a common occurrence for leopards in rural India to live off domestic dogs and cattle! So predators do eat other predators. Likewise, humans in various parts of the world eat predators like snakes, dogs, crocodiles, apes (a kind of bush meat in Africa), fishes (several of which are carnivores). However, most kinds of predators are non-palatable and only eaten in rare circumstances.

So, the ordinary behaviour for meat eaters is to eat what is in plenty and it's usually the herbivores and some kinds of predominanatly plant eating omnivores like pigs.

Answer 4

I agree that why we don't eat very many carnivore animals is because it is easier to catch and breed herbivores. Another reason could also be it's easier to keep bags/bales of dry feed around for animals then to keep a supply of fresh meat. But I do believe that ducks and chickens eat bugs and stuff does that count? Wild pigs will eat eggs and domestic pigs get fed slop which has meat and other icky things not fit for people. There is also alligator, snake, lizard meat for some people.
Oh they joy of the 9 year old mind :)

Answer 5

Just think of the carnivores as the pinnacle on top of a pyramid, with their prey (herbivores) beneath them in a wider part of the pyramid and the plants (food of the herbivores) forming the wide base of the pyramid.
One very simple answer to your question is that carnivores are not as abundant as herbivores and it would be a waste of a hunter's time and energy to go after something rare and dangerous, when so many herbivores hang out in herds and breed like rabbits. Where carnivores are eaten (eg cats and dogs in China/Korea) it's because they're domesticated and bred in captivity.

Answer 6

For you're information, dogs are the domesticated form of wolves. We don't eat cats, dogs, tigers, bears and lions because they are an endangered species, we keep them as pets and generally, people these days don't want to risk death by an unknown disease with all the recent pandemics. In the past, humans didn't really want to have a taste testing job with the invention of machines.

Answer 7

Here in the united states a lot of people like to eat bear meat.
Many animals are omnivores and eat anything they can. One of these is the beaver, and the tail of the beaver is considered a delicacy. Most fish eat other fish. Another thing most people don't know is that chickens love to eat raw meat and blood. They will often peck a chicken that has been hurt to death, and eat the flesh.

Answer 8

I suspect that to hunt a carnivorous animal is dangerous and more difficult, and just not done. It's so much easier to herd and kill cattle than it is to hunt down a lion.

But then again, dog and cat meat are eaten in some cultures. In some parts of China and Indonesia, dog meat is considered a delicacy, as is snake in China.

Answer 9

When human beings were hunter gatherers, they would eat any animal that came there way and one that was relatively safe to hunt. All carnivorous animals do the same. they take care of their own safety first. Once human beings moved on to being settlers, hunting for food was no more needed and they took to animal husbandry. (Rearing animals for food and other human needs like leather, wool etc.) Dogs, for long have been hunting partners and guardians of human beings. So have been cats by keeping the menace of rats in control.

Answer 10

Yes man does eat other canivors,wild pig have a taste for meat.In many parts of the world people eat snakes,lizards,dogs the list is endless and includes bears by the way