Top Ten Animals That Stay Long Without Food

Have you ever wondered how long that spider that constantly weaves a web around one of the external mirrors on your car can go without food, given that you regularly remove the web? What about animals in droughts or areas that get covered in snow in winter?
It appears that going without food is not that uncommon out there in nature land. We eat regularly because we have to and we can, but not all animals have it so easy.

10. Camel

Time without food: 40 days
The camel has a great capacity to survive for long periods without food or water. In fact, they can live longer without water than without food.

Part of the reason for this is a large amount of water they store in their hump. No, it’s not all water; it’s fatty tissue. When there is no food or water around the fat in the hump is metabolized and water is released as a part of this process. In fact, the amount of water released into the body is about the same as the amount of fat burned.
The fat is stored in a hump rather than evenly spread over the body so the fat doesn’t act as insulation and keep the body warm. While metabolizing the fat releases water and energy, there are still nutrients.

9. Homo Sapien

Time without food: 116 days
There are numerous cases of humans going for extended periods without eating. In some cases, it has even extended beyond weeks into months.

The longest recorded case was Bhagat Singh who was a significant figure in the revolutionary movement that led to India’s independence from Britain in 1947.
1929 Singh led a hunger strike while he was in prison for murder, demanding better conditions for the Indian inmates. His hunger strike lasted for 116 days, only ending it after receiving concessions from the government and urgings from his father. He had lost 60 kg’s (133 pounds) but showed that the human body is capable of surviving an incredible amount of time without food.

8. Dog

Time without food: 117 days
Unlike most of the other animals on our list the dog is a mammal and has to maintain a certain body temperature to remain alive. The dog’s metabolism acts to maintain the body temperature in times when the external environment is colder than the minimum temperature the dog needs. It, therefore, needs to eat to fuel its metabolism.

However, there are cases of dogs living for exceptionally long periods without eating food. Dogs, and their wild relatives such as wolves, dingos and coyotes, have a strong survival mechanism that allows them to endure extreme conditions and survive.
There are a number of cases where dogs have been known to survive for weeks and one case where a dog went for almost three months without food.

7. Emperor Penguin

Time without food: 120 days
The male emperor penguin gets the dubious honor of staying with the couple’s sole egg for the winter while the female goes and finds herself some food. During this period of incubation the male, who shelters the egg with his feet, doesn’t eat or drink.

Luckily for the male, he can store large amounts of energy in his substantial body fat to keep his metabolism going for warmth. He loses up to half his body weight doing this.
But wait, that’s not all.
When the female returns and the male can go and get some food he has to walk up to 120 km’s (75 miles) to get to the sea. That’s no small walk for any creature, much less one that has to waddle on its short little legs.

6. Snakes

Time without food: 1 year

Like other reptiles, snakes cannot regulate their body temperature. When they get cold their body temperature lowers and, when it’s cold enough, they go into a state of dormancy. Unlike hibernation where the animal actually goes to sleep, snakes remain awake and they are said to ‘brumate’.
Snakes will normally find a burrow or somewhere in the dirt to brumate as the dirt protects them from the worst of the cold they are sheltering from. The snakes metabolic rate in this dormant state is so low that they are able to live for long periods by surviving on the stored energy in their bodies.

5. Frogs

Time without food: 16 months

Frogs have the ability to ‘breath’ through their skins and can survive under conditions that allow this as the only way of getting oxygen into their body. Carbon dioxide and water can also pass through their skin. This is the reason frogs have to keep their skins moist.
Frogs can hibernate, or go into a dormant state that uses so little energy they can stay that way for months. This is an adaptation to their environment such as during droughts or when snow covers the landscape. In fact, some species of frog allow themselves to freeze. Their internal organs are protected by high levels of glucose and when the temperature rises their heart starts again and off they go like nothing had happened.

4. Spiders

Time without food: 18 months

Spiders have an exceptionally low metabolism in comparison to other creatures. One study has put it as much as half that of comparably sized creatures. This fits with the potentially sporadic nature of their food sources and, for many spiders, spending long periods of time totally inactive.
The Rabbit Hutch spider (Steatoda bipunctata), which is found throughout North America and Europe, has been kept in captivity for 18 months without water or food and did not show any signs of distress.

3. Crocodiles

Time without food: 3 years

Crocodiles are ancient reptiles that regularly go for long periods without food. As crocodiles rely solely on the external temperature to regulate their internal body temperature (aside from panting or moving between sunshine and shade), they don’t require food to maintain a metabolism that maintains body temperature. They become more active in hot months and less active in the cooler months.

Crocodiles are very efficient at storing energy in their bodies and are capable of eating large meals. This, and their ability reduce remain motionless for long periods means they can go without food for as long as three years.

2. Lungfish

Time without food: 4 years

Lungfish are not dissimilar to the Ohm at the top of this list. They can breathe air and have fins at the front of their bodies that were probably once legs. They are also predatory fish eating frogs, snails and even other small fish. Lungfish are sometimes known as salamanders and are found in Australia, Africa and South America.
As well as being able to survive incredibly long periods without food, they are extremely long living creatures. An aquarium in Chicago has had a Queensland lungfish in captivity for the last 81 years.

1. Olm

Time without food: 10 years

Olms are amphibians that live in water in underground caves throughout Italy, Croatia and Slovenia. They have no pigment in their skin, eyes that don’t work properly (it’s blind), fantastic hearing and smell, little feet with toes and gills. It’s also known as a cave salamander.
They prey on small crabs and snails and are extremely good at storing food in their body as lipids and glycogen. When there isn’t much food around they lower their metabolic rate and become inactive, living from their nutrient reserves.
Documented trials have demonstrated that these creatures can live for up to 10 years without food.

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