99 Interesting Facts About Animals That Will Make You Smarter

Kiddopedia team brings you 99 interesting facts about animals that will make you smarter. We have collected interesting trivia about animals and combined them with cute animal pictures. These amazing animal facts that you probably didn’t hear about will make you smarter and increase your knowledge about animals. Listen to our relaxing background music, read the trivia about animals and enjoy the beautiful wild animals photos.

Learning about animals can start at an early age. Our educational video is like an animal fact guide, which is an excellent tool to teach animal facts for kids. The 99 random animal facts in this video are curated from our Instagram page. All the cute animal pictures you will see are highly popular on Instagram receiving hundreds our likes and shares.

99 interesting facts about animals

  • A cat can’t climb head first down a tree because every claw on a cat’s paw points the same way. To get down from a tree, a cat must back down.
  • The Amur Leopard is a subspecies of leopard that has adapted to a cold and snowy environment. The wild population has increased nearly threefold to 69 individuals as of February 2015.
  • Rats have shown signs of empathy by freeing other rats from cages without a reward. They’ve also freed other rats first when a second cage with chocolate chips was available.
  • Cows don’t have four stomachs. They have one stomach with four compartments: the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum, with the rumen being the largest compartment.
  • Not only do tigers have striped fur, their skin is also striped and no two tigers have the same stripe pattern.
  • Baby elephants don’t know how to use their trunks to drink water. By nine months, mouth, trunk and foot coordination is perfected.
  • It is against Swiss law to keep guinea pigs alone. A service even exists that provides a guinea pig companion to keep a lonely guinea pig company should its partner die.
  • Goats, being domesticated from mountain animals, are very good at climbing; they can even climb trees.
  • Unlike many other big cats, snow leopards are not aggressive towards humans. There has never been a verified snow leopard attack on a human being.
  • Penguins seem to have no special fear of humans, and have approached groups of explorers without hesitation. This is probably because penguins have no land predators in Antarctica or the offshore islands they naturally inhabit.
  • Cats have 32 muscles that control the outer ear while humans have only 6.
  • A lion’s roar can be heard up to 5 miles (8 km) away.
  • Marine iguanas sneeze frequently to expel salt from glands near their noses. The salt often lands on their heads, giving them a distinctive white wig.
  • Cheetah is the fastest land animal, reaching speeds between 112 and 120 km/h (70 and 75 mph) in short bursts covering distances up to 460 m (1,500 ft).
  • In England, hedgehogs are considered an endangered species.
  • Male lions are easy to recognize thanks to their distinctive manes.
  • Horses use facial expressions – particularly the eyes and ears – to communicate with each other.
  • Hippos can consume up to 150 pounds (68 kg) of grass in their nightly grazing sessions.
  • Gray squirrels bury nuts all over the place, and often forget them, growing new trees.
  • When a rabbit is happy it will sometimes jump in the air twist it’s body. This is called a binky.
  • African elephants are larger than Asian elephants and have larger ears that are shaped like the continent of Africa.
  • Cows from different regions have different “moo” accents.
  • Prairie Dogs say hello to each other with little kisses.
  • Tapirs have been around for quite awhile. Scientists believe that these animals have changed little over tens of millions of years.
  • Lovebird is a social and affectionate parrot species, and they mate for life.
  • Almost all chinchillas in the US are descendants of the 11 chinchillas that Mathias Chapman brought over to Los Angeles in 1923.
  • Male kangaroos fight with each other for the attention of female kangaroos.
  • Pandas have very sensitive hearing, even being able to hear ultra-sonic sounds.
  • Reindeer can change their eye color, and are the first (and so far) only mammals known to do this!
  • Goats do not have upper front teeth but instead use their tongue, lips, gums and lower teeth to pull vegetation into their mouths.
  • Turtles are generally thought of as silent creatures, but at least 47 species of turts make some form of sound.
  • Chimpanzees are capable of metacognition, or thinking about one’s own thinking, and can adjust their behavior accordingly.
  • Ducks are found everywhere in the world except Antarctica. It is too cold for them there.
  • When Snow Leopards sleep they often use their tails to cover their faces for extra warmth,
  • About 41 million donkeys were reported worldwide in 2006. China has the most with 11 million, followed by Pakistan, Ethiopia and Mexico.
  • The springbok, an antelope of the gazelle tribe in southern Africa, is world’s third fastest land mammal (90 km/h – 56 mph). It can make long jumps and sharp turns while running.
  • Red fox body language consists of movements of the ears and tail coupled with postures that use body markings to emphasize certain gestures.
  • Because raccoons wash their food, they are known as ‘washing bears’ in German and Dutch, and ‘washing rats’ in French.
  • Muskox are so powerful that they have an air pocket between their brain and skull to prevent brain damage when they charge each other
  • Grizzly bears can run faster than any horse (28 mpg/45 kmh) and they can keep running indefinitely.
  • Female llamas do not go into heat. Instead the act of mating causes the ovary to release an egg to be fertilized. This is called induced ovulation.
  • The Pokemon character Charmander is based on Salamander, a newt-like amphibian that typically has bright markings, once thought able to endure fire.
  • Hippos spin their tail while defecating to spread their poop around and mark their territory
  • Pronghorn antelope takes second place among land animals for speed. It can easily out-sprint most predators at speeds as high as 98 km/h (61 mph).
  • Bald eagles are not bald, but their feather pattern will change over time. As the eagle gets older, the crown changes from a dark brown to a bright white.
  • Female lions give birth to their cubs away from others, then hide them for the first six weeks of their lives
