Category Plants & Animals

In relation to its overall size, the orang-utan has the biggest armspan. Its arms are three times as long as its body, which is just right for an animal that spends its life swinging from tree to tree! The name orang-utan is the Malay for ‘man of the woods’.

Is it true? Gorillas in the wild are bigger than gorillas in zoos.

No. Life in a zoo can make gorillas rather lazy and, sometimes, rather fat! The record-breaker was a male called N’gagi, who weighed in at a whopping 310 kg. That’s about the same as five adult humans!

Amazing! The gorilla is the world’s biggest ape. It is a tiny bit taller than a man, but usually about three times as heavy.

Which is the most colourful monkey?

Male mandrills, which belong to the baboon family, have very brightly coloured faces. Mandrills are also among the biggest monkeys, at just under a metre tall, with a weight of about 20 kilograms.

Which is the world’s smallest primate?

The eastern brown mouse lemur of Madagascar is truly tiny. From the top of its head to its bottom, it measures just over six centimetres. It could easily sit on your palm, if it wasn’t so shy!

Picture Credit : Google

The brown bear is a top angler. It knows just the time of year that delicious salmon head upriver to lay their eggs. The bear catches the fish with a quick swipe of the paw, or it waits until the salmon leap up mini waterfalls, and become tired.

When do bears climb trees?

When they want to escape danger. Black bears are expert climbers even as grown-ups. Brown bears only climb trees when they are cubs, usually to escape from adult brown bears, who are trying to eat them!

Amazing! The American black bear is one of the world’s champion snoozers. Its winter sleep, or hibernation, lasts for seven months – over half of the year!

Is it true? Koalas are bears.

No. Although we call them koala bears, koalas are really marsupials, which means they have pouches like kangaroos. Pandas aren’t bears either. They’re more closely related to raccoons.

Do all bears eat meat?

Even meat-eating bears sometimes like a change of diet. Polar bears snack on seaweed and berries when seals are scarce. Brown and black bears love honey, but collecting it is a very risky business. They often come away from the hive with a stung nose!

The powerful polar bear weighs in at 600 kg, which makes it about ten times heavier than a grown-up person, and the biggest of all meat-eating land mammals. Adult bears snack on fish and seals, but they have even been spotted guzzling down fat beluga whales that weigh as much as themselves!

Amazing! Polar bears cover their nose with their paw when they hunt. Although their fur is white, their noses are black and easy to spot in the snow. By covering its nose, the polar bear makes sure that its whole body is camouflaged against the snowy Arctic landscape.

Is it true? Polar bears poisoned Arctic explorers.

Yes. Polar bears’ livers contain a lot of Vitamin A. In small doses, this is fine for humans, but when hungry explorers ate the livers, they were poisoned.

Can bears walk on water?

They can when it’s frozen! Polar bears roam across northern Europe, northern Asia and North America. If the Arctic Ocean isn’t frozen they swim, protected by thick fur and fat!

Which cubs drink the creamiest milk?

Newborn polar bear cubs are tiny. They need to fatten up quickly to survive the cold. Luckily, their mother’s milk is thick and creamy and about half of it is pure fat.

The grey wolf is biggest wild dog and the most powerful. Males can be as long as two metres and weigh up to 80 kg, as much as four six-year-old children! Some grey wolves have brown, red or black coats.

Amazing! Except for the African wild dog, all pet dogs are descended from a wolf-like ancestor, which appeared about one million years ago.

Do wolves howl at the Moon?

Wolves howl whether the Moon’s out or not. They use their powerful voices to tell other packs of wolves to stay away, and to talk to members of their own pack, especially when they have spread out to hunt.

Is it true? You should never try to out-stare a wolf.

No. You should if you’re a musk ox. Wolves usually hunt by picking off young or sick members of a group of grazing animals. Musk oxen try to stop this happening by huddling in a tight circle. Faced with a wall of horns, the Arctic wolves can’t pick off any individual oxen.

Which wolf walks on stilts?

The maned wolf is the tallest wild dog. Its legs are longer than the length of its body! The maned wolf lives in the grasslands of South America. Its stilts give it a good view over the tall Pampas grasses.

The spotted, or laughing, hyena has two different calls. One sounds like a laugh, but the other sounds more like a wail. This hyena is very daring. It has attacked sleeping people and has even carried off young children!

Amazing! Hyenas work as refuse collectors. Hyenas are scavengers – they will eat just about anything. In some African villages hyenas are sometimes allowed in to clear the rubbish.

Is it true? All hyenas have manes.

No. Spotted hyenas don’t, but striped hyenas and brown hyenas do. They have scruffy-looking hair sticking up around their head and even down their back.

Do hyena cubs get on together?

Hyena cubs play with each other to practise the skills they’ll need as adults, but they don’t really get on. Twins fight over food, and sometimes, the weaker twin slowly starves to death.

Do hyenas hunt?

Spotted hyenas do, but other hyenas prefer other animals to do the work for them! Most hyenas feed mainly on carrion, which is a bigger hunter’s leftover. When then do hunt for themselves, hyenas go for wildebeest, zebra, or they steal a goat or cow from the local farmer.

Many dogs, including African wild dogs, hunt in groups called packs. First they spread out, so they have a good view of the landscape, and then they close in on their prey. They keep in contact with barks and body language.

Do dogs use babysitters?

Yes! Jackals in particular live in very close-knit family groups. They share all the jobs. Sometimes a young female jackal is picked to stay at home looking after the cubs while all the other mothers go out hunting.

Amazing! Dogs can’t sweat! Unlike you, dogs don’t have sweat glands, so they can’t lose heat through their skin. They pant when they get hot, to let heat escape from their bodies.

Is it true? Dogs have five toes on each front paw.

Yes. But the African wild dog is the one exception. This fierce hunter is missing a toe on each front foot.

What do pups eat?

Newborn wild pups live off mother’s milk. Soon, their mum brings them meat. She chews it for them, until they’re a bit bigger. Finally at four months old, the pups are old enough to join in the hunt.