Tiger

Tiger
The tiger (Panthera tigris) is a member of the Felidae family; the largest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera. Native to much of eastern and southern Asia, the tiger is an apex predator and an obligate carnivore. Reaching up to 4 metres (13 ft) in total length and weighing up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds), the larger tiger subspecies are comparable in size to the biggest extinct felids. Aside from their great bulk and power, their most recognizable feature is the pattern of dark vertical stripes that overlays near-white to reddish-orange fur, with lighter underparts. The largest subspecies of tiger is the Siberian tiger.

Highly adaptable, tigers range from the Siberian taiga, to open grasslands, to tropical mangrove swamps. They are territorial and generally solitary animals, often requiring large contiguous areas of habitat that support their prey demands. This, coupled with the fact that they are endemic to some of the more densely populated places on earth, has caused significant conflicts with humans. Of the nine subspecies of modern tiger, three are extinct and the remaining six are classified as endangered, some critically so. The primary direct causes are habitat destruction and fragmentation, and hunting. Their historical range, which once reached from Mesopotamia and the Caucasus through most of South and East Asia, has been radically reduced. While all surviving species are under formal protection, poaching, habitat destruction and inbreeding depression continue to be threats.

Nonetheless, tigers are among the most recognizable and popular of the world's charismatic megafauna. They have featured prominently in ancient mythology and folklore, and continue to be depicted in modern films and literature. Tigers appear on many flags and coats of arms, as mascots for sporting teams, and as the national animal of several Asian nations.

Elephant

elephant
Physical Characteristics
The African elephant is the largest living land mammal. Of all its specialized features, the muscular trunk is perhaps the most extraordinary. It serves as a nose, hand, extra foot, signaling device and tool for gathering food, siphoning water, dusting, and digging. The tusks are another notable feature of both males and females. Elephants are right or left-tusked, using the favored tusk more often, thus shortening it from constant wear. Tusks differ in size, shape and angle and researchers can use them to identify individuals.

Habitat
Elephants can live in nearly any habitat that has adequate quantities of food and water. Their ideal habitat consists of plentiful grass and browse.

Behavior
Elephants are gregarious and form small family groups consisting of an older matriarch and several generations of relatives. These family groups are often visited by mature males, who check for females in estrus. Several interrelated family groups may inhabit an area and know each other well. When they meet at watering holes and feeding places, they greet each other affectionately.
Smell is the most highly developed sense, but sound deep growling or rumbling noises is the principle means of communication. Some researchers think that each individual has its signature growl by which it can be distinguished. Sometimes elephants communicate with an ear-splitting blast when in danger or alarmed, causing others to form a protective circle around the younger members of the family group. Elephants make low-frequency calls, many of which, though loud, are too low for humans to hear. These sounds allow elephants to communicate with one another at distances of five or six miles.

Usually only one calf is born to a pregnant female. An orphaned calf will usually be adopted by one of the family's lactating females or suckled by various females. Elephants are very attentive mothers, and because most elephant behavior has to be learned, they keep their offspring with them for many years. Tusks erupt at 16 months but do not show externally until 30 months. The calf suckles with its mouth (the trunk is held over its head); when its tusks are 5 or 6 inches long, they begin to disturb the mother and she weans it. Once weaned usually at age 4 or 5, the calf still remains in the maternal group.

Diet
Elephants consume about 5% of their body weight and drink 30-50 gallons of water per day. Young elephants must learn how to draw water up their trunks and pour it into their mouths. They eat an extremely varied vegetarian diet including grass, leaves, twigs, bark, fruit and seed pods.

Did You Know?
The elephant is distinguished by its high level of intelligence, interesting behavior, methods of communication and complex social structure.
Elephants seem to be fascinated with the tusks and bones of dead elephants, fondling and examining them. The myth that they carry them to secret "elephant burial grounds," however, has no factual base.
Elephants are very social, frequently touching and caressing one another and entwining their trunks.
Elephants demonstrate concern for members of their families they take care of weak or injured members and appear to grieve over a dead companion.

