Snow Leopard

True Wild Life | Snow Leopard | The snow leopard  is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of South Asia and Central Asia. Although sharing its name with the common leopard, the snow leopard is not believed to be closely related to the Leopard or the other members of the Pantherine group and is classified as the sole member of the genus Uncia uncia. The classification of this species has been subject to change and its exact taxonomic position will not be resolved until further studies are conducted.

Iberian Lynx

True Wild Life | Iberian Lynx | The Iberian lynx also known as Spanish lynx is a critically endangered species native to the Iberian Peninsula in Southern Europe. It is one of the most endangered cat species in the world. The species used to be classified as a subspecies of the Eurasian Lynx, but is now considered a separate species. Both species occurred together in central Europe in the Pleistocene epoch, being separated by habitat choice. Iberian lynx resembles other species of lynx, with a short tail, tufted ears and a ruff of fur beneath the chin. Iberian lynx has leopard-like spots with a coat that is often light grey or various shades of light brownish-yellow. The coat is also noticeably shorter than in other lynxes, which are typically adapted to colder environments.

Ryukyu Tip-Nosed Frog

True Wild Life | Ryukyu Tip-Nosed Frog | The Ryukyu Tip-Nosed Frog is a species of frog in the Ranidae family. It is endemic to Japan. Ryukyu Tip-Nosed Frogs only live in the northern main island of Okinawa. Not like the other frogs, Ryukyu Tip-Nosed Frogs have nostrils at the tip of their faces. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and rivers. It is threatened by habitat loss. Ryukyu Tip-Nosed Frogs enjoy eating small bugs or centipedes, and some shellfishes on the land.

Ishikawa's Frog

True Wild Life | Ishikawa's Frog | Ishikawa's Frog is the most beautiful frog in Japan. Forests are disappearing and rivers are becoming dirty. Ishikawa's frog is in danger. Amphibians have trouble changing when their environment changes. They have a purple and green pattern that looks like moss. It hides them from their enemies.

Goliath Frog

True Wild Life | Goliath Frog | The Goliath Frog is the biggest frog in the world. They have been popular as food from a long time ago. They are also caught to keep as pets or for their skin, and their numbers have gone down to half of what they were before. This animal has a relatively small habitat range, mainly in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Its numbers are dwindling due to habitat destruction, its collection for consumption as food and its collection for the pet trade.

Golden Poison Frog

True Wild Life | Golden Poison Frog | The Golden Poison Frog is the most poisonous animal in the world. Unfortunately, they are on the brink of extinction because tropical rainforests are disappearing. The golden poison Frog's skin is densely coated in alkaloid poison, one of a number of poisons common to dart frogs  which prevents nerves from transmitting impulses, leaving the muscles in an inactive state of contraction. This can lead to heart failure or fibrillation.

Przewalski's Horse

True Wild Life | Przewalski's Horse | The Przewalski's Horse is the only remaining wild horse still surviving in the world. Once, it became extinct because it was hunted or it lost in the feeding frenzy with farm animals. Przewalski's Horse is a rare and endangered subspecies of wild horse  native to the steppes of central Asia, specifically China and Mongolia. At one time extinct in the wild, it has been reintroduced to its native habitat in Mongolia at the Khustain Nuruu National Park, Takhin Tal Nature Reserve and Khomiin Tal.

Mountain Zebra

 

True Wild Life | Mountain Zebra | The Mountain Zebra is an endangered species of equid native to south-western Angola, Namibia and South Africa. It has two subspecies, the Cape Mountain Zebra  and Hartmann's Mountain Zebra, though it has been suggested these should be considered separate species. Like all zebras, it is boldly striped in black and white and no two individuals look exactly alike. The stripe can be black and white or dark brown and white. Their stripes cover their whole bodies except for their bellies. The Mountain zebra also has a dewlap.

