The Apex Predators

Apex Predator: an apex predator, also known as an alpha predator or top predator, is a predator at the top of a food chain, without natural predators.

First off, let’s get this out of the way – humans as superpredators because of the rate at which we kill animals. We kill up to 9-times higher than natural predators. Humans’ use of technology, plus our habit of killing for reasons other than food and our tendency to consume adult animals rather than juveniles make us the most destructive force in the animal kingdom.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s take a look at 16 of the most badass, destructive killing machines on God’s green earth:

Orca

The Orca, or Killer Whale, is an absolutely fearsome predator. They’re members of the dolphin family and live in every one of the world’s oceans. They are extremely social, travel in pods and have complex forms of communication. In other words, they’re very intelligent. Weighing up to 6-tons (that’s a couple F-150s, kids), adults can consume 100-pounds each day, including seals, sea lions, smaller whales and dolphins, fish, sharks, squid, turtles, sea birds, sea otters and Lord knows what else. Orcas are coordinated hunters and work in groups to pursue and tire their prey. They often target whale calves, separating them from their mothers and drowning them. That’s diabolical, man.

Great White Shark

So Great Whites are nothing like the big dumb fish you saw eating people in the movie Jaws. In reality, Great White attacks on humans are rare, and scientists now understand Great Whites to be intelligent, curious, social creatures that fear only one animal – The Orca. Great whites have a broad range across cold temperate and subtropical oceans, and they hunt marine mammals and feed on turtles and seabirds. A common hunting strategy involves getting directly below its prey and swimming up to attack from below. At least Jaws got that part right.

Tiger

Tigers are normally solitary nighttime hunters, relying primarily on sight and sound rather than smell to locate their prey. They chow down on deer, buffalo, goats, leopards, wild pigs, elephants, crocodiles, and even birds. They kill smaller prey by biting the back of its neck to break the spinal cord; larger prey are killed by grabbing the throat and crushing the trachea, causing suffocation. Good God that’s horrific. Tigers used to live all across Asia and parts of the Middle East, but human population and poaching have decimated their populations. Sadly, today these beautiful creatures are listed as an endangered species with fewer than 4,000 left in the wild.

Polar Bear

Polar Bears are maritime bears, which means they are seldom far from sea ice. They hunt seals and other small mammals, fish, and sea birds, and scavenge carcasses of seals, walruses, and whales. Their preferred prey is the ringed seal. A Polar Bear will wait by a crack in the ice and grab a seal as it’s coming up for air. If the seal is basking on the ice the bear will stalk or swim under the ice to surprise it by popping up through a crack. As climate change causes Arctic sea ice to melt, polar bears are losing more of their habitat and hunting grounds every year. Sad.

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagles are one of the largest raptors in North America. They tend to live close to rivers, lakes, and ocean waters to hunt fish, but they have a varied diet that includes water birds as well as small mammals like squirrels, rabbits, and sea otter pups. They scan from the sky or a perch, then swoop in and snatch they prey with their razor-sharp talons. Bald eagles also feed on carrion and steal prey from other birds. On a positive note, Bal Eagles are now off the endangered species list. Yay!

Saltwater Crocodile

The world’s largest living reptile, this beast can reach a whopping 21-feet in length and weigh up to 2,500 pounds. They live near the coasts of northern Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia, but range as far as Sri Lanka and India, southeast Asia, Borneo, and the Philippines. When hunting the crocodile submerges itself with only its eyes and nostrils above the water’s surface, awaiting prey as small as a crab, turtle, or bird and as large as a monkey, buffalo, or boar. It can lunge and kill with a single snap of its enormous jaws, usually doing its dining underwater. Yikes.

African Lion

The African Lion once inhabited southwest Asia and north Africa. Lions live in plains or savanna, and can also be found in forested, semi-desert, and mountainous habitats. Lions live and hunt in prides although the killing itself is done by a single lion, usually a female, either by suffocation or breaking the prey’s neck. Prey includes elephants, buffalo, giraffes, gazelles, impalas, warthogs, and wildebeests. If larger prey isn’t available lions will eat birds, rodents, fish, ostrich eggs, amphibians, reptiles, or scavenge for whatever is available. African Lions are not picky.

Komodo Dragon

The Komodo Dragon is from Indonesia, typically living in tropical savannah lowlands. These dark brown lizards can weigh 360-pounds and reach a length of nearly 10-freakin’ feet. Although their typical diet is carrion, Komodo dragons will attack large prey, including goats, pigs, deer, wild boar, horses, and even water buffalo. Good God almighty. Komodo dragons ambush prey, biting them to inject powerful venom and then pursuing the animal until it keels over like a bag of hammers. Then they eat it. And get this – they can eat 80% of their body weight in a single feeding, sort of like my college buddy Chowdown.

Note: Chowdown once ate 37 White Castle’s in a 49-minute sitting. Legendary.

