Our Animals

Overview: Like plants, all animals are covered in microbes – their microbiomes – which profoundly influence their wellbeing, the way they process their food, their hormonal balance, their ability to compete and, in some cases, what they do and how. So, because animals are so fascinating for us – just think about our pets, the birds we like to hear and watch, the large land and sea animals we like to go to see in the zoo and aqua park, including our near relatives, the monkeys, the reptiles that make us shiver, the fish we like to catch, and so on – we need to view them as animal:microbe holobionts and keep in mind the microbial contribution to their behaviour and wellbeing. Let’s figure out how microbes influence and sometimes control our animals (and us, since we are also an animal)!