30 Lovable Animal Facts That Will Melt Your Heart – Part 2

The Ili pika (Ochotona iliensis) is a critically endangered species of mammal in the family Ochotonidae, endemic to northwest China. It was discovered in 1983. This is its first documented photo in 20 years, taken in 2015.

2. Chevrotains or the female Lesser mouse-deer is known for its ability to be almost continuously pregnant. They are able to conceive 85-155 minutes after giving birth.

3. Warthogs living in Uganda have learned to rid themselves of annoying ticks by seeking out the grooming services of some accommodating neighbors: a group of mongooses looking for snacks.

4. Sea otters have a pouch where they store their favorite rock. Some believe a rock may be so treasured, it's passed down from generation to generation.

5. Squirrels play an important part in the ecosystem by spreading a fungus that trees need to survive. They also lose about 25% of the nuts they bury.

The almost perfectly spherical shape and prolonged stillness of a huddled Arctic hare are part of its winter strategy for keeping warm. Hares assume this posture when they finish feeding, tucking extremities in tightly in order to conserve warmth by folding their tails down between their hind legs.

7. The "ninja" slug is a recently discovered, long-tailed slug found in the mountains in Malaysia. It shoots "love darts" at potential mates which pierce & inject the proper hormones that increase its chance of catching the eye, and/or successful reproduction.

8. The European hedgehog has resistance to viper venom through a unique protein called erinacin found in its muscle tissue.

9. Male cheetahs can make a female ovulate by barking at her.

10. The Eurasian pygmy owl is the smallest owl in Europe but in order to carry larger prey, it has evolved disproportionately large feet.

Chinchillas instinctively clean their furs by taking dust baths, in which they roll around in special dust made of fine pumice, a few times a week. They do not bathe in water. Their thick fur resists parasites, such as fleas, and reduces loose dander.

12. A penguin's mouth has no teeth. Instead, its mouth and tongue are lined with sharp, backward-pointing spines. The spines help the penguin hold on to food, which it swallows whole.

13. The hoatzins use bacterial fermentation in the front part of the gut to break down the vegetable material that they consume, similar to how cattle and other ruminants do.

14. The pink robin (Petroica rodinogaster) is a small passerine bird native to southeastern Australia. It's sexually dimorphic: the male has a distinctive white crown and pink breast, grey-black upperparts, wings, and tail. The belly is white. The female has grey-brown plumage.

15. Wombat babies leave the womb and crawl into their mother's pouches when they are about the size of a jellybean, but because the pouch faces backward, unlike other marsupials, they only have to crawl 3 inches. There they will nurse for the next 5 months.

Hyraxes are rotund herbivorous mammals native to parts of Africa and the Middle East. Despite their rodent-like appearance, they are elephants' closest living relative. Hyraxes are colonial, living in colonies of about 50 within the natural crevices of rocks or boulders. They do not create burrows.

17. Northern ghost bats are insectivorous and they sing while they eat. It lacks pigment in its wings allowing you to see the veins. The skin of some bat wings is thin enough that gases can diffuse through it, allowing bats to "breathe" through their wings.

18. Pallid bats are resistant to scorpion venom and actively hunt Arizona bark scorpions, which are the most venomous scorpions in North America. They can eat thousands of bugs especially midges and disease-carrying mosquitos since they are not affected by things like malaria or dengue fever.

19. In fear of being eaten by a female during mating, the male Argonaut Octopus will often rip off its own penis and throw it at the female to inseminate on her own.

20. Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) exchange food for sex.

When rabbits are happy, they will quietly chatter or click their teeth. It is a behavior similar to how cats purr.

22. In cold weather, the water vapor from the breath of large herds of caribou creates a layer of fog that hovers over the herd as they move across the landscape. This is known as Caribou Fog.

23. The Virgin Islands dwarf sphaero is a species of gecko which has only been found on three of the British Virgin Islands. On average, it measures 18 mm (0.71 in) from its snout to its vent and is nearly as small as a U.S. dime.

24. Koalas usually only have one joey but have been observed to act as surrogate mothers, adopting stray or orphaned joeys. 

25. The olinguito is a mammal of the raccoon family Procyonidae that lives in montane forests in the Andes of western Colombia and Ecuador. The species was described as new in 2013. Its average weight is 900 grams (2 lb), making it the smallest procyonid.