The interaction between scavenging animals and humans is seen today most commonly in suburban settings with animals such as opossums, polecats and raccoons.
Scavengers of dead plant material include termites that build nests in grasslands and then collect dead plant material for consumption within the nest. Scavenging wild dogs and crows frequently exploit roadkill. Almost all scavengers above insect size are predators and will hunt if not enough carrion is available, as few ecosystems provide enough dead animals year-round to keep its scavengers fed on that alone. They may also use their size and ferocity to intimidate the original hunters (the cheetah is a notable victim, rather than a perpetrator). Many large carnivores that hunt regularly, such as hyenas and jackals, but also animals rarely thought of as scavengers, such as African lions, leopards, and wolves will scavenge if given the chance. Most scavenging animals are facultative scavengers that gain most of their food through other methods, especially predation.
For example, Tokunagayusurika akamusi is a species of midge fly whose larvae live as obligate scavengers at the bottom of lakes and whose adults almost never feed and only live up to a few weeks. Fly larvae are also common scavengers for organic materials at the bottom of freshwater bodies. Well-known invertebrate scavengers of animal material include burying beetles and blowflies, which are obligate scavengers, and yellowjackets. Obligate scavenging is rare among vertebrates, due to the difficulty of finding enough carrion without expending too much energy. Griffon vultures ( Gyps fulvus) eating the carcass of a red deer in Spain
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