Snow Leopard

The elusive snow leopard has evolved to survive some of the harshest conditions on Earth in the high mountain ranges of Central Asia, including the Himalayas. Dude is resilient like you read about, man. Its extremely long tail helps it balance on steep rocky terrain, its furry feet act as snowshoes, and its powerful hind legs enable it to leap several times its body length. Snow leopards hunt a variety of mammals, including antelope, gazelle, and yaks (and who doesn’t enjoy the occasional yak?), as well as smaller mammals and birds. Of course, because people are awful, they’re classified as endangered, with habitat loss and poaching posing major threats.

Grizzly Bear

Hell yes the Grizzly Bear is on this list. Once widespread throughout western North America, Grizzlies are listed as a threatened species. Today, the Greater Yellowstone Park and northwest Montana are the only areas south of Canada that still have large populations. Grizzlies are omnivores, consuming a varied seasonal diet of rodents, insects, elk calves, deer, fish berries, roots, pine nuts, grasses, and the occasional dumb hiker. They also scavenge large mammals like elk and bison. Grizzlies eat like crazy throughout the summer and early fall as they store up fat to survive the winter when their body temperature, heart rate, breathing, and metabolism decrease. In other words, they hibernate.

Dingo

The Dingo? Whuuuut? The Dingo inhabits plains, forests, mountains, and deserts of western and central Australia, but evidence suggests that they originated in Southeast Asia. Today there are dingo populations in Thailand, as well as groups in Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Borneo, the Philippines, and New Guinea. They tend to hunt small prey like rabbits, rats, and possums alone, but will hunt in pairs and family groups when pursuing larger prey like kangaroos, sheep, cattle and the occasional unattended toddler. Seriously though, livestock constitute only a very small portion of most dingos’ diets. Dingoes also eat birds and reptiles, and feed on carrion. By the way, carrion is the decaying flesh of dead animals, and many are saying it is quite tasty.

Tasmanian Devil

Unlike most Apex Predators, Tasmanian devils are nocturnal, solitary marsupials that scavenge larger prey, including wombats, rabbits, and wallabies. They participate in aggressive group feeding sessions with loud shrieks and growls, which sounds horrifying. The largest marsupials in the world following the extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger in 1936, Tasmanian Devils are endangered, ravaged by a contagious cancer called devil facial tumor disease. However, a recent conservation program reintroduced the devils to mainland Australia after 3,000 years, where it’s hoped that they will help control the feral cat and non-native fox populations while increasing their own numbers. Bottom line, look out feral cats and non-native foxes.

Leopard Seal

Leopard Seals are badass, man. I’ve seen those nature shows on Animal Planet. Anywho, with those distinctive spots it’s not difficult to figure out how the leopard seal got its name. The largest seal in the Antarctic, it feeds mainly on krill by filtering them through their teeth. However, it also hunts penguins, fish, other seal species, and squid. Up to 10-feet long, it can swim up to 25-miles per hour and dive to depths of 250-feet in pursuit of prey, making it a formidable predator. Don’t let that friendly smile fool you, man. They grab penguins by grabbing them with their incisor teeth and shaking vigorously to skin them. You read that right – Leopard Seals skin penguins.

Fossa

Never heard of a Fossa, you say? Well, you have now. Fossas are cool. They live in delightfully animal rich Madagascar, that big island off the coast of southeast Africa. The Fossa belongs to the one of the most understudied and threatened groups of carnivores. This mysterious creature resembles a cat but is more closely related to a mongoose. Weird I know. It hunts in packs, preying on small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. Among its favored prey are lemurs which it pursues through trees with agility thanks to its long tail and retractable claws, sort of like Wolverine. Classified as endangered since 2000, the Fossa’s habitat is increasingly fragmented by deforestation. They are also killed by people for entering villages, where they’re perceived as threats to poultry and small livestock. Save the Fossa!

Harpy Eagle

The Harpy Eagle is one of the most terrifying creatures these eyes have seen. It has has startlingly intense black eyes, fluffy gray feathers around the face, and long black feathers at the crown of the head that raise in a rather ominous fashion when it’s threatened. One of the world’s largest eagles, it stands over 3-feet high with a wingspan of nearly 7-feet. It preys primarily on sloths and monkeys, although it can carry off lizards, birds, rodents, and even small deer using talons longer than a damn grizzly bear’s claws. Of course it is in danger from deforestation and idiot poachers.

Burmese Python

The question is this – can invasive species become Apex Predators? Escaped Burmese Pythons in the Florida Everglades are causing a decline in some native species, altering the local ecosystem already threatened by pollution and climate change. Yet their numbers are declining in their native Southeast Asia. A Burmese Python kills its prey by lunging, impaling it, and squeezing it to death. Aided by intense contractions, it crams the animal through its mouth and expandable esophagus to its stomach, where powerful acids and enzymes break down its dinner. Isn’t that precious?Pythons consume prey many times their size, including deer and alligators. Burmese Pythons don’t give a damn, man.

So there ye be, 16 of the top Apex Predators on planet earth. I’m sad the Honey Badger didn’t make the list but you have to follow the scientific facts, kids. I hope you learned something today.