Cannibal is ... Meaning and examples of cannibalism in animals and humans

Often in our view, cannibal is a man who existed far in the past when the planet was inhabited by wild primitive tribes. Is it so? Can there be ruthless devourers of our kind in our civilized world?

Cannibal is who? Meaning and interpretation of the word

Very often cannibalism is called cannibalism, although this is not entirely true. What is the difference? A cannibal can be any creature that people eat. Basically, these are large predatory animals that are capable of attacking humans and eating, for example, brown and polar bears, sharks, Komodo lizards, wolves and others.

Cannibal is a creature that eats its species. That is, the terms "cannibalism" and "cannibalism" are equal only when it concerns a person. Unfortunately, this is possible in modern realities. There are many cases in history when people ate each other.

The word was formed from the name "caniba". Before the discovery of Columbus by the Bahamas this name was called the inhabitants of Haiti. Eating people for Aboriginal people was common. In the language of the African tribes, Herero canibal means "brave". In the Russian language, figuratively speaking, it is interpreted as a "rude or cruel person".

Cannibalism in animals

In nature, an animal-cannibal is not uncommon. More than a thousand species of mammals, fish, insects and arachnids eat their brethren. Strange behavior is explained as a manifestation of intraspecific competition. This is how the population size is regulated.

Cannibalism intensifies when conditions of existence become too harsh and animals suffer from a lack of any resources, especially food. In this case, eating "their own" helps survive the rest and save the population.

Females are usually more prone to cannibalism than males. For example, female black widow spiders eat partners immediately after mating. Similar to mantis, some mosquito species, flies. To avoid death, males sometimes bring the female other insects, as their replacement.

Cannibals are found among lizards, snakes, turtles, rodents and primates. Some fish eat all small animals in a row without even distinguishing their own offspring. The young lion, having displaced the aged pride leader, eats his offspring. They can also eat their wolves and wolves.

Cannibalism in humans

Previously, people were less picky about food, and cannibalism began to be practiced from the Stone Age. At first, this was due to a lack of food, but over time it began to acquire religious significance. Many cannibals believed that eating the brain, the heart and other parts of the enemy would give strength and courage. Due to the lack of heat treatment, they often developed various diseases.

Medieval seafarers periodically discovered tribes of cannibals. One of them was presumably eaten by James Cook. Cannibalism was found on the Malay Archipelago, in Asia, Africa, and North America. Some researchers claim that it spread in Europe.

Greek, Scandinavian and other myths tell about cannibalism. The Greek god Kronos, for example, devoured his children. In ancient tribes, cannibalism was part of the rite of sacrifice, which was later replaced by the murder of an animal, not a human.

Modern tribes of cannibals

Not all people got rid of this tradition. At present, there are quite a few tribes left that civilization has not touched. Some of them still practice cannibalism. Members of the Aghori community in northern India believe that eating people slows down the aging, although they are fed only by volunteers.

Cannibals Guineas believe in dark magic and witchcraft, to get rid of which can only be through cannibalism. The news periodically reports of the loss of tourists in the south of Papua New Guinea. Once they even kidnapped and ate voters in the elections.

Tribes of the island of Fiji use cannibalism as a revenge on the enemies. Examples of cannibalism are found among the tribes of Brazil and Congo. At the end of the 20th century, a tribe of leopard skins was found in West African countries, which believed that cannibalism attached strength and speed. Later they were inherited by the Human Alligator community.

Conclusion

Cannibalism is the eating of similar beings. In the wild it is widely distributed and is the main mechanism that controls the population size. Wild human tribes eat people not only for food, they often impose their spiritual or religious meaning on their actions.

Unfortunately, cannibal people are not only found among savages. There is a whole list of maniacs killing and eating their victims. Many of them did not differ from other people either appearance or behavior. The well-known Russian maniac-cannibal Andrei Chikatilo had a family, worked as a teacher and more than once helped the militia as a volunteer.