Aardvarks are unusual African mammals with long snouts, huge ears, strong claws, and sticky tongues. They sleep in burrows during the day and come out at night to search for ants and termites.

The aardwolf is a small African mammal in the hyena family. Its name means earth wolf, but it is neither a wolf nor a bone-crushing hunter. Aardwolves are shy, mostly nocturnal insect eaters that use long sticky tongues to lick up huge numbers of termites without smashing open the termite mound.

Addax are desert antelopes from North Africa. They have pale coats, long spiral horns, and broad hooves that help them walk on sand. These tough animals are built for dry places, but they need protection because they are very rare in the wild.

African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth. There are two main African elephant species: the huge savanna elephant and the smaller forest elephant. Both are smart, social mammals with trunks, tusks, big ears, and important jobs in their habitats.

African lions are powerful big cats that live in grasslands, savannas, shrublands, and open woodlands across parts of sub-Saharan Africa. They are among the most social cats, forming prides built around related females and their cubs. Lions communicate with scent, body language, calls, and deep roars that can travel across the landscape.

African penguins are flightless seabirds from the coasts of South Africa and Namibia. They have black-and-white feathers, pink patches above the eyes, donkey-like braying calls, and a conservation story that needs urgent help.

African wild dogs are social carnivores with long legs, rounded ears, and patchy coats that look painted. They live in packs across parts of sub-Saharan Africa and are famous for teamwork, communication, and caring for pups.

Aldabra tortoises are giant land reptiles from the Aldabra Atoll in Seychelles. These slow, powerful grazers have huge domed shells, sturdy legs, long lifespans, and an important job shaping island vegetation.

Antelope is a broad everyday name for many hoofed mammals in the cattle family, Bovidae. It is not one formal scientific group, and antelopes include wonderfully different animals such as gazelles, impalas, wildebeests, duikers, oryxes, and elands. Most live in Africa, while several occur in Asia. They range from tiny forest dwellers to enormous open-country grazers.

Apes are tailless primates belonging to the superfamily Hominoidea. Living nonhuman apes include gibbons, siamangs, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos. Humans are also classified as apes scientifically, although this page focuses mainly on our nonhuman relatives. Apes vary enormously in size, movement, diet, communication, and social life.

Aye-ayes are rare nocturnal lemurs from Madagascar with huge ears, big eyes, bushy tails, strong teeth, and one extra-long skinny middle finger. They tap on wood to find insects hiding inside trees.

Baboons are large Old World monkeys with long faces, strong bodies, and social lives. They often live in troops, travel across the ground, groom each other, and use calls, gestures, and facial expressions to communicate.

Ball pythons are nonvenomous constrictor snakes from West and Central Africa. They are also called royal pythons, and their common name comes from their habit of curling into a tight ball when stressed or frightened.

Bee-eaters are bright, colorful birds known for catching flying insects in the air. Many perch on branches, wires, or banks, then swoop out to grab bees, wasps, dragonflies, and other insects with quick flying skills.

Black mambas are long, fast, highly venomous snakes from parts of sub-Saharan Africa. They are not usually black on the outside; their name comes from the dark inside of the mouth, which they may show when threatened.

The black rhinoceros is a large African browser with a pointed, grasping upper lip and usually two horns. Its scientific name is Diceros bicornis. Despite the name, its skin is normally gray or brown and often takes on the colour of local mud. Black rhinos live in parts of eastern and southern Africa, where they browse shrubs, mark trails with dung, and depend on intensive protection from poaching.

Blackbird can mean different birds in different places. In Europe, the common blackbird is a thrush with a beautiful song, while in the Americas, many blackbirds belong to a different songbird family. Both are known for calls, songs, and lively behavior.

Boas are mostly nonvenomous constrictor snakes found in the Americas and some nearby regions. Boa constrictors and their relatives use strong muscles to hold prey, and many boas give birth to live young instead of laying eggs.

This page uses boar to mean the wild boar, Sus scrofa, a tough and adaptable wild pig native to Europe, Asia, and parts of North Africa. Adult males are specifically called boars, females are sows, and young animals are piglets. Wild boars use powerful snouts to root through soil, eat an enormous variety of foods, and live in social female-led groups called sounders.

Bongos are large African forest antelopes with reddish coats, white stripes, big ears, and spiral horns. They live in dense forests, where their markings help them blend into shadows, leaves, and stripes of sunlight.

