Animals With Most Depressing Lives - Part 4

[00:00:00]This Angelina Jolie is a red-lipped batfish.

[00:00:03]And the depression starts from these lips. Just look at this face. They look so ugly that even their own species won't look at them twice. That may be the reason why they live alone.

[00:00:14]But since they are found near Galapagos Island, being weird is not much of a big deal, I guess.

[00:00:20]The evolution stripped away their swimming fins and changed them to weird legs. On top of that, it slapped a lipstick in their face.

[00:00:29]But the depressing thing is red looks gray just below 10 m, and they live way below that.

[00:00:35]It's like God gave you a Ferrari, but everyone sees it as an '80s taxi.

[00:00:41]If that's not depressing, I don't know what is. These pancakes are related to angler fish. Yep, these guys. They're like cousins. Anglers got some highlights, whereas these guys were never given any light of hope. Instead, they have this, a horn-like thing between two balls.

[00:00:59]On top of that, it's retractable.

[00:01:01]>> Technologia.

[00:01:02]>> During these times, I seriously doubt if evolution is an unconscious entity. I mean, it takes some thought to mess something this bad.

[00:01:11]So, these have to make do with this small prop. Since they can't swim or even walk fast, they have to wait for the food to get into their mouth. When any crustacean is nearby, they take out their nose and release some chemicals.

[00:01:25]When they get nearby, they just suck them and eat them. This is some lucky crab, I guess. When it's mating time, male and female find each other. Female lays eggs in the ocean floor, and male sprays the sperm.

[00:01:39]After that, the female leaves. Now, it's up to the father to care for the kids.

[00:01:44]If the father leaves them for long, some crustacean may eat the eggs. I think it's the guy from earlier. Yep, it's either eat or be eaten world. So, no hard feelings here.

[00:01:55]After the eggs hatch, they drift away with the current. They have normal shape as fries. But, as time passes, the fins are modified and body squished from top to become pancake.

[00:02:07]The dorsal fin changes to this nose.

[00:02:09]Thus, they settle at the bottom to hide from the shame.

[00:02:14]And after around 7 years, the cycle continues.

[00:02:17]This is a Komodo dragon, and these guys live their entire life in pure depression.

[00:02:23]The only happy moment is the mother cares for the eggs for around 8 months.

[00:02:28]But, as soon as the kids hatch from the eggs, they instantly climb some trees nearby.

[00:02:33]It's not that they are fond of trees, but to save their own lives. If the mother sees them, she will eat them instantly.

[00:02:41]Yep, the depression starts as soon as they are born. They eat small insects, bird eggs, and small geckos, but never get down from the trees.

[00:02:51]They spend around a year almost like arboreal animals.

[00:02:54]After they get a little big, they start walking on land.

[00:02:57]They search for food, or maybe look for something that's left by adults.

[00:03:02]But, as soon as they feel threatened, they instantly climb trees.

[00:03:06]When they are around 3 to 4 years of age, the tree branch can't support their weight, and they are forced to stay on land. But, there's a big problem. Big adults are territorial, and they don't like any other dragon near their area.

[00:03:20]So, they have to stay on outskirts.

[00:03:22]Since they are just around 40 lb, a giant adult of over 150 lb can easily kill and eat them.

[00:03:29]So, the new life on land is depressing, too. They roam around, eat small lizards, newborn ones, or the carcass left by the adults. The same routine runs for another 5 years until they become adults themselves.

[00:03:43]Now, they are mature enough to make their own territory. But, that's a pain, too.

[00:03:48]They now have to roam around the territory to see if other dragons are invading it. Since they are huge, they can't run like other animals, but they have venom for that.

[00:03:58]These lazy reptiles wait for food to come to them.

[00:04:01]If a prey like deer arrives, they bite it. The venom makes the wound unable to heal. So, even if the deer escapes, the blood flows out continuously and it dies within a few minutes. When it's mating time, the territory changes to death fight. This hug-looking romantic dance is actually a deadly fight. One can easily kill another and eat that guy.

[00:04:24]When a female is set, the male doesn't let go.

[00:04:27]Biting and scratching are normal for them.

[00:04:29]So, the females sometimes give birth without mating.

[00:04:32]The newborn are all female with that process, though.

[00:04:35]Female digs a meter-deep hole and lays several eggs. She cares for the eggs for 8 months. When the eggs hatch, they crawl out and instantly run towards trees. And the cycle continues.

