Skip to main content

You are not logged in. Your edit will be placed in a queue until it is peer reviewed.

We welcome edits that make the post easier to understand and more valuable for readers. Because community members review edits, please try to make the post substantially better than how you found it, for example, by fixing grammar or adding additional resources and hyperlinks.

Required fields*

12
  • 8
    $\begingroup$ The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog is a joke after all, a bunny suddenly being carnivorous doesn't make it all that dangerous. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 9, 2020 at 10:09
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ A hippo might be dangerous because it can kill most things rather easily, but if it has to kill for food rather than defense it needs to hunt or capture their prey, first, which will be a huge problem. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 9, 2020 at 12:41
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @Thomas Hippos are one of the few herbivores I honestly give a good chance of surviving. They'll easily kill most of the stuff in the lakes they live in, and they've got a pretty good chance of taking over from crocodiles as ambush predators near watering holes, they can run pretty fast if they have to, are already adept at lurking underwater, etc. They'll most likely still be in trouble though eventually because of all the other ex-herbivores going extinct and ex-predators being too few to provide enough food. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 9, 2020 at 12:59
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ "to prevent ex-carnivores from instantly going instinct because they keep trying to eat meat they can't digest" (you probably meant "extinct") Herbivores can digest meat just fine. It's the other way around that's hard (for obvious reasons, and with obvious exceptions e.g. fruit, nuts etc.). Most herbivores will happily eat meat or eggs when presented with the opportunity (e.g. deer routinelly eat the younglings/eggs when a bird nest falls to the ground). They just suck at hunting :) $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 9, 2020 at 13:46
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ Sure, but a lion cannot actually attack a bunch of antellopes and win. You'd be surprised how gruesome the results can be for a predator when he attacks a group of "prey" and misjudges the attack. And imagine that you're the lion, and the antellopes just keep coming - and as soon as you try to attack them, they run away. You can't just ignore them, but every feint makes you more and more exhausted. Humans hunted this way for ages, long before we had any weapons comparable to lion's - or indeed, those of antellopes. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 9, 2020 at 14:06