The Ferocious Appetites of Nature: Animals That Consume More Than Their Weight Daily

What are the five animals in the world that could go on a diet? If you have ever struggled to stay on a diet to reach a healthy weight, you are not alone. Across the globe are animals that struggle to stay on a diet. In fact, you could even call them gluttons. While the average American consumes 1,996 pounds of food per year or 5 pounds of food per day, the average male weighs 197 pounds, and the average female weighs 171 pounds. By contrast, many animals consume more than their body weight daily.

This list was compiled by comparing the amount of food that an animal eats to its body size. Based on these figures, it is easy to see why some of these animals may be considered overweight. Consider these five animals that are the gluttons of the animal kingdom.

Polyphemus Moth

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Polyphemus moth eats 86,000 times its body weight in the 56 days that it lives as a caterpillar. To eat the same amount, we would have to eat about 125 pounds of lettuce every day.

As caterpillars, the Polyphemus moth is bright green with a rust-colored head. This caterpillar lives for about six weeks before metamorphizing into a moth. It can be seen in most areas of the United States and throughout much of Canada.

Bee Hummingbird

If you were to look at the bee hummingbird, you would wonder how anyone could include it on the list of the most overweight animals. These hummingbirds weigh about 2.5 grams and eat their body weight in nectar and insects daily. Furthermore, it can store up to 17% of its body weight as fat. That is the equivalent of the average-sized person storing 30 pounds of fat daily. This hummingbird wants a meal of nectar every 15 minutes.

The bee hummingbird is the smallest bird on earth. It lives in Cuba, where it prefers to dine on horizontally positioned wildflowers.

Pygmy Shrew

The pygmy shrew eats 125% of its body weight daily. Ideally, this shrew living in Great Britain and Ireland dines on high-protein invertebrates, like insects, arachnids, and woodlice meals every 180 minutes or less. They will often use burrows dug by other animals to get to prime feeding grounds.

Why are their appetites so enormous? Pygmy shrews also have one of the fastest metabolisms in the animal kingdom. Their heart rates are extremely high at 800 bpm. To support this, they must eat every 15 minutes both day and night.

Despite the pygmy shrew’s ferocious appetite, they tend to lose up to 27% of their body weight during the winter. To obtain enough food, pygmy shrews can cover up to 2,000 square meters.

African Elephant

Male African elephants eat up to 1% of their weight in dry mass daily. Therefore, depending on the water weight of the food they consume, they may need to eat up to 528 pounds of food every day. Lactating females need to eat about 1.5% of their body weight daily. Since the average female African elephant can weigh up to 8,000 pounds, you can expect them to eat about 480 pounds of food daily.

The African elephant, which is the largest of all land mammals, prefers to dine on roots, grasses, fruit, and bark. In order to meet their ferocious appetites, African elephants do not sleep much as they are always looking for their next meal. In fact, they spend about 80% of their time looking for their next great meal. African elephants often use their trunks to help them gather food.

While water is also essential to the African elephants’ survival, they can drink up to 11 gallons of water in a minute. Males generally need 22 gallons of water daily, while females need a little less.

Blue Whale

The appetite of the blue whale is notorious. Daily, it consumes more than 16 ton of krill. To meet their demand for food, this animal which is the largest in the world, takes big gulps of water. Then, it strains the water out using its unique baleen plates as a strainer.

To catch its prey off guard, the blue whale uses a unique swimming motion. After it spots a school of krill, it turns 180 degrees on its side. After it gulps in the water, it continues its 360-degree roll until it’s back upright. The whale uses its pectoral flippers to guide the roll so that it can get the most krill. While scientists are not sure, they believe that the blue whale may be the only whale to roll to catch its prey. Additionally, the blue whale comes up from below the krill so that they do not see it until the whale is ready for its next meal.

Gluttony Enabled by Humans

It bears mentioning that some animals, especially domestic pets, have suffered from obesity due to the types of food humans feed them, as well as the volume or frequency with which they feed them. Have you ever heard the label “fat cat?” 35% of domestic cats are estimated to be obese. And dogs are no exception, with 25-30% being obese on average, as well as 40-45% of dogs ages 5-11. These numbers are disheartening.

To keep pets at healthy weights, their human owners need to ensure that their diets are high in protein and low in carbs, and portions are controlled. And pet animals, just like their human owners, need regular exercise.

While the animals on our list may not be overweight, they do have ferocious appetites. Each one has unique features that allow it to consume its prey. Yet, all spend hours each day wondering where their next meal will come from — something that’s important to remember when we consider the appetites of wild animals versus domesticated ones.