Top 5 best animal dads that really care

While a mother is looking for food to maintain her milk supply, a bat-eared fox father spends most of his time with the pups. He plays with them, grooms their fur and teach the babies to hunt for tasty insects.

Gorillas live in groups called troops, which consist of 2 to 30 individuals. The dominant male fiercely defends every baby of the troop, even if he is not their biological father. Males can also help nurse and groom the babies. There have been cases when one male fathered more than 20 babies from different females and protected each of them.

Best animal fathers are absolutely inspiring! If you love wonderful and surprising facts about wildlife, take a look at these 15 trivia facts.

Each pygmy marmoset newborn accounts for around 10% of the mother's weight, and marmosets usually give birth to twins. When babies are born, their mom needs about two weeks to recover from such stress, and that's when the father steps in. He gives the newborns all the attention they need, licking, grooming and protecting them.

A male seahorse can incubate as many as 2,000 babies in his belly! After a very beautiful mating dance, which can last up to 8 hours, the female deposits the eggs in her partner's special pouch. 10-25 days later, the babies are born. Like in most fish species, they are on their own from the first day of their life.

A female emperor penguin can produce only one egg at a time, as it requires a lot of energy. Once the egg is laid, the mother carefully transfers it to her partner, then leaving for the ocean to feed and recover. For the next 65 days, the father will keep the egg under a warm fold of skin. During this period, male penguins don't eat and lose about half their body weight.