Sad wild animal facts

A collection of facts about wild animals that make me sad.

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.

Thomas Huxley

This post serves to illustrate why I agree with the quote above. 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.

Last updated: March 19, 2024

Mammals

Meadow vole

Scientific name: Microtus pennsylvanicus

One study found that only 12% of meadow voles survive the first month, with most voles likely dying due to predation (Clutton-Brock et al., 1998).

Orangutan

Scientific name: Pongo pygmaeus

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

Meerkat

Scientific name: 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 (Turner et al., 2022).

Birds

Brown-headed cowbird

Scientific name: 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).

Common cuckoo

Scientific name: 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).

Insects

Forelius pusillus

Scientific name: 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).

References

Clutton-Brock, T. H., P. N. M., B., Smith, R., McIlrath, G. M., Kansky, R., Gaynor, D., O’Riain, M. J., & Skinner, J. D. (1998). Infanticide and expulsion of females in a cooperative mammal. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 265(1412), 2291–2295. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1998.0573

Hoover, J. P., & Robinson, S. K. (2007). Retaliatory mafia behavior by a parasitic cowbird favors host acceptance of parasitic eggs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(11), 4479–4483. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0609710104

Martín-Gálvez, D., Soler, M., Soler, J. J., Martín-Vivaldi, M., & Palomino, J. J. (2005). Food acquisition by common cuckoo chicks in rufous bush robin nests and the advantage of eviction behaviour. Animal Behaviour, 70(6), 1313–1321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.03.031

Mitani, J. C. (1985). Mating behaviour of male orangutans in the Kutai Game Reserve, Indonesia. Animal Behaviour, 33(2), 392–402. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-3472(85)80063-4

Tofilski, A., Couvillon, Margaret J., Evison, Sophie E.  F., Helanterä, H., Robinson, Elva J.  H., & Ratnieks, Francis L.  W. (2008). Preemptive defensive self-sacrifice by ant workers. The American Naturalist, 172(5), E239–E243. https://doi.org/10.1086/591688

Turner, A. M., Hauber, M. E., & Reichard, D. G. (2022). Twenty-two years of brood parasitism data do not support the mafia hypothesis in an accepter host of the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater). Journal of Field Ornithology, 93(4), art4. https://doi.org/10.5751/JFO-00180-930404