The 10 Dumbest Animals in the World

You hear plenty about how smart animals are. The dolphin‘s smarter than people. Koko the Gorilla could tell you how she loved you with sign language. But animals, alas, are just like us.

For every genius in the batch, you’ll find someone who appears to be just plain dumb. But that’s not always the case. Like humans, having a brain doesn’t mean you don’t have mental dexterity. Our list below consists of those animals who prove beyond shadow of doubt the animal kind can be as silly as us.

Here are what appear to be the 10 dumbest animals in the world.

#10 Dumbest Animals in the World: Cane Toads

Found in several locations, including Northern Australia, South America and mainland Central America, cane toads have long been labeled as really stupid animals. The world’s largest toad, it has a diet that includes both living and deceased matter. And that trait goes beyond their meals.

These aggressive creatures can be found openly having physical relations with … anything. Live or dead. Without hesitation, they assault rats, lizards, snakes, and anything else that moves. Obviously, these creatures love physical intimacy, to say the least.

If it’s about propagating the species, we’re confused. The females are extremely fertile. One female is capable of laying nearly 30,000 eggs at the same time.

#9 Dumbest Animals in the World: Kakapo

Making it on the list as the dumbest bird, the Kakapo, out of New Zealand, is a parrot owl. The species is a large flightless bird. A night animal, this ground-dwelling bird belongs to the Strigopoidea super-family endemic to its home country. The bird’s also incredibly stupid. It has no value for its own life.

Picture the scenario: The predator spies the prey. The predator may creep up slowly. Or the creature could pound the pavement in a crazed dash. Doesn’t matter. Either way, the predator attacks. Here’s the rub: the predator can be a cat, stoat, rat or, well, anything. The prey is the Kakapo. The Kakapo doesn’t move. It doesn’t blink. Even if it sees the attack coming from a continent away. The bird freezes and waits to be a meal.

If that’s not enough, the Kakapo’s ineptness regarding reproduction is mind-boggling. The mating call is so disturbing it leaves the female dazed and confused. This complicates mating as no one seems to any idea what’s going or what to do. Unfortunately and maybe not surprisingly, as of 2020. there were less than 200 Kapapo on the entire planet.

#8 Dumbest Animals in the World: Koala

An Aussie favorite that people can’t get enough of. We just love to watch them roll around and just stare. But most of that is because their brain levels are the equivalent of being stoned all the time. They have the smallest brains of any known mammal.

These dumbest animals get a kick out of eucalyptus leaves. They’ll tear each other apart for it even though they can eat any leaf. On top of that, the eucalyptus is difficult to digest, even with the koala’s four stomachs. The admittedly adorable animal also has no sense of hygiene and is famous for spreading disease. We’re talking chlamydia. Koalas are adorable, so they have a right to their eccentricities.

#7 Dumbest Animals in the World: Sloth

Sloths reside in South and Central America’s lowland tropical regions, spending their time in the first canopy. There are two- and three-toed sloths. Sloths hit the big time after the “Ice Age” movies, thanks to Sid the Slot. He could be simple-minded but often used his brains to save the day. Forget Sid the Sloth. The truth is these animals are dumb. The Sloth could be the stupidest of the dumbest animals.

Well, maybe not stupid animals so much as lazy. They sleep pretty much all day every day. Rumor is they only leave the tree for a quick trip in the shrubs for a bathroom break. After this, it crawls (like a sloth) back into the tree to get more beauty sleep. During the trek, it’s not unusual for the creature to slip and die. Why? It often mistakes one of its own limbs for a tree branch. This leads to all kinds of Jerry Lewis mishaps which end with the end.

#6 Dumbest Animals in the World: Goblin Shark

Sharks are generally known as creatures of reasonable intelligence. The average shark talks about the goblin shark behind its back. Not because the globin’s the black sheep of the family. Sharks think it’s the dumb one.

