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Some animals have been known to eat their dead young. (A giraffe comes to mind.)

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ORIGINAL: Rule

Yes, really.

Indeed, giraffe are herbivores.

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ORIGINAL: Rule

It was reported having been witnessed in the magazine of the Amsterdam Zoo Artis, back in the early eighties, if I remember correctly. (I had a subscription on that magazine back then.)

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ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam
They don't have the right kind of teeth.

Sorry, Biologist calling BS.

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ORIGINAL: Rule

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ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam
They don't have the right kind of teeth.

Sorry, Biologist calling BS.

Well then, I will have to google a bit:

It is called filial cannibalism, I read.

Giraffes eat bones. For real. They pick up the bones of dead animals and swallow them whole. They do this to get extra nutrients.

I have personally seen a flock of pidgeons eat another dead bird (I think that it also was a pidgeon, but I cannot be sure) - but since pidgeons do not have the right kind of teeth, I guess that you will call bs on that as well?

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At the Soysambu Conservancy, Kenya, Muller (2010) observed a Rothschild’s giraffe, G. c. rothschildii, cow remaining vigilant in proximity to her dead calf over a period of four consecutive days. The neonatal calf had a deformed hind leg and its mother had remained within 20 m of her offspring for the duration of the calf’s life. When little over a month old, the calf apparently died from natural causes. When sighted, the calf carcass was surrounded by 17 extremely vigilant and agitated female giraffe, one of which was the calf’s mother. On the third day following the death, the half-eaten carcass was found about 50 m from the original location, with the mother standing vigilant next to it. On the next day, the carcass was no longer in the vicinity, but the mother was still in the area.

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ORIGINAL: Hillwilliam
That has nothing to do with downing a few small bones off the ground

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ORIGINAL: BitaTruble
To the question of what ate the dead young - the article suggests it was hyenas

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ORIGINAL: Rule

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ORIGINAL: BitaTruble
To the question of what ate the dead young - the article suggests it was hyenas

That was unsupported speculation: no hyena was sighted.
Nor was any supporting evidence offered for the assertion that the carcass had been scavenged by predators.

Verily: the presence of the lone mother giraffe is evidence that no predators were in the vicinity.

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ORIGINAL: Rule

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At the Soysambu Conservancy, Kenya, Muller (2010) observed a Rothschild’s giraffe, G. c. rothschildii, cow remaining vigilant in proximity to her dead calf over a period of four consecutive days. The neonatal calf had a deformed hind leg and its mother had remained within 20 m of her offspring for the duration of the calf’s life. When little over a month old, the calf apparently died from natural causes. When sighted, the calf carcass was surrounded by 17 extremely vigilant and agitated female giraffe, one of which was the calf’s mother. On the third day following the death, the half-eaten carcass was found about 50 m from the original location, with the mother standing vigilant next to it. On the next day, the carcass was no longer in the vicinity, but the mother was still in the area.

What ate the calf? No predator was seen in the vicinity. What was seen nearby was the mother. It took her four days to devour the carcass. I vaguely recollect that the giraffe that I read about that was seen devouring her dead offspring also required several days to eat it.