Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Animals Facts
Animals Facts
Animals
m mm >
Hrf
. >«? mranM •rJ
*
!
2
. V\ b
% V -
J?r --
‘XL
.
«* r
r%
I
»
4 -
iff,
pS$H3l ®
; '
*"
. Vi
i
•
,,
flop it torf
tok»« P COO
\
r^
.
Y,*
.
b* B
/ :
fj
ip
long
ivory tvfkl
- 4r
j I
sSS?: Y
of * oi
,
tool on <i
weoponf //
i
^•TSSr ^-
'*
“ “"‘MW,
H FMAMJJASOiVD / ll 00388/ 1
9 781409 500421 >
Black mamba
These mambas a r e t h e m o s t f e a r e d
reptiles in A f r i c a . They r e f a s t j f i e r c e
1
Skin lighter
underneath
Slithers u p t r e e s t o h u n t birds }
t J
• Deadly venom. A bite from a black mamba
can kill a person in twenty minutes. Its venom
brings down small animals almost instantly,
by paralyzing their hearts and lungs.
Webbed feet
•Temptation . Giant
tortoises taste so delici ous
that it took 300 years to
get a live one brought to • M
England , because the sailors
kept eating them on the way.
Rats' t e e t h never
Stop growing So
they gnaW on
anything hard
( even concrete ) t o
-
jT S. V keep t h e m short.
Lives in herds n e a r r w l e r s
' '
female
9 Big five. Cape buffalo are one of the ‘big five - the
9
Tougln pads on
'
knees, So it can
lie AoWn on fine
S cald ng SonA
'
• Catwalk camels.
Camel beauty contests are held in
the Middle East every year. Owners
travel thousands of miles with their
best-looking camels to take part.
c a n shatter a
lions skull
\
•Stink bulls. Male giraffes give off an awful
stencil that drives away disease- ridden parasites.
This has earned them tbe nickname ‘stink bulb
Larges t type
'
Huge a r m of ape
muscles
• Relations. Gorillas are one of our closest relatives.
Like us , they show feelings of love , hate , fear , joy,
jealousy, pride and shame . They laugh when they
are tickled and cry when they are sad .
Sleek skin
Nostrils anA eyes
o n top o t its IneaAj so
i t c a n lurk unAerWater
when i t hunts
» j
N
•Snakelets. Most snakes 1
eggs , But anacondas give
birth to between ZO
and 30 live snakelets. *
Hippopotamus
Skin on body is c m (V / iin ) thick;
^
and almost completely bulletproof
• Back off!
When hippos
yawn they ’re actually
showing enemies their
huge teeth , which grow
30 cm ( lft) long.
»
around inside i t; letting tine badger
attack anything that tries to pm it down
y
N
no problem hunting in W a f e r.
M
«V .
rtLf t '*c * 2 AV{ <>/!•*'
m
Vi
- $L - t
K\
Ff
4
wi. 3l
v
^*v•!fH•!T^*
£
•r •V
l C*
'
*
Looks S imilor to o leopard, but
' '
m u c h m o r e m u s c u \ a r W i t h bigger
f
}
r o s e t t e markings o n its c o a t
#
•
J
• Ambush . Jaguars are
ambush specialists. They
attack from cover w ith a
cjuick and fatal pounce.
• Awesome jaws. A jaguar has the most powerful
bite of any big cat . It can bite through a
turtle^s shell as if it were made of chocolate .
— rr-~>
Jr
*
Worlds largest
—
V e n o m o u s Snake can
rear u p high enough to
look a person in the eye
• Letlial venom. One bite from a king cobra
injects enou venom to kill an elephant.
1
»
N
nr
• Clingy. Koala babies spend =5 - * ft
their first six months inside
a pouch on their mother’s
front , and the next six '
'
'
_M V/ *
clinging to her back.
W.
• Poison-leaves. Eucalyptus
is poisonous to most
animals , but a koala’s
digestive system filters
out the dangerous chemicals.
Dull skin
helps i t hide
in long grass l
t o a m bush prey ^' y
( decaying m e a t ) over
1 0 km ( (o miles) aWay
'
i
• Lethal teeth. Komodos have 60 teeth. Each one
is 2 .Scm ( lin) long and jagged like a saw.
