Exotic Animals From Italy's Underworld Get Second Chance

In ancient Rome, they would have been pitted against gladiators or served up at banquets.Now a caiman, a python and a troop of monkeys that have been confiscated from mobsters, drug dealers or collectors find safe haven at a rescue centre in the Eternal City.  Inside the majestic Appia Antica park near the historic city centre, a veterinary clinic called "Our Animal Kingdom" is now home to exotic turtles, deer, boars, parrots, vultures, eagles and even a group of excitable lemurs.  Every year, Italy's police and forest guard rescue around 400 exotic animals, according to Raffaele Manicone, head of the local branch of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

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The Bizarre Ways That Animals Sleep

You aren't alone in your nightly tossing and turning. Sea lions do it, too.  A new video by National Geographic details the strange ways different animals sleep. Walruses, for example, can sleep floating vertically in the water, their heads bobbing above the waves. When hippos sleep in water, some sleep under the water, occasionally popping up to take a breath.  The most disturbingly odd sleeping style in the animal kingdom is, of course, the human grandfather.

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World's Weirdest Animals and Where To See Them

As a bright green worm-like creature is filmed in Taiwan, we look at other bizarre members of the animal kingdom, and show you where to find them

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Cutest Animal Parenting Moments Ever

Humans aren’t the only species that can be incredibly affectionate towards their children. As these adorable pictures show, the intimate child-parent relationship can be witnessed across the animal kingdom.

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Strange and Surprising Facts About How Animals Sleep

We humans may need our eight hours of sleep a night to keep our brains functioning, but that's not the only duration, or reason, why animals sleep. Bats sleep for 20 hours out of the day while giraffes snooze for less than two hours a day. And while humans completely conk out, oblivious to the world, other animals like some whales and seals, shut off only portions of their brain at a time, keeping half their mind at work at all times.   Why is there such variety in the animal kingdom? It's something scientists have been pondering for a long time.

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Funny Animals Lounging Around

Animals, just like humans, have a wide range of personality traits such as laziness, which can gain them quite a reputation. As most others have stated being lazy in the animal kingdom can actually be an excellent tool for survival. Being lazy can help save energy. Laziness is a disinclination to activity or exertion despite having the ability to do so. It is common for animals to forage for food until satiated, and then spend most of their time doing nothing, or at least nothing in particular. 

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Five Incredible Ways Animals Recycle

From running a search engine to game strategies, we all know that humans can take some notes from the animal kingdom. Here’s another lesson that wildlife can teach us: recycling. While we’re still figuring out how to recycle right, some animals have already mastered the eco-friendly practice. Click through for five of the planet’s most amazing recyclers. 
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