Markhor

True Wild Life | Markhor | The markhor is an endangered species of wild goat that is natively found in the mountainous regions of western and central and Asia. The markhor is thought to have been named using the Persian word for snake, either because of the large coiled horns of the markhor or due to it's ability to kill snakes in the wild, although the exact reason is unknown. The markhor is found in northeastern Afghanistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Hunza-Nagar Valley, northern and central Pakistan and the disputed territory of Kashmir, southern Tajikistan and southern Uzbekistan. The markhor is most commonly found inhabiting the high-altitude monsoon forests that litter these areas.

Green Bee-Eater

True Wild Life | Green Bee-Eater  | The green bee-eater (also known as the little green bee-eater) is a small species of bee-eater bird found throughout parts of Africa and Asia. The green bee-eater is one of 26 species of bee-eater, a group of birds that a primarily found throughout Africa and in parts of Asia and the Middle East. The green bee-eater is found on grasslands and in open forests on both the African and Asian continents, and is widely distributed across sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal and Gambia to Ethiopia, the Nile valley, western Arabia and Asia, from India to Vietnam. In Asia, the green bee-eater is usually seen on the lowland plains but these colourful litter birds can sometimes be found up to 6000 feet in the Himalayas.

Llama

True Wild Life | Llama | The llama is thought to have originated in North America around 40 million years ago and the llama is believed to have then migrated to South America and Asia around 3 million years ago, before the American and Asian continents finally separated at Alaska. The llama is thought to have become extinct from North America during the ice age. Today the llama is most commonly found in the Andes mountain region of South America where the llama was kept as a pack animal by the ancient Inca people. Llamas are used for meat, wool, skin and for transporting heavy loads (a little like donkeys).

Golden Lion Tamarin

True Wild Life | Golden Lion Tamarin | The golden lion tamarin is a small monkey native to the eastern rainforests of Brazil. The golden lion tamarin is today considered an endangered species as there are estimated to be around 1,000 golden lion tamarin individuals left in the wild. Golden lion tamarins are best known for their bright fur which (as the name suggests) is golden and orange in colour. The golden lion tamarin is one of the smallest primates in the world with the average golden lion tamarin adult growing to just 20cm tall! The golden lion tamarin also has an incredibly long tail which is often longer than the golden lion tamarin's body. Despite the long length of the golden lion tamarin's tail, it is not prehensile which means that the golden lion tamarin cannot use it's tail to grab onto trees and hold on.

Binturong

True Wild Life | Binturong | The binturong is also commonly called the Asian bearcat. The binturong is native to the jungles of south-east Asia and is commonly found in countries such as Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. The binturong is a large carnivorous mammal that has a long bushy tail and hunts small reptiles, birds and mammals. The main part of the modern binturong's diet surprisingly comprises of fruit! The binturong is generally about the size of a large dog and have been known to live to 26 years old in captivity. The binturong population numbers have been severely reduced due to deforestation today.

Mayfly

 

True Wild Life | Mayfly | The mayfly is medium-sized insect that is found in a variety of habitats all around the world. The mayfly is one of the most short-lived animals in the world and is most closely related to dragonflies and damselflies. There are 2,500 known species of mayfly generally found close to water, all around the world with over 600 species of mayfly natively found in North America. Mayflies are extremely sensitive to pollution and can therefore only be found close to water that is of a high quality.

Purple Emperor

True Wild LIfe | Purple Emperor | The purple emperor is a distinctive species of butterfly, found in woodlands across Europe. The purple emperor is most well known for the bright blue-purple markings of the wings of the male purple emperor butterflies. The purple emperor is most commonly found throughout central Europe and in the warmer, southern regions of the United Kingdom. The purple emperor is found inhabiting ancient forests and deciduous woodlands where the adult purple emperors spend most of their lives hidden high up in the trees. Despite the name, it is only the male purple emperor butterflies that are actually of a purple looking colour. The females purple emperors are much duller in appearance with a generally brown wingspan, a few white markings and a small orange circle on each of it's hind wings (the males are very similar only with the added purple sheen).

