Best animal
Thirty remarkable animals from land, sea and sky. Which creature is the best?
Tier list by PairTier · 30 items
- Lion — Big cat of the African savanna and the only cat species that lives in social groups called prides.
- Tiger — The largest wild cat, a solitary striped hunter of Asian forests.
- African elephant — The largest land animal, with a trunk used for breathing, drinking and grasping.
- Giraffe — The tallest living animal, browsing treetops with its long neck and tongue.
- Cheetah — The fastest land animal, able to sprint at around 100 km/h in short bursts.
- Grey wolf — Social pack hunter of the Northern Hemisphere and the wild ancestor of the domestic dog.
- Red fox — Adaptable canid found across much of the Northern Hemisphere, from forests to cities.
- Brown bear — Large omnivorous bear of Eurasia and North America, including the grizzly.
- Polar bear — Arctic bear that hunts seals from the sea ice, one of the largest land carnivores.
- Giant panda — Black-and-white bear from the mountains of China that lives almost entirely on bamboo.
- Red panda — Small, reddish tree-dweller of the Himalayas that also eats mostly bamboo.
- Koala — Australian marsupial that feeds on eucalyptus leaves and sleeps most of the day.
- Red kangaroo — The largest marsupial, hopping across the Australian outback on powerful hind legs.
- Gorilla — The largest living primate, living in family groups in the forests of central Africa.
- Chimpanzee — Intelligent African great ape that uses tools and is one of our closest living relatives.
- Orangutan — Red-haired great ape of Borneo and Sumatra that spends most of its life in trees.
- Bottlenose dolphin — Intelligent, social marine mammal that uses echolocation to hunt.
- Orca — The largest member of the dolphin family, a black-and-white apex predator of the oceans.
- Blue whale — The largest animal known to have ever lived, feeding on tiny krill.
- Octopus — Eight-armed mollusc with a large brain, able to change colour and solve problems.
- Sea otter — Marine mammal with the densest fur of any animal, known for using stones as tools.
- Emperor penguin — The largest penguin, which breeds during the Antarctic winter.
- Bald eagle — Large North American sea eagle with a white head, the national bird of the United States.
- Snowy owl — White Arctic owl that hunts in daylight during the long polar summer.
- Hummingbird — Tiny bird of the Americas that hovers in mid-air by beating its wings extremely fast.
- Sloth — Slow-moving tree dweller of Central and South America that hangs upside down most of the day.
- Capybara — The world's largest rodent, a semi-aquatic grazer from South America.
- Moose — The largest species of deer, called elk in Europe, with broad palmate antlers on the males.
- Honey bee — Social insect that pollinates crops and produces honey and beeswax.
- Platypus — Egg-laying Australian mammal with a duck-like bill and webbed feet.