Happy Animal

It’s hard to say what it is about animals that we love the most – their cute or beautiful looks, their natural innocence or the emotional reactions that they elicit from us. But whatever the case may be, one of these 30 happy animal facts is bound to bring a smile to your face.

A lot of these facts also underscore the similarities and emotional connections that people can share with animals, which raises a broader and more interesting questions – what is it about animals that we love so much?

According to scientists at the California Institute of Technology and the University of Califorina at Los Angeles, humans experience an emotional reaction to animals (both cute and dangerous) in a very old and basic part of their brain called the amygdala. The amygdala is involved with emotion, emotional learning and the formation of memories. So it could be that our appreciation for animals stems from an ancient need to evaluate whether these animals were friends or foes. And it could be that they react in just the same way to us.