All animals belong to: Kingdom Animalia, Phylum: Chordata,
Class: Mammalia has 19 Orders in which each
organism is classified under.
Different
animals belong to different feeding groups, some eat other animals, others
vegetable material others eat both and this is how they survive and derive
their nutrients.
Carnivores
All carnivores fall under Order: Canivora, the term carnivore means 'meat eater' an organism that
derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet
consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue,
whether by predation
or scavenging,
these include: Lions, Cheetah, hyena, leopard etc. Animals that depend solely
on animal flesh for their nutrient requirements are considered obligate
carnivores while those that also consume non-animal food are considered facultative
carnivores (Bosman at al,1997). Young hatchlings generally feed on smaller
prey, preferring insects and small aquatic invertebrates before taking on fish,
amphibians and small reptiles. Juveniles and sub-adults take a wider variety of
prey with additions such as birds and small to mid-sized mammals. Throughout
their lives, both young and mature crocodiles can feed on fish and other small
vertebrates on separate occasions, when large food is absent, as a side diet.
Adults are apex predators and prey upon various birds, reptiles and mammals, in
addition to prey consumed also by the young and juvenile specimens. Among the
mammals, prey consists of gazelles, antelope, waterbuck, sitatunga, lechwe,
wildebeest, zebras, warthogs, young hippos, giraffes, Cape buffalos, and young
elephants. When given the chance, they are known to prey on domestic chickens,
goats, sheep and cattle. Nile crocodiles also prey on humans frequently, far
more often than other crocodilian species.
Adult
Nile crocodiles use their bodies and tails to herd groups of fish toward a
bank, and eat them with quick sideways jerks of their heads. They also
cooperate, blocking migrating fish by forming a semicircle across the river.
The most dominant crocodile eats first. Their ability to lie concealed with
most of their bodies underwater, combined with their speed over short
distances, makes them effective opportunistic hunters of larger prey. They grab
such prey in their powerful jaws, drag it into the water, and hold it
underneath until it drowns. They will also scavenge kills, although they avoid
rotting meat. Groups of Nile crocodiles may travel hundreds of meters from a
waterway to feast on a carcass. Once their prey is dead, they rip off and
swallow chunks of flesh. When groups are sharing a kill, they use each other
for leverage, biting down hard and then twisting their bodies to tear off large
pieces of meat in a "death roll". They may also get the necessary
leverage by lodging their prey under branches or stones, before rolling and
ripping.
Herodotus
claimed Nile crocodiles have a symbiotic relationship with certain birds, such
as the Egyptian plover, which enter the crocodile's mouth and pick leeches
feeding on the crocodile's blood, but there is no evidence of this interaction
actually occurring in any crocodile species, and it is most likely mythical or
allegorical fiction.
consume both animal and
non-animal food, and apart from the more general definition, there is no
clearly defined ratio of plant to animal material that would distinguish a
facultative carnivore from an omnivore, or an omnivore from a facultative
herbivore, for that matter. A carnivore that sits at the top of the food chain is
referred to an apex predator.
Omnivores Are the most diverse of species,
including different orders like canivora and Primates composing of Jackals and
chacma baboons. Omnivore is a term used to describe
animal species that eat
both plants and animals matter as
their primary food
source in order to derive nutrients for life sustenance. They are
opportunistic, general feeders not specifically adapted to eat and digest
either meat or plant material primarily (Davey,
K, 1998). Even though the term ‘omnivore’
refers to an organisms that literally eats everything, these type of organisms cannot really eat
"everything" that other animals eat; they can only eat things that
are at least moderately easy to get and still at least moderately nutritious.
For example, most of them cannot live by grazing (easy to
get, but not nutritious enough), nor can they eat some hard-shelled animals or
successfully hunt large or fast prey (nutritious, but too hard to get).The bushpigs
lives in forested regions or thick bush areas of Kafue, usually near water, but
may range great distances in searchof food. They are omnivorous and their
preferred diet consists of roots, fruit, vegetatables, variety of insects,
eggs, reptiles and carrion as well as newborn lambs.
In bushpig
diet, vitamin E deficiency may cause skeletal muscle lesions, poor litter size
and Vitamin C deficiency can cause scurvy
Herbivores
Are
organisms
that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant-based foods
or materials as their sources of nutrients. In general, Herbivory is a form of consumption
in which an organism
principally eats
autotrophs such as plants,
algae
and photosynthesizing bacteria
depending on their particular habitat and nutritional requirements. These
organisms are generally are known as primary
consumers. Zebras, Buffalos and Elephants are good examples of
Herbivores (Danell K. at al, 2006).
The term should
not be confused to Flowering plants that obtain nutrition from other living
plants are usually termed parasitic plants.
Herbivores
form an important link in the food chain as they consume plants in order to
receive the carbohydrates, proteins minerals and other nutrients that are
produced by plants by the process of photosynthesis.
Carnivores
in turn consume herbivores for the same reason, while omnivores
can obtain their nutrients from either plants or animals. Due to a herbivore's
ability to survive solely on tough and fibrous plant matter, they are termed
the primary consumers in the food cycle (chain). Herbivory, carnivory, and
omnivory and call be regarded as special cases of Consumer-Resource Systems.
Elephants
are found most often in savannas, grasslands and forests of Kafue National
Park. They are herbivores and can live in nearly any habitat that has adequate
quantities of food and water. An elephant's day is spent eating (about 16
hours), drinking, bathing, dusting, wallowing, playing and resting (about three
to five hours). Elephants dive on a wealth of plant parts which include leaves,
twigs, bark, fruit, shoots, flowers, roots, tubers, bulbs, grass and seed pods.
They use their trunks for plucking branches and leaves from shrubs, fruits and
stripping bark from trees. The digestive system of elephants is less efficient
than those of other herbivores. Food passes quickly through the digestive
system before nutrients are absorbed causing elephants to discard about half
the plant material they consume. This inefficient digestive system means that
elephants must eat large quantities of food to retain and absorb necessary nutrients
for good health. The fibrous content of their food and the great quantities
consumed makes for large volumes of dung.
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