As a society we’re especially fond of animals we deem beautiful, cute, majestic, or otherwise attractive: peacocks, corgis, Arabian horses. But maybe these nice-to-look-at creatures don’t need any more attention. Instead, let’s take time to appreciate the weird and homely animals we share the planet with — haven’t we all at some point counted ourselves among them?
1. Why Are Damascus Goats So Ugly?
This creature, native to Syria and other parts of the Middle East, comes with a face only a goatherd could love. It’s the lone domesticated species on the list, and you might wonder if some waggish breeder conjured it up as a practical joke. But believe it or not there’s a festival devoted to Damascus goats, complete with a beauty contest to select the most attractive of these bizarre animals from around the Persian Gulf.
That’s right: The overbite, bulging forehead and absurdly floppy ears are no joke. They’ve been bred carefully for hundreds of years to make them better suppliers of milk and meat, and apparently also to exaggerate their striking facial features. So clearly the humans who live alongside them are fond of these peculiar looks. Nevertheless, there’s no denying they’d blend right in on a Star Wars set.
