After a recent study suggested that African elephants may be able to understand human gestures, such as pointing, we decided to run the inaugural U.S. YouGov animal awards!
We asked the public which animals they thought were the most intelligent, loyal, cute, strong and scary. The results are in…
The “Smarty-Pants of the Animal Kingdom Award” goes to… The Dolphin!
Yes, with a large brain relative to their bodies and their ability to process emotions and self-awareness, the dolphin tops the chart of brainy animals.
Special mentions go to the chimpanzee and dog who were voted second and third by the U.S. population.
And although they may be able to point to humans, the poor elephant misses out on a spot on the podium – coming fourth in this category.
The public has puppy-dog eyes for pooches…
Dogs narrowly scrape the award for “Cutest Animal” with 29% of the popular vote.
Special mentions for other domestic companions in this category with cats making second place and rabbits ranked third. Let’s hope they won’t be hopping mad at that result.
Elephants flex their muscles in a show of strength…
They may not have been recognised for their brains, but the elephant’s brawn has been appreciated as they top the chart for the strongest animal.
Killer whales can also bask in the glory of their being placed second and the gorillas will be beating their chests at receiving 11% of the popular vote.
A slippery customer tops the chart for scariest animal…
Gets your snake hips rattling this Halloween in order to celebrate the victory of the rattlesnake being voted the scariest animal!
The alligator snaps second place with over one in five people voting it the scariest animal and the tarantula crawls into third.
For further information about poll results, and for details about methodology and omnibus services, please emailomnibus.us@yougov.com.
Find the full results here.