Bonobos are endangered great apes found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are close relatives of chimpanzees and humans, live in rainforest groups, build sleeping nests, use expressive faces and sounds, and spend lots of time building social bonds.

Buffalo are large, strong hoofed mammals in the cattle family. Some buffalo live in Asia near water, while African buffalo live in grasslands and open woodlands. Buffalo are often confused with bison, but they are different animals.

Bush babies, also called galagos, are small African primates with huge eyes, big ears, soft fur, long tails, and springy back legs. They live in trees and are mostly active at night.

The bushbuck is a medium-sized spiral-horned antelope found across much of sub-Saharan Africa. It belongs to the bovid family and depends heavily on dense vegetation for food and hiding cover. Bushbuck coats range from reddish brown to very dark brown, with white spots and stripes that vary between regions and individuals. Scientists have debated whether northern and southern forms should be split, but recent integrative research supports treating them as one widespread species, Tragelaphus scriptus.

The bushpig, Potamochoerus larvatus, is a sturdy wild pig native to eastern and southern Africa. It lives in forests, wetlands, scrub, mountains, farmland edges, and other places offering thick cover and food. Bushpigs are mainly active at night, use muscular snouts to root through soil, and live in family groups called sounders. They are close relatives of red river hogs but usually have darker, coarser coats and shorter ear tassels.

This page focuses on the Common Buzzard, also called the Eurasian Buzzard, Buteo buteo. It is a broad-winged bird of prey found across Europe and much of Asia, with some populations travelling south for winter. Common buzzards hunt from perches or soar over open land beside woodland. Their feathers vary so much that a very pale bird and a very dark bird can appear to belong to different species.

Caecilians are unusual amphibians with long, limbless bodies that can look like worms or snakes. Many live underground in warm, moist soil, where they use strong heads, ringed bodies, and tiny sensory tentacles to explore.

Camels are desert-ready mammals famous for their humps, long eyelashes, wide feet, and amazing ability to survive in dry places. They have helped people travel, carry goods, and live in harsh desert regions for thousands of years.

Canaries are small finches famous for cheerful songs. Wild canaries come from islands near northwest Africa, while many pet canaries have been bred in bright colors, including yellow, orange, white, brown, and greenish shades.

The Cape buffalo, Syncerus caffer caffer, is the largest and darkest form of African buffalo. It lives mainly in eastern and southern African savannas, woodlands, floodplains, and grasslands where dependable water and grazing are available. Cape buffalo are wild bovids rather than domestic cattle or Asian water buffalo. Their massive bodies, curved horns, social herds, mud wallows, and ability to defend calves make them one of Africa’s most formidable grazing mammals.

Caracals are sleek wild cats with reddish-brown fur, short tails, long legs, and dramatic black ear tufts. They live in dry places, grasslands, hills, and scrub areas across Africa and parts of Asia.

Chameleons are colorful lizards known for moving eyes, sticky tongues, grasping toes, and amazing color changes. Many live in trees and use careful slow movement to sneak through branches.

Cheetahs are slim, spotted wild cats famous for being the fastest land animals on Earth. They have long legs, flexible spines, black tear marks, and amazing acceleration that helps them chase fast prey.

Chevrotains are small hoofed mammals in the family Tragulidae. They are often called mouse-deer, but they are neither mice nor true deer. About ten living species occur in tropical forests of South and Southeast Asia, with one species, the water chevrotain, living in central and western Africa. Chevrotains belong to an early branch of the ruminant family tree and combine delicate legs, rounded bodies, large eyes, scent-marking glands, and surprisingly long canine teeth in males.

Chimpanzees are clever, social apes that live in Africa. They are closely related to humans, use tools, care for their young, build sleeping nests, and communicate with sounds, faces, and gestures.

Civets are small to medium mammals with long bodies, pointed faces, spotted or striped coats, and strong scent glands. Many civets are active at night and live in forests, grasslands, and wooded habitats of Africa and Asia.

Cobra is a broad common name for several venomous snakes in the family Elapidae. Most true cobras belong to the genus Naja and live across Africa and Asia, while other hood-spreading snakes such as the king cobra and rinkhals belong to different genera. Cobras are famous for raising the front of the body and spreading a hood, but species differ greatly in size, colour, habitat, venom, diet, reproduction, and whether they can spray venom toward a threat.

Coelacanths are rare deep-water fish with fleshy lobe-like fins and an ancient family history. Scientists knew them from fossils and were amazed when a living coelacanth was found off South Africa in 1938.

