# Which animal is the most devoted parent?

> Months of fasting, years of carrying, and a few that give their lives for a single clutch of eggs. Decide whose devotion deserves the top spot.

*By YPB Team · Published October 12, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/which-animal-is-the-most-devoted-parent*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Giant Panda** — score 1000/1000
   Mother cradles a cub that is born the size of a stick of butter and nurses it for over a year.
2. **Wolf Spider** — score 777/1000
   Mother drags her egg sac behind her and then carries dozens of spiderlings on her back.
3. **Orangutan** — score 777/1000
   Mothers nurse and carry their young for up to seven years, the longest childhood of any animal besides humans.
4. **Giant Pacific Octopus** — score 678/1000
   Mother tends her eggs for months without feeding, dying as soon as they hatch.
5. **Elephant** — score 678/1000
   Calves are raised by the whole herd, with mothers and aunts shielding them for years.
6. **Orca** — score 555/1000
   Sons stay with their mothers for life, and grandmothers keep sharing fish with grown offspring.
7. **Cheetah** — score 555/1000
   Single mothers hide, feed and train cubs alone for 18 months against lions and hyenas.
8. **Albatross** — score 555/1000
   Lifelong pairs share a year-long incubation and feeding effort for a single chick.
9. **Emperor Penguin** — score 555/1000
   Fathers balance a single egg on their feet for two months of Antarctic winter without eating.
10. **Gorilla** — score 555/1000
   Silverback protects the group's infants, and mothers carry and nurse young for three to four years.
11. **Nile Crocodile** — score 0/1000
   Both parents guard the nest, and the mother gently carries newborns in her mouth to a nursery pool.
12. **Wolf** — score 0/1000
   Whole packs regurgitate food for pups, and both parents stay together to raise each litter.
13. **Seahorse** — score 0/1000
   Male carries the eggs in a brood pouch, regulating oxygen and salinity until the fry are born.
14. **Poison Dart Frog** — score 0/1000
   Parents ferry tadpoles one by one on their backs to tiny pools high in the trees and feed them unfertilised eggs.
15. **Polar Bear** — score 0/1000
   Mother fasts for months in a snow den while nursing her cubs, then teaches them to hunt for two more years.
16. **Swan** — score 0/1000
   Pairs mate for life and both parents carry cygnets on their backs and defend them fiercely.
17. **American Alligator** — score 0/1000
   Mother guards her nest for months, then carries hatchlings to the water in her jaws and protects them for up to two years.
18. **Darwin's Frog** — score 0/1000
   Father swallows the tadpoles and raises them inside his vocal sac until they hop out as froglets.
19. **Harp Seal** — score 0/1000
   Mother nurses her pup on fat-rich milk for twelve days, barely leaving its side on the ice.
20. **Koala** — score 0/1000
   Joey rides in the pouch and then on its mother's back for a year while she weans it onto eucalyptus.

Tags: nature, animals, family, birds, parenting, mammals