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Arctic Fox
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Found across the polar regions
of mainland North America and Northern Scandinavia, east to Siberia and
northward almost to the North Pole.
Cool Facts:
Enormous resistance to cold and can survive temperatures below minus
94 degrees Farenheit. Nearly 70% of its winter coat is made up of a
thick, insulating undercoat.
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Black
Rhinoceros
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Now reduced to pockets in its
former range throughout Africa south of Sahara. Prefers scrub or
wooded terrain to open grassland or humid forests.
Cool Facts:
Fearsome horn acts as a deterrent and as a weapon that can toss a lion
into the air. Surprising agile and capable of charging at speeds
reaching 30 mph. Bulk and thick skin protects it from predators;
baby rhinos can fall victim to hyenas and lions.
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Capybara
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Found in Panama, Central America
and to the east of the Andes from Colombia and the Guianas south of
Uruguay and northeastern Argentina.
Cool Facts:
Largest rodent in the world; full grown it is about the size of a large
dog. Its only defense against predators is to dive in the
water. Unlike most rodents it is very vocal, purring while it eats
and barking at any sign of danger.
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Dwarf Mongoose
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Found in sub-Saharan Africa from
southern Ethiopia to northeastern South Africa. Also through Zambia
west to Angola and northern Namibia.
Cool Facts:
Miniature hunter of insects and small animals on the grassy plains of
Africa. Always found in packs, it has an unusual social life in
which only one pair breeds. Wary and alert, pack members take turns
keeping watch for danger while others feed.
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European Wildcat
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European sub-species are found
in highly localized populations throughout Europe. The other two
sub-species are found in western Asia and Africa.
Cool Facts:
A small but fierce predator, it is extremely shy and rarely seen by
humans. It leads a solitary life in a den by day and hunts at night
with its sharp eyesight.
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Fennec Fox
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Found across desert areas of
North Africa and the Middle East -- from Morocco in the west, east across
the Sahara desert to arid parts of the Middle East as far east as the
Arabian Desert.
Cool Facts:
Dense, pale coat keeps the fox warm during cold desert nights and provides
camouflage. Huge ears are larger in relation to its size than any
other fox. These big ears help keep it cool by radiating extra body
heat.
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Giant Panda
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Found only in the Xifan
Mountains of Sichuan province (southwest China) preferring steep terrain
(from semi-tropical bamboo forests to snowy mountains); More than
half of the wild Pandas are in preserves.
Cool Facts:
Newborn cub is only 1/900th of its mother's weight. It spends almost
all its time eating to sustain itself on nutritionally poor bamboo leaves
and stems. Acknowledged as a National Treasure by the Chinese
government in 1949, it is now an endangered species and is the symbol for
the Worldwide Fund for Nature.
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Huon Tree Kangaroo
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Found on Huon Peninsula of Papua
New Guinea and on nearby Umboi Island, north of Australia; lives in
mountainous rainforests at altitudes ranging from 2,970 feet to 9,900 feet
above sea level.
Cool Facts:
A highly agile kangaroo that is as much at home in the trees as on the
ground. One of the most brilliantly colored of all marsupials.
Able to leap more than 33 feet between trees and 66 feet to the ground
without injury. Female carries young through the trees in the pouch
on her belly.
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Indian Flying Fox
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Found over much of the Indian
sub-continent through Burma to Malay peninsula; also found on the offshore
island groups of the Indian Ocean.
Cool Facts:
Feeds on juice from tree fruit, flying over 30 miles each night to find a
ripe crop. Often flies along rivers, using the clear, open channels
as highways into the forest. Uses soft wing membranes to protect
itself from wind and rain and regulate its body temperature.
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Jaguar
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Formerly ranged from the
southern U.S. to northern Argentina; now extremely rare in most
regions, probably extinct in Uruguay, El Salvador, Nicaragua and the
southwestern U.S.
Cool Facts:
Looks like a heavy weight leopard. Stalks and ambushes a range of
animals by night, killing its prey with a bite to the throat. Coat
pattern provides excellent camouflage.
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Kit Fox
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Found in the western U.S. from
Oregon and Idaho south to parts of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and
New Mexico. Also in Baja California, northern central Mexico.
Cool Facts: Smallest fox in North America and second
smallest in the world (only the Fennec fox in Africa is smaller). It
zigzags at amazing speeds to avoid predators. |
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Lesser Bush Baby
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Found across Africa south of the
Sahara, in wooded areas bordering the rainforest (Senegal east to northern
Ethiopia) and from Somali and Mozambique south to Angola and Tanzania.
Cool Facts: Huge eyes and large ears to help it detect
small prey animals in the treetops at night. Can spot and grab a
moth in flight in total darkness. |
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Mandrill
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Found only in tropical, closed
canopy rainforests in Central Africa; from the banks of the Sanaga River
in Cameroon, south to Equatorial Guinea, Gabo and Congo.
