Amazing, funny, and weird things abound in the animal world. We are frequently astounded by how different organisms on this planet have evolved and learned to thrive in their various environments.
When you learn fascinating facts about these amazing creatures that live on our planet, you’ll be sure to laugh.
1. More people are killed by cows than by sharks
It’s difficult to believe, but it’s true. Sharks kill 5 people per year on average, but cows kill 22 people per year.
Humans, in fact, are more dangerous to sharks than sharks are to humans. Every year, humans kill over 100 million sharks! Source
2. When rats are tickled, they laugh
At the University of Berlin, researchers investigated what happens in the human brain when we are tickled.
According to National Geographic, tests on rats revealed that they enjoy being tickled, particularly on their backs.
When tickled, rats make a very high-pitched sound that sounds like laughter. When they stop and ask for more, they even look for the experimenter’s hand!
3. Chimpanzees in the wild like to get tipsy
Chimpanzees, like humans, like getting tipsy on alcohol. Researchers have uncovered an evolutionary link between humans drinking alcohol and chimps looking for naturally fermented alcohol over the years.
The ‘Drunken Monkey Hypothesis’ is what it’s termed. These sophisticated wild chimps have been climbing the raffia palm trees in the Guinea forest to steal the alcoholic sap that has been collected in containers by humans.
The overall alcohol content of this fermented palm sap is around 3%, which is about the same as a small beer! Source:1, 2.
4. The meow of a cat is only used to communicate with humans, not with other cats
Cats, our cuddly companions who enjoy lying next… or on top of us, but have you noticed that cats always meow when they’re near us?
This is a sort of communication between cats and humans, but exclusively between cats and humans.
Except for kittens to their moms, you won’t witness our feline friends using the same form of touch with another cat.
Cats also use their heads to communicate with humans, letting them know they are safe. What a special pair of sweethearts they are! Source
5. Koalas Have Fingerprints That Are Human-Like
Let’s start with something relatable to begin our list of animal entertaining facts. You would assume we have nothing in common with these adorable marsupials, but you’d be wrong!
Koalas have fingerprints that are so similar to human fingerprints that they are nearly indistinguishable from human fingerprints, even under a microscope, according to Live Science. Source
6. Female ferrets die if they do not mate once they go into heat
When a female ferret goes into heat, her body produces a large amount of the hormone ‘oestrogen,’ which is produced in large quantities until she has mated.
Having such high quantities of oestrogen for a prolonged period of will eventually result in Aplastic Anaemia, which is caused by the damage sustained by the bone marrow and blood cells by the high levels of the hormone. Source
7. Thousands of trees have been planted by squirrels all around the world
They may be little, yet they play an important role in our surroundings in unexpected ways.
Because they forget where they buried their acorns, these tiny furry companions plant thousands of trees every year all across the world. How adorable! Source
8. Only half a Dolphin’s brain sleeps at a time
Dolphins are mammals, thus they must come up for air from time to time, even though they live in the sea and can hold their breath for an extremely long time.
The brain of a dolphin will never entirely disengage because it has to maintain enough motor control to sometimes go up to the surface and breathe. Dolphins also have one eye open at all times while sleeping. Source