Culture

The Best And Wildest Animal Stories That Broke The Internet

From 30-50 feral hogs to Sydney's three baboons, animals truly do run the world.

by Michelle Rennex  26 February 2020
Animals Of The Decade

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Whether it’s a story of perseverance or one of absolute mischief, stories about animals are the best.

While everyone loves an animal story, the ones that have become memes are what has made the internet what it is today. From Pizza Rat to Harambe, each animal and their strange origins have brought so much joy to people online. So here’s a look back at the weirdest and most wonderful animals that have shaped the internet.

Ikea Monkey

Darwin the macaque walked into an Ikea parking lot looking fresh to death in a fuzzy jacket in 2012. The stylish lil’ monkey became an instant meme after The Globe published an article about his “illegal” adventure. But the sad reality was that Darwin was a pet who escaped from his owner’s car and tried to make a run for it. But just as it is for the rest of us, Ikea is a tough place to escape from.

Pizza Rat

Oh, sweet, sweet Pizza Rat. This hungry rat was captured dragging a giant slice of pizza down some subway stairs in New York City, of course. Pizza Rat quickly became a symbol for every hungry, determined soul in 2016 and taught us all a lesson in perseverance.

30-50 Feral Hogs

2019 truly was the year for feral hogs, specifically for 30 to 50 of them. Following yet another American mass shooting in August, debate around the need to ban assault rifles kicked off again. One Arkansas father weighed in, asking if there were no assault rifles, how would he be able to “kill the 30-50 feral hogs that run into my yard within 3-5 mins while my small kids play?” Yep. Sounds like a totally normal Arkansas afternoon.

Grumpy Cat

Grumpy Cat, may she rest in peace, first made her way into everyone’s hearts in 2012. Grumpy Cat, real name Tardar Sauce, was one of the decade’s earliest animal memes. Her popularity stemmed from her feline dwarfism and underbite which gave her a permanent frown. The frown moved onto everyone else when her owner Tabatha announced that Grumpy had passed away from complications from a UTI in 2019.

Knickers The Big Cow

Knickers the fuck-off huge cow made waves in 2018 for absolutely towering over all of her cow mates. The 1.4 tonne steer stood at a mighty 1.94 metres tall and looked comical next to the normal sized cows, which stand anywhere between 1.4-1.8 metres. But that could be good news because with some scientific research, Junkee discovered that Knickers could probably make about 2866 burger patties.

Doge

Doge was one of the earliest animals to properly go viral. In 2010, a Japanese school teacher uploaded photos of her adopted Shiba Inu online. One particular photo of Doge with her legs crossed and eyebrows raised went viral after being shared to Reddit – and the rest is history.

Crab With A Knife

The knife wielding crab moment happened twice last decade with two different crustaceans. The first, in 2016 where it went viral and became known as Gangster Crab, then again in 2018.  After the second video, publications started slamming these crab knife videos as “cruel” and “fake” but… honestly? Of course someone put a knife in the crabs claws? Where the hell were these crabs going to find their own knives?

Harambe

In 2016, a gorilla made headlines across the world after he was killed because a child fell into his Cincinnati Zoo enclosure. Harambe, the gorilla, was shot as the zoo keeper felt that the child was in danger. Following the debate around whether the force used was excessive, Harambe became the meme of year. Dicks were out for Harambe, and The Cincinnati Zoo had to delete their account after all the attention the gorilla had brought.

Horny Pufferfish

A video of a pufferfish moaning while chomping down on a carrot took over the internet late last year. The original video claims that the chef fed the fish to demonstrate how strong and dangerous the pufferfish bite is. The fish was given the nickname Horny Pufferfish, or simply Augh, and the full version of the video shows that the horny fish was killed and cooked shortly after the carrot demonstration.

Alligator With A Knife In His Head

In 2019, a Texan woman captured a low-quality photo of an alligator swimming around with a kitchen knife lodged in his head. The alligator didn’t look that bothered by the knife, but there has been no answer to who, how or why someone stabbed the beast.

The Arizona Llama Chase

#LlamaDrama started trending in 2015 after two llamas escaped from the rest of their mobile petting zoo group in Arizona. After the llama owner failed at chasing down the animals, local police had to get involved in the capture. Twitter had a field day when the escape was covered, with news helicopters even filming the hour-long chase.

Fiona the Hippo

Cincinnati Zoo had another wave of press when baby Fiona, their first Nile hippo in 75 years, was born prematurely in 2017. As the zoo continued to post updates about the growing baby hippo, her fan base grew. Eventually Fiona just became the entire world’s baby, and we all proudly watch her develop week by week — from her first steps all the way up to her doing backflips.

Roger The Buff Kangaroo

In 2015, Roger the super swole kangaroo crushed a steel bucket. Over the next few years, the ripped kangaroo continued to draw in fans thanks to his human-esque physique. But sadly in 2018, the Kangaroo Sanctuary announced that everyone’s favourite 6’7″ fitness role model had died of natural causes and old age.

Monkey Getting A Haircut

The video of a monkey straight vibing while getting a haircut went viral in 2017. The monkey, who looks as relaxed as possible, closes his eyes while the barber snips away at his hair. After a screenshot of the Haircut Monkey started circulating online, a new meme was born. Now you can find the iconic monkey getting his haircut by all your fave people.

The Three Sydney Baboons

Most recently, Aussies lost their mind over the news that three baboons had escaped their transport van near Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Contrary to the belief that the baboons were being tested on at the hospital, the male and two females were actually captive animals being transported for a surgical procedure. But that didn’t stop the three baboons quickly becoming a meme that took over the internet.