This paper, third in a series of five reports on results of a national study of American attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors toward wildlife and natural habitats, focuses on the American public's attitudes, perceptions, and understanding of animals. Data were derived from questionnaires administered to 3,107 randomly selected Americans (18 years and older) and random samples of members of the National Trappers, National Cattlemen's and American Sheep Producers Associations. Results are reported and discussed around three topic areas: (1) knowledge of animals (overall and by selected knowledge categories, among major demographic groups, awareness of wildlife management issues); (2) species preference (most liked/disliked, preference for types of animals, in relation to critical wildlife issues, among major demographic groups); and (3) basic attitudes toward animals, considering prevalence in the entire American public and among major demographic groups (including age, sex, race, education, income, urban/rural residence, occupation, attendance at religious services, and marital status). Attitude scale methodology, national survey completion rates, comparison of demographic characteristics of national sample with United States census data, frequency distribution of preferences for 33 animals, and attitude scale mean scores by selected animal-related activity groups are provided in appendices. (JN)