# Looking for info: obligate carnivores



## Aegidia (Aug 10, 2009)

For a story I'm writing, I need to know as many land-based vertebrate obligate carnivores as posibble. When I say 'obligate carnivores', I mean animals who cannot survive on a diet that consists of less than 70% meat. Another term I've encountered is 'hypercarnivore', though I don't know if there are hypercarnivores who could possibly survive on a diet without much meat. So far, courtesy of common sense and Wikipedia, I've come up with: all felids, snakes and crocodilians; most birds of prey; wolves and dogs. All other websites seem to just repeat the Wikipedia list and my own encyclopedia only list the felids and crocodilians as examples. My biggest problem is, even if it says somewhere how much meat an animal eats, it never says if it could survive on a diet with less meat and more plant material. I figured, since this is a place were people write animal-related stories, someone here might either know a few more, or be able to tell me that these are all the obligate carnivores there are.

Note: I'm not counting insectivores!


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## M. LeRenard (Aug 10, 2009)

Bears?
Um, wolverines, Tasmanian devils, weasels might count... various mustelids (otters?).
Maybe... not necessarily birds of prey (makes me think of hawks and the like), but the heron, the crane, birds like that.  Penguins, too.  Pelicans, seagulls, etc.
What else.  Well, these don't exist anymore, but various kinds of dinosaurs might work.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.  I'm pretty sure those are all obligate carnivores, though I guess look them up if you're in doubt.

Edit: seals and walruses, too, if those count as 'land-based'.


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## panzergulo (Aug 10, 2009)

M. Le Renard said:


> Bears? [...] various mustelids [...]



Bears are omnivore. They eat berries. Except polar bears. They eat mainly seals.

Mustelids are generally carnivore, but some of them eat plants too. Like badgers. They eat anything. Wolverines aren't well know for their mixed diet, but according to many sources they eat berries and other plant life too. Like in this article here. I quote: _"Wolverines are also known on occasion to eat plant material." _The smaller mustelids, like martens, weasels and minks might be strictly carnivores. I don't know about otters. They might be strictly fish-eaters. But do you count them as "land-based", that's another question.

Edit: Forgetaboutit, I made a small tour through Wikipedia and it seems nearly all mustelids eat nearly anything. They are carnivores, but won't shy eating plant food either. Clever little critters.

I'm not sure, OP, but I think you've got all the obligate carnivores already in your list. It's just clever to be able to eat many kinds of things. The only mammals I know who truly need their meat are the felines. Crocs and snakes and such don't seem much of salad eaters either.


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## foozzzball (Aug 10, 2009)

Lions eat fruit.

Granted, I think they only eat fermenting fallen fruit that gets them drunk... but they eat fruit.


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## M. LeRenard (Aug 10, 2009)

I'm aware that these things eat small amounts of everything, but I was mostly estimating based on this:


> I mean animals who cannot survive on a diet that consists of less than 70% meat.


Bears probably eat about 70% meat, and wolverines definitely eat more than 70% meat, etc.  It leaves room for error.


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## Murphy Z (Aug 10, 2009)

I googled "obligate carnivores" and got ferrets, dinosaurs, and house cats (accuracy not checked)

If you're near a university library, you could look in a book about carnivores and see if they have something there (that "Obligate Carnivore" book @ Amazon is just about cats and dogs, I think) 

I also got a thesis that asked if Eskimos were obligate, but I don't think you're looking for that.


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## panzergulo (Aug 10, 2009)

M. Le Renard said:


> Bears probably eat about 70% meat [...]



According to Wikipedia, polar bears are carnivores, pandas are herbivores and all other bears are omnivores. I have to disagree a tiny bit with you, MLR. Probably around two thirds of bears' diet consists of meat, but they _could_ survive with less meat.

About mustelids... I'm not sure. I agree, they eat mostly meat... but still... badgers eat almost anything. So do martens. And many other mustelids. But its a good guess that wolverine, mink, ferret, ermine (or stoat, I think they are the same critter) and least weasel eat mostly meat and touch plant life only if nothing else is available. Damn... there are just too many species of mustelids... all eating a bit different things. You can't just put them all into one category...

Otters are true carnivores. I'm pretty sure, after checking from Wikipedia.


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## M. LeRenard (Aug 10, 2009)

Then scratch most bears, I guess.
Panda.... c'mon.  Panda bears are not bears anyway.

Anyway, there's a reason I wrote 'various mustelids'.  I knew of a few that probably were, but others were questionable.  You probably would have to pick and choose amongst those.
I think otter would be safe, though.  If alligators and crocs work, otters work.  Walrus and seal I think would be more questionable.


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## panzergulo (Aug 10, 2009)

M. Le Renard said:


> Panda.... c'mon.  Panda bears are not bears anyway.



Umm... giant pandas are bears...

 From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bears :



> *Family Ursidae**
> 
> Subfamily Ailuropodinae*
> 
> Giant Panda, _Ailuropoda melanoleuca_


I figured out more meat eating species. Hyenas seem to be very, very carnivorous, all species of hyenas. Also, many species of lizards.


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## M. LeRenard (Aug 10, 2009)

Oh hell, when did they change it?  You're right:


> The Giant Panda was *previously* thought to be a member of the Procyonidae (raccoon) family.


Guess I'm not up with the times.


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## Lobar (Aug 10, 2009)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore#List_of_extant_carnivores

I'd say your best bet is working off that list and just making sure they fit your needs


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## panzergulo (Aug 11, 2009)

M. Le Renard said:


> Guess I'm not up with the times.



It's alright. I'm not a biologist myself. Far from it. All my knowledge comes pretty much from documentaries and Wikipedia. And those are really reliable sources, aren't they?

Stupid question: Why is this thread in the Writer's Bloc? This could've made a good general thread. Would've got more people giving input. Although, it would've probably subsided into a fight about whose facts are right.


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## Lamont (Aug 11, 2009)

No matter what, almost all carnivores need plants in thier diet. You'll find them eating random plant stuff like grass because they need fibre to help digest all the meat they eat, thats why you see dogs eating grass sometimes.

You can tell which animal is carnivorous by thier teeth. If they lack any molars, then they just eat meat since they can't grind much plant material without it. A comodo dragon is an example.


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## Aegidia (Aug 11, 2009)

Wow, thanks everyone for your input! You've been a great help.

As for why this thread is in Writer's Bloc... well, I guess because I came upon the question when writing, I didn't really think about it as a 'general' subject. Though I guess you're right, it could just as well have been a general thread.


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