Colobus monkeys are African Old World monkeys known for long tails, tree life, leaf eating, and reduced or missing thumbs. Many live in forests, where they leap between branches and feed on leaves, fruit, flowers, and seeds.

Crocodiles are large reptiles with powerful jaws, sharp teeth, armored skin, long tails, and strong swimming skills. They live in warm places near rivers, wetlands, lakes, coasts, and mangroves.

Dik-diks are tiny African antelopes with big eyes, large ears, thin legs, and pointed noses. They live in bushy habitats, where they hide from predators, browse on plants, and call “dik-dik” when alarmed.

Dormice are small rodents known for big eyes, fluffy tails, and long periods of sleep. Many live in forests, hedgerows, and woodlands, where they climb through branches searching for fruit, nuts, flowers, and insects.

The dromedary, Camelus dromedarius, is the one-humped camel of North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. It has been domesticated for thousands of years for transport, milk, meat, fibre, and work. No truly wild dromedary population survives, although large feral herds live in Australia. Dromedaries are superbly adapted to hot, dry landscapes with fat stored in one hump, broad padded feet, closable nostrils, long eyelashes, tough lips, and remarkable control of heat and water loss.

Dugongs are gentle marine mammals often called sea cows. They live in warm coastal waters, graze on seagrass, breathe air at the surface, and use a whale-like fluked tail to swim.

Egyptian geese are bold waterbirds from Africa with long legs, pinkish bills, dark eye patches, and loud calls. They look a bit goose-like, but they are close relatives of ducks and shelducks in the waterfowl family.

Elands are the largest antelopes in the world. These huge African hoofed mammals have strong bodies, spiral horns, long faces, big ears, and loose skin under the throat called a dewlap.

Elephants are the largest land animals on Earth. They are smart, social, gentle giants with long trunks, big ears, strong tusks, and close family groups.

Elephant seals are enormous true seals in the genus Mirounga. Two living species exist: the Northern Elephant Seal, Mirounga angustirostris, of the eastern North Pacific, and the Southern Elephant Seal, Mirounga leonina, of subantarctic and Antarctic waters. Adult males develop an inflatable trunk-like nose called a proboscis and can be several times heavier than females. Elephant seals spend most of the year at sea, making repeated deep dives for squid and fish before returning to land for breeding and molting.

Emperor scorpions are large black scorpions from western Africa. They have big pincers, a curved tail with a stinger, eight legs, and a quiet nighttime life in warm forests and savannas.

The European Goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis, is a small colorful finch native to Europe, North Africa, and western and central Asia. It has a bright red face, black-and-white head, warm buff back, black wings crossed by bold yellow bars, and a musical twittering call. European Goldfinches use fine pointed bills to pull seeds from thistles, teasels, dandelions, and other plants. They live in open woodland, farmland, orchards, parks, gardens, hedgerows, and weedy fields.

The European Robin, Erithacus rubecula, is a small songbird found across Europe, western Asia, and North Africa. Adults have an orange face and breast, brown upperparts, a pale belly, thin legs, and large dark eyes. European Robins live in woodland undergrowth, hedgerows, parks, gardens, scrub, and shaded forest edges. They search mostly near the ground for insects, spiders, worms, and other invertebrates, adding berries and seeds when animal food becomes scarce.

Fennec foxes are tiny desert foxes with huge ears, sandy fur, fluffy tails, and quick little feet. They live in deserts of northern Africa and nearby regions, where their ears help them hear prey and release heat.

Flamingos are tall wading birds with long legs, long necks, curved bills, and pink feathers. They live in wetlands, lagoons, lakes, and mudflats, where they feed by filtering tiny foods from water and mud.

Fossas are catlike carnivores that live only on Madagascar. They are strong forest hunters with long tails, sharp claws, flexible bodies, and amazing climbing skills that help them move through trees and across the forest floor.

Fruit bats are Old World bats in the family Pteropodidae, also called flying foxes or megabats. They live naturally across tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia, Australia, and Pacific and Indian Ocean islands. The family includes tiny nectar-feeding bats and huge flying foxes with wingspans wider than a child's height. Most use large eyes and an excellent sense of smell to find fruit, flowers, nectar, pollen, and leaves, helping forests by carrying seeds and pollen over long distances.

Gannets are large fish-eating seabirds in the genus Morus and the family Sulidae. Three living species exist: the Northern Gannet of the North Atlantic, the Cape Gannet of southern Africa, and the Australasian Gannet of Australia and New Zealand. Adults are mostly white with black flight feathers, long pointed wings, streamlined bodies, strong webbed feet, and dagger-like bills. Gannets are famous for folding their wings and plunging from the air into the sea to catch schooling fish and squid.

