30 Wild Animal Facts

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Welcome to our animal adventure! We are going to learn 30 amazing facts about animals. We will talk about big and small animals, from ones that hunt to ones that are very gentle. Get ready to be amazed by how different and wonderful animals can be!

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Octopuses Have Three Hearts

Yes, octopuses have three hearts. One circulates blood in the body, and two pump it to the gills for oxygen. Their blood is blue, not red because it is rich in copper, not iron. This copper-based system is particularly good for carrying oxygen in the cold ocean depths where they live.

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Butterflies Can Taste with Their Feet

Butterflies have special sensors on their feet that help them know what type of plant they are on. Female butterflies do this to pick the best leaf for their eggs. They touch the leaf with their feet, making the leaf give off its juice. Then, they know if it is a good place for their eggs.

Photo by Amber Wolfe – Unsplash

Mantis Shrimp Can Hunt

Mantis shrimp are sea animals famous for their amazing hunting skills because of their strong claws. These claws can hit as fast and hard as a .22-caliber bullet. These shrimps have a special design in their claws that lets them attack their prey or protect themselves very effectively.

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Squirrels Cannot Puke

Squirrels and other rodents cannot burp or vomit. That is why rat poison is very effective against them. While many animals can vomit to remove the poisons they might have eaten, squirrels and rodents cannot. So, if they eat something dangerous, it remains in their body, and they eventually die.

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Wild Dolphins Greet with A Whistle

Wild dolphins greet each other with a unique whistle, similar to using names. Each dolphin has its own whistle sound. If a dolphin hears its whistle, it responds, knowing it is being called by its “name”. It shows their intelligence in using sounds to talk and recognize each other in the sea.

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Seagulls Go After Whales

There is a place on Earth where seagulls go after whales. They dive at the young whales when they come up for air and pick off pieces of their fat. Because these baby whales have softer skin and need to come up for air more, they are easier for the seagulls to attack.

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Special Partnering Patterns of Male Gentoos

Male gentoos and Adelie penguins have a special way of getting a partner. They offer a pebble to the female they are interested in. Pebbles are important for them since they use them to build their nests, and it is hard to find them on the bare Antarctic beaches. If the female accepts the pebble, it means she is okay with pairing up, and they often stay together for life.

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Flamingos Are Not Born Pink

Flamingos are not born pink. They start with gray feathers that become pink from what they eat. The secret to their pink color is beta-carotene, a color found in the algae, brine shrimp, and larvae in their diet. How pink a flamingo gets depends on how many colorful foods they find.

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Koalas Have Fingerprints That Look a Lot Like Ours

Koalas have fingerprints that look a lot like ours. Even under a microscope, it is tough to see any difference between their fingerprints and human ones. It is a surprising fact that makes the koala one of the animals that share something very similar with us despite being so different in many other ways.

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Sea Turtles Do Not Meet Their Parents

Sea turtles do not meet their parents. After a mother sea turtle lays her eggs, she returns to the ocean. The eggs hatch by themselves, and the baby turtles must navigate life without parental guidance. However, these young turtles are born with an instinct that helps them survive and learn on their own.

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Horses Cannot Vomit

Horses cannot throw up. If they eat something bad or get something stuck in their throat, they cannot just vomit it out. It is because the muscle at the entrance to their stomach is super strong and works like a one-way door, letting food in but not back out.

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Dolphins And Sea Lions in The Navy

The U.S. Navy has some interesting helpers – dolphins and sea lions. They use them for important tasks like finding underwater mines and making sure submarines and weapons are working right. They even looked into other sea creatures like sharks and birds to see if they could lend a hand. The dolphins’ sonar abilities and the sea lions’ agility are big assets, helping make Navy missions safer and more effective.

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Dolphins Play with Pufferfish

Dolphins have a peculiar pastime. They mess with pufferfish to get high. Pufferfish release toxins when threatened, and in small doses, these toxins can give dolphins a sensation similar to being high. It seems like dolphins enjoy this, as the toxins can cause them to hallucinate.

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Horned Lizards Have a Strange Way to Protect Themselves

Horned lizards have a weird way of protecting themselves. They can shoot blood from their eyes up to 3 feet away. This gross trick helps scare off predators because the blood has a special chemical that does not taste good. Short-horned lizards can also puff up their bodies to look twice as big and scarier to threats.

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Narwhals Have Teeth

Narwhals are like the unicorns of the sea because they have this long tooth sticking out of their mouth. This tooth, which looks like a horn, is actually a super long tooth with nerves in it. It shows how narwhals are uniquely adapted to their environment. This cool feature also makes them a target for hunters, which shows how human interests can affect wildlife.