Little Penguin

True Wild Life | Little Penguin | The little penguin is the smallest species of penguin in the world, with the average adult little penguin rarely reaching half a meter in height. The little penguin has a number of other common names including the fairy penguin, the little blue penguin and simply just the blue penguin. The little penguin is one of the few species of penguin to be found north of the Antarctic Ocean, as this small species is found inhabiting the rocky coastlines of New Zealand, Tasmania and parts of southern Australia. There have also been reports of the little penguin being found in Chile and in parts of South Africa.

Pygmy Hippopotamus

True Wild Life | Pygmy Hippopotamus | The pygmy hippopotamus is a large, herbivorous mammal natively found in the forests and swamps of western Africa. The pygmy hippopotamus is one of two species of hippopotamus, and is similar in appearance to it's larger cousin. The pygmy hippopotamus is found in the forests and swamps of west Africa. where the pygmy hippopotamus is a solitary and reclusive animal that spends most of the day resting in a wallow, mud or river before emerging at night when the pygmy hippopotamus comes out of the water to graze.

Pygmy Marmoset

True Wild Life | Pygmy Marmoset | The pygmy marmoset is a tiny primate that is exclusively found in the jungles of South America. The pygmy marmoset is known to be the smallest known species of monkey in the world. The pygmy marmoset averages at about 15cm tall, with a 20cm long tail behind it. The pygmy marmoset has sharp claws which make the pygmy marmoset excellent at climbing trees and the long tail of the pygmy marmoset gives this little monkey fantastic balance when jumping between tree branches. The low weight of the pygmy marmoset allows the pygmy marmoset to reach the canopy tree tops, a place where many of the larger species of monkey cannot reach. Here the pygmy marmoset eats fruits, berries, insects and small reptiles safely high above any dangerous predators.

Giant Panda Bear

True Wild Life | Giant Panda Bear | The giant panda bear is native to the mountainous regions of central and southern China. The giant panda would have once inhabited more lowland regions like jungles and grassy plains although the giant panda is now restricted to the higher mountain areas due to increased farming and habitat destruction in the lowlands. The giant panda bear is an omnivore eating a range of things from honey, to fish and small mammals. The giant panda bear's diet consists of roughly 95% bamboo, which the panda bear needs to eat as the bamboo plays a crucial part in the giant panda bear's digestion and water intake.

Giant African Land Snail

True Wild Life | Giant African Land Snail  | The giant African land snail, is the largest species of snail found on land and generally grow to around 20 cm in length. The giant African land snail is native to the forest areas of East Africa but has been introduced into Asia, the Caribbean and a number of islands in both the Pacific and the Indian oceans. The giant African land snail is generally seen as a pest as these snails will eat almost anything vegetarian that they can find and have proven to be quite destructive when around crops and wild flowers. Giant African land snails are also known to carry parasites and are illegal to keep as pets in some countries such as the USA.

Pool Frog

True Wild Life | Pool Frog | The pool frog (also known as the northern pool frog) is a species of medium-sized frog natively found in parts of northern Europe. The pool frog is the rarest amphibian in England and actually is thought to have been extinct in native environment during the 1990s, but re-introduction programmes are now under-way. The northern pool frog is naturally found in Sweden, Norway and on Britain's south-east coast where it inhabits natural ponds found in forested or heathland areas. Much of the pool frog's native habitat has now been bulldozed to create housing estates which led to the sharp decline and extinction of this species on the British Isles.

Chipmunk

True Wild Life | Chipmunk | Chipmunks are small squirrel-like rodents that are native to North America, although one species is found in some European countries. Chipmunks eat a wide variety of wildlife like frogs, mushrooms, birds, eggs, plants nuts and seeds. In the autumn, the chipmunks begin to gather their winter food stash, which they store in their burrows to last them until spring.