Grevy's Zebra

True Wild Life | Grevy's Zebra | The Grevy's zebra , also known as the Imperial zebra, is the largest extant wild equid and one of three species of zebra, the other two being the plains zebra and the mountain zebra. The Grevy's zebra is found in Kenya and Ethiopia. Compared with other zebras, it is tall, has large ears, and its stripes are narrower. It is more ass-like in appearance as compared to other zebras, which are more horse-like. Among their kinds who were hunted for their hides, Grevy's Zebra is the largest kind of zebra. The Grevy's Zebra's pattern is like a painting, so it is called the most beautiful of zebras. However, its beauty is its sadness, because it is hunted for its hide. Its numbers keep becoming lower and lower.

Asian Wild Ass

 

True Wild Life | Asian Wild Ass | The Asian Wild Ass was once considered to be among the largest population of ungulates, along with horses, cows, camels, and deer. Herds of 1,000 or more Asian Wild Asses have often been observed in Central and West Asia. Like many other large grazing animals, the asian wild ass' range has contracted greatly under the pressures of hunting and habitat loss, and of the six subspecies, one is extinct and two are endangered. The kiang , a Tibetan relative, was previously considered to be a subspecies of the asian wild ass as E. hemionus kiang, but recent molecular studies indicate that it is a distinct species. 

African Wild Ass

True Wild Life | African Wild Ass | The African Wild Ass is a wild member of the horse family, Equidae. This species is believed to be the ancestor of the domestic donkey which is usually placed within the same species. They live in the deserts and other arid areas of northeastern Africa, in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia; it formerly had a wider range north and west into Sudan, Egypt and Libya. About 570 individuals exist in the wild. The African Wild Ass is suited for life in the desert, capable of going on for up to three days without drinking water.

Quokka

True Wild Life | Quokka | The Quokka is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat. Like other marsupials in the macropod family , the Quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal. It can be found on some smaller islands off the coast of Western Australia, in particular on Rottnest Island just off Perth and Bald Island near Albany. Quokkas resemble a small wallaby, with small rounded ears, and brown or greyish fur.

Huon Tree Kangaroo

 

True Wild Life | Huon Tree Kangaroo | Huon Tree Kangaroo (Dendrolagus matschiei), also known as the Matschie's Tree Kangaroo is a tree kangaroo  native to the Huon Peninsula of North Eastern New Guinea. Under the IUCN classification, Huon Tree Kangaroo is endangered. With a body and head length of 20 to 32 inches, Huon Tree Kangaroo are much smaller than Australia's well-known red kangaroo. 

Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo

 

True Wild Life | Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo | Goodfellow's Tree-kangaroo also called the Ornate Tree Kangaroo, belongs to the family Macropodidae, which includes kangaroos, wallabies and their relatives. The species is native to the rainforests  of New Guinea, and the border of central Irian Jaya in Indonesia.  Under the IUCN classification, the species is listed as Endangered, which is a result of overhunting and human encroachment on their habitat.

Kuroiwa's Ground Gecko

True Wild Life | Kuroiwa's Ground Gecko | Kuroiwa's Ground Gecko, or the Okinawan Ground Gecko, is a species of lizard in the Gekkonidae family. It is endemic  to Japan.  Kuroiwa's Ground Geckos only live on the Okinawa Islands and Tokunoshima of the Amami Islands.

El Hierro Giant Lizard

 

True Wild Life | El Hierro Giant Lizard | The El Hierro Giant Lizard is a species that can be found on the island of El Hierro, one of the Canary  Islands (Spain). The species was once present throughout much of the island and on the small offshore Roque Chico de Salmor, but is now confined to a small areas of cliff with sparse vegetation. It is currently restricted to the southern end of the Risco de Tibataje, in la Fuga de Gorreta, located between Guinea and the so-called Paso del Pino. 

Anderson's Crocodile Newt

 

True Wild Life | Anderson's Crocodile Newt | The Anderson's Crocodile Newt  is a species of salamander in the Salamandridae family. It is found in Japan and Taiwan. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, swamps, and freshwater marshes. It is threatened by habitat loss. The Anderson's Crocodile Newt gets its name from its bumpy ribs.

Volcano Rabbit

True Wild Life | Volcano Rabbit | The Volcano Rabbit also known as teporingo or zacatuche (Romerolagus diazi) is a small rabbit that resides in the mountains of Mexico. Volcano Rabbits are the second smallest rabbit in the world, only the pygmy rabbit is smaller.