Leopard

leopard
The African leopard varies in base color throughout Africa. Depending on the location and habitat, they can vary from reddish brown, through dark yellow to cream. African leopards are covered in black rosettes, usually without spots within them, the pattern of rosettes being unique to each individual. Male leopards are larger and heavier than females.
Dense bush in rocky surroundings and riverine forest are their favorite habitats, but leopards adapt to many places in both warm and cold climates. Their adaptability, in fact, has helped them survive the loss of habitat to increasing human settlement. Leopards are primarily nocturnal, usually resting during the daytime in trees or thick bush. The spotted coat provides almost perfect camouflage.
Leopards have a very varied diet which includes insects, rodents, reptiles, and even large mammals, and will occasionally take domestic livestock when other food is scarce. They are very strong and they have been known to carry prey many times their own weight (such as Blue Wildebeest) up into trees to protect the carcass from scavengers. They are nocturnal and usually don’t hunt until dusk. However, they are opportunists and will hunt in the daylight when necessary.

Leopards are very stealthy and like to stalk close and run a relatively short distance after their prey. They kill through suffocation by grabbing their prey by the throat and biting down with their powerful jaws. They rarely fight other predators for their food because the risk of injury, which could prove fatal if it prevented hunting. Leopards can get some of their water from prey, but need to drink to survive.

Lion

lion
Nearly all wild lions live in sub-Saharan Africa, but one small population of Asian lions exists in India's Gir Forest. Asian lions and African lions are subspecies of the same species.

Asian lions once prowled from the Middle East to India. Now, only 200 to 260 of these magnificent animals survive in the wild. The Gir Forest's dry teak woods were once a royal hunting ground. Today they are a reserve where the endangered Asian lions are heavily protected. An additional 200 Asian lions live in zoos.
Lions are the only cats that live in groups, called prides. Prides are family units that may include up to three males, a dozen or so females, and their young. All of a pride's lionesses are related and female cubs typically stay with the group as they age. Young males eventually leave and may establish their own prides by taking over a group headed by another male.

Only male lions boast manes, the impressive fringe of long hair that encircles their heads. Males defend the pride's territory. They mark the area with urine, roar menacingly to warn intruders, and chase off animals that encroach on their turf.

Female lions are the pride's primary hunters. They often work together to prey upon large mammals.

After the hunt, the group effort often degenerates to squabbling over the sharing of the kill, with cubs at the bottom of the pecking order. Young lions do not help the pride hunt until they are about a year old. Lions will hunt alone if the opportunity presents itself, and they also steal kills from hyenas or wild dogs.

Panda

Panda
Looked upon as the ambassador for all endangered species, the giant panda is a well-recognized symbol of international wildlife conservation. Giant pandas have black fur on their ears, around their eyes (eye patches), muzzle, legs and shoulders. Good tree climbers, pandas can also swim to escape predators. Pandas use an enlarged wrist bone that looks like a thumb to grasp objects like bamboo.

panda eats Staples Bamboo,Also known to eat flowers, vines, tufted grasses, green corn, honey and rodents.

The Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca, literally meaning "cat-foot black-and-white") is a bear native to central-western and southwestern China.[2] The Giant Panda was previously thought to be a member of the Procyonidae (raccoon) family.[3] It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though belonging to the order Carnivora, the Giant Panda has a diet which is 99% bamboo. The Giant Panda may eat other foods such as honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, and bananas when available.
The giant panda, a black-and-white bear, has a body typical of bears. It has black fur on ears, eye patches, muzzle, legs, and shoulders. The rest of the animal's coat is white. Although scientists do not know why these unusual bears are black and white, some speculate that the bold coloring provides effective camouflage into their shade-dappled snowy and rocky surroundings. The panda's thick, wooly coat keeps it warm in the cool forests of its habitat. Giant pandas have large molar teeth and strong jaw muscles for crushing tough bamboo. Many people find these chunky, lumbering animals to be cute, but giant pandas can be as dangerous as any other bear.
Giant pandas live in broadleaf and coniferous forests with a dense understory of bamboo, at elevations between 5,000 and 10,000 feet. Torrential rains or dense mist throughout the year characterizes these forests, often shrouded in heavy clouds.