Galapagos Tortoise

True Wild Life | Galapagos Tortoise | The Galapagos tortoise (giant Galapagos tortoise) was first documented by Charles Darwin last century when he went on his trip to the Galapagos islands. The Galapagos Tortoise is the biggest species of tortoise in the modern world with some Galapagos tortoises reaching more than 4ft long! The Galapagos tortoise is also one the longest living species of tortoise with a number of Galapagos tortoises getting older than 150!

The Galapagos tortoise, like most other species of tortoise, is a herbivore spending its time grazing on grass and low trees. Today only 10 out of the 12 Galapagos tortoise species still exist on the Pacific islands due to the introduction of goats a few hundred years ago. The domestic goat, stripped the islands of their good foliage meaning that the Galapagos tortoise found it hard to find food. Today the Galapagos tortoise is most well known for their long necks, which make them look slightly like a dinosaur!

Iguana

True Wild Life | Iguana | Iguanas are native to the jungles of central and south America, and the Caribbean. The iguana is a large docile species of lizard, meaning that iguanas are often a popular choice when keeping exotic pets. Iguanas have excellent sight allowing the iguana to detect movement from incredibly long distances. The iguana can use this skill to seek out prey and be aware of approaching predators often before the predators has even noticed the iguana.

It is said that the iguana uses visual signals to communicate with other iguanas. The iguanas do this through a series a rapid eye movements that other iguanas are able to pick up on easily due to the excellent sight of the iguana.

Quoll

  

True Wild Life | Quoll |The quoll is a medium-sized marsupial, natively found in parts of Australia, Papua New Guinea and Tasmania. The quoll is often known as the native cat, due to the cat-like appearance of the quoll. Quolls are found occupying woodland, shrubland and grassy habitats across Australia and New Guinea. Although quolls have been seen climbing trees, the quoll tends to live life on the ground.

The quoll is a nocturnal animal meaning that it spends the nights hunting and the daytimes hours resting. Unlike many other nocturnal mammals, the quoll enjoys to spend the sunlit days basking in the heat rather than hiding in a crevice or underground.

Bobcat

True Wild Life | Bobcat | Bobcats are widespread and adaptable predators across North America. They share the genus Lynx with the Canadian lynx, but they are a separate species with physical differences. Bobcats are usually more heavily spotted than the lynx. They have smaller feet and larger ears. They tend to have a more aggressive temperament and have been known to run the much larger lynx off of food. The bobcat's ears do have small tufts on the end like those of the lynx. Although the bobcat shares many characteristics with the Canadian Lynx, the bobcat is smaller than the lynx at about double the size of a domestic cat.

Bobcats eat mainly birds and rabbits but also eat fish and insects, that the bobcat hunts for at night. The bobcat tends stay in wooded areas and many bobcats are also found in the mountain regions of North America. Bobcats do fairly well in suburban environments and can be seen hunting at dawn and dusk.

Lynx

True Wild Life | Lynx | The lynx is a member of the cat family and one of the bigger felines of North America. Lynx are best known for their short stubby tails and the long tufts of black hair on the ears of a lynx. There are three different types of lynx with these being the North America lynx found in Canada and Alaska, the European lynx found in Spain and Portugal and the Asian lynx which is found in Turkestan and central Asia.

The North American lynx is the biggest species of lynx and some of these lynx individuals have extremely thick and fluffy looking fur which keeps the lynx warm in the freezing Canadian winter. The European and Asian lynx species are much smaller in size and have personalities that resemble those of a domestic cat, rather than a large feline.

Flying Squirrel

  

True Wild Life | Flying Squirrel | The flying squirrel is a medium-sized rodent, closely related to the squirrels found in woodlands and across grasslands around the world. Flying squirrels tend to be slightly larger in size than the common squirrel. Despite the name, flying squirrels cannot actually fly, although they can be airborne for a remarkable length of time. Instead of flying, flying squirrels move through the air by gliding (normally between the trees), with the longest recorded glide of a flying squirrel being nearly 90 meters.