Amami Rabbit

 

True Wild Life | Amami Rabbit | The Amami Rabbit  or Amamino kuro usagi, also known as the Ryukyu Rabbit, is a primitive dark-furred rabbit which is only found in Amami Ōshima and Toku-no-Shima in Japan. The dark-furred Amami Rabbit is known as a living fossil. Its characteristics are identical to rabbits who lived five million years ago. With its small ears and dark eyes the Amami Rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) contrasts greatly with its more familiar fluffy, white relatives, and yet it's the Amami's distinctive features that make this rabbit so important to the study of the animal world. The Amami Rabbit has remained essentially unchanged since the Miocene Epoch of the Neogene Period, or approximately five million years. It is believed that its ancestors diverged from other leporids, or rabbits and hares, approximately 20 million years ago.

Brazilian Tapir

True Wild Life | Brazilian Tapir | The South American Tapir (Tapirus terrestris), or Brazilian Tapir (from the Tupi tapi'ira) or Lowland Tapir or (in Portuguese) Anta, is one of four species in the tapir family, along with the Mountain Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, and Baird's Tapir. It is the second largest land mammal in South America, after Baird's Tapir. The Brazilian Tapir (also known as the South American Tapir) is known to be a fantastic swimmer and the Brazilian Tapir is generally found close to water in the Amazon Rainforest.

Mountain Tapir

True Wild Life | Mountain Tapir | The Mountain Tapir or Woolly Tapir  is the smallest of the four species of tapir and is the only one to live outside of tropical rainforests in the wild. It is most easily distinguished from other tapirs by its thick woolly coat and white lips. Their wooly coat is dark brown in colour and they have pale coloured cheeks and throat. Their ears are large and are coloured white on the rims, they have small eyes and a large proboscis.

Baird's Tapir

True Wild Life | Baird's Tapir | Baird’s Tapir is a species of tapir that is native to Central America and northern South America. Baird’s Tapir is named for the American naturalist Spencer Fullerton Baird who traveled to Mexico in 1843 and observed the animals. However, the species was first documented by another American naturalist, W. T. White. Tapir is the largest land mammal in Central America.

Malayan Tapir

 

True Wild Life | Malayan Tapir | The Malayan Tapir, also called the Asian Tapir, is the largest of the four species of tapir and the only one native to Asia. The Malayan Tapir is the largest of the tapir species and has a distinctive white band across it's body. The Malayan Tapir once roamed the tropical forests across South East Asia but the Malayan Tapir today has a much smaller range primarily due to habitat loss.

Egyptian Tortoise

 

True Wild Life | Egyptian Tortoise | The Egyptian Tortoise is the smallest land turtle in the Northern Hemisphere. The Egyptian Tortoise is a critically endangered neck-hiding tortoise. Once more widespread, its numbers are now dwindling. The species is extinct in Egypt, and global extinction is a looming threat unless more actions are taken to protect this species. They are on the brink of extinction due of habitat loss and because people capture them to make pets.

Ploughshare Tortoise (Angonoka)

True Wild Life | Ploughshare Tortoise (Angonoka) | The Angonoka or Ploughshare tortoise is one of the ten most endangered animals in the world. The Ploughshare Tortoise is a land tortoise that lives only on the island of Madagascar. They are considered the most threatened species of land tortoises because many of them have been captured to keep as pets, and because their habitat has been turned into farmland.

Southern Cassowary

True Wild Life | Southern Cassowary | The Southern Cassowary is a large bird that lives in New Guinea and Australia. They are flightless, but equipped with a strong kick. Their numbers continue to decline because of disappearing tropical rainforests and hunting. The Southern Cassowary also known as Double-wattled Cassowary, Australian Cassowary or Two-wattled Cassowary.

Box Turtle

True Wild Life | Box Turtle | The box turtle or box tortoise is a genus of turtle native to North America. Box turtles are land dwelling creatures with high, domed shells, hence the "box" moniker.  Box turtles are found all over the world, and are generally found living in mossy areas of the forest, or other damp habitats.  They are very territorial, and sometimes spend their entire lives near their place of birth.

