re: Variations in Human Intelligence vs Animal Intelligence

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As a general rule and on a relative scale, you can't really characterize wild animals as intelligent. They don't really know why they do what they do. They're driven by instinct and they all (within a given species) have the same instincts.

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I disagree, there are several species that we could call "intelligent". Many apes, octopuses, dolphins, dogs, etc. They can all learn to manipulate their environment. Lots of animals can make and use tools in novel ways, and set and achieve goals. When a dog decides to go inside and then flips a latch handle to open the door, I think that's much more intelligence than instinct.