Fur Seal

There are eight different species of fur seal found in the worlds oceans. Only one of these fur seal species is found in the northern hemisphere with the remaining seven species of fur seal found in the southern hemisphere.

Fur seals are much more closely related to sea lions than true seals, and like sea lions the fur seal has external ears (many species of true seal are in fact earless). The fur seal also has relatively long and muscular foreflippers, and fur seals are also able to walk on all fours when the fur seals reach land.

The fur seals most distinctive characteristic is the fur seals thick underfur which helps to keep the fur seal warm in freezing cold waters. The fur seals fur however has made the fur seal a long-time object of commercial hunting by humans.

Proboscis Monkey

The proboscis monkey is a large tree-dwelling primate found exclusively on the island of Borneo in south east Asia. The proboscis monkeys are best known for the long noses of the males, which are thought to be related to mating in order to attract females.

The proboscis monkey has a large protruding belly that is thought to stick out so much due to the proboscis monkeys diet and complex digestion system, which along with the long nose of the males, gives the proboscis monkey very distinctive yet strange characteristics.

A study at the end of the 1980s showed that there were around 250,000 proboscis monkeys in the wild. Today there are thought to be considerably less of the proboscis monkey in the wild due to hunting and deforestation. The proboscis monkey is considered to be an endangered species.

Magpie

True Wild Life | Magpie | There are thought to be around 15 different species of magpie spread across Europe, Asia and parts of Australia and Africa. The magpie is generally around 50 cm long with a slightly larger wingspan, although the exact size of the magpie is dependent on the magpie species.

The magpie is a small to medium sized bird that is found across the globe. The magpie is most closely related to the crow, but the magpie has highly distinguishable black and white feathers which make magpies easy to spot.

In China and Korea, the magpie is seen as a symbol of good luck and good fortune. In the United Kingdom however, one magpie is said top be bad luck and seeing two is good luck (one for sorrow, two for joy).

Frigatebird

True Wild Life | Frigatebird | The frigatebird is a large species of sea-bird that has an enormous wingspan that often exceeds two meters in length. Male frigatebirds are most commonly known for their red throat pouch, which are inflated to attract female frigatebirds during the mating season.

The frigatebird (also known as the man of war bird and the pirate bird) is a species of sea-bird found in warmer, tropical regions. Frigatebirds are thought to be most closely related to pelicans giving rise to another name for them, which is the frigate pelican.

Glow Worm

True Wild Life | Glow Worm | The glow worms are found inhabiting dense woodland and caves around the world with the exception of the Americas and glow worms are one of the few insects that are found inside the colder Arctic Circle. Glow worm is a medium to large sized invertebrate that is famous for having a green and yellow coloured light on the end of it's tail. Glow worms are nocturnal animals which means that they are active during the dark night which is when their glowing rears can be seen.

Glow worm is the common name for various different groups of insect larva and adult larviform females which glow through bioluminescence. Glow worms may sometimes resemble actual worms, but all are insects as one species of glow worm is a type of fly but most glow worms species are actually beetles.

Cuttlefish

True Wild Life | Cuttlefish | Cuttlefish are found in large numbers throughout the world's ocean waters from the warm, tropical shallows to the cold depths of the deep ocean. Cuttlefish are well known for the "flashing" colours that are displayed on their bodies during fighting and mating. In the same way as squid and octopuses, the cuttlefish also has an ink sack which ejects ink in order to fool oncoming predators.

Common Toad

True Wild Life | Common Toad | The common toad is generally brown in colour but colours on the skin of the common toad can range from black to green to yellow. The skin of the common toad, as with other toad species, is permeable and has a rough appearance.

The common toad (also known as the European toad), is a large-sized species of toad that is found throughout Europe. Although the common toad is not found in Iceland or some areas of the Mediterranean, the range of the common toad extends all the water to Siberia and into Northern Africa.