Okinawa Rail

True Wild Life | Okinawa Rail | The Okinawa Rail is a flightless bird that only lives on the main island of Okinawa. It is endemic to Okinawa Island in Japan where it is known as the Yanbaru Kuina. Its existence was only confirmed in 1978 and it was formally described in 1981 although unidentified rails had been recorded on the island since at least 1973 and local stories of a bird known as the agachi kumira may refer to this species.

Great Spotted Kiwi

True Wild Life | Great Spotted Kiwi | The Great Spotted Kiwi, is a species of kiwi endemic to the South Island of New Zealand.  It is the largest of the kiwi.  There are about 22,000 Great Spotted Kiwis in total, almost all in the more mountainous parts of northwest Nelson, the northwest coast, and the Southern Alps. A minority live on islands.

Yellow-margined Box Turtle

True Wild Life | Yellow-margined Box Turtle | The Chinese box turtle is a species of Asian box turtle with several names. Its common names include Chinese box turtle, 食蛇龜 Snake-eating turtle, Yellow-margined box turtle, and Golden-headed turtle. Taxonomically, it has been called Cistoclemmys flavomarginata, Cuora flavomarginata, and Cyclemys flavomarginata. The Integrated Taxonomic Information System uses Cuora flavomarginata.

Painted Batagur

True Wild Life | Painted Batagur | The Painted Batagur is the largest turtle living in fresh water. They are in danger of extinction because people take them as pets or to eat, and because of the deteriorating environments in and around the rivers they live in. Painted Batagurs live on the Malaysian peninsula, Sumatra Island, and Kalimantan Island.

Ryukyu Black-breasted Leaf Turtle

True Wild Life | Ryukyu Black-breasted Leaf Turtle | The Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle or Ryukyu leaf turtle, Geoemyda japonica, is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae (formerly Bataguridae). It is endemic to the Ryukyu Islands in Japan. In 1975 the species was designated a National Natural Monument of Japan. It grows to approximately 5–6 inches long. In captivity it feeds on worms, snails, insects, and fruit. Due to its rarity and very attractive appearance, this species is highly coveted by turtle collectors worldwide.

Pancake Tortoise

True Wild Life | Pancake Tortoise | Pancake tortoises are small and flat with a thin, flexible shell. The shell is normally 6 to 7 inches long and an inch or so high. On the legs, they have bigger scales with points that project downward and outward. Usually the shell has radiating dark lines on the carapace (upper part of the shell). The plastron (bottom part of shell) is also pale yellow but with dark brown seams and light yellow rays. Juveniles have pale yellow top shells with black seams and yellow rays. Some may have brown spots on their back. The carapace of juveniles is more domed than that of adults. Males can be distinguished from females by their larger and longer tails. However they are smaller than the females and have less distinctive patterns on their shell.

Burmese Starred Tortoise

 

True Wild Life | Burmese Starred Tortoise | The Burmese star tortoise (Geochelone platynota) is becoming extinct in its native Myanmar (Burma). Burmese Starred tortoises look like another land turtle called Indian Starred tortoise. But if you look closely, you will see the Burmese Starred Tortoise's shell is thinner and flatter than the Indian Starred tortoise.

Chacoan Peccary

True Wild Life | Chacoan Peccary | The Chacoan peccary or Tagua  is a species of peccary found in the dry shrub habitat or Chaco of Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina. About 3000 exist in the world. It is believed to be the closest living relative to the extinct genus Platygonus. The Chacoan peccary has the unusual distinction of having been first described in 1930 based on fossils and was originally thought to be an extinct species. In 1975 the animal was discovered to still be alive and well in the Chaco region of Paraguay. The species was well known to the native people, but it took a while for scientists to rediscover its existence. It is known locally as the tagua.

Kowari

True Wild Life | Kowari | also known as the Brush-tailed Marsupial Rat, Kayer Rat, Byrne's Crest-tailed Marsupial Rat, Bushy-tailed Marsupial Rat and Kawiri, is a small carnivorous marsupial native to the dry grasslands and deserts of central Australia. It is monotypical of its genus.  The Kowari is a ground dwelling carnivorous marsupial, living either in its own dug burrow or in the hole of another mammal. The Kowari is a solitary animal and marks its territory with secreations from a scent gland and leaving scats and urine at certain places throught their home teritory When approached, Kowari are very aggressive with much hisssing and chattering and thrashing of its tail.

