Random Baby Animals That Have To Go Through Brutal Gauntlets To Survive (11 items)

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  (#9) Baby Crocodiles Must Be Dug Out Of The Ground Before They Suffocate

  Baby crocodiles are born buried alive - and they must escape from their shells and yell for their mother to come dig them out of the ground. If their mother doesn't dig them out in time, they suffocate and die.

  Once a mother crocodile digs out her young, she'll carry them in her mouth to the water where they have to instantly learn how to swim, hunt, and avoid all of the things that are trying to kill them. Mothers keep a watchful eye on their babies, who emit a special scent to let mom know they're hers. However, after a few short weeks, mother crocs bail and their children have to fend for themselves. On top of being left completely alone at such a young age, crocodiles are very violent and often attack each other. Over half of all baby crocodiles don't even live beyond a year.
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  (#3) Shark Babies Eat Their Siblings

  Surviving as a sand shark is pretty rough - and chances are you won't even end up being born because your older brother or sister will have eaten you while you were still in your egg. Sand shark eggs hatch in the womb in different layers, so those who hatch first get a head start and end up eating the eggs that fell behind. And once all of the eggs are gone, they move on to actually cannibalizing their smaller, weaker siblings. Talk about a sibling rivalry.
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  (#5) Polar Bear Cubs Face Starvation, Freezing Temperatures, And Predators

  Polar bear moms make every effort to protect their young, but often it's not enough. Cubs are lucky enough to be born in a comfy snow den that protects them from temperatures that get as low as -20 degrees Fahrenheit, and these tiny creatures feed off mom's milk until they're ready to hunt on their own. But when a cub is between three and four months old, it will venture out into the dangerous wilderness - a wasteland of water, ice, and snow. This is when life gets hard. With melting ice caps and rapidly shrinking populations of seals, mother polar bears often struggle between starving or eating their young, as they only have so much fat stored away and cannot produce milk if they're malnourished. If a polar bear isn't eaten by its mom in a last-ditch effort to survive, it's likely that the cub will die of starvation anyway.
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  (#4) Baby Sea Turtles Make A Long, Treacherous Journey To The Sea

  When baby sea turtles hatch, they're completely on their own and without protection from mom or dad. Once they break out of their eggs, they have to crawl out from under the sand and make a long, treacherous journey into the sea with only their instincts to guide them. These animals have no protection against the birds that often scoop them up for a quick meal. And if they're lucky enough to not get eaten by a bird, they still have to watch out for the crabs that'll try to pull them back underground to eat them alive. Sadly, only 1% of sea turtle hatchlings actually manage to survive into adulthood.
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  (#7) Komodo Dragons Roll Around In Poop To Deter Cannibalistic Adults

  Though some female Komodo dragons have the ability to lay eggs without a male's sperm, if these fatherless-eggs end happen to hatch, then they're in for a pretty tough life. Baby Komodo dragons tend to hangout in trees in order to avoid predators, but their biggest predators are actually their own kind. Young Komodo dragons actually make up 10% of an adult's diet because medium-sized prey is pretty rare on the islands and something has to sustain their extra-large appetite.

  However, young Komodos have come up with some pretty gross tactics to ward off adults. They often eat by scavenging from the dead animals killed by other Komodos. And when they approach a kill, they will roll around in their own feces and the dead animal's intestines in hopes of deterring hungry, cannibalistic adults.
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  (#8) Adorable Baby Hamsters Have To Survive Their Cannibalistic Mothers

  You thought your mom was mean, but momma hamsters are in a whole different category. Female hamsters will frequently kill their own young, and they have no shortage of excuses. Stressed new mommas will just knock out a few from their brood to make things easier on themselves. If the mom feels she can't care for a litter of a certain size, she'll kill some of her babies to save the others - especially if food is scarce. Once hamster moms are done, they'll often cannibalize their young. A baby hamster must always make sure they stay on mom's good side.

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