is it fair to say...?

Question

is it fair to say that as a rule animals , including humans dont eat other animals that eat meat? if so why? maybe this rule dont work in the fish world...what do you think ????

sorry didnt explain myself very well...why do meat eating animals generally eat herbivor animals

Answer 1

The simple answer is that predators tend to be more risky to attack - they're built to fight and kill other animals. Herbivores are much safer to hunt. There's more to it, of course, but that's the short version.

Answer 2

Well no, I mean, pigs do eat meat if given the chance. Some cultures eat dog meat. Turtles eat meat, and people eat them. Some people eat shark, and alligator. It's not a rule at all. People and other animals that eat meat do tend to eat more animals that are herbivorous, but it can't be considered a rule.

Answer 3

No, this can't be accepted as a general rule.Carnivores eat other carnivores. Most meat eaters will eat meat no matter what it is. The main reason that herbivores are main prey animals is that they don't have big teeth and sharp claws to defend themselves with.

Answer 4

That's an overgeneralization, as most of the answers point out. However, there is generally more biomass available the lower on the food pyramid you go, so that it is easier for a carnivore to find an herbivore to eat.

Answer 5

As a hard and fast rule that can always be followed I would have to say no, but there is something to the idea. Many of the bigger cats such as lions, tigers, jaguars, and leopards have specific animals in their diet, and they stick almost exclusively to hunting those. Not that they wouldn't eat a steak if you dropped it in front of them, just that within their environments they have become adapted to hunting specific animals, and through this specialization it just makes it easier for them to go after those animals.

Answer 6

The carrion eaters (huena,vultures, fox..)eat any animal.Wild dogs hunt and eat any animal(even tigers) if they can get and even their companions which die while hunting.Leopards near villages kill and eat cattle and also dogs.Jaguars hunt young crocodiles.
Generally other carnivorous animals are few in numbers and also difficult to hunt compared to herbivores.
So,it is not a choice but only a chance.

Answer 7

I never thought of it that way, but if you watch as many documentaries as I have, you'll see that's just not the case. Reptiles are just one of many exceptions to that rule, as there are many snakes that will readily eat other snakes and lizards, not to mention that alligators and crocodiles have been filmed feeding on smaller members of their kind. Komodo dragons will readily eat smaller dragons, if they can catch them. Many predatory birds, like storks, will eat snakes, lizards, and even baby crocodilians as well. Many birds of prey will also eat snakes and lizards too.
So, to answer your question, I guess I'd have to say no it would not be fair to say that.

Answer 8

Nonsense. Killer whales eat elephant seals, which eat squids, which eat carnivorous zooplankton, which eat herbivorous zooplankton.

Seagulls eat billfish, which eat herbivorous zooplankton.

I have observed spiders eating neuropterans, which eat aphids.

These are all examples I use in my biology class.

I've also observed seagulls eating wasps, which eat cicadas.

Answer 9

No.