What Animals Have No Natural Enemies

Not counting humans as enemies, AND assuming the animal is full grown and healthy I can only think of a few.

Gorilla
Elephant
Alligator
Bear (Grizzly or Polar)

I was thinking lions have hyena packs that can kill a full grown lion.

Maybe Hippos, Rhinos and Giraffes?

Any other ideas?

Tiger
Snow Leopard (I think the others have enemies, thus them pulling carcasses up into trees)
Camel
Monitor Lizard

I’ll agree with you about hippo, giraffe and rhino.

I’m sure there’s a lot more, just too lazy to think up the entire food chain.


“I guess it is possible for one person to make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”

Hmmm…I’m no natural history major so here’s my WAGs.

Great white sharks
Most birds of prey
Killer whales
Crocodiles (technically different from gators)
Anacondas
Wolverines
Wolves
Blue whales
Whale sharks
Large cows with machine guns
Penguins in PT Boats
(okay…now I’m reaching, I’ll just end this)


“…send lawyers, guns, and money…”

 Warren Zevon

The mighty flea, enemy to most animals. :slight_smile:
Prace,
mangeorge


Work like you don’t need the money…
Love like you’ve never been hurt…
Dance like nobody’s watching! …(Paraphrased)

Many species that have been imported to a place they did not evolve have no natural enemies. Which is why they can devastate ecosystems.
This happens a lot on, say, South Pacific islands where animals like pigs and housecats cause a lot of problems with the native species.

Don’t forget about the sheep that give us steel wool.

"So, naturalists observe, a flea
Hath smaller fleas that on him prey;
And these have smaller still to bite 'em;
And so proceed ad infinitim

– Jonathan Swift

(And, yes, fleas have parasites that prey on them.)


www.sff.net/people/rothman

Crows and ravens

Crows And Ravens? No, mink kill them, & I’ve seen it happen, so give me no shit.
Otters, however; they have no natural enemies.


We have met the enemy, and He is Us.–Walt Kelly

Depends on what you mean by ‘natural enemies’. Prey animals have natural enemies in the predators that live off of them. Few predators have natural enemies - their lives are risky enough as it is - but occasionally conflicts over shared food sources arise, as with hyenas and lions. Some predators are prey themselves when young - for example, baby alligators are eaten by fish, birds, turtles, etc. that may, in turn, become the prey of adult alligators.

Actually, all living creatures have ‘natural enemies’ - disease-causing organisms such as bacteria and viruses.

[[Crows And Ravens? No, mink kill them, & I’ve seen it happen, so give me no shit.]]Daniel Bostaph
Great Horned Owls will also prey on crows.

Most of the ones you all have cited as not having natural enemies do… tiger cubs, alligators (babies & eggs), etc…

Gotta be more specific.

One of the few I can think of: albatrosses have no natural enemies, not even the eggs or hatchlings. (The No.Pacific varieties, anyway, nesting on Midway and Laysan…)


“Proverbs for Paranoids, 3: If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about answers.”

  • T.Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow.

I’m glad to find out that crows have some predators. Unfortunately, suburban Southern California is low on owls and minks.

I guess a really ornery cat could go after a crow, but I think it would be a tough battle.

Who preys on the pigeon?

Hey Jorge, you may want to reread the OP.

As for what animals, well most of the large animals mentioned fit the bill, but I guess its not an exact science. Water Buffalo who are full grown and healthy are pretty safe, but I wouldn’t say they have no natural enemies. I guess a better question is what species have no natural predators in their environment. Here, most of the big cats fit becuase AFAIK only the kittens fall prey to hyenas and jackals. Giraffes are safe once they are grown, but thats because they are too big to be killed not because lions won’t do it.

Pigeons in cities have not predators, but in the wild they do, do they count? In Australia many introduced animals have no predators, but in their original climes they do. Consideration of these situations is confusing.

Komodo(?) Dragons have no predators.

Do canibalistic animals count? Black Widows have no predators I am aware of except their own.

Humans have no enemies by some accounts. A bear or lion may kill us, but they don’t prey on us.

Cattle and Buffalo probably didn’t, but what things were like before domestication is beyond me.

Coral isn’t eaten I don’t believe, but I could be wrong.

Tigers, Dolphins, Vultures, Condors, and Horses

Dolphins are occasionally attacked by sharks.

Coral is eaten by the parrotfish, plus lots of other things.

Horses usually lack predators for the same reason that Yorkshire Terriers do; they’re domesticated, so we humans keep their enemies away.

Pigeons, most of our barn cats have brought down full grown, healthy pigeons, don’t they have stray cats in the city anymore?

Deer in North America. Only controlled by the CAR. Hunters are less useful in population control. Other than wiping out each other.

Most of the smaller cats are subject to attacks by lions and hyenas. Hyena packs have attacked lions. Lions attack cheetah’s and leopards.

The Great Horned Owl has been known to attack eagles. Lions will attack water buffalos. (usally not a smart move by the lions but I just saw this on nature. It took the lions a long time to overpower the female buffalo).

Actually, the original post is kind of stupid. Nothing exists independent of the food chain. Even ‘healthy’ animals fall prey to diseases like viruses. Man him/herself has many ‘natural’ predators. To try and isolate the issue in terms of whether any animal ‘preys’ on a species is to take a very limited view of the interrelationship of the whole. :slight_smile:

Some peregrine falcons make their nests on the ledges of tall buildings. In fact, until recently, a pair would return year after year to nest upon the Joseph Smith Building in downtown Salt Lake City. Their main food was sparrows and pigeons.


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