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Animal World
Meet remarkable animals, discover where they live and learn how their adaptations help them survive.
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Discover animals from around the world
African elephant
Loxodonta africana
The African elephant is the largest living land animal and lives in close family groups led by an experienced female.
African lion
Panthera leo
African lions are powerful social cats that live together in groups called prides.
Aldabra giant tortoise
Aldabrachelys gigantea
Aldabra giant tortoises are enormous reptiles native to the Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean.
Arctic fox
Vulpes lagopus
Arctic foxes survive tundra winters and often follow larger predators to find food.
Axolotl
Ambystoma mexicanum
Wild axolotls are aquatic salamanders found only in waterways near Mexico City.
Bald eagle
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Bald eagles live near rivers, lakes and coasts across North America.
Black rhinoceros
Diceros bicornis
Black rhinoceroses are browsing mammals that eat leaves and twigs in eastern and southern Africa.
Blue emperor dragonfly
Anax imperator
Blue emperor dragonflies patrol ponds, lakes and slow rivers across Europe, Africa and parts of Asia.
Blue whale
Balaenoptera musculus
The blue whale is the largest animal known to have lived on Earth.
Bottlenose dolphin
Tursiops truncatus
Bottlenose dolphins are social, intelligent marine mammals found in warm and temperate seas.
Brown bear
Ursus arctos
Brown bears occupy forests, mountains and tundra across parts of North America, Europe and Asia.
Chambered nautilus
Nautilus pompilius
Chambered nautiluses are ancient relatives of squid and octopuses found on deep Indo-Pacific reefs.
Cheetah
Acinonyx jubatus
The cheetah is a lightly built cat specialised for short, extremely fast chases.
Chimpanzee
Pan troglodytes
Chimpanzees are highly social great apes living in forests and woodlands across central Africa.
Coconut crab
Birgus latro
Coconut crabs are the largest land-living arthropods and inhabit tropical islands across the Indian and Pacific oceans.
Common ostrich
Struthio camelus
Common ostriches are the largest living birds and inhabit open African landscapes.
Common wombat
Vombatus ursinus
Common wombats are sturdy Australian marsupials that dig extensive burrow systems.
Dromedary camel
Camelus dromedarius
Dromedary camels have one hump and have helped people travel through hot deserts for thousands of years.
Emperor penguin
Aptenodytes forsteri
Emperor penguins are the largest penguins and breed during the Antarctic winter.
Emu
Dromaius novaehollandiae
Emus are tall flightless birds that roam open country across mainland Australia.
Fennec fox
Vulpes zerda
The fennec fox is a small nocturnal fox of the Sahara and nearby deserts.
Giant clam
Tridacna gigas
Giant clams are the largest bivalve molluscs and live in shallow tropical coral reefs.
Giant manta ray
Mobula birostris
Giant manta rays are graceful filter-feeding fish found in tropical and temperate oceans.
Giant Pacific octopus
Enteroctopus dofleini
The giant Pacific octopus lives in cool northern Pacific waters and shelters in rocky dens.
Giant panda
Ailuropoda melanoleuca
Giant pandas live in mountain bamboo forests in central China.
Giraffe
Giraffa camelopardalis
Giraffes are the tallest animals on Earth and browse leaves high in acacia trees.
Goliath birdeater
Theraphosa blondi
The Goliath birdeater is one of the world's largest spiders and lives on rainforest floors in northern South America.
Gray wolf
Canis lupus
Gray wolves are adaptable predators that communicate and hunt in family packs.
Great white shark
Carcharodon carcharias
Great white sharks are large ocean predators found in cool and temperate coastal waters.
Greater flamingo
Phoenicopterus roseus
Greater flamingos gather in large colonies around shallow salty lakes and lagoons.
Green anaconda
Eunectes murinus
Green anacondas are massive boas that live in slow rivers, swamps and flooded forests.
Green sea turtle
Chelonia mydas
Green sea turtles migrate between feeding areas and tropical nesting beaches.
Hippopotamus
Hippopotamus amphibius
Hippopotamuses spend hot days in African rivers and graze on land mainly after sunset.
