​​5 animals that can live for days without food and water​

Survival often depends on an animal's ability to adapt to harsh conditions in the wild, especially when food and water are scarce. While humans have very limited tolerance to hunger and dehydration, nature has some exceptional creatures with the power to endure long periods without food and water.

Be it blistering deserts or frozen wastelands and even muddy riverbeds, some animals have evolved interesting strategies to beat the odds and have learnt to be excellent adaptors. Some slow their metabolism majorly, others store fat or moisture in their bodies, and a few can shut down their biological functions temporarily to survive. These survival strategies not only help them get through extreme seasons or environmental shifts but also show how resilient and resourceful life on Earth can be.

Here are five animals that have an impressive ability to survive without food and water for long periods

Camels are possibly the most famous survival experts when it comes to going without food and water. These desert animals can live without water for up to 15 days and without food for even longer. Contrary to popular belief, camels don’t store water in their humps, instead, the humps hold fat, which their bodies can break down for both energy and moisture. Apart from that, their bodies are highly efficient at conserving water, producing extremely concentrated urine and very dry feces. Camels can also tolerate a rise in body temperature that would kill most other animals, which allows them to avoid sweating and thus retain more water, perhaps that’s why it is aptly known as the ship of the desert.

In the freezing Antarctic, after the female lays an egg, she returns to the ocean to feed, leaving the male to incubate the egg through brutal winter conditions. During this period, which can last up to 60 days, the male doesn’t eat or drink. Instead, he survives on fat reserves built up beforehand. To conserve warmth and energy, males huddle together in large groups, enduring temperatures that can drop below -40°C and wind speeds of over 100 km/h. Their ability to fast for such an extended period, while also keeping their egg safe and warm, is one of the most phenomenal examples of animal endurance and parental dedication.

The Gila monster is one of the few venomous lizards in the world, and also a master of energy conservation. It is native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico, and can survive for weeks or even months without food. This reptile has a sluggish lifestyle, moves very little, and has a slow metabolism, which allows it to stretch its energy reserves over long periods. It stores fat in its tail and abdomen, and after consuming a large meal, which could be eggs, birds, or small mammals, it can go a long time before needing to eat again. Its ability to survive on minimal resources makes it especially suited for arid, resource-scarce environments.

Tardigrades, also called water bears, are microscopic creatures that have shocked scientists with their ability to survive extreme conditions, including the vacuum of space. When they face dry conditions or a lack of food, tardigrades enter a state called cryptobiosis, where they lose almost all of their water content and shut down their metabolism. In this state, they can survive for years without food or water, extreme radiation, and temperatures ranging from near absolute zero to over 150°C. When moisture returns, they rehydrate and “wake up” as if nothing had happened. Their exceptional adaptation has made them the focus of many space and survival studies, and they are often cited as some of the toughest organisms on Earth.

The African lungfish is an ancient species with an interesting survival trick. During dry seasons, when rivers dry up, the lungfish burrows into the mud and secretes a protective mucus cocoon around itself. And it enters a state of estivation, which is a form of hibernation where its metabolism slows to nearly zero, inside this cocoon. In this dormant state, the lungfish doesn’t eat or drink and can survive for up to four years without food. When rain returns and the river floods again, it breaks free from its cocoon and resumes normal activity. This adaptation of the fish helps it to endure some of the harshest seasonal droughts in the world and has also helped the species to live for millions of years.