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Roosters Do Not Become Deaf

Roosters have a clever way of avoiding deafness from their own loud crowing. When they crow, they tilt their heads back, which covers their ears like earplugs. Their crowing can reach up to 100 decibels, about as loud as a chainsaw, but this natural adaptation protects their hearing.

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Blue Whale’s Tongue Weighs as Much as A Car

The blue whale, the largest animal on Earth, has a tongue that is incredibly heavy, weighing as much as a car or a small adult elephant. A blue whale’s tongue can weigh around 2.7 tonnes, which is necessary for them to process the huge amounts of food they consume.

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Adwaita Is the Oldest Animal

The oldest animal we are sure about was a Madagascar radiated tortoise that lived 188 years until it died in 1965. However, there might be an even older one. Adwaita, a giant tortoise from Aldabra, died in 2006 in a zoo in Kolkata, India, at an estimated age of 255.

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The Nile Crocodile Has the Strongest Bite

When it comes to biting power, the Nile crocodile is the king of the animal kingdom. Its bite can exert a force of 5,000 pounds per square inch. To put that in perspective, a human bite is about 100 pounds per square inch. So, the crocodile bite is 50 times stronger than ours and even 10 times stronger than a great white shark’s bite.

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Male Seahorses Get Pregnant

This is unique. Male seahorses get pregnant. It is the males that carry and give birth to the babies. They have a special pouch on their stomach where the female deposits her eggs, and the male fertilizes them internally. Then, he carries the eggs until they are ready to hatch.

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Pufferfish Have a Toxin More Dangerous Than Cyanide

Pufferfish carry a toxin called tetrodotoxin, which is way more deadly than cyanide—1,200 times deadlier. Just one pufferfish has enough toxin to kill 30 people, and there is no cure for it. Pufferfish meat is a fancy dish, but only chefs who have trained for more than three years and have a special license can prepare it.

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Reindeers Can Change Their Eye Color

Reindeer have this cool aspect where their eyes change color from golden in the summer to blue in the winter. It helps them see better in low light, which is super important for surviving in the Arctic’s crazy seasons. The color change helps by letting more light into their eyes during the long, dark winter.

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Sperm Whales Are the Largest Hunters in The Ocean

Sperm whales are the ocean’s largest predators. They can grow up to 66 feet long and weigh up to 80 tons. They dive nearly 2 miles deep to hunt giant squid, which can be almost as big as the whales themselves. The battles between these giants are intense, with the squids fighting back and leaving scars on the whales’ heads with their sharp beaks.

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Sloths Are Slowest Digesters

Sloths are not only slow movers but they are also the slowest digesters in the animal kingdom. It can take them 11 to 30 days to fully digest their food, which is due to their low metabolism and energy-efficient lifestyle. Their digestive system is specially adapted to extract nutrients from their low-nutrient diet, helping them thrive in their treetop homes.

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Kangaroos Use Their Tail Like an Extra Leg

Kangaroos have a unique way of getting around. They use their tail like an extra leg. A study in 2014 showed that their tail is crucial for moving forward, working as much as their front and back legs combined. It is strong, almost like a human leg walking at the same speed.

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Geese Eat Toxic Blister Beetles

Certain geese can be poisonous because they eat toxic blister beetles containing a poison called cantharidin. This poison stays in the goose’s body, making it dangerous to eat. Even a tiny amount, 10 milligrams of cantharidin, can be deadly to humans. This shows how eating certain foods can make an animal poisonous.

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Japanese Spider Crab Has the Longest Legs of All Arthropods

The Japanese Spider Crab has the longest legs of all arthropods. Its legs can stretch to almost 13 feet from one claw to the other! With 10 long legs coming out from its body, it really looks like a giant spider. These crabs live deep in the ocean waters south of Japan.

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Echidnas Are Cousins of The Duck-Billed Platypus

Echidnas are cousins of the duck-billed platypus and have some interesting features like a beak, spikes, and a pouch like a kangaroo. They even lay eggs. They are pretty small, only about 12 to 18 inches long, and are sometimes called spiny anteaters. They are among the few mammals that lay eggs.

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Shoebill Stork Can Eat Baby Crocodiles in One Gulp

The shoebill stork can eat baby crocodiles in one gulp. These big birds stand taller than 3 feet, sometimes reaching 5 feet, and their wings can stretch out to almost 8 feet wide. They get their name from their massive beak, which is over 8 inches long and nearly as wide.

Photo by Imperial War Museum – Wikimedia Commons

Wojtek Was a Bear Who Became a Corporal in The Polish Army

Wojtek was a bear who became a corporal in the Polish army during World War II. Polish soldiers found him in Iran and officially made him an officer so he could get food rations. Later, he was promoted to corporal. Wojtek even helped out by carrying ammunition boxes.