Cuscus

True Wild Life | Cuscus | The cuscus is an arboreal mammal, and spends it's life almost exclusively in the trees. The cuscus is a large marsupial native to the Northern forest of Australia and the large, tropical island of Papua New Guinea. The cuscus is a subspecies of possum with the cuscus being the largest of the world's possum species.

The cuscus is known to range in size from just 15cm to more than 60cm in length, although the average sized cuscus tends to be around 45cm (18inches). The cuscus has small ears and large eyes which aid the cuscus through it's nocturnal lifestyle.

The cuscus rests in the trees during the day, sleeping in the dense foliage and awakens at night to start moving through the trees in search of food. The cuscus is an omnivorous animal but the cuscus mainly eats leaves and fruits occasionally feasting on small birds and reptiles.

Flamingo

 
True Wild Life | Flamingo | The flamingo stays in flocks of up to around 200 birds and feeds on fish in stiller rivers and lakes. The flamingo usually gets to about 30 years old although it is not uncommon for some flamingos to get to 50 years old. The flamingo is a large colourful bird found both in South America and Africa. The flamingo is also found in the warmer areas of southern Europe and western Asia. Most species of flamingo are a pinky/orange colour, some however can be white, black or even blue. The colour of the flamingo comes from the flamingo eating a type of algae that then turns the flamingo into the bright pink bird that we are so familiar with.

Long-Eared Owl

True Wild Life | Long-Eared Owl | The long-eared owl is a fairly widespread bird, found throughout Europe, North America and parts of Asia, where it spends the warmer summer months breeding. Like all migratory birds, the long-eared owl migrates south during the winter months, before returning north when the weather warms again the spring. The long-eared owl is a small species of owl that is primarily found in parts of the Northern Hemisphere. As it's name suggests, the long-eared owl is named after the long, black ear-tufts, which are feathers found on either side of the middle of the long-eared owl's head.

Cottontop Tamarin

 

True Wild Life | Cottontop Tamarin | The cottontop tamarin is found in tropical forest edges and secondary forests from Costa Rica to north western Columbia where the cottontop tamarin spends the majority of it's life in the trees. The Cottontop tamarin is a small species of monkey found in the forests of South America. The Cottontop tamarin was named because of it's elegant white fur that flows over it's head and shoulders. Cottontop tamarins are among the smallest of the primates with a body length of 17 cm and tail length of 25 cm. The forelimbs of the cottontop tamarin are shorter than the hind limbs, and unlike other monkeys the thumb of the cottontop tamarin is not opposable and it does not have a prehensile tail.

Asian Black Bear

 

True Wild Life | Asian Black Bear | Asian Black Bears are found in the forests of central and eastern Asia, mainly dwelling in caves or hollow trees, where they sleep all day! Asian black bears are nocturnal animals meaning that they only go out at night to forage for food. Asian black bears are outstanding tree climbers and are generally found around the mountain regions in Asia. Asian black bears will eat most things from fruits, nuts and berries to small mammals, amphibians and birds.

Red Wolf

 

True Wild Life | Red Wolf |  The red wolf was roamed across the south-eastern United States from Texas to Florida to New York. The red wolf's historical habitat included areas of forest, swampland and coastal prairies where it would of been one of the top predators. Today however, the world's red wolf population is confined to a protected area in North Carolina. The red wolf is a medium sized species of wolf, found in the coastal marshlands of southern parts of eastern North America. By the 1970s the pure red wolf was thought to be extinct in the wild, but a population has since been reintroduced in North Carolina that is said to now be up to 100 red wolf individuals.

Stellers Sea Cow

True Wild Life | Stellers Sea Cow | The Steller's sea cow was first discovered in 1741 by explorers that ventured into parts of the Arctic Circle. When they were first recorded, the Steller's sea cow was said to be living in abundance in the North Pacific, however in less than 20 years of human contact, the Steller's sea cow had disappeared from the ocean completely. The Steller's sea cow was a large marine mammal that was found in abundance in the North Pacific. These enormous animals were closely related to the dugong and the manatee still found grazing in the oceans today, but were of considerable size at between eight and nine meters in length.