Humans think they are the most powerful creatures on our planet. Well, this might be true in terms of brain power. But when it comes to size, this planet is home to even more terrifying, and various beautiful species, including really small and REALLY BIG animals. Hello and welcome back, today in this article we’ll look at some of the Biggest Animals in the world.
7: Komodo Dragon
There are over 3,000 lizard species, but Komodo dragon wins the prize for being the largest living lizard in the world! If we tell you that Komodo dragon were the real inspiration behind the film “King Kong”, would you believe us? Such is the aura of this massive animal, measuring as much as 8.5 feet long and weighing as much as 300 pounds.
It’s no surprise then that they can take down animals as large as wild boar, deer and water buffalo. Like the fire-breathing dragons of your fantasies, Komodo dragons have poisonous bacteria in their saliva that can kill their prey in 24 hours after a bite. So, beware of these animals that are deadlier than sharks!
6: Whale Shark
The world’s largest fish is called a whale but’s it’s actually a shark. Now, given the name ‘Whale Shark’, you’d think that these ginormous sharks would want to eat you given the chance, but to whale sharks, humans are friends, not food.
Though they reach the size of a school bus, whale sharks are harmless creatures and typically eat tiny plankton and fish eggs. And are known to be graceful around scuba divers. Also, the name ‘whale’ just comes because of its massive size; they can grow up to 40 feet long.
As opposed to the other large sharks, which give birth to a small number of very large babies, whale sharks give birth to hundreds of very small babies, approximately 20 inches long.
5: Eastern Gorilla
The ‘Eastern Gorilla’ takes the prize as the world’s largest primate, with a height of up to 6.2 feet and a weight of roughly 450 pounds. These gorillas live in the lowlands and mountains of Africa. Even with a diet of stems, bamboo shoots, and fruits, male gorillas are quite large in terms of their growth.
Eastern Gorillas are diurnal. They spend nearly 40 percent of the day resting and 30 percent in feeding-related tasks. The rest of the time they are usually traveling. They sleep on nests built on trees or steep sites on the floor. In the 1990s, there were about 17,000 eastern lowland gorillas, but now, there are fewer than 5,000 eastern gorillas left in the wild, making them critically endangered.
4: Saltwater Crocodile
The world’s largest crocodile is a monster of a reptile!
Known for being the largest living reptile, Saltwater Crocodile grows to an average length of 17 feet, although they can reach 21 feet in length and can weigh up to 1,000 pounds. This carnivore sneaks beneath the water before attacking water buffaloes, monkeys, and even sharks. No one seems to mess with the powerful strength of their tails and jaws, and that could be the reason for their large population size. However, they are mostly active at night.
‘Lolong’ the saltwater crocodile, who died a few years ago, is thought to be the biggest of its kind ever in captivity, measuring 21 feet on the Philippines island.
3: Green Anaconda
Weighing up to 550 pounds, and growing more than 29 feet long, the Green Anaconda is a non-venomous snake found in South America. A member of the boa family, this giant is pound for pound, the largest snake in the world.
Its cousin, the reticulated python, can reach slightly greater lengths, but the enormous 12-inches width of the anaconda makes it almost twice as heavy. Although they use both sight and smell to hunt, they also have the ability to sense heat emitted by potential prey, and the bigger anacondas can even eat wild pigs, deer, and wild jaguars. Green anacondas can live over 10 years in the wild, and up to 30 years in captivity.
2: Brahma Chicken
The rooster in the above picture is a Brahma chicken, one of the largest chicken breeds on Earth. With masses of feathers, and standing far taller than most dogs, this big bird weighs 16.5 pounds and is as tall as a toddler, standing 2.8 feet from head to foot. Despite their imposing physical stature, they are quite friendly with humans and are very easy to tame.
1. Blue Whale
The Blue whale is the biggest animal ever to have existed on our planet. The majestic, carnivorous sea creature weighs a colossal 200 tons; that’s nearly 400,000 pounds, and can grow to almost 30 meters in length.
Their tongues alone can weigh as much as an elephant, and their hearts as much as a car, yet they survive by eating a diet rich in tiny plankton. When blue whale calves are born, they can weigh up to 3 tons, and put on 200 more pounds every day during the first year of its life.