500 years ago there were 10 million elephants in Africa. By 1979, there were about 1.3 million. By 1990, only 610,000 remained, and the number was falling fast.
Protista and Monera together account for about 5% of all species, the fungal and plant kingdoms for another 22%, and animals for the remaining 73%.
By far the greatest majority of known species are insects.
A blue whale is the world's largest mammal. Its heart weighs half a ton, and a child could crawl through the major artery leaving it. It has some 2,000 gallons of blood - enough, if it were gasoline, to drive a small car around the world twice. The blue whale's brain can weigh as much as a dozen pounds, four times as much as an adult human being!
Groups of birds are named as following:
- A parliament of owls
- An ostentation of peacocks
- An unkindness of ravens
- A covey of quail
- A gaggle of geese
- A fall of woodcock
- A pitying of turtle doves
- A cast of hawks
The largest land mammal that ever lived was the hornless rhino, Indricotherium, which was 26 feet long and 17 feet tall at the shoulder. It weighed approximately 30 tons. Indricotherium became extinct in eastern Asia during the Oligocene, 38 to 26 million years ago.
In ancient Egypt when a cat died, it was taken to the city of Bubastis and embalmed, after which it was buried in a sacred repository. Huge collections of these mummies were removed by excavators at the beginning of the 20th century.
During the Ice Age dwarf elephants lived on many Mediterranean islands, and in Asia on Java and Sulawesi. These little elephants stood less than three feet tall at the shoulder. At the same time dwarf mammoths lived on certain islands off the California coast.
A side branch of the biting cats gave rise to modern cats which appeared at the beginning of the Pliocene. These early, true felines were the size of a domestic tabby. By the Pleistocene they had reached all parts of the world except Australia.
The cat was one of the most sacred of all animals to the ancient Egyptians and were mummified in enormous numbers. It was absolutely forbidden to kill a cat and, if one died of natural causes in a house, all the members of the household shaved their eyebrows.
Rhinos first appeared about 50 million years ago in Europe and North America. These early rhinos were small, not unlike the first horses, hornless and slender in build. They appeared later in Asia and Africa and lived in Europe until the end of the Ice Age.
Rhinos were very successful in North America and there are many known fossil forms. For reasons unknown, they disappeared from the North American continent during the Pliocene about four million years ago.
Modern elephants first appeared in Africa during the late Miocene, about 10 million years ago. One branch led to the modern African elephant and the other to the Asian elephant, which once lived in Europe and across Asia as far as Japan.
There are 10 species of birds bred in the San Diego Zoo that are part of re-introduction programs - young released back into their wild habitat. These species include kingfishers, condors, parrots, shrikes, storks, and lories; Tahitian, blue-crowned, and collared.
Tapirs are among the most primitive large mammals in the world. Their scattered relict distribution in Central and South America and southeastern Asia is often cited for the existence of the supercontinent of Gondwanaland.
Common black market tiger products include bones, valued for medicinal reasons, and pelts. The smuggling of tiger bones is increasing because they can be confused with other species' skeletal remains for which trade is not prohibited by wildlife laws.
Since the early 1800s, about 60 species of mammal have become extinct; 18 of these species were native to Australia.
Many animal species have become extinct since the 1700s, among them the California grizzly bear, the dodo, and the passenger pigeon.
Paleontologists estimate that up to 98% of all species that ever lived are now extinct.
Jaguars used to live in deserts and jungles, but today are found mostly in jungles because those living in open areas are more easily killed. The jaguar is the largest cat in North and South America. Most jaguars are gold with black markings, but some have black fur.
The jaguar is a member of the big cat family, and is related to the lion, tiger, and leopard. Scientists classify cats by their voice boxes. All members of the big cat family can roar, but other cats can't. A jaguar's roar sounds like a loud cough. The house cat, the lynx, and the mountain lion make purring sounds instead of roaring.
Jaguars are often confused with leopards. However, jaguars are found in South America, while leopards live in Africa and Asia. Leopards are smaller and have narrow heads and bodies. Their markings are clumps of black spots, while a jaguar's are rings with dots in the center.
European settlers mistakenly call the bison a buffalo. Bison and buffalo are very different animals. Bison have smaller horns and larger shoulders. They are found in Europe and North America, whereas buffalo are found in Africa, Australia, and Asia.
Bison belong to the ox family because they have hoofs, horns, and chew their cud.
A camel with two humps is called a Bactrian camel. A camel with one hump is called a dromedary. Bactrians are darker, shorter, stockier, and shaggier than dromedaries. About 4000 years ago, Bactrian camels were discovered and domesticated. As a result, few are left in the wild. Bactrian camels are descendants of the camel family that appeared in North America 40-45 million years ago. 2-3 million years ago, the different types of camels left North America for unknown reasons. The ones that moved to South America evolved into llamas, and the ones that moved to Asia became the one-humped and two-humped camels. Their woolly hides protect them from heat and slow down sweating, which conserves moisture.
