Animal Facts

    Animal Facts

    Learn amazing facts about wildlife with our regularly updated category for animal facts.

    A 'geep' is a very rare goat-sheep hybrid or chimera.
    A 'geep' is a very rare goat-sheep hybrid or chimera.
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    Scientists Trained Fish to Walk on Land
    Scientists trained a group of fish to walk on land and, over a period of 8 months, their body shape adapted to the terrestrial lifestyle.
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    Sharks Are Older Than Trees
    Sharks have been around longer than trees.
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    Prairie Dogs
    Prairie Dogs
    Prairie dogs affectionately greet each other with a 'kiss'.
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    Turtles That Breathe through Their Butts
    Some turtles can breathe through their butts.
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    Switzerland: Illegal to Own Only One Guinea Pig
    In Switzerland, it is illegal to own only one guinea pig, because they are prone to loneliness.
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    The Firefly Is Not a Fly
    The firefly is not actually a fly, but a beetle.
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    A jellyfish's mouth also serves as an anus.
    A jellyfish's mouth also serves as an anus.
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    Octopuses enter a dementia-like state after breeding, forget what happened
    After octopuses breed, they develop dementia. They then live the rest of their lives in this confused, seemingly lost state, with apparently no knowledge of previous events.
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    Sloths swim 3x faster than they move on land, and can hold their breath for up to 40 minutes
    Sloths can swim three times faster than they can move on land. They can also hold their breath for up to 40 minutes.
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    Free Willy
    Free Willy
    After being in captivity for 23 years, the orca from Free Willy, Keiko, was set free in 2002. Weeks later, he appeared at a Norwegian fjord apparently seeking human contact and even gave rides to children on his back.
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    Carbonemys
    Carbonemys
    About 60 million years ago, there was a species of turtle that was so large and had such powerful jaws that it could have devoured a crocodile.
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    A hippo sleeping underwater automatically rises to the surface every ~4 minutes and breathes without waking.
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    Dogs sometimes fake being sick to get attention.
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    When Koko, the gorilla famous for knowing sign language, was asked where gorillas go after death, she responded by signing “Comfortable hole, bye.”
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    It has been estimated that a bite from a grizzly bear can crush a bowling ball.
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    When Washoe, the first chimp to use sign language, was told that her caretaker's baby had died, she signed "CRY."
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    Elephants are among the most emotional creatures in the world - they have even been known to rescue other animals, such as trapped dogs.
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    Whales and dolphins can't taste anything other than salt.
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    Some farmers in Kenya are using elephants' natural fear of bees and building "beehive fences" that keep wild elephants from trampling the crops. It keeps the farms safe, and prevents farmers from having to kill elephants to defend their livelihood!
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