African Tree Toad

 
True Wild Life | African Tree Toad | The African tree toad is a small species of toad found in the forests of central Africa. Today, little is still known about this tiny amphibian and the constantly decreasing population numbers of the African tree toad are making it increasingly difficult for us to learn more about them. The African tree toad is found distributed across it's natural central African range in countries such as Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, possibly Central African Republic, and possibly Republic of the Congo.

Smilodon ( Sabre-toothed Tiger)

True Wild Life | Smilodon | The Saber Tooth Tigers are some of the best known and most popular of ice age animals. They are among the most impressive carnivores that ever have lived. Two different types of saber toothed tigers lived in the mid-western U.S. at the end of the ice age. One of the most familiar saber tooth tiger was (genus smilodon). These cats had enlarged canines usually associated with the name saber tooth. Their canines were up to 7 inches long (18 centimeters)! The second type is the less known (genus Homotherium). These cats had shorter canines about ten centimeters (4 inches) long. The canines were also flatter at the tips. Some of the differences can be seen by comparing the homotherium cat to the smilodon cat.

Bactrian Camel

 

True Wild Life | Bactrian Camel | The bactrian camel is better known as being the type of camel with two humps. There are only two surviving species of camel remaining, the single humped camels from the Middle East and the bactrian (double humped) camel from Northern Asia. There are thought to be more than a million bactrian camels domesticated worldwide in not just Asia, but also parts of Africa and the Middle East. Camels have been domesticated for around 2,000 years for both pulling/carrying heavy loads but also for transporting both humans and merchandise.

Common Loon

True Wild Life | Common Loon | The common loon  is a species of bird that is most closely related to the duck, mainly due to the ability of the common loon to dive underwater in order to hunt for food. The common loon is found in parts of Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Iceland and Scotland, but common loon have recently been found in other watery parts across Europe and North America.

Barn Owl

True Wild Life | Barn Owl | Barn owls are one of the most widely distributed birds found everywhere around the world apart from the polar and desert regions. Although this is the case, the barn owl population is more predominant in the Southern Hemisphere due to better climate conditions for the barn owl. Barn owls tend to measure between 25 and 40cm tall and adult barn owls can have a wingspan of up to 110cm long. The wing span of the barn owl is however dependent on the species of barn owl so some owls may be smaller, where other species of barn owl may be much bigger.

Javan Rhinoceros

True Wild Life | Javan Rhinoceros | The Javan rhinoceros  is a small species of rhinoceros native to parts of south-east Asia. The Javan rhinoceros is thought to be most closely related to the Indian rhinoceros, both of which only have one horn. The Javan Rhino primarily inhabits dense lowland rain forests, tall grass and reed beds that are plentiful with rivers, large floodplains, or wet areas with many mud wallows. The range of Javan rhinoceros once stretched from Bengal, through south-east Asia and down to Sumatra but today, the Javan rhinoceros is only found in Vietnam and on the island of Java.

Orang Utan

True Wild Life | Orang Utan | The orangutan is now an endangered species. The orangutan is a large primate found naturally in the jungles of Borneo and Sumatra.  There are an estimated 70,000 orangutan left in the wild and it is suspected that if nothing is done to prevent the rapidly diminishing population of the orangutan, then the orangutan will be extinct within the next 10 years. The orangutan are well known for their intelligence, long arms and orange hair. The orangutan is one of the more intelligent primates along with the gorilla, chimpanzee and the human.

Nurse Shark

 

\True Wild Life | Nurse Shark | The nurse shark is most commonly found in the waters around central America, although natural habitat of the nurse shark ranges from the North USA to Brazil and nurse sharks are even found on the East Coast of Africa. The nurse shark is also found around the Caribbean Islands and from southern California to Peru on the American west coast. The nurse shark is a common coastal bottom-dwelling shark, found in tropical and subtropical waters around the continental shelves. The nurse shark is frequently found at depths of one meter or less but it is not uncommon for nurse sharks to venture down to depths of 12 m.

Poison Dart Frog

True Wild Life | Poison Dart Frog | Poison dart frogs are a group of frogs that are native to the tropical jungles of Central and South America. Poison dart frogs excrete toxins through their skins, and the brightly coloured bodies of poison dart frogs warn potential predators not to eat them. Poison dart frogs vary in size, colour and the levels of toxin that they produce depending on the species of poison dart frog and the area in which it lives. There are more than 175 different species of poison dart frog known to be inhabiting the jungles across Central and South America.