Found mostly off the coastlines of Japan, the goblin shark is sluggish. A hard task for a natural swimmer. It’s also lazy. So lazy it won’t hunt for food. The fish is also capable of being easy prey, letting predators “walk” right up and take it out. Behavior like that lands the goblin shark on any list of dumbest animals.

#5 Dumbest Animals in the World: Jerboa

Jerboas are bizarre-looking little rodents. They make fascinating views because they move with an almost startling speed in surprising ways. They’re bipedal, a trait that allows their tiny legs to either hop like a kangaroo or sprint like a roadrunner. They’re difficult to breed in captivity though.

Found in Africa and Asia, this is another one of those animals on the list that doesn’t seem to know how to survive. They’re inept at finding food, saving food and protecting food. Plus, with their powerful, strange-looking legs, they either bolt like roadrunners or hop like superfrogs. Watching them go back-and-forth to avoid predators looks quite insane. But there’s no record showing it doesn’t work!

#4 Dumbest Animals in the World: Turkey

The Meleagris, or turkey, is a beloved food at least once a year. Many enjoy them as pets. And the entire world knows how much the turkey deserves to be on any list of dumbest bird. They have widely-spaced eyes and an almost clumsy, dim-witted walk. Benjamin Franklin called them “birds of courage.” Animal Planet says they’re “confused,” while The Washington Post attests these animals are just misunderstood.

Owners who love the bird have spoken of their turkey preferring to only drink water that drips upward. This phenomenon is the result of the bird consuming rain as it falls from the sky. But they’re not drinking. They simply have a tendency of staring into the sky for up to 30 minutes at a time. When it rains, it appears the birds are simply mesmerized at the idea of wetness coming out of nowhere. So, they stare with their mouths open in awe. Often, they do so until they drown.

#3 Dumbest Animals in the World: Panda Bear

Are pandas stupid?

Yes, yes they are. The cutest animal in the world is way up there on the stupid chart. Let’s start with the fact they’re an endangered species because statistics show they have no real interest in sex!

Are pandas stupid? The scientific community officially classifies the lovely black and white panda as a carnivore. That’s because it has a digestive system not suited for a herbivore diet. Yet, despite being a carnivorous breed, the panda is determined to spend its time eating bamboo.

The panda mother is also known to aggressively kill their children. Even if unintentionally. Are pandas stupid is a question that needs no answer. But their cuteness will forever make them beloved.

#2 Dumbest Animals in the World: Flamingo

You can’t appreciate the stunning beauty of the flamingo if you’ve only seen one in a zoo or in a picture. You have to get out to East Africa. That’s when the full majesty of their beauty unfolds. But like the dumb blonde, the flamingo was blessed with looks but not brains.

They have two healthy, long legs but, for some odd reason, it only uses one leg most of the time. While sleeping and feeding, it goes ballerina, delicately and needlessly balancing on one leg. But then the cow sleeps standing up too. But it uses all four legs though.

The flamingo also demonstrates its dumbosity at mealtime. They fish while holding their beaks upside down. Why? I bet they have a good reason, we’ll likely never know.

#1 Dumbest Animals in the World: Ostrich

The ostrich is one of the largest birds in the world. And it’s not just the size that makes it stand out. It’s a flightless bird with small wings. Other birds that stick to the ground include the emu and the kiwi. The ostrich has a long neck and long legs. The ostrich, primarily roaming the plans of Africa, travels in social groups of up to 50.

While it’s argued that this creature has the capacity to show reasonable smarts, what makes it stand out as the dumbest bird is its reaction to threat. The bird is capable of running away and even hiding. The ostrich also can be aggressively defensive, having a serious clawed foot that’s killed lions. But when push comes to shove, faced with an imposing threat, the ostrich will push its head at the ground (not shove it under the sand, as the legend goes), close its eyes and go invisible. Well, the bird thinks it’s invisible. They’re kind of stupid animals.