•Survival technique .
Female komodos can give
birth without mating. These
\ young are always male , and
the {emale can mate with them
J once they ’re Lully grown.
A r m s longer
than boAy
anA legs- put
together
Fur usually
golAen broWnj
b u t ranges From
c r e a m t o black
'
X K:
• Outstanding swing. Gibbons build up enou gii
speed to launch themselves across gaps in the
trees that are the length of a tennis court.
• Morning din.
Gibbons are one o
the noisiest animals in
the rainforest. Every
morning, families make
deafening screeches
an d howls to warn
other gibbons away
from their territory.
s
Rosette pattern .
, j
on coat * y
s
^
7f i
.
iy ;i Wj? *
• Camouflage. A leopard’s tawny fur and dark A
wm
rosettes blend into the dappled light and .<
shade of its surroundings .
^ *
•Smart thinking. Leopards are the
>
most intelligent of the big cats. They’re
watchful and wary, and can vary
7% their hunting technique to
suit almost any terrain .
{ in
<f,7 mmr;
• Black panther. Leopards
i9 s’ L (and jaguars) with
black fur are called
,
Hi #]
Mi* A . black panthers.
on
Lions '
rulers o f tine
are the
African plains; and lounge
'
Tas S el
' '
on end
of tail
bales h a v e a t h i c k m a n e
'
of h a i r t h a t grows bushier
t h e alder they get.
>
• Pride. A pride is a group of females and cuts led by
a few males . If a new gang of males wins control ,
they kill the cuts to start a family of their own.
Lionesses
ViQ\ je no
rr\ Qr\ e .
called elk
in Europe
Webbed feet
diving underwater.
patches
Sharp around
Can S W i m
unAerWater
for ten minutes
» y
N
•Venomous spike .
Males are armed witP
a venomous spike on
tPeir tack feet tPat can
kill a dog, and leave
Spike Pumans in agony.
•A remarkatle nose.
A polar tear can smell a
seal 32 km (20 miles) away.
• Expert swimmer.
Polar tears can
,*=*- • • swim 160 km (100
miles) at a time.
Sticky
toes for
f climbing
trees
•World’s most poisonous.
The golden poison -dart
frog is the most toxic
animal in the world. If its
poison enters your tody y
die - even a drop tlie size of
a salt grain will kill you.
Tod pole
•Tadpoles. Poison-dart
frogs lay their eggs
on a leaf . When the
tadpoles hatch they wiggle
onto their mother’s back and
she carries them to water.
PorcupineS
h a\i e oboot
30,000
s p i n e s.
A/ eW World
This is a porcupines
NeW World
use t h e i r
porcupine. It fails t o grip
iMes in trees. '
branches.
Old World
porcupines live
'
on the ground .
i
\
6 oby kangaroos a ,
kept in a pouch o n
their mothers
front.
Three large
hooted toes
•Senses. Rhinos have weak eyesight , tut
excellent hearing. If you ever face a charging
rhino, throw a rock to the side and it’ ll
change course and head for the thud .
Bright
Lives only on t h e
island o t [Madagascar
• Sunbathing. Aft er a cold night , lemurs
sit in a group and spread out their
arms and legs to soak up the sun.
mm
• Female rule . The females are man ti J
1 vi
m im
%A .
cuff to any male who tries to
take the juiciest piece of fruit .
4s£
•Stink fight. When two males fight , they load
their tail with their scent and waft it at their
opponent. The male with the stinkiest tail wins.
—
Special W e a p o n a spray so
horrenAously stinky it c a n be
SmelleA 3 km (2 files) aWay .
'
Furhas
green tinge
J
• Head-turner. Sloths can turn their
heads nearly all the way around .
• Too slow to shiver. Sloths are the onh
mammals that canH shiver to warm themselves
up, kecause their muscles move too slowly.
i
^
a -onS their claws.
Spotted hyena ,
ns fly
mane
hyenas look
like Aogs but
}
a t e m o t e closely
related t o cats.
tr
Ftont legs
longer t h a n
back legs
•Top killers. Hyenas hunt in packs and. chase
their prey until it collapses from exhaustion.
They kill more animals each year th
lions , leopards or crocodiles.
