Animals that eat other animals are called carnivores. Some of them are large, such as lions or Polar bears, while others are smaller, like mongooses and piranhas.

These are the animals that have to kill other organisms in order to survive.

However, carnivores are not the only ones that feed on other animals; many omnivores also regularly hunt other creatures.

Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting animals that eat other animals!

List of Animals That Eat Other Animals

Striped Hyenas

Scientific Name: Hyaena hyaena
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore

The striped hyena is a nocturnal hunter, which means it prefers low-light conditions when hunting. As scavengers, they serve the vital purpose of helping keep their habitat clean.

Fueled by their scavenger instinct, hyenas often eat dead animals (carrion) that other hunters leave behind. 

Because of their powerful jaws and eerily large teeth, they can eat bones, horns, hooves, and other parts of prey that other animals generally abandon because they can’t consume the remaining parts. 

Polar Bears

Scientific Name: Ursus maritimus
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore

Similar to the striped hyena, the Polar bear will also scavenge for the carcasses of marine animals from time to time. Being primarily carnivores, they rarely eat anything aside from other animals. 

If their food source is scarce, they’ll eat almost any other animal they can find, even their own kind!

However, their favorite fellow animal to eat is a fresh seal (mostly ringed or bearded seals), which is where they consume most of their fats. 

Fats are more critical to polar bears because their bodies digest them more efficiently. 

Buzzards

Scientific Name: Buteo buteo
Type of Animal: Bird
Diet: Carnivore

It’s no secret that buzzards (sometimes called vultures) are far from picky eaters. Like hyenas, vultures play a crucial role in keeping our planet healthy by eating animals’ rotten remains.

Buzzards frequently feast on carrion and are widely known for this. They probably do this to compensate for their lack of ability when hunting. 

However, on rare occasions, buzzards will hunt and eat small and easily preyed upon animals such as small rodents, insects, snakes, lizards, and other animals of this nature. 

Whale Sharks

Scientific Name: Rhincodon typus
Type of Animal: Fish
Diet: Carnivore

The whale shark eats other animals but has a unique way of doing it. 

Unlike other types of sharks, the whale shark filter feeds rather than launching horrific attacks like most usually imagine when thinking of sharks. 

Instead, whale sharks swim near the ocean’s top, periodically opening and closing their mouths. 

When they do this, the water flows in their mouth and is filtered through their gills, leaving plankton (tiny animal and plant organisms) behind, and all they have to do is swallow their catches. 

Leopards

Scientific Name: Panthera pardus
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore

Leopards are apex predators, meaning they sit at the top of their food chain and don’t have to worry about predators. Their most common prey are reptiles, monkeys, boars, hares, and many other smaller animals. 

They hunt at night and can easily move silently, making it almost impossible for their prey to detect their presence. 

A leopard will lurk nearby, most commonly in trees, and studies its prey for much longer than many other predators before launching an ambush attack. 

Bald Eagles

Scientific Name: Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore

Bald eagles will feed on what is most readily available, as they are opportunist feeders and seek the prey that requires the least effort. 

They generally eat fish more than any other animals. This is why you usually find them near water. 

In addition, they will feed on carrion, especially during the first year of their life when they are still learning how to hunt. They’re also known to follow ducks and other birds as they migrate to feed on those wounded by hunters. 

African Lions

Scientific Name: Panthera leo
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore

African lions are known as generalist hypercarnivores, which means that more than 70% of their diet is meat.

They’re also scavengers who love asserting their authority. So, they never mind stealing another predator’s prey, even if they’re present. 

In addition, they don’t really care what kind of other animals they eat. African Lions will readily adapt to almost any source of meat that is readily available. 

Still, if given a choice, they’ll most likely go for an antelope, zebra, or other large herbivores. 

Gray Wolves

Scientific Name: Canis lupus
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore

Gray wolves are the largest of the wild canine family. They are intelligent predators that prey on other animals near their territory. 

Gray wolves’ social way of hunting prey is one of the most prominent ways they display their intelligence. 

When hunting, they communicate with one another and have what almost seems to be assigned roles that ensure the pack can take down larger prey such as elk, moose, and deer. 

In addition, wolves lack nothing pertaining to their appetite. One adult can eat up to 20 pounds of meat at one time. 

Cheetahs

Scientific Name: Acinonyx jubatus
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore

Unlike other big cat species, who prefer the ambush method for attacking their prey, cheetahs use their speed to their advantage when preying on other animals. 

They will sit at a higher altitude and watch for their prey, and when spotted, they will chase them without relenting. 

Cheetahs eat a vast array of animals. Their most common prey includes impalas, gazelles, birds, and rabbits. They will also feed on young warthogs, roan, and kudu. 

Honey Badgers

Scientific Name: Mellivora capensis
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Omnivore

While honey badgers may have gotten their name from their noncarnivorous diet, they also have an appetite for meat. Their appetite allows for a wide variety of prey, including fruit, insects, and other mammals. 

Additionally, they are equipped with sharp teeth and foreclaws to help them fulfill their cravings. 

Honey badgers usually rely on their extremely keen sense of smell to help them locate their own prey, but they can’t deny their scavenger instincts. 

Coincidentally, they often steal a game that other predators have already killed. 

Red-Tailed Hawks

Scientific Name: Buteo jamaicensis
Type of Animal: Bird
Diet: Carnivore

These raptor birds can be found hunting in various habitats, from woodlands and plains to mountains and open terrains.

