Which animal farts the most?

Determining which animal farts the most is a challenging task, as measuring methane emissions from different creatures poses difficulties. However, experts have proposed several hypotheses based on existing data. Livestock, especially cows, are major methane emitters, with their total emissions amounting to 117 teragrams per year.

Despite popular belief, the majority of methane emissions from livestock are released through burping rather than flatulence. Cows and other ruminants ferment their food in the front part of their digestive system, resulting in most methane being belched out. Hindgut fermenters, such as cows, buffalo, sheep, goats, and camels, produce significantly more methane than meat-eaters.

Among hindgut fermenters, termites are a possible contender, with an estimated global population of 27 quadrillion individuals emitting 10 teragrams of methane annually. However, horses may have the highest methane emissions per individual, emitting around 40 pounds of methane per year, according to a 2019 report. Nevertheless, the accuracy of this ranking is questionable, as many hindgut fermenters remain unmeasured.

The issue of using methane emissions as an indicator of flatulence is also problematic, as most methane is exhaled rather than being present in flatulence. Until scientists can accurately measure animal farts, any ranking remains speculative.