Is there a term for animals that can survive without consuming meat, even though they eat it.

Humans eat meat,
but some can survive without meat (vegetarians).
I know there are others like it, like chimpanzees, is there a term for animals that eat meat, but don't have to.

Many confirmed herbivores, such as cattle and hippos, will occasionally eat meat. The term you are looking for is probably facultative herbivory. A facultative herbivore is one that eats mostly plant material but will eat meat on rare occasions. An omnivore is an animal that feeds roughly equally on plants and animals.

"Animals that depend solely on animal flesh for their nutrient requirements are considered obligate carnivores while those that also consume non-animal food are considered facultative carnivores.Omnivores also consume both animal and non-animal food, and apart from the more general definition, there is no clearly defined ratio of plant to animal material that would distinguish a facultative carnivore from an omnivore, or an omnivore from a facultative herbivore, for that matter."

Herbivores.


Herbivores WILL eat meat. They survive just fine with out it Naturalists who catch birds report that Deer WILL eat birds caught in nets and will prey upon songbird nests.

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/news/press/ont…

http://keanradio.com/vegetarian-whitetai…

I don't think so.

We don't usually classify animals by what they choose to eat over what they do actually eat.

Omnovire usually implies they eat whatever they can find. So not being able to find meat for a while could apply, but it's a stretch to say they don't have to eat meat.

I guess the word would be "omnivorous", although that basically means "eats both meat and veg".