page_title: Carnivore
section_title: Obligate carnivores
hierarchical_section_title: Carnivore / Obligate carnivores
caption_attribution_description: العربية: أسد ذكر (Panthera leo) وشبله يقتاتان على جيفة جاموس إفريقي في شمالي منطقة سابي ساند، جنوب أفريقيا. English: Male Lion (Panthera leo) and Cub eating a Cape Buffalo in Northern Sabi Sand, South Africa. Italiano: Leone maschio (Panthera leo) e un cucciolo mentre mangiano un Bufalo nel Nord di Sabi Sand in Sud Africa.
context_page_description: A carnivore, meaning "meat eater", is an animal whose food and energy requirements derive solely from animal tissue or meat, whether through hunting or scavenging. Animals that depend solely on animal flesh for their nutrient requirements are called obligate carnivores while those that also consume non-animal food are called facultative carnivores. Omnivores also 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. A carnivore at the top of the food chain, not preyed upon by other animals, is termed an apex predator.
  "Carnivore" also may refer to the mammalian order Carnivora, but this is somewhat misleading: many, but not all, Carnivora are meat eaters, and even fewer are true obligate carnivores. For example, while the Arctic polar bear eats meat almost exclusively, most species of bears are omnivorous, and the giant panda is exclusively herbivorous. There are also many carnivorous species that are not members of Carnivora. The correct term for mammals in this group is "carnivoran".
context_section_description: Obligate or "true" carnivores are those whose diet requires nutrients found only in animal flesh. While obligate carnivores might be able to ingest small amounts of plant matter, they lack the necessary physiology required to fully digest it. In fact, some obligate carnivorous mammals will only ingest vegetation to use as an emetic, to self-induce vomiting of the vegetation along with the other food it had ingested that upset its stomach.
  Obligate carnivores include the axolotl, which consumes mainly worms and larvae in its environment, but if necessary will consume algae, as well as all felids (including the domestic cat) which require a diet of primarily animal flesh and organs. Specifically, cats have high protein requirements and their metabolisms appear unable to synthesize essential nutrients such as retinol, arginine, taurine, and arachidonic acid; thus, in nature, they must consume flesh to supply these nutrients.
caption: Lions are voracious carnivores; they require more than 7 kilograms of meat daily. A major component of their diet is the meat of large mammals, such as this buffalo.
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