The Ostrich – The World’s Most Unintelligent Animal?

By Ruby M

The Ostrich is the largest bird in the world. It’s flightless bird with small wings, and it weighs over 200 pounds and grows up to 6-feet tall. The Ostrich has a long neck and long legs, and are usually found travelling in flocks of about 50 in the plains of Africa. With brains that are smaller than their eyes and their strange reaction to danger, ostriches have been stereotyped as being one of the most unintelligent animals in the world. But research may prove otherwise.

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Ostriches have also been known to have the remarkable ability to defend themselves with their mighty legs and claws. It has even been documented that when protecting their offspring, they have been able to kill lions with their strong claws.

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Although their perceived reaction to threat is the “head-in-the-sand” reaction, this is actually not entirely true. Ostriches are also known to be the fastest two-legged animal, and do indeed have the ability to outrun almost any threats, aside from the cheetah. So when given enough warning, the ostrich will choose to run and hide. Another fact is that ostriches don’t actually stick their heads in the ground. When faced with a threat that they can’t outrun in time, this Dodo of a bird will often push its head at the ground in an attempt to mimic a bush. They then close their eyes, becoming “invisible” by thinking that if it can’t see them, they can’t see it. Okay, so this fact makes them seem a little stupid!

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What do you think? Are ostriches really as silly as they seem?