Red-tailed hawks hunt small to medium-sized mammals, rodents, and reptiles, in addition to feeding on carrion left by other predators.

However, as top predators, these hawks primarily rely on their hunting skills rather than on other animals’ leftovers. When diving down on their target, these birds of prey dive at speeds of over 150 mph, and they rarely miss the target!

Furthermore, red-tailed hawks have exceptional eyesight (8 times better than that of humans), which further aids their hunting abilities.

Jaguars

Scientific Name: Panthera onca
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore

Jaguars are opportunistic hunters and will eat almost any other creature they find during hunts.

Interestingly, they hunt both during the day and at night, traveling over 6 miles each day in search of prey. This opens their diet even further to include both nocturnal and diurnal animals. 

These cats also have the power, speed, and strength to take down a range of different-sized animals. 

Jaguars’ diets include smaller animals like birds and fish and some of the largest animals in their South American habitat, such as the mighty crocodile. 

Canadian Lynxes

Scientific Name: Lynx canadensis
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore

The Canadian lynx is a highly skilled predator found in Canada and most Northern states of America. Impressively, their nocturnal hunting abilities allow them to see their prey from up to 250 feet away in the dark. 

They have a taste for several other animals, but their favorite is a snowshoe hare. They usually go for birds, rodents, or fish if they cannot find a snowshoe hare. 

On the rare occasion they find one weak enough to take down, they will also eat deer. 

Nile Crocodiles

Scientific Name: Crocodylus niloticus
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore

The Nile crocodile is one of the most fierce carnivores in the world. They will ruthlessly devour nearly any animals caught crossing their paths. 

They are also known to scavenge for abandoned kills and sometimes even steal prey from other animals. 

The Nile crocodile, along with other members of its species, has one of the strongest bite forces in the world. In addition, once they bite, their jaw locks, making it impossible for the prey to get away. 

Skunks

Scientific Name: Mephitidae
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Omnivore

Skunks are scavengers and will eat what they can find, including insects, garden foods, small animals, and even human food if they see it. They do have a preference for insects, though. 

During the colder months, their diets consist mainly of plants and animals. However, in warmer months, they mostly eat small animals such as mice, lizards, slugs, and moles. 

Skunks are also known to rummage through the food other small animals have stored and take it for themselves. 

Related: Animals That Eat Plants and Animals

Mongoose

Scientific Name: Herpestidae
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore

While insects are the most critical part of a mongoose’s diet, they also enjoy fruits and small animals such as birds, frogs, and small rodents. 

These feisty animals have multiple rows of extremely sharp teeth to help them quickly devour their prey. They have quite a reputation for hunting and killing deadly snakes like cobras. 

However, they sometimes opt for a simple piece of fruit when they’re not fighting snakes or devouring small animals. 

Red-bellied Piranhas

Scientific Name: Pygocentrus nattereri
Type of Animal: Fish
Diet: Carnivore

For some, piranhas are feared almost as much as a shark, and this is because they have large mouths filled with razor-like teeth. 

To make things worse, they have a bite force of 72 pounds, which is three times their average body weight. 

However, this is what gives them their predatory advantage in their environment.

Red-bellied piranhas’ diet consists of many of their fellow fish. They will also consume rodents and frogs if they venture into the water.  

Snow Leopards

Scientific Name: Panthera uncia
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore

Snow leopards are powerful predators. In fact, they can take down other animals in the wild that weigh three times more than they do. They are also skilled and patient stalkers. 

A snow leopard will stalk its prey for hours before they attack. Interestingly, after they’ve killed their prey, snow leopards sometimes take up to three days to finish eating it.

Snow leopards hunt blue sheep more than any other animals, but they also hunt boars, marmots, hares, and wild goats. 

Orcas

Scientific Name: Orcinus orca
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore

Orcas, more commonly known as “Killer Whales,” are one of the ocean’s top predators. 

They eat based on opportunity, so they consume a wide variety of other marine animals in their environment. In addition, they are highly intelligent hunters. 

Orcas can easily hunt small fish and other small creatures on their own, but they will often work together to ambush large schools of fish or larger prey. 

Some of their most hunted prey include sharks, sea lions, other types of whales, and stingrays. 

Red Foxes

Scientific Name: Vulpes vulpes linn
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Omnivore

Red foxes prefer to eat things like fruits and nuts, but they are not abundant enough to survive the winter months. Luckily, they are intelligent and can quickly adapt based on what they have. 

During the winter, they will often hunt and eat small game like fish, mice, and raccoons. They will also enter urban areas to eat carrion left on the road and rummage through human trash cans to see what treasure they can find. 

River Otters

Scientific Name: Lontra canadensis
Type of Animal: Mammal
Diet: Carnivore

River otters are skilled hunters and voracious predators. They have a wide range of meat-based diets; however, their go-to source of food consists of fish.

Interestingly, these intelligent semi-aquatic mammals are one of the very few animals in the wild that use tools to catch their prey.

When compared to other similar-sized animals, otters’ metabolic rate is considerably higher. Also, in order to maintain their body temperature, they burn calories much faster than other animals.

As a result, river otters eat up to 20% of their total body weight per day. In other words, they spend about 5 hours every single day hunting.

More Examples of Animals That Eat Other Animals:

• Komodo Dragons
• Anacondas
• Alligators
• Jackals
• Beetles
• Grizzly Bears
• Great White Sharks
• Cougars
• Tigers
• Owls
• Sea Lions
• Praying Mantis
• Wolverines

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