Like wildfire, a strange and unfamiliar video clip of a lion eating grass spread inside an animal barn in Khartoum, and the clip reaped remarkable interaction on social media in Sudan.
Chewing grass for the strangest reason
In the details, the strange clip, which was met with great astonishment, showed a crouching lion behind the walls of an animal barn, and it began to chew the grass.
In turn, the Sudan Wildlife Park admitted that the scene seems strange and unnatural, but the truth is that lions eat grass and weeds from time to time.
The park administration explained the abnormal behavior on its Facebook page, which Al-Arabiya.net viewed: “The herbs are not an essential component of the lions’ diet, but the latter resort to eating them because they help them calm stomach disorders, in addition to another reason that drives the lions to this strange behavior. It is represented in the fact that herbs and weeds are a natural source of minerals, vitamins and fiber, which supports their health and helps them in the digestion process. In other words, lions use the herb as a kind of (primitive) stomach medicine in different situations.”
Other interpretations
In a comment to the zoologist d. Ammar Al-Baqer told Al-Arabiya.net that lions are carnivores, and depend on them to the utmost, meaning that they will die if they give up eating meat.
As for this phenomenon, it has two explanations, the first is nutritional, as animal food sources in general have a deficiency in some vitamins and minerals, and this deficiency sometimes forces carnivores to eat grass in small quantities to compensate for the lack of these materials, and he continued: “If we notice the predators begin to eat the intestines of the prey first for the same reason”.
He added that animal food sources have a low percentage of fiber, which creates digestive problems that may force them to eat grass in small quantities.
As for the second reason, it could be behavioral as a kind of entertainment while relaxing, explaining that “in general, the talk that there are animals that eat meat only and others that eat grass only, has become a subject of consideration for researchers in the field of animal nutrition, with the presence of animals that have recently become classified as humoral animals that eat meat.” and grass together.