Tough Love: The 5 Worst Mothers In The Animal Kingdom

In the animal kingdom, tough love is nothing new, but occasionally, animal parents go too far and become the worst mothers. Here are 5 examples of the worst mothers in the animal kingdom, according to Achieng via The Richest.

Darwin Frogs

An endangered species of tiny frogs, Darwin frogs are found in South America. In addition to the threats of extinction, mother Darwin frogs abandon their young as well. The females lay approximately 40 eggs after mating. The male then takes over and guards the eggs for as long as three weeks until they begin to move.

About 15 of the eggs will then be swallowed by him, keeping the spawn even safer until they grow into tadpoles and eventually mature into froglets. The Darwin frogs' father simply coughs up his offspring after that.

Hamsters

While hamsters make adorable pets, if one becomes pregnant, they turn into ruthless killers. Mother hamsters frequently end up eating some of their offspring. Hamsters are believed to overbreed, causing them to abandon or kill the young that they lack the energy to care for.

According to Spruce Pets, a hamster may eat its young if it is overly stressed. Another reason is that even though the hamster is one of her young, the mother hamster will eat it if the hamster pup smells different. Perhaps the most cold-hearted reason for a mother hamster to eat her pup is simply that she is hungry.

Skinks

The long-tailed skink will start eating her young before they ever have a chance to hatch if she happens to lay her eggs while there are numerous predators in the area.

According to experts, she is doing this in an effort to prevent her young from suffering the worse fate of being devoured by predators later on. This is also to rebuild her own strength so she can try breeding again at a more advantageous time and location.

Burying Beetles

Burying beetles eat their overbearing offspring as a means of control. Researchers have concluded that burying beetle mothers kill their offspring who beg excessively because these offspring are stronger and more likely to survive to adulthood than those who only beg when they are truly hungry.

A 2013 study published in the journal Behavioral Ecology discussed this animal behavior of the burying beetles, noting that the older larvae appeared to receive preferential treatment from the beetle mothers.

Cuckoo

According to The Richest, the cuckoo bird makes the worst mother. In addition to forcing other birds to perform the labor-intensive task of hatching the chick, mother cuckoo birds don't even return to see the offspring once it has emerged from their womb, leaving the task of raising the chick entirely up to the bird that owned the nest.

The cuckoo chicks are no different either. The National Wildlife Federation states that some cuckoo chicks instinctively push their foster siblings and other eggs out of the nest after hatching in order to have the entire food supply to themselves.