Gazelles are graceful antelopes with slim bodies, long legs, sharp senses, and speedy running skills. They live in grasslands, savannas, steppes, and dry places in Africa and Asia, where they graze and browse on plants.

Geladas are large monkeys from the high mountains of Ethiopia. They are famous for eating lots of grass, living near cliffs and high plateaus, having pale eyelids, and showing a bright patch of skin on the chest.

Genets are small, catlike mammals with spotted coats, long ringed tails, pointed faces, and quick climbing skills. Most genets live in Africa, while the common genet also lives in parts of southern Europe and western Asia.

Gerbils are small rodents that live in deserts, grasslands, and dry regions. They are known for long tails, strong back legs, burrowing skills, and social behavior with family groups.

Gerenuks are slim, long-necked antelopes from dry parts of East Africa. They are sometimes called giraffe gazelles because they can stand on their hind legs and stretch upward to nibble leaves.

Giraffes are the tallest animals on Earth. They are famous for their long necks, spotted coats, long tongues, and gentle nature. These amazing animals live in Africa and spend much of their day eating leaves from tall trees.

Glass lizards are long, mostly legless lizards in the anguid subfamily Anguinae. The name is used especially for species in Ophisaurus of North America, Pseudopus of Europe and western Asia, Dopasia of Asia, and Hyalosaurus of North Africa. They resemble snakes but have movable eyelids, visible ear openings, stiff armored skin, and long fragile tails. Most hunt insects and other small animals in grassland, woodland, dunes, scrub, farms, and rocky habitats. The tail can break into several wriggling pieces, giving the group its glass-like name.

Goliath beetles are giant scarab beetles from tropical African forests. They are among the heaviest insects on Earth, especially as chunky larvae, and adults have strong legs, hard wing covers, and bold patterns.

Gorillas are the largest apes and some of humans' closest living relatives. They live in African forests, move mostly on their knuckles, eat many plant foods, and often stay in family groups led by a silverback male.

Grass snake is a common name used for several closely related nonvenomous European snakes in the genus Natrix. This page focuses on the Common Grass Snake, Natrix natrix; the Barred Grass Snake, Natrix helvetica; and the Red-Eyed or Iberian Grass Snake, Natrix astreptophora. They live around ponds, rivers, marshes, meadows, woodland edges, gardens, and farms across Europe and into western Asia and northwestern Africa. Grass snakes are strong swimmers that mainly hunt frogs, toads, newts, and other small animals.

The Eastern Grey Squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, is a tree squirrel native to eastern North America. Grey is the usual British spelling, while American sources normally write Gray Squirrel. These agile rodents have gray-brown fur, pale bellies, large dark eyes, sharp curved claws, and long bushy tails. They live in deciduous woodland, parks, gardens, suburbs, and cities. Introduced populations occur in Britain, Ireland, Italy, South Africa, and parts of western North America, where their ecological effects differ from their role in native forests.

Hedgehogs are small mammals with sharp spines, tiny faces, short legs, and curious noses. They are known for curling into a prickly ball when threatened and searching for food mostly at night.

Hippopotamuses, often called hippos, are huge mammals that live in Africa. They spend much of the day in rivers, lakes, and swamps to stay cool, then often come onto land at night to graze on grass.

Honey badgers, also called ratels, are tough mustelid mammals with strong claws, loose thick skin, and a bold black-and-white coat. They live across parts of Africa and Asia in habitats such as grasslands, deserts, forests, and scrublands.

Hoopoes are striking birds with fan-like crests, long downcurved bills, pinkish-brown bodies, and bold black-and-white wings. They use their bills to probe soil and grass for insects, larvae, worms, and other small invertebrates.

Hornbills are tropical birds with large curved bills and, in many species, a helmet-like casque on top. They live in forests, savannas, and woodlands of Africa and Asia and often eat fruit.

Hyenas are clever, strong mammals known for loud calls, powerful jaws, social groups, and nighttime activity. They may look a little like dogs, but hyenas belong to their own animal family and have amazing survival skills.

Ibexes are wild goats that live in steep mountain habitats. They have strong hooves, excellent balance, beards on males, and large curved horns that help them look perfectly built for cliffs.

Ibises are long-legged wading birds with long, slender, downward-curving bills. They use those curved bills to probe mud, shallow water, grass, and soft ground for insects, worms, crustaceans, and other small foods.

