Rural areas were home to a larger population than cities prior to 2007. Since then, there has been a geographic concentration of human population, leading to the expansion of numerous cities due to the influx of new residents. However, for the same reasons that people do, such as being near resources they require, for protection, and to cooperate or socialize with others, certain animal species have long lived in close quarters.These animal “cities” are frequently very remarkable, despite the lack of professional architects and urban planners. Some are extremely intricate and have been constructed over many generations; others cleverly utilize their surroundings, and some have populations that are far smaller than those of the largest cities made of humans. These are ten of the most incredible animal cities, listed in no particular order.

10. Eel City

It’s obvious what kind of slippery people live in Eel City, but what’s odd is that there don’t seem to be any other locations like it. It is located about off the coast of American Samoa, at a height of around 2,000 feet (609 meters) beneath the South Pacific, at the peak of a recently formed volcano known as Nafanua. While visiting the volcano in 2005, a group of scientists were taken aback to discover hundreds, possibly even thousands, of eels darting in and out of its cracks.A few of the scientists stated they had never heard of or seen anything like the eel metropolis, despite having experience investigating hydrothermal vents beneath the ocean. While little eels are frequently observed in the deep water, it is uncommon to find them in such a huge bunch at one location. Additionally, the only food supply the scientists could find near the volcano was microbial mats, which eels are not known to eat.[1]

9. Octolantis

Although 15 people might not seem like much for a city, it is actually very amazing when those people are “gloomy” octopuses that were previously regarded to be antisocial loners. The Australian location was dubbed Octlantis by the researchers who discovered it; this is not to be confused with the adjacent city of Octopolis that they discovered a few years prior. Even though they were no longer living alone, Octlantis’s citizens continued to be very antisocial. Scientists observed them battling and sometimes driving one another out of their hiding places.Two octopuses are still company even if fifteen looks like a lot, and the scientists did witness the octopuses mating and interacting. The reason for the octopuses’ initial alliance remains unknown. It’s possible that they did this out of self-defense, which would demonstrate their high level of intelligence, or it could just be the case that there is plenty of food in the region but little shelter.[2]

8. Underground Ant City

Hidden Ant City Locations The Uncovering of the Megalopolis of Ants: An Amazing World Wonder!
Scientists unearthed a complex but eerily deserted underground metropolis in 2012. Millions of people lived there once, under the control of a queen, and every person had a designated job in society, such as a soldier or a sanitation worker. A huge and intricate network of roads, tunnels, garbage dumps, and gardens was left in their wake. Travelers who wish to witness this historical masterpiece ought to go to Brazil, albeit entry will be difficult. Why?because tiny leaf-cutter ants, not humans, constructed it. The undertaking is comparable to the Great Wall of China in magnitude for creatures of their size. It extends 26 feet (7.9 meters) below the surface of the earth and has a surface size of 500 square feet (46.5 square meters). The ants, who are extremely powerful and can lift up to 50 times their own body weight, probably did not suffer too much from the job, even though their colonies are typically considerably smaller and can even be as little as an acorn.[3]

7. Termite Megalopolis Ancient

Even while a city the size of the Great Wall constructed by ants is astounding, it is nothing compared to the creations of another small insect species. It is estimated that termites began to work on the 200 million mound megalopolis in northeastern Brazil some 4,000 years ago. The location is still under construction and is occupied despite its long history. The hill-shaped mounds are up to 10 feet (3 meters) tall, and below them is a network of tunnels that covers an area about the size of Great Britain. The amount of soil that the tiny mites have transported is equivalent to around 4,000 Great Pyramids of Giza.Surprisingly, the area’s semi-arid woodland surrounds it, making it difficult to notice from the ground. Nonetheless, a satellite can see it. The termites initially dug the tunnel system because they feed on dead leaves in the forest, and the tunnels allow them to safely emerge and flee when they need food.[4]

6. The Giants’ Valley

When scientists discovered these enormous tunnels, they discovered that enormous prehistoric beasts had dug them.
It is not for the faint of heart to enter a vast, deep cave in the middle of a forest, with deep grooves on its walls that were probably likely cut out by the claws of some monstrous beast. Fortunately, the enormous beasts that once inhabited a complex of six similar caves in Minas Gerais, Brazil, went extinct some 10,000 years ago, for the paleontologists who found and studied them. The caves are actually paleo burrows, meaning animals excavated them; armadillos and enormous prehistoric ground sloths appear to be the most likely culprits.The size of the tunnels, up to 131 feet (40 meters) deep and 13 feet (4 meters) high, implies that the ground sloths were not solitary excavators, although some species might grow to a height of 20 feet (6 meters) when upright. A few tiny, smooth hollows that were carved out of the wall of the final chamber in each burrow serve as evidence for this. It’s likely that each of them served as a person’s final resting place.[5]

