Cute captured parenting moments in the Animal Kingdom

Parents. Sometimes can’t live them, but when it comes down to it, DEFINITELY CAN’T live without them. When we’re babies and helpless to fend for ourselves in this big,bad world, they do all that they can to keep us warm and well fed. This doesn’t change whether you’re a human or an animal. Parents love their kids, and it shows.

Here are a few poignant moments captured in the Animal Kingdom that will pull at your heart strings.

1) Polar Bear:

Polar Bears are at the top of their food chain and have no natural predators. Therefore, they really don’t know the meaning of fear, being very strong and having an extremely strong sense of smell!!! However, Mama bears love their babies, as the pictures show you below. Oh, and believe it or not, their fur is not white, it’s transparent!

 

 

 

2) Lion:

Lions, they say, are the Kings of the Jungle. Ruling the Wilderness, they stay in a ‘pride‘ and are found in Sub Saharan Africa and Asia although their numbers are slowly dwindling. They are the second largest cat species after the Tiger and are  extremely strong predators.

 

3) Tiger:

Seeing that the lion is the second largest Cat, i thought hey, may as well introduce the largest cat in the Animal Kingdom!! Did you know that the stripes on the tigers fur are actually imprinted on it’s skin too?? That means, if you shave off it’s fur, you’ll find the pattern on it’s skin. WOW! The tongue of a tiger is very rough and can take off the skin of its prey, yet as you see below, at the same time it can be very gentle with its offspring.

 

4) Giraffe:

The Giraffe is the tallest living terrestrial mammal, and bear in mind that its tongue is around 50 cms long!!!! That would be a lot of drool, hehe.

 

5) Owl:

They are nocturnal birds, and hunt small creatures like mice, small mammals etc mostly at night. They can turn their head 270 degrees!!! So they can basically see if the baby owls are behaving themselves behind the mama.

 

6) Woodpecker:

Woodpeckers have long bills to enable them to peck holes into tree trunks for food. You’d think that they would get headaches from all that head banging against the tree, but they have adapted so that the brain does not get damaged while foraging for food. Hows that huh, now they can’t say “Baby, not today, I have a headache!” haha.

 

7) Elephant:

Elephants are the largest surviving terrestrial animals today. Each of their body part helps in their unique existence – their big floppy ears helps regulate their body temperature, their long distinctive trunk helps in breathing, collecting water and grasping objects. Why, even their tusks which are sadly hunted for ivory, are used as weapons and to lift objects. Here you see the Mama Elephant saying ‘Don’t wander, hold on my hand, sorry trunk Junior!‘

 

8) Penguins:

Penguins look like waiters of the sea world in their white and black plumage. However, this is not style, this helps in their survival. Whilst in water, the predator from below cannot distinguish between the reflective water and their white bellies, and from the top the black backs camouflage them. Also, they are flightless birds, their wings having been adapted to the water to form flippers.

 

9) Panda Bear:

I’m sure a lot of us have gone aaaaawwwwww when we see pictures of panda bears looking all cuddly and cute. They actually seem like big stuffed toys, and are the face of the WWF. No, I don’t mean the World Wrestling Federation, but the World Wide Fund for Nature. 99% of their diet consists of bamboo! They have a carnivorous digestive system and as their diet is mostly bamboo, they have to eat large quantities of food to get energy. They eat from 9 – 14 kgs of food a day and also excrete upto 40 times a day!! WOW!

 

10) Seals:

Seal pups are born with white fur, mostly in colder areas, and the fertilized egg is implanted only after a few months when the weather is cold enough, which is usually the month of February.They are very social animals.

 

11) Dolphins:

Dolphins are often regarded as one of Earth’s most intelligent animals, and have been known to teach ‘culture’ to their young, as well as teaching their young to use tools. They are also highly social animals and have been known to stay with injured animals, even if it is not of their own species. For e.g., they swim around swimmers in the sea to protect them against sharks, or charge at the sharks to shoo them away.

How sweet.

 

12) Hippopotamus:

The hippopotamus is one of the most aggressive and unpredictable creatures in the world and, as such, ranks among the most dangerous animals in Africa. To mark territory, hippos spin their tails while defecating to distribute their excrement over a greater area. “Yawning” also serves as a threat display. You thought they were sleepy huh?

 

13) Swan:

I’m sure all of us know about the story of the ugly duckling that grew into a beautiful swan. These beautiful creatures are generally found in the tropics, and an amazing thing in this world we live in, Swans mate for life.

 

14) Gibbon:

One unique aspect of gibbon anatomy is that the wrist is composed of a ball and socket joint, allowing for biaxial movement. They are the fastest and most agile of all tree-dwelling, non-flying mammals.  Some species have an enlarged throat sac, which inflates and serves as a resonating chamber when the animals call, and sometimes sing to attract mates and to advertise their territories.

 

15)  Otter:

Did you know that Otters must eat from 15% – 25% of their body weight each day??? wow. They don’t have to worry about gaining weight huh.

They frequently carry a rock in a pouch under their forearm and use this to smash open shells, making them one of the relatively small number of animals that use tools.