£
f* <
Covered
1
ti *
T/nis- devil is- reloxed. When
if sees a predator it puff s’
dangerous as possible.
W t
y
• False head. To give themselves the
best chance of surviving an attack ,
thorny devils use their ‘false
head ° as a decoy and hide their
real head between their legs .
Always
on the
alert for
predators
Long legs
for Q u i c k
•Speed. ‘Tommies’ are tlie second fastest animal
in Africa , but they ’ re chased by the fastest
- cheetahs. Gazelles can’ t outpace a cheetah , but
they do have more stamina and a sharper turn.
• Horns. A female’s
horns are smooth ,
and much smaller
and thinner th
a male’s horns.
Wale Fenna \ e
the inland of
TQSrnQmO
fyushy fail
— sigo of a
healthy
devil
t
• Huge appetite . Tasmanian devils are always
hungry, and can eat 40 % of their bodyweight
in just 30 minutes. They’ ll devour a whole
sheep carcass until nothing is left but the teeth .
• Crushing bite. For their size , devils have the
strongest bite of any animal in the world.
• Devilish screams. European settlers gave it
the name ‘Tasmanian devil’ because they were
terrified by its unearthly screaming and snarling.
Fifth of a \\ the
mamm a \ species on'
m
A
• Heavy load. Vampire
tats can drink half their $’Mtim1
todyweig ht in tlood. To
reduce the extra weight ,
they start to sprinkle
MM -
iM
-
t
w -VJ
Vjf
•
urine almost at once .
„;/ > v TP#
• Blood sucker? Vampire tats don’ t suck tlood ;
they tite the skin and lap the tlood that oozes out.
Tokay gecko
This Iargestj -fiercest
type of gecko is often Large eyes
allowed to live in people s tor spotting
InouseSj because it eats insects at night
dangerous bugs •
'
< c
• Detachable tail. Geckos distract
a chasing predator by dropping their tail and
leaving it squirming on the ground behind them .
In a few months , a new tail has grown in its place.
Dark stripes
make tine skin Sonne Wildebeest
look Wrinkly h a v e a blueish tinge
t o t h e i r c o a t.
M
i
«1
V
v
V1
» >?* j
-
W :i
Team-players . Zebras
and wildebeest often
live together and
warn each other
of predators on
the prowl.
/i
1
termites a night. '
M
'1 \ .f
k
A
• Champion digger. ft m< m
Aardvarks burrow ~
J\ j\* m. Si K.
underground in •
Long
i ory tusks
^
useA as
tools and
Weapons '
African elephant s h a v e
larger, m o r e sticky - o u t ears
t h a n t h e i r Indian cousins -
•Multi-talented trunk. An elephant trunk
is ^
strong enough to knock a lion off its
feet , but dainty enough to pluck
up a single blade of grass.
beard
bison o r e so large
i t takes o Whole Wolt
pack t o bring o n e down .
• Winter survival. In winter, bison use their
beads like huge shovels , scooping through
snowdrifts to reach the grass underneath .
- -CF
4
»
C
A
——-
W\
t
Spotted
pattern
onFur
Long legsFor
large strides
'
y
•King cheetahs. Some cheetahs
have stripes down their
back. They’ re called king
cheetahs , and are very rare.
hands a r e V e r y m
Similar t o ours k
•Close relations. Chimpanzees are the animals
tkat are most closely related to people. TlieyVe
even learned to make tools (suck as sharpened
sticks for stabbing small mammals).
"S .
\
- v \
m aisssr Hr
WM. I
I
i n i ]
A V i
.<4 4
#1
:}t ji
. , t* &
p XI ^ «
*
‘
A
r , r*
•
7
' '
•
< / <
i
/ f *j
,
A
£ *
i§‘ #- -<**?
t '
f
*
Plated toil
Snout tor
Sniffing Sharp
oc/ t injects- claWS for
burrowing
t
A
• River -crossing. Armadillos have two methods
for crossing rivers. They can inflate their
stomachs and float across , or just hold their
breath and
V stroll along
'
’
J the bottom.
*•
• Defensive ball . T hree-
banded armadillos curl jBKv
J
up into a protective ball
when they’re frightened. f
w*m.
Dam