11 Fun Facts About Animal Groups That Will Make You Smile

The world is full of animals that live in groups, gangs, or even gaggles. Some of these groups can be very large like the huge million strong wildebeest great migrations or can be small like a pride of lions. There is safety in numbers and it’s much easier to find food if you have some helpers. Here’s to animal colonies, caravans or clowders, no matter what they are called, these animal fun facts will brighten your day and make you smile.

A Band of Gorillas

Gorillas are large apes that are native to Africa and travel in bands but they don’t play musical instruments. A band of gorillas can be as large as 50 or as few as two according to Live Science. Gorillas keep very busy every day napping, playing, napping, grooming and then napping again.

Gaggle of Geese

A male goose is a gander, a female goose is just a goose, but get a bunch of them together on the ground and they are a gaggle. Up in the air is a whole different story. Flying geese are a team, a skein, or a wedge and when they are flying close together in formation, they are a plump.

Zebras in a Zeal

Every zebra has its own pattern of stripes just like every person has their own unique fingerprints according to National Geographic. Zebras live in the wild in Africa in herds called zeals and tend to stick together in family groups, just like people.

A Parliament of Owls

A group of owls are called a parliament at least that’s what C.S. Lewis called a meeting of Owls in the Chronicles of Narnia and it just sort of stuck. One fun fact from The Audubon Society is that owls can rotate their necks 270 degrees. What better way to hunt prey when you can have eyes almost in the back of your head?

Glaring of Cats 

Domestic cats are great hunters because they have a super-secret weapon according to National Geographic; their glaring eyes. Cats eyes are light-reflecting and that helps them to see and catch their prey (those little gifts they bring you). Maybe that’s why a group of cats are called a glaring.

A Barrel of Monkeys

Monkeys just want to play and have fun. And what’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys. There are 264 species of monkeys and they are divided into old world monkeys that live in Asia and new world monkeys that live in South America. While a group of monkeys are sometimes called a tribe, at Goodnet, we prefer the term barrel because these adorable animals are a barrel of laughs.

Elephants on Parade

African elephants are the largest land animal and a group of elephants is called a parade.  One fun fact about elephants from The Smithsonian is that they really don’t like peanuts. They don’t eat them in the wild and they are not fed peanuts in zoos. This urban myth was perpetuated by circuses that sold crowds peanuts to feed to the elephants. They really love to eat tree bark, grasses, and fruit.

Leaping Leopards

Leopards are so agile that they can run 58 km an hour according to Animal Planet and can leap 6 meters horizontally. No wonder a group of leopards are called a leap. Leopards tend to be solitary, secretive, and elusive so they are hard to find in the wild. They are found in parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East and snow leopards are found in Russia.

Towering Giraffes

These long-necked African animals are the world’s tallest. In fact, an adult male can grow to be 5.5 meters and that is more than the height of three men according to National Geographic. No wonder giraffe groups are called a tower. Their height allows them to reach the tastiest morsels, the buds and leaves from the top of acacia trees. Yum.

An Unkindness of Ravens

A group of ravens is called an unkindness because in ancient mythology ravens were supposed to bring bad luck. But that’s not really fair to one of the most intelligent birds. According to Mental Floss, a raven will pretend to hide its food in a location, if another raven can see him, and then really hide it somewhere else. It will play dead to keep other ravens from getting its food and it has been known to be cheeky enough to steal fish from fisherman’s lines.

A Crash of Rhinos

The name rhinoceros means horn but has been shortened to rhino. There are five species of rhinos and some have one horn and some have two. According to the World Wildlife Fund, Rhino’s horns are made of keratin, the same substance that your fingernails and hair is made of. A group of rhinos are called a crash and the name is very understandable because they can only see 9 meters ahead of them, so watch out.