Bengal Tiger

True Wild Life | Bengal Tiger | The Bengal tiger is the national animal of Bangladesh and is considered to be the second largest tiger in the world. The Bengal tiger (also known as the Royal Bengal tiger) is a subspecies of tiger, found across the Indian subcontinent. The Bengal tiger is the most numerous species of tiger in Asia and is found in dense forests and mangrove swamps and jungles throughout India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, although the Bengal tiger's range today is much smaller than it once was.

Liger

True Wild Life | Liger |  The liger is a big cat born from the breeding of a male lion and a female tiger. This combination produces an offspring with more lionistic features than if the reverse pairing had occurred. That would produce a more tigeristic creature known as a tigon. Both are members of genus Panthera.There is no scientific name assigned to this animal because it is a combination of two species. Some ligers grow impressive manes, while others do not. Ligers are prone to giantism and grow much larger than either parent. A liger looks like a giant lion with muted stripes but like their tiger ancestors, ligers like swimming.

Armadillo

True Wild Life | Armadillo | The armadillo is native to both North America and South America, although only one species of Armadillo is found in the United States. The average armadillo measures around 75cm in length, including the tail but the giant armadillo can grow to more than 1.5m long and the miniature pink fairy armadillo (the smallest armadillo species) only gets to around 10cm in length. There are around 20 species of armadillo still existent on the American continent with the nine-banded armadillo being the only species found outside of the South American tropics. The armadillo has a hard outer shell and can curl up into a ball leaving no soft body parts exposed to danger (a bit like a woodlouse). The armadillo also has long claws which the armadillo uses for digging burrows and hunting for insects in the earth. Despite the armadillo\'s odd shape, most armadillos can also reach a top speed of nearly 30 mph so can easily outrun most jungle predators. The primary predators of the armadillo are bears, wolves, wildcats and cougars.

Arctic Hare

True Wild Life | Arctic Hare | The Arctic hare can found in the northern regions of the Arctic Circle, predominantly in Northern America, Europe, Greenland and the North Pole. The Arctic hare has thick, white fur which allows it to continue inhabiting the Arctic regions successfully, in warmth and camouflage. The Arctic hare eats shoots, buds and berries found amongst the snow. The Arctic hare is a vital component in the Arctic circle food chain, being one of the few smaller mammals able to thrive in such a harsh environment. The Arctic hare is therefore common prey for bigger animals of the Arctic tundra, such as Arctic wolves, foxes and polar bears.

Ocelot

 

True Wild Life | Ocelot | Ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) are small, but still larger than average house cat. The ocelot, or the painted leopard as it is sometimes known, is a medium sized wildcat, native to the jungles of South America. The ocelot is found as far north as Texas in the United States and there are also large populations of the ocelot in both Mexico and the Caribbean islands. The ocelot tends to be about 1 meter in length with a tail, half the size of the body of the ocelot on top of that. The ocelot has enormous similarities in appearance to domestic cat, with the most noticeable of these similarities being the small sized head of the ocelot. The fur of the ocelot has very similar markings to the fur of a leopard or a jaguar meaning that the ocelot was hunted vigorously for many years.

Gila Monster

True Wild Life | Gila Monster |  The Gila Monster is a stout-bodied lizard that grows 18 to 24 inches in length. It has black, orange, pink or yellow broken blotches, bars and spots, with bands extending onto its blunt tail. Its face is black, and it has small, bead-like scales across its back. It is named for the Gila River Basin of the southwestern United States. The gila monster is found roaming through a range of habitats throughout the drier regions of central America. Gila monsters tend to inhabit areas that are more sheltered such as shrublands, woodlands, forests and semi-deserts.

Gecko

True Wild Life | Gecko | There are thought to be over 2,000 different species of gecko found around the world and it is widely believed that there are more species of gecko that ate yet to be discovered. The gecko is a small to medium species of lizard that is found in the more temperate and tropical regions of the world. Geckos are more commonly found around the Equator and in the Southern Hemisphere although a few species of gecko are found north of the Equator in warmer regions. Geckos are found in a wide variety of colours and have various different markings on their bodies depending on the species of gecko.