[00:04:48]This alien insect with overgrown jaws is an antlion. As for the name, they're like lions for ants. So, the name checks out. They are found in sandy and dry soil areas all over the world. The eggs are laid below the sand and there's no mother to take care of them. Yep, depression starts even before they are born.

[00:05:08]They hatch around a week later.

[00:05:10]And as soon as they are born, they start moving in circles.

[00:05:14]They periodically throw the sand upwards and make a cone-like structure. If you have ever seen these inverted cones, it's their home.

[00:05:23]Now, they hide below the cone and wait.

[00:05:26]Whenever any ant or other crawling insects walk there, the sand grains fall to the pit. The antlion feels the vibration and starts throwing the sand upwards.

[00:05:36]This makes the slope slippery and the ant falls. Then it grabs the prey with its pincers and injects the venom.

[00:05:43]The venom digests the internal organs and changes it into soup. Then the lion drinks that juice and throws the empty shell outside the pit. You might be thinking what's so depressing about that? Well, the depressing part is the answer other insects rarely visit the cones and many of the lions die before they have their first meal. And even if they have the meal, there's another problem.

[00:06:06]They can eat all they want, but they can't throw anything out. Yep, these guys don't have anus and have to digest everything they eat. Kind of like Kim Jong.

[00:06:16]I heard he never poops, too.

[00:06:18]But since the digestion can never be 100% the undigested food has to remain inside the body. And that's a real pain in the butt.

[00:06:28]They stay in their cone for around 3 years repeating the same process and storing the poop. When they have accumulated enough energy, they form a cocoon and start the metamorphosis.

[00:06:39]After around a week, the lion changes to a griffin.

[00:06:42]Now it looks like a damselfly. And guess what's the first thing it does after turning into a flying insect? Well, it poops. Just imagine the pain it endured for those years.

[00:06:53]Now the life is set. It can eat nectar, pollen, and enjoy the life.

[00:06:58]But the depressing part is it doesn't want to eat now. The only thing it seeks is a mate.

[00:07:04]The male starts secreting pheromones.

[00:07:06]When females smell that, they dangle in a branch and wait for male. The male dangles below her and attaches the tail.

[00:07:12]The mating can last for over 2 hours and after the mating, male leaves.

[00:07:17]Female searches for dry loose sand or soil and lays one egg per place dipping her tail inside the sand.

[00:07:24]The egg hatches after around a week and the cycle continues.

[00:07:28]This moss head is Zoro and this moss head is Kakapo.

[00:07:32]They both have one depressing character.

[00:07:34]Neither of them have any sense of direction.

[00:07:37]I don't think I have to explain about Zoro, but for these birds, they don't have internal compass like other birds, at least not a functional one. On top of that, they can't fly.

[00:07:48]Yep, these parrots are the only parrot species that can't fly. So, these guys waddle here and there eating fruits and seeds. Their favorite food is fruit from the rimu tree. But the depressing part is, the tree only fruits once every 4 years.

[00:08:03]So, these parrots have to wait 4 years just to eat the food they like. They evolved in New Zealand with no land predators. And since they look like moss ball, the threats like eagles could be avoided by standing still.

[00:08:15]So, they stopped flying and kept eating without any worries. They got so fat that they could no longer fly.

[00:08:22]Even climbing trees became a problem for them. Getting down was not a problem as they could glide somehow.

[00:08:29]Their life was moving on with some hiccups.

[00:08:32]But then, it took a U-turn. Humans became the biggest depression in their life. They brought cats and ferrets with them, and the rats hitchhiked the ships.

[00:08:42]The cats started eating the adults, and rats started eating the eggs and the chicks. Almost the whole population of kakapo were digested. Since the kakapo are flightless, they could just freeze and watch their own demise.

[00:08:55]People [snorts] started carrying these parrots to the caged preservation area and kept them safe.

[00:09:00]But, increasing the population was another problem. Now, there are around 250 parrots in the world, and each one of them are tracked. GPS, body monitor, and almost every possible gadgets are put on them to keep them on site.

[00:09:14]People are trying to increase their population. But, the mating is another depressing part of their lives, and we'll talk about that in the mating video.

[00:09:23]Recently, in 2026, they laid around 260 eggs, but only around 90 chicks survived after hatching. When they cross 150 days, they are officially considered healthy birds and added to this number.

[00:09:36]And when these chicks get around 6 years of age, the depressing cycle continues.

[00:09:42]But I hope you guys are having some good times. And as always, I love you guys.