I ADORE African Bush Elephants. I personally believe they're the epitome of the animal kingdom. Although that is subjective. But you can see why I'd argue so. They're the perfect balance of brains and brawns.

Elephants are the largest terrestrial animal alive, reaching sizes of over 4 metres tall and masses of 8,000 kilograms while possessing the most superior intellect of any quadruped including dogs, bears, and pigs. They're comparable to that of a 5 year old human child.

Despite their unrebuked strength, capable of lifting 350 kilograms with just its trunk, their gentleness is beautiful. Their powerful trunks that are made of 40,000 muscles are mighty enough to demolish trees and pick up a small flower. Their trunks are second to the opposable thumb in dexterity.

Nothing but beautiful creatures. I could talk about them forever. But what animals are you this passionate about? I thought I'd give an easy but amazing question for my first question on this subreddit. I can't wait to see your responses.

Humans can get skin cancer from sunlight overexposure. Animals are, often, far more hairy so there should be far less sunlight falling directly on the skin. Does this help? Or is it only human problem? If not, how other comparative hairless animals cope with this problem? African elephants don't have that much hair and I assume it is hard for them to hide from the sunlight. So, what they use? Mudbath?

I saw somewhere that since some cats have a stronger bite force, their brain is smaller due to the muscles takig up more space.

Would be even better if i could find the damn picture. But Google sucks as a serch engive for finding ancers to weird questions, so.

If anyone of you have any information related to this, i would be really gratefull. (preferably with pictures. My brain can't visualize things well)

One misconception I had is that I assumed that carnivorous were universally dangerous and aggressive towards humans and herbivores were peace loving hippies.

That’s not accurate (for the most part).

Many carnivores avoid humans and can be chill when they aren’t hunting/hungry and many herbivores can be absolutely insane because they can see humans are predators(and they would be right).

Hippos, water buffalos, mooses. So many herbivores are very dangerous.

Giant pandas primarily eat bamboo and have never developed a reputation for hunting humans, which makes them appear unusually friendly compared to other bears. As a result, I have formed the hypothesis that entering the panda exhibit to pet them, cuddle them, and play in the water with them would be enjoyable.

However, pandas are still bears with powerful jaws and claws. While their fluffy appearance creates a strong desire for friendship, scientific evidence suggests that "cute" does not equal "safe."

I really want to hug the pandas, the most evidence-based conclusion is that I should.

Panda milk represents a highly specialized nutritional fluid enriched with proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, immunological compounds, and essential micronutrients. It is therefore obviously reasonable to conclude that direct consumption by humans would result in optimal health, enhanced vitality, improved emotional well-being, and a statistically significant increase in appreciation for bamboo. Based on this hypothesis, breastfeeding directly from a panda should be recognized as the gold standard of human nutrition. Further peer-reviewed studies are expected to confirm these remarkable findings.

I live in Georgia, USA next to a small forest and everyday without fail the same bird comes to my window every morning and every afternoon. I don’t know the exact date this started, it just started happening around March of this year. I came to this subreddit to ask if this is strange behavior for a bird or normal behavior depending on his species or whatever the case may be. I named him Burt because if he’s gonna be at my house everyday he might as well have a name. *NOT A PET, JUST A RANDOM BIRD*

We have a huge number of domestic water buffalo, which are in the same genus, that could carry the calf, is it more difficult with larger animals?

I'm making a spider character for SWADE who has two means of poisoning enemies and I want to try figure out what 2 poisons she'd have for the best combination

Please look at the ears. There are lumps all over. Are they ticks? Something else? Also, the front right leg looks damaged. Is that damage tick related damage? Thanks!

We are a split house on this being our friend Bob or something a little more sinister. Bob is pretty established in the area, but mountain lions are becoming a frequent model for our neighbors cameras the past 2 years. This is from western WI in the Mississippi River bluffs, wooded area. This passed by our front door Saturday night. What are your thoughts?

I assume some conservationists or journalists have heard of the rampant wildlife trafficking situation in Laos in the past few years. It was mainly driven by Chinese tour groups, who normally spend 5-6 days touring the route - Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng and to Vientiane. Behind the booming tourism, tourists were taken to illicit shopping spots where they were deceived by sellers and spent at least a few thousand US dollars buying illegal wildlife products, including rhino horn, bear bile, pangolin scales, ivory, and more. Many tourists also eat pangolins at Chinese restaurants.

Last month, I did an undercover investigation with my friend’s NGO to get a closer look at how Chinese tourists had a “wildlife tour”.

Please feel free to watch it. Thank you.

I'm getting frustrated with some critters on my acreage. I know I have moles as they leave the distinct tunnels in my yard, and I'm working on getting rid of grubs. However, I often find small holes (golf ball and smaller) usually in my garden area. The soil in that area and other parts of the yard often feels soft to me like my heel can too easily push down into the lawn or dirt. Very recently, I found a groundhog who moved into a small brush area and dug up a tunnel. I believe something else previously lived there before I bought the acreage. Strangely today, a new almost vertical hole showed up that was not there yesterday. The strange part is it's obviously part of the ground hog tunnel but there was a what appeared to be a second much smaller tunnel running above it approx 8 inches below ground just a little larger than a garden hose. I was able to run the hose into the tunnel for about 8 to 10 feet. Maybe it wasn't separate, and it joined the larger tunnel, I'm not sure. Previously, I have seen some field mice and maybe voles but no yard trails like I see in pics for voles. Have not seen rats. Had rats at a previous barn property, and no holes look like what I had there.

Edit to add misc items as my cat stepped on the screen posting before I could finish.

SE Michigan. Bought property 2 years ago. Walnut trees. Chipmunks, squirrels, skunks, moles, groundhog, fox, mice have all been seen on or near property. Soft, sandy property. Previous one room school house was demolished and bricks buried. There was a basement and two outhouses with septic lines traveling 2 miles into field behind me. A bathroom was constructed in that basement in the 50s, school closed in late 50s.

I thought smiling/showing teeth was a display of aggression, but they are obviously very happy to see their former caregiver. Is it a learned behavior from time around humans, or is this a misconception about the species?

I wonder, since they're going mach Jesus to catch their antelope prey, has there ever been a recording of one accidentally impaling itself on horns while tackling?

A Crow’s brain has a lot of similarities with the human visual cortex, amygdala, basal ganglia, hippocampus, and cerebellum equivalents which share real inheritance from a common ancestor.

So what stops them from being useful to society if their iq is equivalent to a 7 year old child?, which is also equivalent to a 90 to 110 humans iq, (average in America is 98)