Dear Humans,
It has been academically supported that our IQ and our ability to walk bipedal, self-reflect, and express a complex range of emotions make us different from animals. To be clear: not better, only different. There are many qualities animals have that we can only dream of—qualities that could turn us into superheroes.
As kids we are fascinated by wild animal life. We imitate their voices, the way they walk, their behavior. We learn everything there is to know about them. Animals are our cutest and most dangerous friends. How many times have we have been to the zoo, played with toy animals, and talked to them as though they were the most important living being in the world? And there are an incalculable number of these living creatures out there.
We write books like that of Animals United by Erich Kästner. We use animal metaphors, animal personas, and zoomorphy to express human characters: Playful as a dolphin, busy as a beaver, running like a gazelle, ...