5. Sky Cities

How Weaver Birds Adapted to Construct Massive Nests
Remarkably, a “Sociable Weaver” is really a unique kind of bird found in Namibia and South Africa rather than a person who belongs to a crochet group. Birds of a feather flock together, and gregarious weavers are no exception. Nesting high in the trees, they construct massive nests that mimic thatched roofs, enabling them to dwell in vast groups. A single nest can have as many as 95 distinct chambers, each of which can house a family of birds.The first person to write about them did so in the late 1700s. He called their type of nest a “aerial city” and noted that he had seen one so large that he estimated it held between 800 and 1,000 birds. They also allow other bird species, such the pygmy falcon, to use their nests for breeding and shelter, demonstrating their true friendliness.[6]

4. Penguin City, King

Explore a 400,000-Penguin Antarctic “City” in Episode 4 of Wildlife: Resurrection Island
One of the biggest penguin colonies in the world is located in St. Andrew’s Bay on the frozen island of South Georgia, which is close to the Antarctic. The island is home to some 400,000 king penguins, which is remarkable given that whalers were forced to leave the island within the previous century after driving the island’s species to the verge of extinction. The fact that the adult penguins can truly find their way around the crowded beach to locate their own young is even more amazing, considering that they can depart for up to five months at a period in order to hunt for food.Considering the lack of leadership, this penguin “city” is remarkably well-organized despite lacking tunnels or shelters. While their parents are abroad, the naughty young chicks and molting penguins are brought together. Needing to wash and bathe, penguins congregate around the bay’s natural ponds, and lengthy, less crowded columns that resemble highways run to the sea.[7]

3. Prairie Dog Town

Although nitpickers may point out that black-tailed prairie dogs live in groups dubbed “towns” rather than “cities,” the population of the largest prairie dog town ever recorded was significantly more than any human town. It is actually significantly larger than the populations of the majority of nations. It was found in Texas in the beginning of the 20th century, covering an area of 250 × 100 miles (402 x 161 kilometers) and supporting 400 million prairie dogs.Thus, that one enormous town was home to roughly half of the rodent population that was thought to exist in Texas at the time. Humans have since divided the 25,000 square mile (64,750 square kilometer) town by inhabiting and developing the surrounding territory. Since then, Texas’s prairie dog population has dropped by more than 99% as a result of this. Now, though, it is comparatively constant at eight million.[8]

2. Monkey City

The distance from human settlements is a common feature of many animal towns. Nevertheless, many abandoned buildings are not left unoccupied for very long, and occasionally they can satisfy the needs of animal colonies. For instance, some 4,000 macaques today reside among the magnificent, centuries-old ruins of the ancient city of Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka. The monkeys in this peculiar animal metropolis have even undergone a semblance of a census, as they were included in a major research project conducted by the Smithsonian Institute from 1968 to 2008.Each and every one that called that place home was given a unique name; some were even named after notable local figures and celebrities. They also gained a little notoriety by appearing in documentaries, such Dark Days in Monkey City on Animal Planet. Some of the networks that produced programs about them included the BBC and the Discovery Channel.[9]

1. The World’s Polar Bear Capital

Michael Strahan travels to the “global center of polar bears” on GMA
Some courageous animals inhabit cities that are not naturally occurring or of their own invention. Rather, they live in human cities, and not just any old abandoned cities. Rats, foxes, and pigeons coexisting with urban inhabitants is not unique anywhere in the world. However, for a few months each year, locals and tourists in Churchill, Canada, must coexist with the polar bear, the largest terrestrial carnivore in the world.When the weather gets colder in the winter and polar bears head to Hudson Bay to hunt seals, hundreds of them congregate in the vicinity of Churchill. It becomes the “Polar Bear Capital of the World” all of a sudden. Though some attempts are made to frighten the bears away and guide them around the town, it is nevertheless common for some to manage to get through. Fortunately, interactions with humans frequently frighten them, and fatalities are uncommon.[10]

SEE ALSO: Ten Organisms That Don’t Have The Skills You Take For Granted