Giant Armadillo

True Wild Life | Giant Armadillo | The giant armadillo is the largest of all armadillos and found in South America, east of the Andes, from northwestern Venezuela to northeastern Argentina. Adults grow as long as 35 inches and can weigh over 70 lb. The necks and backs of armadillos are covered with flexible carapaces (shells) consisting of 14 to 17 moveable bands of horn and bone. Their heads are also covered with a similar oval shield. The head, tail and lower edges of the giant armadillo are nearly white, and the rest of the body is dark brown. Underneath the carapace, its naked body appears wrinkly and pinkish in color. It has powerful claws with a very large central claw similar to the claw of the giant anteater. Giant armadillos are very fast on the ground and can sometimes balance themselves on their hind legs and tails, with their forefeet off the ground.

Babirusa

True Wild Life | Babirusa | The Babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa) is a very special member of the pig family. Up until now the relationship between the Babirusa and the other pig species hasn't been resolved completely. There are pieces of research, which suggest the conclusion, that it is closely related to Hippopotamuses, close relatives of pigs themselves. The babirusa is a very strange looking member of the pig family. They are only distantly related to other pigs, and have been given their own subfamily, the Babirousinae. There are three subspecies of the Babirusa corresponding to the areas where they are found; the Sulawesi, Togian, and Moluccan babirusa. These subspecies have different hair covering, hair color, and tusk and body sizes. Fossil studies seem to show that the babirusa may be more closely related to hippopotamuses than pigs.

Sloth Bear

True Wild Life | Sloth Bear |  The Sloth Bear also known as the Labiated Bear, is a nocturnal insectivorous species of bear found wild within the Indian subcontinent. The sloth bear evolved from ancestral Brown Bears during the Pleistocene and shares features found in insect-eating mammals through convergent evolution. The population isolated in Sri Lanka is considered as a subspecies. Its favourite food is primarily termites and other insects which it snorts and sucks out of termite hills on the ground with a vacuum-cleaner sounding roar that can be heard several hundred yards away.

Zorse

True Wild Life | Zorse | The zorse is a cross between a zebra stallion and a domestic mare. It is also possible to use a zebra mare and a domestic stallion, but owners of valuable zebra mares don't want to waste a year of their breeding life producing a hybrid when they could be producing a zebra foal instead. The crosses were originally done in England and Africa to try to produce a domestic horselike animal that was resistant to diseases spread by the tse tse fly in Africa. Zebras have natural resistance, where domestic donkeys and horses do not. The experimental crosses were actually becoming popular until early in the 20th century when the auto displaced the horse and mule. At that point cross-breeding was largely abandoned. A revival of interest came in the early 1990s, with just about every breed of domestic horse imaginable being tried.

Zonkey

True Wild Life | Zonkey | The zonkey also known as zebrass, zebronkey,zeasses, zeedonk, zedonk, zebadonk, zenkey, donbra, zebrinny, or deebra, is basically the result of when a zebra and a donkey mate. However, depending on which way round the parents are, determines whether the offspring is classed as a zonkey (male zebra, female donkey) or a zeedonk (female zebra, male donkey). Like with the common mule, it is thought to be almost impossible for the zonkey to breed. The zonkey can be conceived when a zebra and a donkey are in the same territory in south Africa. Both the zebra and the donkey belong to the horse family so this cross-mating is plausible. The courtship behavior of a donkey is much more similar to that of the various zebra species than a horse's courtship behavior. Zebras and donkeys will more readily and easily breed for that reason than zebras and horses.

Zebu

True Wild Life | Zebu | The zebu is a species of cattle that is native to the jungles of South Asia and the Zebu is the only cattle species that can easily adapt to life in the hot tropics. The zebu is also known as the humped cattle as the zebu has a very distinctive hump on its upper back, located behind the head and neck of the zebu. Today the zebu can also be found in Africa, as the zebu was transported there from Asia many years ago. There are thought to be around 75 different species of zebu, with roughly half the zebu species found in Africa and the other half of the zebu species found in South Asia. The zebu has also been taken to South America from Africa, where zebu populations are continuously growing.

