I am quite convinced that minds and faiths resident deity made it clear to the carnivores that they just have got to wait at least some months before the herbivore populations were large enough to sustain losing some
At the same time, the resident deity would have also have had to tell the herbivores not to eat any plants until they had regrown post-flood.
And I guess he also told the plants to hold their breath and disregard their need for sunlight while the water levels rose.
It's all SO obvious! :-)
"Our future lies not in our dogmatic past, but in our enlightened present"