A red fox sits next to a kangaroo carcass. How animals feed<\/p>\n We know that many species \u2013 mostly herbivores or animals in a lab context \u2013 choose foods to meet their nutritional targets<\/a>. Like a bodybuilder aiming to hit a protein goal, wild spider monkeys<\/a> and orangutans<\/a> choose foods that allow them to maintain a stable intake of protein. <\/p>\n While there\u2019s no reason a similar phenomenon should not exist in wild carnivores, there is little to no data on the feeding choices of carnivores. This lack of data is due to the logistical challenges in tracking them as they can be very elusive, and typically have large home ranges. <\/p>\n Scavengers offer scientists a great model for examining how animals decide what to eat. If different parts of a carcass offer different nutritional rewards, then scavenging may be less like eating leftovers, and more like choosing from a buffet. <\/p>\n To find out, we monitored the carcasses of 40 eastern grey kangaroos in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales over a summer and a winter, with camera traps recording all activity. Three common and important scavengers in this area are dingoes<\/a>, wedge-tailed eagles<\/a> and red foxes<\/a>. We took note of the kangaroo body parts they fed on, and how long they fed each time. <\/p>\n When eagles first arrived at an intact carcass, we found they consistently chose to feed at the head and abdomen, while dingoes targeted the tail most often. Foxes, on the other hand, were completely outcompeted in choosing a \u201cfavourite\u201d body part \u2013 dingoes and eagles consistently beat them to the resource and so foxes were limited to the scraps. <\/p>\n Dingo pups discovering a free meal, as they nibble a kangaroo carcass. This finding was not entirely surprising, because dingoes and eagles are classified as apex scavengers<\/a>. This means they are the dominant species in their respective communities, and structure the ecosystem around them. As apex scavengers, they arrive to carcass sites very quickly and can consume large amounts of biomass rapidly. And because they arrived first and consumed their preferred parts, foxes had less choice. <\/p>\n When considering the choices our apex scavengers made, it became clear they targeted areas high in fat. Kangaroos are generally extremely lean animals, but they do carry concentrated fat in a few key places<\/a> \u2013 around the base of the tail, surrounding the internal organs, and within the brain.<\/p>\n But carcasses are also changing in composition as they decompose. While high fat areas were targeted early on, scavengers shifted their preferences over time. Most notably, eagles shifted their feeding to more protein-dense areas, such as the muscly hindlimbs of the kangaroo. <\/p>\n Choosing the right food<\/p>\n When we looked at what happened across seasons, we found something very interesting. Both dingoes and eagles increased their feeding on the abdomen in winter compared to summer. Cooler conditions and the lack of alternative food may increase the importance of fats in a scavenger diet. This could also explain why there was a such a strong preference for fat-rich areas when the apex scavengers first discovered the carcasses. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/file-20260928-50-w4ctke.jpg\")
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\n Niraj Meisuria<\/p>\n![\"Dingo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/file-20260928-50-do8gad.jpg\")
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\n Niraj Meisuria<\/p>\n
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