Wolf

wolf
Wolves (Canis Lupus), are related to dogs, or more rightly, dogs are actually related to wolves.

Wolves and dogs are quite similar in many ways, however, in most cases, wolves are larger animals. Wolves generally have longer legs than dogs. It is difficult to imagine, however, everything from a pug dog to a doberman comes from the wolf.

The Wolf has developed the capacity to survive in the most inhospitable of climates. The wolves in the high arctic endure several winter months of perpetual darkness. Even in February when sun returns to the north, temperatures of -40°C and bitter winds are common. Other wolves are at home in the desert and the dampness of a humid Gulf Coast swamp.
Wolf Characteristics
Wolves are very intelligent creatures whose upright ears, sharp teeth, pointed muzzles, inquiring eyes and other facial features instantly convey this quality.

The weight and size of a wolf can vary greatly worldwide. In general, height varies from 0.6 to .95 metres (26 - 38 inches) at the shoulder and weight ranges from 20 to 62 kilograms. The Grey Wolf is the largest of all wild canids. Extreme specimens of wolf weighing more than 77 kilograms (170 pounds) have been recorded in Alaska and Canada, although they are rarely encountered. The heaviest wild wolf on record, killed in Alaska in 1939, was 80 kilograms (175 pounds). The smallest wolves come from the Arabian Wolf subspecies, the females of which may weigh as little as 10 kilograms (22 pounds) at maturity. Females in any given wolf population typically weigh about 20% less than their male counterparts. Wolves can measure anywhere from 1.3 to 2 metres (4.5 - 6.5 feet) from nose to the tip of the tail, which itself accounts for approximately one quarter of overall body length.

Wolves bodies are built for stamina, possessing features ideal for long distance travel. Their narrow chests and powerful backs and legs assist their efficient locomotion. Wolves are capable of covering several miles trotting at about a pace of 10 kilometres per hour (6 miles per hour) and have been known to reach speeds approaching 65 kilometres per hour (40 miles per hour) during a chase. While sprinting, wolves can cover up to 5 metres (16 feet) per run.

Wolves feed primarily on medium to large sized ungulates, though they are opportunistic feeders, and will generally eat any meat that is available, including non-ungulate species, carrion and garbage. Cannibalism is not uncommon in wolves, and has been recorded to occur in times of food scarcity, when a pack member dies, and during territorial disputes. Some wolf packs in Alaska and Western Canada have been observed to feed on salmon. Humans are rarely, but occasionally preyed upon (see Attacks on humans). Wolves will typically avoid a potential prey item which does not conform to what they experienced during their lives. Generally, the greater the discrepancy to what wolves are accustomed to, the greater their resistance to exploring it. This is only increased should the new prey act bold, assertive, and fearless. Nevertheless, even if there is no food shortage, wolves will explore alternative prey if they continually come into close contact with it and habituate themselves.

Shark

shark
In some form, sharks have been around for about 400 million years.

Even before dinosaurs roamed the earth, sharks hunted through the oceans! They're such good survivors that they've had little need to evolve in the last 150 million years.
Sharks have the most powerful jaws on the planet. Unlike most animals' jaws, both the sharks' upper and lower jaws move.
A shark bites with it's lower jaw first and then its upper. It tosses its head back and forth to tear loose a piece of meat which it swallows whole.
Normally, sharks eat alone. But sometimes one feeding shark attracts others. They swim up as quickly as possible and all begin to try to get a piece of the prey. They bite wildly at anything that gets in their way -- even each other.