Impalas are graceful African antelopes known for powerful jumps, fast running, reddish coats, and black markings near the back legs. They live in savannas and woodlands of eastern and southern Africa.

The Indri, Indri indri, is one of the largest living lemurs and is found only in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar. It has dense black-and-white fur, round furry ears, long powerful hind legs, grasping hands and feet, and an extremely short tail. Indris live in small territorial family groups and are famous for long, haunting songs performed by several group members. They mainly eat young leaves, mature leaves, fruit, flowers, and seeds. The species is Critically Endangered because its forest is fragmented and continues to be lost, while hunting and very slow reproduction make recovery difficult.

Jackal is a common name usually used for three medium-sized wild canids: the Golden Jackal, Canis aureus, of Europe and Asia; the Black-Backed Jackal, Lupulella mesomelas, of eastern and southern Africa; and the Side-Striped Jackal, Lupulella adusta, of central, eastern, and southern Africa. They are not one species and do not all belong to the same genus. Jackals have pointed ears, long muzzles, bushy tails, excellent smell and hearing, flexible omnivorous diets, and social systems often centered on a long-term breeding pair.

The Jackdaw, Coloeus monedula, is a small, compact member of the crow family found across Europe, western Asia, and parts of North Africa. Some taxonomies still use the older name Corvus monedula. Adults have blackish plumage, a pale gray nape and side of the neck, a short bill, and striking pale silver or whitish eyes. Jackdaws live in farmland, cliffs, woodland edges, villages, parks, and cities. They are highly social birds that form lasting pairs, nest in cavities, communicate with sharp chack calls, and gather in large communal roosts.

Jerboas are small jumping rodents with long hind legs, short front legs, long tails, and big eyes. They live in deserts and dry grasslands of northern Africa, Asia, and parts of eastern Europe.

Kudus are graceful African antelopes with long legs, big ears, pale body stripes, and amazing spiral horns in males. They use woodland cover for safety and can stand very still when hiding from predators.

The Lapwing on this page is the Northern Lapwing, Vanellus vanellus, a crested plover of farmland, wet grassland, marshes, meadows, and mudflats across Europe and Asia. The wider word lapwing also covers many other species in the genus Vanellus. Northern Lapwings have glossy green-and-purple upperparts, a white belly, dark breast, long wispy crest, broad rounded wings, and a distinctive peewit call. They perform tumbling courtship flights, lay camouflaged eggs in shallow ground scrapes, and raise downy chicks that can walk and feed soon after hatching.

Lemurs are primates known for big eyes, soft fur, long tails, and curious faces. Wild lemurs are native to Madagascar, where different species live in forests, dry areas, and other special habitats.

Leopards are powerful spotted wild cats found in parts of Africa and Asia. They are skilled climbers, quiet hunters, and adaptable animals that can live in forests, grasslands, mountains, deserts, and rocky places.

Lions are powerful big cats known for their loud roars, social family groups, and impressive hunting skills. They are among the most famous animals on Earth and are often called the kings of the jungle.

Locusts are special grasshoppers that can change behavior when conditions are right. They may live quietly alone, but when many gather together, they can form marching hopper bands as nymphs and flying swarms as adults.

Lovebirds are small, colorful parrots from Africa and Madagascar. They are known for short tails, chunky bodies, bright feathers, social behavior, and strong pair bonds, which helped give these little parrots their sweet name.

Lungfish are ancient freshwater lobe-finned fishes in the group Dipnoi. Only six living species remain: four African lungfishes in Protopterus, one South American Lungfish, Lepidosiren paradoxa, and one Australian Lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri. All possess true lungs as well as gills, but they use them differently. African and South American species are eel-like obligate air breathers with paired lungs, while the robust Australian species has one lung, stronger gills, paddle-like fins, and cannot survive a completely dry season by aestivating.

Macaques are clever Old World monkeys found mostly in Asia, with one famous species, the Barbary macaque, living in North Africa. They are social primates that often live in troops and can adapt to forests, mountains, cities, temples, and rocky places.

Mambas are fast, slender, venomous snakes from Africa. Some mambas live mostly in trees, while the black mamba often moves on the ground. They are amazing reptiles, but they should always be watched from far away and never touched.

Manatees are gentle aquatic mammals often called sea cows. They have round bodies, paddle-shaped tails, flippers, whiskery faces, and big lips that help them eat aquatic plants.

