Which Animal Can Live the Longest Without Food?

The champions of surviving without food span vastly different strategies. Tardigrades enter cryptobiosis (essentially suspended animation), expelling 97% of their body water and reducing metabolic activity to near zero, surviving for decades without any food — they have been revived after 30 years of desiccation. Among animals that remain active (or at least alive without suspended animation), the olm (Proteus anguinus), a blind cave salamander from the Dinaric Alps, can survive up to 10 years without food by dramatically slowing its metabolism. Olms live in nutrient-poor cave environments where food is scarce and unpredictable. Crocodiles can survive 2-3 years without eating by entering a state of minimal activity. Emperor penguins fast for about 4 months while incubating eggs in Antarctic winter. Ball pythons can go 6 months between meals. Among invertebrates, some tick species can survive years between blood meals.