The great white shark rarely partakes in feeding frenzies.

some species
ANGEL SHARK
BASKING SHARK
BLACKTIP REEF SHARK
BLUE SHARK
BULL SHARK
COOKIECUTTER SHARK
GREAT WHITE SHARK
HAMMERHEAD SHARK
THRESHER SHARK
TIGER SHARK

Sloth

Sloth
The living sloths comprise six species of medium-sized mammals that live in Central and South America belonging to the families Megalonychidae and Bradypodidae, part of the order Pilosa. The sloth's taxonomic suborder is Folivora, while some call it Phyllophaga. Both names mean "leaf-eaters"; the first is derived from Latin, the second from ancient Greek. Tribal names include Ritto, Rit and Ridette, mostly forms of the word "sleep", "eat" and "dirty" from Tagaeri tribe of Huaorani.
All sloths are built for life in the treetops. They spend nearly all of their time aloft, hanging from branches with a powerful grip aided by their long claws. (Dead sloths have been known to retain their grip and remain suspended from a branch.) Sloths even sleep in trees, and they sleep a lot—some 15 to 20 hours every day. Even when awake they often remain motionless. At night they eat leaves, shoots, and fruit from the trees and get almost all of their water from juicy plants.
Sloths mate and give birth while hanging in the trees. Three-toed sloth babies are often seen clinging to their mothers—they travel by hanging on to them for the first nine months of their lives.

On land, sloths' weak hind legs provide no power and their long claws are a hindrance. They must dig into the earth with their front claws and use their strong front legs to pull themselves along, dragging their bellies across the ground. If caught on land, these animals have no chance to evade predators, such as big cats, and must try to defend themselves by clawing and biting.

Though they couldn't be clumsier on land, sloths are surprisingly good swimmers. They sometimes fall directly from rain forest trees into rivers and stroke efficiently with their long arms.

The three-toed sloth emits a long, high-pitched call that echoes through the forests as "ahh-eeee." Because of this cry these sloths are sometimes called ais (pronounced "eyes").

Three-toed sloths also have an advantage that few other mammals possess: They have extra neck vertebrae that allows them to turn their heads some 270 degrees.

Deer

deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae . A number of broadly similar animals from related families within the order Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates) are often also called deer. Male deer of all species (except the Chinese water deer) grow and shed new antlers each year – in this they differ from permanently horned animals such as antelope – these are in the same order as deer and may bear a superficial resemblance. The Musk deer of Asia and Water Chevrotain (or Mouse Deer) of tropical African and Asian forests are not true deer and form their own families, Moschidae and Tragulidae, respectively. All other animals in Africa resembling deer are antelope.
Deer usually inhabit a relatively small home range, until harsh weather conditions force them to temporarily move elsewhere. Thus, deer in northern states have larger home ranges, since the winters are often long and brutal. Some northern deer travel 50 miles or more to suitable winter ranger. Weather is not the only factor that impacts on a herd's home range. For example, most whitetails in Colorado or Kansas have larger home ranges than deer in Virginia or Alabama. Out West, the habitat is more sprawling and open and the doe densities are not as high as in the Southeastern states. Thus, western deer are forced to move longer distances to feed, bed and breed.

The lifespan of a whitetail is 11 to 12 years (17 to 20 years in captivity). But most free-roaming deer never live that long; they are hit by cars, succumb to disease, killed by predators or shot by hunters. In heavily hunted areas, many bucks live only 1½ or 2 ½ years. Deer grow to about 6 feet long and stand 3 to 4 feet high. They are reddish or grayish in color, depending on their habitat and the time of year. The weight of whitetails varies, from 100 to more than 300 pounds.

