Tiger Facts

The tiger is, on average, the largest of the big cats, with the African lion a close second. A
mature Siberian tiger can top out at 11 feet long and close to 700 pounds.

Tigers once inhabited most of Asia, from the tropical islands to Siberia. Today they are
restricted to small patches of territory and very limited populations of each of the 6
living subspecies.

The largest of the tigers, the Siberian or Amur tiger, lives in the coniferous forests of
Russia where its thick fur and full neck ruff keep it warm in deep snow.

In contrast, the much smaller Sumatran tiger lives in thick southern jungles and regularly
bathes in ponds or streams to keep cool.

The Bengal tiger is the most common of the subspecies. They are almost as large as
Siberians with top weights in the 500 pound range. Bengal tigers live in India, Bangladesh
and Nepal in semi-tropical jungles.

The tiger is a stalk and ambush style hunter, and it's familiar stripes provide camouflage
in thick underbrush as it waits for prey as large as 1000 pound water buffalo.

They have the largest fangs in the animal world and are very swift killers. The tiger is
basically a solitary animal with a typical feline lifestyle. They roam wide and have very
large overlapping territories but conflict and aggression between individuals is rare, and
amazingly, wild tigers have been known to share their kill with other individuals, not
always family members, who may happen upon them feeding.

This fascinating behavior, so different from the highly food-aggressive African lion, has
been well documented.

The tiger, (and particularly the Bengal due to its proximity to civilization) is responsible
for more human deaths then any other cat, hence the common term "man-eating tiger".

A symbol of conservation efforts, the tiger is critically endangered throughout much of

its range, but many of its small, pocket populations have remained stable for years due
to government crackdowns on poaching. - Tiger Facts
Elephant Facts
Averaging 10 feet tall and 12,000 pounds the elephant is the largest animal on land.
There are 2 species and 6 sub-species spread across the warm forests and savannas of
Asia and Africa.

The Sumatran elephant, the smallest sub-species, may only stand 6 feet at the shoulder
when mature, but the massive bush elephant of Africa has been known to reach 13 feet
tall.

Elephants live in herds of 6 to 30 individuals that may join up occasionally with any of
several other herds within the master social structure known as a clan. There may be up
to 400 elephants within the clan, and it is believed that elephants may recognize and
have different relationships with all of their fellow members.

Females stay with the same herd usually for their entire lives, only occasionally
branching off to form a new herd. Young males live with the herd until 8 to 10 years of
age after which they may wander about in small groups of males for several years, but
eventually live solitary lives, only joining up with herds for a few days a year to mate
with available females.

Although elephants have been used as beasts of burden in Asia for thousands of
years, the Asian elephant is not a domestic animal. Elephants are captured from the wild
when they are young adults and trained through ancient techniques by elephant
handlers called "mahouts".

The means with which they control and train wild-caught elephants is unpleasant at
best, and includes the use of large steel hooks called ankusas, long poles, ropes and
chains.

Elephants have also been used in circus shows as far back as Ancient Rome where they
were often pitted against lions and bears in battles that were considered to be great
entertainment.

The intelligence and emotional depth of both the Asian and African elephant is
legendary, and fortunately, the tide is turning against the casual use of these highly
advanced creatures simply for our amusement.

The African elephant has a vulnerable status as a species, and the Asian elephant is listed
as endangered.

These animals are difficult to breed in captivity and the maintenance of a wild
population on both continents is critical to the elephants long term survival on our
planet. - Elephant Facts.
Gorilla Facts
With adult males weighing up to 600 pounds and standing six feet tall, the gorilla is the
largest of the great apes, and the largest living primate. They live in the jungles and rain
forests of Central Africa and the two species and five subspecies of gorilla are all named
for the regions and habitats that they call home.

All gorilla subspecies are critically endangered, and even with increasing conservation
efforts, the likelihood of maintaining a population in the wild for some of these creatures
is very slim.

The gorilla is a terrestrial animal which only spends time in trees during its youth, and
while sleeping in a nest at night. Many large males sleep on the ground and never enter
the trees after they reach a certain size.

Gorillas are true knuckle-walkers, and spend the most time of all the great apes walking
on all fours.

The gorilla is tremendously powerful and uses its strength to rip open tree trunks to
retain the softer insides. They are probably exclusively herbivores who eat fruit, leaves,
shoots, bulbs, roots and tree bark of nearly 100 different plant species. Only occasionally
will gorillas eat insects, like ants and termites.

Gorillas have never been observed hunting, or eating any small game in the wild, but
DNA testing of their feces suggests they may eat occasional small creatures - perhaps
even monkeys.

With the largest males well over 500 pounds, the gorilla must spend many hours a day
foraging and consuming about 50 pounds of vegetation. Their rotund bellies, which
expand well out past the girth of the chest, are like large cauldrons that break down
starchy foodstuffs like a furnace.

The gorilla has huge, flat molars in the rear of the jaw that grind down difficult foods.
They have not only opposable thumbs, but, like all the great apes except for human
beings, opposable big toes as well.

They can hold and manipulate things with their feet almost as easily as with their hands.