Mandrills are large, colorful Old World monkeys from the rainforests of west-central Africa. Adult males have bright blue and red faces, strong bodies, short tails, and bold colors that make them look like living rainforest masks.

Marabou storks are huge African wading birds with long legs, bald heads, big bills, and a dangling throat pouch. They are famous scavengers, helping clean up carrion and scraps while also catching live prey such as insects, fish, and small animals.

Meerkats are small, social mammals that live in dry deserts and grasslands in southern Africa. They are famous for standing upright, living in busy groups, digging burrows, and taking turns watching for danger.

Mongooses are small bold carnivorous mammals found mainly in Africa, with some species in Asia and southern Europe. They are quick, alert hunters, and some mongooses are famous for attacking venomous snakes such as cobras.

Monitor lizards are smart, active reptiles with long bodies, strong claws, powerful tails, and forked tongues. Different species live in Africa, Asia, Australia, and nearby islands, from forests and deserts to rivers and mangroves.

Moorhens are lively waterbirds in the rail family. This page focuses on the Common Moorhen, Gallinula chloropus, found across much of Europe, Africa, and Asia. Its long toes, bobbing swim, white side stripe, and red-and-yellow bill make it a memorable resident of ponds, marshes, and slow waterways.

Mudskippers are unusual fish that can spend time out of water on muddy shores. They use strong fins to move across mudflats, climb roots, guard burrows, and breathe through moist skin and mouth lining.

Naked mole rats are small nearly hairless rodents that live underground in eastern Africa. They are famous for large colonies, a queen, worker roles, big front teeth, wrinkly skin, and amazing survival in dark low-oxygen tunnels.

Nightingales are small brown songbirds famous for powerful, beautiful songs. The common nightingale is often heard in spring and early summer, and males may sing from hidden shrubs during the day or even at night.

Nurse sharks are slow-moving sharks that often rest on the ocean bottom during the day and hunt at night. They have rounded heads, small mouths, barbels near the nose, and strong suction feeding skills.

Nyalas are elegant antelopes from southeastern Africa with white stripes, big ears, and shy forest habits. Males are dark with spiral horns, while females are reddish brown and usually smaller.

Okapis are shy rainforest mammals with brown bodies, white-striped legs, large ears, and long dark tongues. They live only in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and are the closest living relatives of giraffes.

Oryxes are large antelopes with long horns, pale coats, and bold face markings. They live in dry deserts and near-deserts, where their bodies are adapted to heat, scarce water, and open spaces.

Ostriches are huge flightless birds from Africa. They have long necks, long legs, big eyes, small heads, soft feathers, and powerful running skills that help them survive in open country.

Pangolins are shy scaly mammals from Africa and Asia. They have tough overlapping scales, long sticky tongues, strong claws, and a special habit of curling into a ball when danger comes near.

“Panther” is a common name with several meanings, not the scientific name of one animal species. Most people who say black panther mean a black-coated leopard from Africa or Asia or a black-coated jaguar from the Americas. Both cats still have rosette patterns beneath the dark pigment, and each keeps the body shape, behavior, habitat, and conservation status of its actual species.

Parakeet is a common name for many small or medium-sized parrots with slender bodies and usually long, tapered tails. Budgerigars, rose-ringed parakeets, monk parakeets, and many birds called conures are examples, but they do not all belong to one genus. Parakeets live in different parts of the world and share classic parrot tools such as hooked beaks, grasping feet, clever brains, and noisy social lives.

Penguins are flightless birds that are excellent swimmers. They have flipper-like wings, waterproof feathers, webbed feet, and strong bodies built for ocean life. Most penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere.

The European polecat is a secretive mustelid with dark brown fur, a pale undercoat, white-edged ears, and a mask-like face. It hunts mostly after dark across woodlands, wetlands, fields, and farm edges. Polecats are close relatives of domestic ferrets and can release a powerful smell when threatened, but they are not skunks despite the nickname “polecat” sometimes being used for skunks in North America.

Porcupines are large rodents famous for sharp quills that help protect them from predators. They are mostly plant eaters, and different porcupine species live in forests, deserts, grasslands, rocky places, and trees around the world.

Pottos are slow-moving nocturnal primates from African forests. They have large eyes, strong gripping hands and feet, woolly fur, and careful climbing skills that help them move quietly through trees at night.

Pythons are nonvenomous snakes with long muscular bodies, flexible jaws, smooth scales, and strong squeezing power. They live in warm habitats and are famous for being constrictors, which means they wrap around prey instead of using venom.

