Do any herbivores become carnivorous in times of food shortage?

Question

Hey! So I'm doing a little project, and I need a little help from an expert in animals. :)

Are there any herbivores that deviate from their normal diet and start eating other animals during food shortages?

Answer 1

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CAN'T!!!!!!!

Answer 2

I am not going to be lazy and give a a website, i am going to actually answer your question.



This phenonenon is a very rare occurance, and food must be EXTREMELY scarce for this to happen. For example, the normally herbivourous wild boar, may turn to eating meat, if its plant sources and very scarce. Also this can go the other way around, the carnivore/omnivore can sometimes turn herbivorous, this is a little more common. The giant panda used to be an omnivore, a very long time ago, started to eat only plants (specifically bambo) because meat was becoming scarce. That should answer your question.

Answer 3

Yes, it's quite common. I have seen clips of young giraffes eating the bones of a dead animal during a drought. It is thought that this allows them to take in nutrients they may be lacking.



There are a number of clips on youtube showing animals eating other animals when you wouldn't expect it. Someone just last week posted a question including links to these two clips, one of a deer catching and eating a baby bird and another of a hippopotamus coming out of the water to feed on the carcass of a buffalo.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQOQdBLHrLk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp-0BtK1zIk



So there you go. We can't really explain it, but it pays to remember that words like "herbivore" and "omnivore" are just things humans made up to describe general relationships, and there are rarely such rigid categories found in nature. Instead, biological categories tend to have 'fuzzy' boundaries, and these species are evidence that not all herbivores must always be herbivores.

Answer 4

no never...........