Gorillas are complex thinkers and tool builders, and most interestingly for their mass,
and fierce appearance, are rather gentle and peaceful in their lifestyle, with little
violence, free-forming family units, and long, rich childhoods spent learning from their
elders..Gorilla Facts
Jaguar Facts
The jaguar is the only big cat that lives in the New World. It ranges possibly as far north
as the Southwest of the United States (where some individuals might still exist in
Arizona) through Mexico, Central America and most prominently in South America
where it is the apex predator in the rain forests of the Amazon basin.

The jaguar likes water and loves the Brazilian wetlands where it catches caiman,
anacondas and turtles right in the water, dragging them out to dine on a marshy bank
or a low-slung branch.

Jaguars are much stockier than leopards and have a much larger, rounder skull. A few
minutes looking at pictures of both species and the differences, particularly in the shape
of the head and face, become apparent.

In general, many jaguars have spots in the center of the rosettes on their coats which
leopards generally do not, but the coats of these species vary greatly and really can't be
reliable in identification.

The jaguar was extensively hunted for its fur in the past century, with jaguar coats being
the most desirable of all the furs at one point. Jaguars in the tens of thousands were
poached and killed for the fur industry up until the 1990's when the first conservation
efforts were started.

Today, jaguars are not often poached for their fur, but are usually killed by local villagers
and farmers. The concern is for their livestock, not necessarily for their own safety,
as, despite its size and shear killing power, the jaguar rarely attacks human beings.

The jaguar is the least likely of all the big cats to attack a human being, and is responsible
for far fewer reported attacks on people - fatal or otherwise- than even its much smaller
American cousin the mountain lion.

There were nine subspecies of jaguar recognized up until just a few years ago, but the
most recent scientific and DNA research suggests their is only one species that varies
significantly in size, and somewhat in color, due to differences in habitat across its range.

Jaguars can be found in populations that average about 100 pounds in denser jungle,
(these areas also produce the most black panthers), and over 300 pounds in more open
ranges where larger prey like horses and cattle are available. - Jaguar Facts
Koala Bear Facts
The koala bear is an adorable, tree dwelling marsupial that is perhaps the most popular
animal native to Australia. Koalas live in Eucalypt forests, spending the vast majority of
their lives in just a handful of eucalyptus trees, also known as gum trees.

These animals are nocturnal and spend four to six hours a night quietly munching on
Eucalyptus leaves.

In the course of a single evening, a 30 pound koala consumes about 2 pounds of leaves.

The nutritional value of this diet is so poor that the koala is designed to conserve as
much energy as possible. A healthy adult koala spends about 18 hours a day sleeping -
mostly in the heat of the afternoon - and no more than 5 minutes a day in full-bodied
exertion.

Moving from one to another of the trees that it has designated as its territory is the most
energy a koala will commit in any 24 hour period.

Very much like the South American sloths in lifestyle, the koala bear has an extremely
slow metabolism and takes days to digest a meal.

The koala bear has a broad face with forward facing eyes, a large head with round tufted
ears and an egg-shaped tailless body covered with plush grey to brown fur that is whiter
on the undersides and often mottled over the rump.

They are not social at all, marking out clear territories, and actively avoiding each other
throughout most of their lives, other than for very brief mating encounters.

Naturally, the koala has a darling expression, but its big head contains one of the smaller
brains percentage wise in the animal kingdom, and a rather primitive one at that.

With its only natural enemy, the dingo, delegated to the ground, the koala is basically
safe from threat. Birds of prey or snakes may take an occasional youngster or small
female, but this is rare.

The biggest issue koalas face is their own territorial and anti-social nature. There is a
finite number of koalas that can comfortably coexist in a particular area of wild habitat,
and when territory is depleted by human encroachment, the individuals whose trees are
lost usually perish.

Fortunately, the fabulous koala is not endangered and can still be viewed in the wild.
Anteater Facts
The anteaters are four species of unusual creatures with extraordinarily specialized
tongues, mouths and stomachs. Created with insect consumption in mind, the anteater
has a toothless, tube-shaped mouth and an extremely elongated head that houses the
animal worlds most elaborate tongue.

The tongue actually rolls up at the back of the anteaters cranium and is attached to the
sternum. When fully extended, an anteaters tongue is almost two times the length of
the entire head.

The tongue is thin, sometimes bright red in color, and covered with hundreds of little
hooks. These hooks, along with copious amounts of sticky saliva, capture tiny insects
and deliver them straight down the throat without chewing.

Once inside the stomach, hundreds of ants, termites and other insects are crushed by a
powerful and ever churning gizzard. Like birds, anteaters intentionally ingest fine gravel
and small pebbles, which line the gizzard and help demolish the food.

Most closely related to sloths and also, not surprisingly, armadillos, anteaters are rather
primitive animals with a simple, mostly solitary lifestyle.

Although they all survive almost exclusively on insects, each species has different ways
of acquiring their meals.

The rarely seen silky anteater, native to Central and South America, is an arboreal
animal, spending its life in the mid-range tree line, and rarely walking on the ground.

The medium-size tamandua, or collared anteaters, from South America, move freely
from the trees to the forest floor.

Also native to Central and South America, the massive and fascinating giant anteater is
terrestrial and spends its time exclusively on the ground, foraging through termite
mounds and anthills. - Anteater Facts