  • In general, owls are viewed as harbingers of bad luck, ill health, or death. The belief is widespread even today.
  • Hebridean sheep, a rare breed, sometimes have more than two horns.
  • Polar bears use nose-to-nose greetings as a way to ask other bears for something, like food. Bears who use proper manners like this are often allowed to share.
  • Opossum is the only marsupial that can be found in Canada and North America.
  • The Eurasian Lynx is capable of bringing down prey three to four times its size.
  • Titi Monkeys are monogamous and mate for life.
  • Bonobos were the last great ape species to be discovered.
  • When hunting, Meerkats communicate with purring sounds!
  • Orangutans are more solitary than other apes. Males are typically loners.
  • The famous Pokemon character Pikachu is based on Pika, which is a small mammal related to the rabbits, having rounded ears, short limbs, and a very small tail, found mainly in the mountains and deserts of Asia.
  • Baby Japanese Macaques make snowballs. They do not use them for any survival purposes, they just like to have fun.
  • Cats can hydrate themselves by drinking sea water
  • The Harpy Eagle is one of the largest of all eagles weighing up to 20 pounds. It primarily eats arboreal mammals such as sloths and monkeys, which can weigh as much as the eagle itself.
  • Gibbons are among the fastest, nonflying animals in the forest canopy, but are less graceful on the ground. Their awkward bipedalism is may be similar to that of our primitive ancestors.
  • Crows have been known to visit their ageing parents even after they’ve left the nest.
  • Technically, all unmarked swans in British waters belong to the Queen and are reserved for feasting.
  • River otters can stay underwater for up to eight minutes and can close their ears and nostrils to keep water out.
  • The peregrine falcon is the fastest aerial animal, fastest animal in flight, fastest bird, and the overall fastest member of the animal kingdom.
  • Albatrosses form breeding pairs that last for life
  • It’s a myth that turkeys can’t fly. Wild turkeys can fly up to 55 MPH. The ones that can’t fly are fattened up to be raised as food.
  • Baboon infants often seek more independence than their mothers are willing to give
  • Chimpanzees make and use tools. In fact, they use more tools for more purposes than any other creature except human beings.
  • Camel kidneys and intestine reabsorb so much water that camel urine comes out as a thick syrup, and camel feces are dry enough to be used as fire fuel.
  • The quokka, which lives in southwest Australia, is one of the few Australian animals that don’t pose threats to humans.
  • Gorillas have unique noseprints, much like human fingerprints, which can be used to identify individuals.
  • In Malay orang means “person” and utan is derived from hutan, which means “forest.” Thus, orangutan literally means “person of the forest.”
  • Dachshunds are burrowers by nature and are likely to burrow in blankets and other items around the house, when bored or tired.
  • Lions are carnivores and they hunt mostly antelopes, zebras, and wildbeests.
  • Fennec Foxes have furry feet which work like snowshoes to protect them from extremely hot sand.
  • Baby elephants suck their trunks—like human babies suck their thumbs.
  • Two of the raccoon’s most distinctive features are its extremely dexterous front paws and its facial mask, which are themes in the mythology of many Native American groups.
  • Noted for their intelligence, studies show that they are able to remember the solution to tasks for up to three years.
  • The black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), also known as the American polecat or prairie dog hunter, is a species of mustelid native to central North America.
  • There are 338 species of hummingbirds. They are all native to the Western hemisphere.
  • Dolphins ‘deliberately get high’ on puffer fish nerve toxins by carefully chewing and passing them around
  • Ducks sleep with one eye open and one side of their brains awake
  • Cassowaries can grow to be over six and a half feet tall (2 m), can run over 30 mph (48 km/h), and feature a five inch (13 cm) dagger-like middle toe.
  • Emperor penguins can weigh as much as 100 pounds (45 kg)!
  • The caracal twitches its ears to communicate with other caracals.
  • Unlike other big cats, cheetahs cannot roar. However, they can purr on both inhale and exhale, like domestic cats!
  • Similarly to dogs, lambs wag their tails when they are stroked.
  • The Burrowing Owl collects mammal dung and puts it around its burrow. The dung attracts dung beetles, which the owl then captures and eats.
  • Although they have excellent senses of smell and hearing, Skunks have poor vision, being unable to see objects more than about 3 m (10 ft) away, making them vulnerable to death by road traffic.
  • All geckos lack eyelids. Instead of blinking, they clean their eyes with their tongue!
  • Dogs feel most vulnerable when pooping so they look to their owners for protection, which often results in awkward staring
  • Squirrels will adopt another squirrel’s baby if its parents die or are unable to care for it
  • If an Icelandic horse ever leaves Iceland, it is legally forbidden from returning, due to fears regarding the introduction of foreign diseases to native herds.
  • Female giraffes give birth standing up. Their young endure a rather rude welcome into the world by falling more than 5 feet (1.5 meters) to the ground at birth.
  • Red pandas have an enlarged papillae underside of the tip of their tongue, which is used to inspect scents.
  • The ancient Egyptians venerated the hedgehog as a symbol of rebirth. Its autumnal hibernation and spring awakening made it a natural for such idealisation.
  • The color of a male lions mane varies from blond to black, generally becoming darker as the lion grows older.
  • The arctic fox is the only land mammal native to Iceland.
  • Unlike many felids, tigers are strong swimmers and often deliberately bathe in ponds, lakes and rivers as a means of keeping cool in the heat of the day.
  • Sloths only poop once a week, but the turd can be 1/3 of their body weight

Please have a look our Animal facts page for more educational videos about the big cats such as lions, ducks and horses.

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Sources:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Awwducational/