Baboon

baboon
Baboons are African Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. There are five species, which are some of the largest non-hominid members of the primate order; only the Mandrill and the Drill are larger. Previously, the closely related Gelada (genus Theropithecus) and two species of Mandrill and Drill (genus Mandrillus) were grouped in the same genus, and these Old World monkeys are still often referred to as baboons in everyday speech. They range in size and weight depending on species. The Guinea Baboon is 50 cm (20 inches) and weighs only 14 kg (30 lb) while the largest Chacma Baboon can be 120 cm (47 inches) and weigh 40 kg (90 lb). A group of baboons is collectively called a troop.
Baboons generally prefer savanna and other semi-arid habitats, though a few live in tropical forests.
Like other Old World monkeys, baboons do not have prehensile (gripping) tails. But they can and do climb trees to sleep, eat, or look out for trouble. They spend much of their time on the ground.

Baboons are opportunistic eaters and, fond of crops, become destructive pests to many African farmers. They eat fruits, grasses, seeds, bark, and roots, but also have a taste for meat. They eat birds, rodents, and even the young of larger mammals, such as antelopes and sheep.

Octopus

Octopus
Octopuses (or octopi) are truly fascinating creatures and come in many sizes, from over 30 feet long to only 4 inches in size, but they all have eight tentacles (the word octopus means "eight feet"). Octopuses are in the same family as squid, but no one knows exactly how many species of octopuses there are, though they number well over 100.

Octopuses are extremely talented creatures. They can change color and shape, and many can squeeze through a hole the size of a dime!

Octopuses are very smart and have excellent eyesight. They can learn to solve problems and remember things, such as how to open a glass jar.
Octopuses prefer to live alone.

They get around by squirting water out of their body, jet-propelling through the sea.

Octopuses are found in waters all over the earth. They like to hide in rocks and crevices and can squeeze into tiny holes, as they have no bones.

Octopuses have membranes between their arms that they use to catch crabs, shrimp, and snails. They snatch their prey with their beaks, inject poison into them, and then take them home to eat. The giant octopus can even kill sharks!

Octopuses can squirt black ink to cloud the water, keeping predators from finding them as they escape. This ink is toxic, even to the octopus.

With over 200 known species we cannot list them all here, but here are the most commonly known:
COMMON ATLANTIC OCTOPUS
GIANT PACIFIC OCTOPUS
PACIFIC RED OCTOPUS
BLUE RINGED OCTOPUS
DAY OR REEF OCTOPUS
REEF OCTOPUS
CARIBBEAN ARMSTRIPE OR BROWNSTRIPE OCTOPUS
ATLANTIC LONGARM OCTOPUS

Blue Whale

Blue Whale
The blue whale is the largest mammal ever to inhabit the Earth.
Estimated between 1,300 to 2,000, the population of blue whales is dangerously low.
Blue Whales are difficult to weigh because of their size. Most Blue Whales killed by whalers were not weighed whole, but cut up into manageable pieces first. This caused an underestimate of the total weight of the whale, due to the loss of blood and other fluids. Nevertheless, measurements between 150 and 170 tonnes (160 and 190 short tons) were recorded of animals up to 27 m (88 ft 6 inches) in length. The weight of a 30 m (98 ft) individual is believed by the American National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) to be in excess of 180 tonnes (200 short tons). The largest Blue Whale accurately weighed by NMML scientists to date was a female that weighed 177 tonnes (196 short tons).
The Blue Whale is the largest animal ever to have lived. The largest known dinosaur of the Mesozoic Era was the Argentinosaurus, which is estimated to have weighed up to 90 tonnes (100 short tons), though a controversial vertebra of Amphicoelias fragillimus may indicate an animal of up to 122 tonnes (135 short tons) and 40–60 meters (130–200 ft).Furthermore, there are weight estimates for the very poorly known Bruhathkayosaurus ranging from 140 up to 220 tonnes, besides length estimates up to about 45 meters. The extinct fish Leedsichthys may have approached its size.However, complete fossils are difficult to come by, making size comparisons difficult. All these animals are considered to be smaller than the blue whale.
The lifespan of a blue whale is estimated to be 80 years.
Blue whales may also make sounds to communicate with other whales and to find a mate.Imagine what it would be like to be the biggest animal in the world swimming alone through the cold ocean waters.