10 Best Animal Moms

If there are good dads, then here are the best animal mums.

Elephant

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Ask every mother what is the hardest part of motherhood and all will be in unison in saying "giving birth is the hardest". How much more if you are to deliver a 90 kilogram baby. It's got to be a hard experience, that’s why our first mum, the female elephant, made it to the list. To add to the pain of giving birth, these mums have to endure the ordeal of a 22-month pregnancy. Baby elephant is born blind so it has to rely on her mother’s trunk for navigation. Since elephants do has a “matriarchal society” rearing a calf is not a problem for these animals. Every adult ladies in the community take turns in baby-sitting for the young ones.

Koala

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We all know that koalas eat only on one thing: eucalyptus leaves (a very poisonous leaves. A female koala is equipped with a special digestive tract can endure this otherwise deadly threat, their bowels contain special bacteria that detoxify the leaves. Newly born koalas or ‘joeys' lack eyes, ears and fur and the ability to detoxify eucalyptus leaves - so they have to rely on their mums care. Koala mothers help their young ones build up their tolerance by feeding them her own feces! For purposes of information, feces are the body’s solid waste matter, composed of undigested food, bacteria, water, and bile pigments and discharged from the bowel through the anus. Joeys stay in their mother's pouch for about six months feeding on milk and forming their missing parts. While caring and nurturing their joeys, mums get about 22 hours of shut-eye a day — that’s nearly 90 percent of her life spent snoozing!

Alligator

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The female alligator has a creative and ingenious way of keeping the temperature on its nest at a constant one by building it; using rotting vegetation that produces heat so it takes from her the burden of sitting on her eggs. A very nice idea, don’t you think so? Even scientists marveled at the way female alligators handled the nest temperature. If the temperature is below 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit), it’s a girl and if it tops 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit), it’s a boy! Mothers carry their newborns in their jaws for protection as well as watching and aiding them to the water, where they will spend their early years on meals such as: fish, insects, snails and crustaceans.

Polar Bear

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Since male polar bears are known to be 'Macho Gigolo' – master of one -night stand; female polar bears have to suffer for the ‘quickie’ relationship. They have to put on around 180 kg (400 lb) during their pregnancy! So to sustain a normal pregnancy, prospective mums are advised to eat as much food as it could get. The reason is: if they can’t find enough food to double her weight; the poor fetus will be reabsorbed by the body. Isn’t it weird? But the good thing is; female polar bears, if ever they consumed that required diet, will have an easier time delivering the baby. All she would do is to dig a maternity den where she goes into a hibernation-like state, doesn’t eat for two months and also sleeps through the baby’s birth.

Cheetah

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Mother cheetahs have a nice way of rearing up their cubs and it needs a lot of patience. For two years or more, mom has to be always there to teach, guide and protect her cubs in the rigor of daily life. Teaching them how to spot and ambush a prey at the same time protecting them from possible predators. Once the cubs learned the tricks needed to survive the hostile environment, female cheetahs leave their children to fend for themselves and moves on to start a new family.

Orang-utan

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We can call female orangutan as “Mrs. Do-it-all” spending almost 90% of her life high up in the trees, building a new nest every single night. These females nurse their babies the longest amongst animal, taking care of offspring until they reach the age of 6 or 7. Also, female children often stay longer to learn child-rearing skills.

Red-Knobbed Hornbills

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These small birds that are commonly found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi make holes in trees to serve as their nests. Since monitor lizards crave for their eggs, these wily birds have to design the entryway to their nests with a very special sealant — their own feces. Can you take that? The expectant mother has to stay in the hole for two months to incubate the eggs. In so doing, ignoring hunger pains to her detriment - the smell from her protection method.

Elephant Seal

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A behemoth in terms of size, the female elephant seal can weigh up to 771 kg (1,700 lb). During the pregnancy period that will take an 11-month gestation period, these moms-to-be must have to add weight each day. They don’t believe in slimming process. However, as soon as she gave birth and starts nursing her cubs, she’ll lose about 272 kg (600 lb) in less than a month.

Octopus

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The female octopus doesn’t approve of birth control – she lays more than 50,000 eggs. This mum guard her eggs from predators and giving them fresh oxygen by gently blowing currents of water over them. How long will she do this? It takes 40 days for the eggs to hatch. And during this time, mum-to-be can’t hunt for food so what is her recourse? Well, having eight arms, eating one of them is no big deal. It's better to be live 7-legged octopus than a dead eight-legged creature.

Sea Louse

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Small but terrible, that amply applies to our top list. This small aquatic crustacean has a cunning way of luring male into his bachelor burrow for mating – in the company with 25 other pregnant females! Poor lady, and if that wasn’t bad enough, take note – once the babies are ready to be born, they make their way into the world by eating her from the inside out.

Check out:
Best Animal Dads