The red deer, Cervus elaphus, is one of the world’s largest deer species. Native populations live across much of Europe and parts of western Asia and North Africa, while people have introduced red deer to several other regions. Adult males are called stags or harts, females are hinds, and young are calves. Their famous autumn roars echo through woodland, grassland, moor, and mountain valleys.

Rhinoceroses, often called rhinos, are huge plant-eating mammals with thick skin, strong bodies, and one or two horns on their snouts. They live in parts of Africa and Asia and are some of the largest land animals on Earth.

Ring-tailed lemurs are Madagascar primates famous for long black-and-white striped tails, bright eyes, and lively social groups. They spend more time on the ground than many lemurs and live in dry forests, rocky areas, and scrubby habitats.

The roan antelope, Hippotragus equinus, is one of Africa’s largest antelopes. Its horse-like build inspired the scientific name equinus, while its common name refers to its reddish or sandy roan coat. A bold black-and-white face mask, very long tasseled ears, an upright mane, and backward-curving horns make this savanna grazer easy to recognize.

The sable antelope, Hippotragus niger, is a large, powerful bovid of eastern and southern African savanna woodland. Mature males often become glossy dark brown or black, while females and young are generally chestnut or reddish-brown. Both sexes carry long ringed horns that rise from the head and sweep backward, and bold white facial markings contrast with a dark mask.

Sawfishes are huge, shark-shaped rays with long, flat snouts edged by tooth-like spikes. The five living species belong to the family Pristidae and once occupied warm coastal waters and rivers across much of the world. Their sensitive saws help them locate and capture prey, but they also tangle easily in fishing nets. All five species are now Critically Endangered.

Sawsharks are slender sharks with long, saw-like snouts, a pair of dangling sensory barbels, and rows of sharp rostral teeth. Ten living species in the family Pristiophoridae inhabit parts of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, usually near the seafloor. They are far smaller than sawfishes and can be identified by gill slits on the sides of the head.

Secretary birds are tall African birds of prey with long legs, hooked beaks, black crest feathers, and a famous snake-hunting style. Unlike many raptors, they spend much of their hunting time walking on the ground.

Servals are slender African wild cats with very long legs, large ears, spotted coats, and quick jumping skills. They live mostly in grasslands and wet areas, where they listen carefully for small animals hiding in tall grass.

Servaline genets are slender spotted mammals from Central Africa. They look a little catlike, but they are viverrids, relatives of civets and other small carnivores, with long tails, sharp senses, and secretive nighttime habits.

On this page, shag means the European shag, Gulosus aristotelis, a slim dark cormorant of rocky coasts. In New Zealand, Australia, and other places, people also use shag for several different cormorant species. European shags chase fish underwater, nest on cliffs and islands, and grow glossy green-black plumage with a curled crest during the breeding season.

Shoebills are tall gray swamp birds with huge shoe-shaped bills, long legs, broad wings, and an almost statue-still hunting style. They live in freshwater wetlands of tropical eastern and central Africa.

Sifakas are leaping lemurs from Madagascar with silky fur, long tails, big eyes, and powerful legs. They live mostly in trees and are famous for springing between branches and doing funny sideways hops on the ground.

The spotted hyena is Africa’s largest living hyena and one of its most successful large carnivores. It is a skilled hunter as well as a scavenger, with bone-crushing jaws, excellent endurance, and a complex social system led by females. Clan members recognize ranks, relatives, voices, and scent messages while cooperating or competing across large savannas and woodlands.

Springboks are graceful antelopes from southern Africa. They live on open plains and dry grasslands, where they run fast, leap high, graze on plants, and sometimes perform bouncy jumps called pronking.

Starlings are clever songbirds known for shiny feathers, noisy calls, and amazing flock flights called murmurations. They search for insects, fruit, seeds, and other foods in fields, gardens, towns, farms, and open habitats.

A flash of violet, green, red, or gold beside a flower might be a sunbird. These small songbirds live across Africa, Asia, and parts of Oceania. They sip nectar, catch insects, move pollen between flowers, and show how unrelated animals can evolve similar solutions to the same challenge.

Tenrecs are a family of small mammals found naturally in Madagascar. Millions of years of evolution produced an amazing collection of shapes: some are furry, some are spiny, some burrow, and one swims. Although several look like hedgehogs or shrews, tenrecs belong to a different branch of the mammal family tree.

