Sad wild animal facts

Let us understand, once for all, that the ethical process of society depends, not on imitating the cosmic process, still less on running away from it, but in combating it.

This post serves to illustrate why I agree with the quote above from Thomas Huxley. Below I list examples of what happens in nature that I think are just horrible and that I wish we could do something about.

The list is not complete and I intend to continuously update it when I encounter more sad facts.

Mammals

• One study found that only 12% of meadow voles survive the first month, with most voles likely dying due to predation ([Getz, 1960](https://doi.org/10.2307/2422671)).

• Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus)

• Male orangutans frequently force female orangutans to mate with them (Mitani, 1985).

• Meerkat (Suricata suricatta)

• Dominant females commonly kill pups born to subordinates and temporarily expel subordinate females from the group during the latter months of their own pregnancy ([Clutton-Brock et al., 1998](https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1998.0573)).

• [Bottlenose dolphin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_bottlenose_dolphin) (Tursiops truncatus)

• Bottlenose dolphins have been found to kill harbor porpoises, plausibly to practice their infanticide skills or to maintain their fighting skills ([Cotter et al., 2012](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2011.00474.x)).

• Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)

• Intergroup aggression, including lethal attacks, is a pervasive feature of chimpanzee societies ([Wilson & Wrangham, 2003](https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.32.061002.120046)).

• Both male and female chimpanzees kill infants ([Townsend et al., 2007](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2007.03.020)).

• [Northern short-tailed shrew](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_short-tailed_shrew) (Blarina brevicauda)

• The Northern short-tailed shrew has venomous saliva that it uses to immobilize some of its prey to eat it later ([Martin, 1981](https://doi.org/10.2307/1380494)).

Birds

• [Brown-headed cowbird](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown-headed_cowbird) (Molothrus ater)

• Cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds and display ‘mafia’ like behavior by destroying eggs or nestlings of hosts if they eject their eggs ([Hoover & Robinson, 2007](https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0609710104)).

• Common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)

• The common cuckoo female lays one egg is the nest of other birds and usually removes and eats one of the host’s eggs. In general, the cuckoo egg hatches before those of the host and the cuckoo chicks start evicting host offspring from the nest ([Martín-Gálvez et al., 2005](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.03.031)).

• Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

• Mallards forcibly mate with females ([McKinney & Evarts, 1998](https://doi.org/10.2307/40166723)).

• Kelp gull (Larus dominicanus)

• In Namibia, kelp gull pluck out the eyes of juvenile Cape fur seals and then later feast on its carcass ([Gallagher et al., 2015](https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2015.1071718)).

Insects

• Forelius pusillus (Forelius pusillus)

• In the Brazilian ant Forelius pusillus, the nest entrance is closed at sunset. One to eight workers finish the job from the outside and, in doing so, sacrifice their lives ([Tofilski et al., 2008](https://doi.org/10.1086/591688)).

Arachnids

• Desert spider (Stegodyphus lineatus)

• The offspring of the desert spider eat their own mother ([Salomon et al., 2015](https://doi.org/10.1636/B14-15.1)).

Fish

• Sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus)

• During their pregnancy, the most developed embryo will feed on its siblings ([Gilmore et al., 1983](https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/pdf-content/1983/812/gilmore.pdf)).