Herbivore
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Herbivores are animals that eat mostly plants. We can also say that animals that eat mostly plants are herbivorous animals.
Some people choose not to eat meat, but people who eat mostly plants are usually called vegetarians, not herbivores.
Animals that are herbivorous cannot chew or digest meat. But some herbivorous animals will eat eggs and occasionally other animal protein.
Some herbivores can be classified as "frugivores", which eat mainly fruit; or "folivores", which eat mostly leaves. Animals that eat mostly grass are "grazing" animals.
Many animals that eat mostly fruit and leaves also sometimes eat other parts of plants, for example roots and seeds.
The diets of some herbivorous animals change with the seasons. In the temperate zones of the Earth, some seasons are hot and some are cold, so different plant foods are most available at different times of the year. Many herbivorous animals that live in the temperate zones change their diet at different seasons of the year. In some places, some seasons are very rainy and wet, and others are very dry. Animals that live in these places may also change their diets at different seasons.
In some ways it is easier to be an herbivorous animal than a carnivorous (meat-eating) animal. Carnivorous animals have to find and catch the animals that they eat, and sometimes the animals that they want to eat fight them. Herbivorous animals have to find the plants that they want to eat, but they do not have to catch them. And although some plants have spines, toxins (poisons), or a bad taste, they do not really fight. Partly because of reasons like this, most animals are herbivorous animals. There are many more herbivorous animals living in the world than carnivorous animals.
[edit] Examples
- Goat
- Cow
- Horse
- Zebra
- Rhinoceros
- Wildebeest (also called Gnu)
