21 Animals Who Know Being Single Is Awesome

Some animals crave the company of others like them, traveling in groups so they rarely, if ever, have to face the world all by themselves. There are others, however, who think a solo life is absolute perfection.

Here are 21 animals who couldn't be happier to be going it alone.

Red pandas are notoriously shy, choosing a life of solitude over companionship, except, of course, when they are in the mood to bless the world by producing a litter of fluffy little cubs.

(Wikimedia)

The vast expanse of the snowy tundra can feel quite isolating, but polar bears like it that way. When not meeting to mate or raising cubs, these arctic animals are quite happy all alone.

(Wikimedia)

As solitary animals, platypuses spend nearly their entire lives keeping all to their unique little selves, though their ranges do sometimes overlap.

(Wikipedia)

Nearly all sandpiper birds travel in groups, but as you might guess, solitary sandpipers do things a little differently. When it comes to finding a place to lay their eggs, they make do with being alone by borrowing nests from other birds.

(Flickr/Chad Horwedel)

For the sake of the rest of the creatures they live amongst, it's probably best that skunks don't travel in packs. Most of the time, these animals go it alone, except in winter when they'll tolerate the company of others nestled for warmth in dens as a group.

(Pixabay)

Aside from when they're meeting to mate or raising young, it's a single's life for leopards. Unlike some big cats, these majestic animals have no problem tracking down prey on their own.

(Wikimedia)

Moles aren't only solitary animals, they're quite intolerant of trespassers. No matter how elaborate their systems of tunnels may be, there's still only room for one occupant.

(Flickr/TheBusyBrain)

Orangutans are the most solitary of the Great Ape species, preferring to spend their lives alone hanging out in trees, only meeting others when it's time to mate.

(Pixabay)

As essentially solitary animals, koalas would much prefer to hug a tree than another koala. Their territorial home ranges are well established, though they might overlap.

(Flickr/Tanya Durrant)

Aside from coupling to mate, or when they're raising offspring, giant anteaters spend their entire lives on their own, happily devouring their namesake snacks without having to share.

(Flickr/René Mayorga)

Black rhinos, especially males, are considered mostly solitary animals, grazing their territories unfettered by the company of others. Females and their daughters, and lone females, are known to form groups.

(Flickr/Chen Wu)

As their name suggests, Tasmanian devils don't make for the most inviting companions. Although they will tolerate having others around, especially when feeding, group meals aren't the most cordial of affairs.

(Wikimedia)

For creatures as slow as sloths, any relationship would pretty much be a long distance one - so why even try? When they're not gathering in groups to mate, these arboreal animals love nothing more than chilling out on a branch alone.

(Wikipedia)

Armadillos are perfectly equipped to protect fleshy parts from attacks from predators, but their hearts are apparently just as guarded. Except for when they come together to mate, these animals would really rather be alone.

(Pixabay)

Having one of the longest migrations on Earth, it's understandable that sea turtles might not have time to settle down. During mating and nesting seasons, these animals will get together in groups, but most of the time they're happily on their own.

(Wikimedia)

Wolverines don't just accept a solitary life, they embrace it with open arms. These animals are known to claim huge swaths of territory all to themselves, sometimes even putting hundreds of miles between themselves and their closest neighbor.

Famously ferocious honey badgers love the single life, nearly always preferring to hunt and roam on their own when not kicking back solo in their bachelor/bachelorette burrow pads.

(Wikimedia)

Adult giant pandas in the wild love nothing more than hanging out, nibbling away in their own private corner of a bamboo forest. They will make exceptions, of course, when another sort of natural urge overtakes their single-minded desire to eat.

(Wikimedia)

As you might tell from looking at them, lionfish aren't fans of visitors. Armed with poisonous fins, these fierce fish are prepared to keep trespassers, both predators and other lionfish, from venturing too close.

(Pixabay)

Tigers love life on their own, claiming large areas of forest all to themselves once they're old enough to be independent from their mothers.

(Wikimedia)

Common frogs, when they're not making tadpoles with a green little mate, are perfectly content leading the single life along marshes and in tall grass where they can make easy meals of insects, worms and snails.