Random Worst Dads In Animal Kingdom (11 items)

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  (#3) Grizzly Bear

  • Ursus arctos horribilis

  One of the things that really makes the grizzly bear stand out from other mammals is that grizzlies are prepared to eat their own cubs even when other food is readily available. Most other animals will only resort to cannibalism in desperate circumstances. These bears, though, are willing to kill and eat any young bear that enters their territory. As they are so protective of their territories, bear cubs have to be taught to stay out of areas that are home to other grizzlies.
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  (#4) Pigeon Guillemot

  • Cepphus columba

  The guillemot is a seabird that is found throughout various parts of the North Pacific Ocean. While many birds show strong parental sensibilities, that is not always the case with this particular seabird. Research carried out in 2008 showed that males of the species were often responsible for killing chicks in their nests. Experts found that the birds were regularly pecking them to death or even throwing them from high cliffs. The reason for this was that researchers believed they were killing off competition for resources during food shortages, making it more likely for them to survive.
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  (#10) Iguana

  • Iguana

  Adult male iguanas will sometimes turn to cannibalism in extreme circumstances, including eating their own offspring or the young of others in the areas. The behavior was most commonly seen when the environment suffers from a drought. With normal food sources exhausted, the male iguanas will snack on juvenile members of their own species. The fact they are small and defenseless against the adults makes them easy targets. They probably resort to this as the adults are more likely to survive the harsh conditions.
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  (#8) Bottlenose Dolphin

  • Tursiops

  Infanticide in whales and dolphins has always been viewed by experts as a rare occurrence, but that doesn't change the fact that some bottlenose dolphins have been observed doing just that. The males use different methods to try and kill young dolphins. This can include keeping them under the water so they drown when they cannot reach the surface, or flipping them out of the sea, exhausting them. Researchers believe that they may do this to try and keep mothers available for mating as they won’t have to spend several years bringing up the calf.
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  (#11) Gelada Monkey

  Like many other species of primate, gelada monkeys do not make particularly good fathers. They often engage in infanticide like chimpanzees and baboons, killing infants when taking over a group. However, they also make terrible dads to their own children. They simply do not care about the young members of their social group and will do almost nothing to provide for them or protect them against threats. Instead, all of this work is left to the mothers, who keep a careful guard over their young for the first six months of their lives.
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  (#7) Assassin Bug

  The assassin bug is essentially hardwired to eat a huge number of their own young. This is because they have the difficult task of protecting their eggs from parasitic wasps. While doing this, they are unable to forage for food and therefore have to rely on other methods to get the nutrients they need to survive. They specifically target the eggs on the outer layer of their nests, knowing that these are the most likely to be killed and eaten by wasps.

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