Page 98 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #04

Q
THE PANEL

STUART BLACKMAN
Science writer

SARAH MCPHERSON
Q&A editor

WWW.DISCOVERWILD .COM
O

Leopard: Sergey Gorshkov/Minden/FLPA; butterfly: Gillian Pullinger/Alamy; roundabout: Chris Howes/Wild Places Photography/Alamy; nuthatch: Getty
CHRISTIAN DUNN Q BIOLOGY
Ecolog gist
Do scavengers

ever eat
MIKE TOMS
Ornitholog gist

their own?

POLLY PULLAR
Naturalist and author A You could view cannibalism as making
perfect sense: the body of a member of your
own species should contain exactly what you
need for nourishment. However, it’s also
likely to contain parasites and infections
LIZ KALAUGHER that are particular to your kind. Having a
Author of Furry Logic
g
y
cast-iron stomach helps, but even then it
seems that mammalian scavengers, such as
wild boar, martens and foxes, actively avoid
the meat of their own species. In fact, they
tend to avoid carnivore carcasses in general,
AMY-JANE BEER perhaps because many parasites are able to
Naturalist and author
infect closely related species.
There are exceptions, though. Leopards,
for example, are known to eat dogs as well
as the carcasses of defeated rivals.
Stuart Blackman
HELEN SCALES
Marine biologist

JAMES FAIR
Environment editor

EMAIL YOUR
QUESTIONS TO
wildlifemagazine@immediate.co.uk Leopards are rare
scavengers, preferring
or post to Q&A, BBC Wildlife
Magazine, Immediate Media to hunt a range of
Company, 2nd Floor,Tower House, prey, often stashing
Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN their kills in trees.
98 BBC Wildlife