Zebra Shark

True Wild Life | Zebra Shark | The zebra shark is a medium-sized species of shark, that is found in the warmer coastal waters and around tropical coral reefs. Zebra sharks are most commonly found in the Indian and South Pacific oceans. Zebra sharks can grow to nearly 3 meters in length and can get to be 30 years old in the wild. Zebra sharks that are kept in captivity generally do not exceed 15 years of age. Zebra sharks can be identified by the yellow spots that are present on the back of the zebra shark.

Zebra

True Wild Life | Zebra | The zebra is best known for the black and white striping pattern unique to each of the 3 species of zebra . Within a species, the pattern of the stripes is unique to each individual zebra, like with a human's fingerprint. There is some evidence that zebras recognize herdmates by their patterns. The plains zebra grows to around 1.5m high and about 2 m long. The Grevy can be much taller, some up to 15 hh. The average zebra weighs around 300kg, which is a similar weight to a horse.

Yellow-Eyed Penguin

True Wild Life | Yellow-Eyed Penguin | The yellow-eyed penguin is one of the few penguin species found north of the Antarctic Ocean, and as it's name suggests, this species of penguin is easily idenitfied by it's yellow coloured eyes and bright yellow band that runs from it's eyes round the back of the yellow-eyed penguin's head. The yellow-eyed penguin is found off the coast of the south island of New Zealand where this species gathers in colonies along the beaches and boulder fields. The yellow-eyed penguin is also found on a few of the islands of the main island including Stewart, Auckland and the Campbell Islands.

Yak

True Wild Life | Yak | The yak is a herd animal found in the mountainous regions of central Asia. The yak tend to gather in herds from 10 yaks to 100 yaks, most of which are female. There are only a few male yaks per herd. Although there is a large domestic population of yak, there are only a few wild yak remaining . The yak is still used in many parts of central Asia, for pulling heavy farm machines and transporting large loads through the mountain passes.

X-Ray Tetra

True Wild Life | X-Ray Tetra | The X-Ray Tetra is a small species of schooling Fish that is naturally found in the Amazon River's coastal waters in South America. The X-Ray Tetra is also known as the Golden Pristella Tetra and the Water Goldfinch due to the faint golden colouration of their translucent skin. They were first described by Ulrey in 1894 and have since become one of the most popular freshwater Fish kept in artificial aquariums today. Although the X-Ray Tetra is the only known species in it's genus, it is closely related to other small and colourful South American Fish, including the nearly 100 other Tetra species.

Woolly Monkey

True Wild Life | Woolly Monkey | The woolly monkey is a medium to large sized primate, that inhabits the tropical forests of north-west South America. The woolly monkey is most well known for it's round-shaped head and dense fur that covers the body of the woolly monkey. Woolly monkeys are found throughout Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and parts of Venezuela where they live an arboreal lifestyle. Woolly monkeys have long and very strong prehensile tails which allows them to balance and grip onto branches without having to give up the use of their hands.

Wrasse

True Wild Life | Wrasse | The wrasse is a typically small species of fish, found in the coastal waters of the world's major oceans. The Cleaner wrasse is the most commonly known wrasse species as it is often seen alongside other marine animals, including sharks. There are more than 500 different species of Wrasse found in the shallower coastal waters and coral reefs, of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans. Wrasse most commonly inhabit areas that have an abundance of both food and places to hide, making coral reefs and rocky shores the perfect home for the wrasse.

Woolly Mammoth

True Wild Life | Woolly Mammoth | The woolly mammoth was an enormous mammal that once roamed the vast frozen, northern landscapes in large size. Believed to be closely related to the modern-day elephant, the woolly mammoth remained in the wild until roughly 1700 BC when it became extinct. The woolly mammoth was found roaming the bitter Arctic tundra where they would often gather in large herds for both warmth and protection. Woolly mammoths lived in two groups which are thought to have been different enough to be characterized as separate subspecies. One woolly mammoth group stayed in the middle of the high Arctic, while the other woolly mammoth group had a much wider range.