What exactly is a terrapin? The answer depends on where you live. In Britain and some other places, people use the word for various freshwater or semi-aquatic turtles. In North America, “terrapin” usually means the diamondback terrapin, a special turtle of brackish coastal marshes. All terrapins are turtles, but terrapin is not one precise scientific group.

Turtles have traveled Earth for more than 200 million years. Their order includes sea turtles, freshwater turtles, terrapins, box turtles, and tortoises. From a tiny bog turtle to a giant leatherback, every species carries a remarkable shell that is built into its skeleton.

Velvet worms are soft, ancient-looking invertebrates with many stubby legs, tiny claws, feelers, and velvety bodies. They live in damp forests and can shoot sticky slime to catch prey like a miniature creature from a secret rainforest lab.

Warthogs are wild members of the pig family that live in Africa. They have tusks, face bumps called warts, short legs, bristly hair, and a funny habit of trotting with their tails held high.

For thousands of years, people have raised water buffalo for milk, farm work, transport, meat, and manure. These huge bovids are especially at home in hot, wet landscapes where broad feet cross soft ground and a muddy wallow provides relief from heat and insects. Domestic water buffalo are different from both African buffalo and the rare wild water buffalo.

Waterbucks are large African antelopes that often stay near rivers, lakes, marshes, and wetlands. They have shaggy coats, rounded ears, and males have long ringed horns that curve backward and forward.

Weasel is a common name for several small, slender predators in the family Mustelidae, especially species in the genera Mustela and Neogale. They are relatives of stoats, ferrets, mink, otters, badgers, and wolverines, not rodents. Different weasel species live across much of Europe, Asia, North America, and parts of Africa, with some introduced elsewhere. Their tube-shaped bodies, short legs, sharp senses, and energetic hunting style help them follow mice and voles through narrow tunnels, but coat colour, tail pattern, size, reproduction, and conservation status vary by species.

The White Rhino, Ceratotherium simum, is the largest living rhinoceros and a grass-eating giant of African savannas and open woodlands. Its name is misleading because its skin is gray, not white. A wide square-shaped upper lip helps it crop short grass, while two keratin horns, three-toed feet, thick folded skin, strong smell and hearing, mud wallows, and communal dung piles shape its daily life. Most living animals belong to the southern subspecies. Only two northern white rhinos remain, both females, making that subspecies functionally extinct. The species is currently listed as Near Threatened, and the estimated wild population fell to about 15,752 by the end of 2024.

The Wild Boar, Sus scrofa, is a sturdy wild pig native across much of Europe and Asia and parts of North Africa. Humans have introduced wild boar, domestic pigs, feral pigs, and mixtures of them to many other regions, so the words wild boar and feral pig should not automatically be treated as identical. Wild boar use muscular snouts to root through soil, eat an extremely varied omnivorous diet, cool themselves in mud, and communicate with grunts, squeals, scent, and body posture. Females and young often live in groups called sounders, while mature males are usually more solitary outside the breeding season. The species is globally listed as Least Concern, although introduced populations can damage crops, habitats, and native wildlife.

The Wild Dog on this page is the African Wild Dog, Lycaon pictus, also called the painted dog or painted hunting dog. It is a long-legged canid of sub-Saharan Africa, not a feral domestic dog, wolf, fox, jackal, or hyena. Every animal carries a different patchwork of black, brown, tan, yellow, and white fur, along with enormous rounded ears and only four toes on each foot. African Wild Dogs live in close cooperative packs that hunt, protect pups, feed pack members, and make group movement decisions together. They are globally Endangered and survive in scattered populations, mainly in eastern and southern Africa. Conservation groups often cite fewer than about 7,000 animals, but the widely repeated estimate is not a fresh continent-wide census and should be treated as approximate.

Yellow jacket, also written yellowjacket, is a North American common name for compact social wasps mainly in the genera Vespula and Dolichovespula. Most familiar species have bold yellow-and-black patterns, but some are black and white or carry different markings. They live in colonies with a queen, female workers, males, and developing young inside layered paper nests. Some species nest underground or in cavities, while others build enclosed aerial nests. Yellow jackets hunt insects, scavenge animal food, drink nectar and other sugary liquids, visit flowers, and defend their nests with repeated stings. Species, climate, nest site, colony size, diet, colour, and seasonal cycle vary, so one description does not fit every yellow jacket.

Zebras are wild members of the horse family known for their bold black-and-white stripes. They live in Africa, eat grasses, stay in groups, and use their sharp senses to watch for danger.