Mentioning the creatures in the ocean world, which one is the cutest? Perhaps many people will say that it is of course sea otter , because its cute appearance has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and many manufacturers even use the cartoon appearance of sea otters to advertise their brands, so it is such a kind of ocean One of the most adorable pets in the world, during the mating process, the male sea otter tortured the female to death. Why is this?
What kind of animal is a sea otter?
Many people confuse sea otters with water otters and can't tell them apart. In fact, from the names, we already know that these are two completely different animals. Sea otters naturally live in the ocean, while river otters live near fresh water. Due to the different living environments of these two animals, their appearance is also very different.
The sea otter is an animal in the Mustelidae family. Its entire body length is about 1.3 to 1.5 meters, and the weight reaches 60 to 100 jins. Generally, the body length of male sea otters is larger than that of female sea otters. Their forelimbs are short and their hind legs are long.
Only during the breeding season, sea otters will live on land. At other times, it can be said that sea otters live in the ocean. At night, sea otters will wrap seaweed around their bodies and use it as their own pillow to sleep. The purpose of this is to prevent themselves from being washed away by the waves.
When diving, sea otters can dive to the deepest depth of fifty meters . They usually feed on shellfish, abalone , sea urchins, etc. Because sea otters live in a harsh environment and need to consume a lot of energy every day, they eat a lot. Sea Otter is currently distributed in Japan, Mexico , the United States and other places.
Since sea otters live in the ocean all year round, it is better in summer. The seawater temperature in the ocean will not drop too low even at night. However, in winter, sea otters will inevitably encounter cold ocean temperatures. At this time, their thick fur plays a very important role in keeping warm. According to incomplete statistics, there are nearly one million hairs per square inch on each sea otter, which shows how lush the sea otter's fur is.
Why do sea otters mate violently during the breeding season?
Sea otters practice polygamy. Male sea otters will establish their own sphere of influence in the waters near females or cubs. During the breeding season, one male sea otter can mate with multiple female sea otters. Male sea otters usually have a penis bone that is 315 centimeters long. They are called "tyrants" because male sea otters often use an aggressive and violent behavior during courtship and mating.
So, how violent is it? For example, when a male sea otter is mating, he will bite the female sea otter's nose . Sometimes he will even bite off a few pieces of meat until he completes the mating task. During the entire mating process, female sea otters are often covered in bruises, and some are directly bitten to death or drowned.
According to relevant biologist statistics, during the sea otter breeding and mating season, approximately 11 percent of female sea otters died during mating. This shows how wild and rough male sea otters are. Some netizens can't help but ask: "Why do male sea otters engage in such cruel and violent mating behavior?"
Relevant personnel found in research that this may be related to the polygamy practiced by male sea otters. As we mentioned before, male sea otters will establish their own territory, and many female sea otters will live in this territory. However, male sea otters are not welcome in this territory and are often expelled. Once a male sea otter is expelled from this territory, he can no longer mate with a female sea otter.
The male sea otters who have been expelled from their territory do not have nowhere to go. They will come to an area specially established for male sea otters. These sea otters with extremely strong hormones cannot find female sea otters to vent their desires in this area. , once they have the opportunity to mate and attack, they will not let go of any target. Even if the opponent is a different species, sometimes seals will become their victims.
It can be seen that once a female sea otter meets a male sea otter, it can be said to be extremely sad. Whether she can survive after mating is completely left to fate. Not only that, female sea otters also shoulder the responsibility of reproducing offspring. They will raise offspring. However, male sea otters are often irresponsible and directly look for new lovers.
Besides sea otters, what other animals have violent mating?
In addition to the violent behavior of sea otters during mating, great white sharks are also notorious in this regard. Sometimes during mating, they often bite each other directly due to the fierceness of the mating process. The scene is extremely cruel.
In addition, walrus is also a violent mating animal. In order to compete for female walruses, male walruses will fight with their competitors. After winning the fight, they will vent all their remaining energy on the female walrus. , will directly crush the male walrus with his jaws during mating to ensure that the male walrus will not escape during the mating process. Most male walruses will be crushed to death due to the violent behavior of male walruses.
These animals do whatever it takes to reproduce. For female animals, they not only have to endure the harm caused to them by males of the same species, but also endure psychological harm, and complete the task of nurturing alone.
No matter what, for animals, this is a way for them to survive and reproduce, and it is eternal. As human beings, we should respect these animals and treat these animals well instead of harming these animals for our own benefit.
In recent years, many unscrupulous businesses have focused their interests on sea otters, because sea otters have dense fur. After these businesses capture them on a large scale, they use their fur to make various handicrafts. It has also led to a continuous decline in the number of sea otters, so once again we call on everyone to protect animals and not let them go on the road to extinction.
