Month: February 2008

Bengal Tiger

The Tiger is one of the big four in the cat world. Tigers are native to Asia, and are a predator cat. They are the largest cat in the world. Bengal Tiger The Bengal tiger is the most common tiger that exists today, and makes up about eighty percent of all tigers. Tigers live a

African Lion

Lions are very large cats, part of what is known as the big four, in cats. They live on the grassy areas, what are called the savannah of Africa, and in some grassy areas of India. They are a beautiful gold in color and can grow to be up to 6 feet long and weigh

Rabbit

Thirty million years ago there were already rabbits that inhabited the earth. They were very tiny, according to the fossilized skulls which have been discovered. The skull size would indicate rabbits that were three to four times smaller than our little cottontails or the European rabbits that look nearly exactly alike. Some rabbits have simple

Pallas Cat

The Pallas cat is also known as the Manul cat. Pallas is a fairly small cat that is native to Asia. The Pallas cat is about the size of a large house cat, and is about 2 feet long in the body, and has a ten inch tail. They average in size to about 10

Eland

The common Eland will be found in Central and South Africa. They are found mainly on the savannah, but will also sometimes live in the forest or even on the deserts edge. Eland are the very largest of all antelopes. A male eland can stand 5 to 6 feet at the shoulder. Eland They are

Giraffe

The giraffe is an African mammal, the very tallest of all those which live on the land. The male may be 16 to 18 feet tall, and weigh nearly 3000 pounds. Imagine having him step on your toes! Females are a little shorter, but not much, and weigh somewhat less than the males do. The

Mountain Bongo

Mountain Bongos have beautiful reddish brown coat which has long thin white striped that offer it good camouflage in the forests in which they live. They are one of the largest antelopes with males weighing between five hundred and nine hundred pounds and females weighing about half that. Both males and females have extremely long

Capybara

The capybara (“Water pig”) is a semi aquatic animal which is an herbivore. The capybara is also the world’s largest rodent. Capybaras are native to much of the tropical and subtropical aspects of South America which lie east of the Andes Mountains. It has also been brought to Florida to live in the subtropics of

Okapi

The Okapi is a native African animal that is dark brown or deep purple red, with a pattern of stripes that move horizontally like those of a zebra. They lower legs are white, with dark circles on the joints. The Okapi’s head looks a great deal like a horse with a long black muzzle and

Pronghorn

The pronghorn has often mistakenly been called an antelope. It is not even related to the antelopes of Africa or those of Asia. It is also not closely related to deer or goats or cattle. Its ancestor’s fossils have been found on the American plains dating back millions of years. The miniature pronghorns were not

Beaver

Twenty nine million years ago there were beavers living in North America. They were the size of kittens and they lived in spiral burrows on dry land. Their burrows were in “beaver towns” similar to the way prairie dogs live. There have also been skulls discovered from that long ago time that were beavers who

Burrowing Owl

The burrowing owl is so called because they live in family groups much like a prairie dog town, and in fact many times use prairie dog towns to begin their own villages. They are brown spotted owls, quite small with the largest being about ten inches tall. They have very unique white eyebrows above their

Javelina

Peccaries are more slender and will generally weigh 30-50 pounds less than pigs, have longer, thinner legs and smaller hooves. Javelinas have only 3 toes on each hind foot upper tusks (1.5 inches long) are pointed down. They have large heads and long snouts with thick coats of dark-gray, bristly hair and hair around the

Kori Bustard

Kori Bustard is one of the largest birds in the world. Males will weigh as much as 35 pounds while the females weigh about half that. It is difficult for them to fly because of their size. They are native to southern Africa and are strictly ground dwellers, limited to the earth. They much prefer

Elephant

Once you see photos of the African and the Asian elephants together, it is easy to see the differences. The African elephant is larger, with ears that measure six and a half feet. The Asian elephant, along with much smaller ears, has a concave forehead and a sloping hump on the back. From the tip