Definition of Predatory Animals

Thanks to Charles Darwin we know the mechanism of functioning of nature: Natural Selection. The idea is that the living being that survives is the one that best adapts to its environment. Among animals, some are predators (also called predators) and others are prey. They all interact.

The main characteristic of a predatory animal is that it hunts for food. To do this, it uses its best qualities, mainly its greater speed and force.

Animals are related to each other in a specific habitat, forming a chain of feeding. An example can be enlightening: the grass, the wildebeest and the lion. The wildebeest feed on grass and the lion hunts the wildebeest. In this case the lion is the predator. It feeds on the meat of its prey and in doing so maintains the Balance of ecosystem where you live. In this case, the lion has no other predator to threaten it. There are cases in which the predator is at the same time a prey of another animal. For example, a viper kills a mouse and at the same time is killed by an eagle.

The predatory animal feeds on its prey and, in order to avoid it, they have developed, through natural selection, some type of defense (toxic substances or camouflage). For this reason, predators use some strategies to be more effective. In fact, some hunt in groups, as is the case with hyenas. There are cases, such as the wolf, in which the technique used is the pursuit of prey. These types of mechanisms are within the struggle for survival.

Predators also have a threat, the intervention of man. This can happen in several circumstances: to protect domestic animals (the wolf is a threat to animals) herds), in the hunting of large mammals (tiger, lion or rhinoceros) or to get a larger area of ​​land cultivated. For this reason, the great predators of the animal kingdom are in danger of extinction. This situation has already led to the disappearance of some species (the Tasmanian tiger or the Quagga, a species of zebra). The list of predators with a high risk of extinction is quite long: the Iberian lynx, the blue duck, the Bengal tiger, the clouded leopard, the wild Australian dingo, etc.

The situation of high risk of extinction (especially among predators) is causing a reaction in the groups that protect animals. There are associations that try to raise awareness in society to collaborate in its preservation.