Indian peafowl
Pavo cristatus
Indian peafowl forage on the ground and roost high in trees across South Asia.
Kākāpō
Strigops habroptilus
The kākāpō is a heavy, nocturnal and flightless parrot found only in New Zealand.
King cobra
Ophiophagus hannah
King cobras are the longest venomous snakes and live in forests across South and South-East Asia.
Koala
Phascolarctos cinereus
Koalas are tree-dwelling marsupials that eat selected eucalyptus leaves.
Komodo dragon
Varanus komodoensis
Komodo dragons are the world's largest lizards and live on a few Indonesian islands.
Marine iguana
Amblyrhynchus cristatus
Marine iguanas live only on the Galápagos Islands and feed on algae in coastal waters.
Meerkat
Suricata suricatta
Meerkats are small mongooses that live in cooperative groups in southern Africa.
Monarch butterfly
Danaus plexippus
Monarch butterflies are famous for long seasonal migrations across North America.
North Island brown kiwi
Apteryx mantelli
North Island brown kiwi are nocturnal flightless birds native to New Zealand.
Ocellaris clownfish
Amphiprion ocellaris
Ocellaris clownfish live among sea anemones on Indo-Pacific coral reefs.
Orangutan
Pongo pygmaeus
Orangutans are intelligent great apes that spend most of their lives in rainforest trees.
Peacock mantis shrimp
Odontodactylus scyllarus
Peacock mantis shrimp are colourful crustaceans that shelter in reef burrows across the Indo-Pacific.
Peregrine falcon
Falco peregrinus
Peregrine falcons live on every continent except Antarctica and often nest on high city buildings.
Plains zebra
Equus quagga
Plains zebras form social herds across eastern and southern African grasslands.
Platypus
Ornithorhynchus anatinus
The platypus is an egg-laying Australian mammal that feeds in rivers and streams.
Poison dart frog
Dendrobatidae
Poison dart frogs are a colourful family of small frogs from Central and South American rainforests.
Polar bear
Ursus maritimus
Polar bears are marine mammals that hunt mainly on Arctic sea ice.
Quokka
Setonix brachyurus
Quokkas are small wallabies native to south-western Australia and several nearby islands.
Red kangaroo
Osphranter rufus
Red kangaroos live across Australia's dry grasslands and open plains.
Red panda
Ailurus fulgens
Red pandas are tree-climbing mammals from cool Himalayan forests.
Ruby-throated hummingbird
Archilochus colubris
Ruby-throated hummingbirds visit flowers across eastern North America and migrate to Central America.
Saltwater crocodile
Crocodylus porosus
Saltwater crocodiles inhabit rivers, estuaries and coasts from India to northern Australia.
Short-beaked echidna
Tachyglossus aculeatus
Short-beaked echidnas are egg-laying mammals found across Australia and New Guinea.
Snow leopard
Panthera uncia
Snow leopards live among steep rocky mountains across Central and South Asia.
Snowy owl
Bubo scandiacus
Snowy owls hunt across open Arctic tundra and may travel south when food is scarce.
Southern cassowary
Casuarius casuarius
Southern cassowaries are large flightless birds of New Guinea and north-eastern Australia.
Tasmanian devil
Sarcophilus harrisii
Tasmanian devils are stocky marsupials found in the wild only on the Australian island of Tasmania.
Three-toed sloth
Bradypus variegatus
Three-toed sloths move slowly through the forests of Central and South America.
Tiger
Panthera tigris
Tigers are the largest cats and live across a range of Asian forest and grassland habitats.
Toco toucan
Ramphastos toco
The toco toucan is known for its enormous colourful bill and lives in South American woodland.
Wandering albatross
Diomedea exulans
Wandering albatrosses travel vast distances over the Southern Ocean and return to remote islands to breed.
Western gorilla
Gorilla gorilla
Western gorillas live in groups in the forests of central and western Africa.
Western honey bee
Apis mellifera
Honey bees live in colonies and collect nectar and pollen from flowering plants.
Whale shark
Rhincodon typus
Whale sharks are the largest living fish and travel through warm tropical oceans.