Cool Facts: Male has bright blue and scarlet ridges on
his nasal bones and on his back end to attract females.
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Northern Lynx
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Found across most of Canada,
Alaska and northern U.S.; also some in parts of Europe, across northern
and central Asia to Siberia and south as far as Tibet.
Cool Facts: Ear tufts, furry jowls and large, hairy
feet. Eats a wide range of prey and is capable of killing an animal
as large as a deer. Solitary and thrives in the cold.
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Ocelot
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Found from U.S. - Mexico border
through Central America, across most of tropical South America (except
central Andes) to northern Uruguay and northeastern Argentina.
Cool Facts: Largest of several small cats living in the
forests of South and Central America. Long hunted by fur traders, it
is now on the CITES endangered species list.
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Polar Bear
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Found off the northern coasts of
North America, northern Russia east to Siberia, Greenland and other Artic
Ocean islands, to the southern limits of the pack ice.
Cool Facts: Dense, waterproof coat helps it survive the
coldest temperatures on earth. Large, powerful body helps it retain
heat. Preys on seals, which it kills with a bite or blow to the
head.
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Quoll
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Once widespread across
Australia, various species are now confined to northern, eastern and
southwestern areas. Also found on Tasmania and Papua New Guinea.
Cool Facts: Carnivorous marsupial that lives in a
variety of habitats including the suburbs of Australian cities.
Female produces more than 20 young, but can suckle less than half that
number. Emerges from a daytime shelter to ambush or stalk prey
either on the ground or in trees.
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Red Panda
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In Nepal, northern Burma,
Bhutan, southern Tibet and the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces of China; may
still occur in the Indian states of Sikkim and Assam.
Cool Facts: Lives a solitary life high in the Himilayas.
Soft, dense fur protects it in the cold winter months. An agile
climber, it moves quickly through trees. It was once thought to be
in the same family as the Giant Panda it is named for, but this is not
true. The Giant Panda is in the bear family and the Red Panda is in
the raccoon family.
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Sugar Glider
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Found in coastal northern and
eastern Australia, New Guinea and surrounding islands; European settlers
introduced the sugar glider to Tasmania in the early part of the 19th
century.
Cool Facts: Glides on flight membranes from tree to
tree to feed on nectar from flowers. It steers itself while gliding
by adjusting the tension in its flight membranes and using its long tail
like a rudder on a boat.
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Tarsiers
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The 4 species of tarsier are
found on many of the islands of Southeast Asia, including Borneo, southern
Sumatra, Java, and the southeastern Philippines, Sulawesi and a number of
small islands in between.
Cool Facts: Tiny nocturnal predators that have enormous
eyes and a head that can turn all the way around to see behind it.
They live in trees and can leap up to 20 feet between branches (30 times
their own body length). They are "living fossils" because
they have barely changed since they first appeared about 45 million years
ago.
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Vicuna
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Found in South America, along
the Andes mountain range from southern Peru to northern Chile and into
nearby parts of Bolivia and Argentina.
Cool Facts: A wild relative of the domestic llama that
lives on dry, grassy plateaus. It travels daily between defined
resting and feeding areas. Demand for its fleecy, soft fur nearly
caused its extinction and it is now a protected species.
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Wolverine
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Found in northern North America,
the northern sub-Arctic islands and northern Eurasia from Scandinavia east
to Siberia; also in Greenland.
Cool Facts: Nocturnal, except during the the long days of
the Arctic summer, when it comes out for brief periods during the
day. Dense, warm fur allows it to hunt during the sub-zero Arctic
nights. Tracks prey by using sense of smell. Has large, wide
feet that act like snow shoes. Known for being ferocious, it can
kill caribou ten times its weight.
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Yak
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Found in the high plateaus and
mountains of Central Asia, where the climate is cold and dry.
Cool Facts: The wild yak is considered an endangered
species. It has a thick coat of long, blackish-brown hair.
Males can be almost 7 feet high at the shoulder and can weigh up to 2,200
pounds. The back of the Yak is humped at the shoulders. The
horns are long and the tail is long-haired and bushy.
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Zebra
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There are 3 zebra species that
all are found in Africa: Plains Zebra, Grevy's Zebra and Mountain
Zebra. This picture is of the Plains Zebra which lives in eastern
Africa, from the semi-deserts of Somalia in the north, through the
grasslands of East Africa, to Southern Africa.
Cool Facts: Can gallop at nearly 42 mph. The
striped pattern is like a human fingerprint -- no two are exactly the
same. The stripes help it blend in with the herd so it is hard for
predators to select one zebra to attack. They live in family groups
led by a stallion.
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