Though the cheetah is a member of the cat family, it cannot retract, or pull in, its claws. Its long legs also prevent it from climbing trees.
The black-spotted, gold-colored coats help the cheetah camouflage against the grasses and plants of the grasslands.
Chimps have similar body organs to those of human beings and can suffer from the same diseases. This is why they are often used to test new machines or medicines.
Cougars are the second-largest member of the cat family in North America (the jaguar is the largest).
The eastern cougar may be extinct in Canada.
The cougar is also known by some other names: puma, mountain lion, and panther.
Cougar fur is soft and short, but those that live in northern regions have longer fur.
Crocodiles first appeared during the dinosaur age, some 65 million years ago. They are believed to have belonged to a family called the archosaurs.
All dolphins have teeth and belong to the family of toothed whales. The smallest dolphin species is the Heaviside's dolphin, and the largest is the orca, or killer whale.
Dolphins and porpoises are often confused, and though they are related, they look very different. A porpoise is smaller than a dolphin and has a rounder snout. It doesn't have a beak and its teeth are spade-shaped. A dolphin has more pointed teeth in both jaws, a rounded forehead (called a melon), and possesses a beak-like snout.
The Laysan duck is one of the most endangered ducks in the world. It is sometimes called the Laysan teal.
People have been using Asian elephants for hundreds of years - to lift logs, pull heavy loads, and carry people. Almost all of these elephants were originally from the wild and then tamed.
People who use elephants for labor did not want their elephants to reproduce, because the mothers could not work while they were caring for their young. Instead, they catch wild elephants, and, in the process, lessen the natural populations.
Asian elephants are also known as Indian elephants, but their closest living relative is the African elephant. African elephants, however, have larger ears (some say in the shape of Africa), a straighter back, larger tusks, wrinkled skin, and a trunk with two fingers at its tip. An Asian elephant has smaller ears (some say in the shape of India), a rounded back, smaller tusks, smoother skin, and only one finger on its trunk.
The lowland gorilla is more common than the mountain gorilla, even though both are threatened by human activities.
The efforts of one wildlife researcher named Dian Fossey has given us the majority of the information we know about these rare and beautiful creatures. She spent thirteen years living with the gorillas in the wild. She firmly believed that the mountain gorilla needed protection from the poachers who hunted them. It is believed that Fossey was murdered by an angry gorilla poacher. Today, her work is continued by the "Mountain Gorilla Project." This group offers tours to small groups of people who want to observe wild gorillas. Their money is used to support research, and some is given to local farmers. Wildlife conservationists hope that famers who receive income from gorilla organizations will advocate their protection. The Project has succeeded in increasing the number of gorillas by 100.
Fossils show this small wild horse was once found in North America but became extinct close to the end of the last ice age. Prezwalski's horse is the size of a pony and is the only horse to have a stiff, brushlike mane.
In humid, jungle areas, the ocelot's fur is orange. In the desert, its coat is gray.
The word "orangutan" means "man of the forest." Seeing one of these intelligent creatures, it is easy to see why native people gave them this name.
Sea otters belong to the weasel family. They are the only ones of the weasel family that rely on the sea for all of their food.
All kangaroos belong to the marsupial family, meaning they have hair, are warm-blooded, and produce milk like mammals. The long, thick tails of kangaroos help the animals balance.
The snow leopard is also known as an ounce.
The manatee might look like a seal or walrus, but this mammal is not related to either. It is a closer relative to the elephant! Seals, sea lions, and walruses eat fish, clams, and octopuses, but the manatee eats plants.
No other large mammal feeds solely on plants.
The mandrill is the most brightly colored mammal in the world, with sky blue, scarlet red, flaming orange, jet black, snow white, and bright pink markings. The male mandrill has very colorful skin on its face and bottom. Some scientists believe male mandrills use their colors to frighten other animals, while others say that the colors are used to attract females or help them identify one another. The mandrill is closely related to the drill.
The Hawaiian moorhen belongs to the common gallinule family, which lives among the marshy reeds of North America. The Hawaiian moorhen is today found only on the two Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Oahu. Native Hawaiians once said that the Hawaiian moorhen's beak is red because it brought people the gift of the sun.
Whales are the largest animals on earth, and even though they look like fish, they are actually warm-blooded mammals. Baleen whales are usually much larger than toothed whales. Scientists use photographs of each humpback whale's tail to identify individual animals. Each tail pattern is unique, just like human fingerprints.
Pandas do not breed well in zoos, which is another reason that these beautiful, exotic animals are so rare. Some people think the panda belongs to the raccoon family, but many scientists today think the panda is more bearlike.
There are 315 species of parrots, ranging in size from as small as a sparrow to about 3 feet (almost 1 meter) in length. They are known by other names: cockatoo, conure, cockatiel, and kakapo. The African gray parrot can mimic almost any sound, from "Polly want a cracker?" to the noise of a washing machine.
During the first year of their lives, brown pelicans are brown in color. But they turn grayish in their second year. By the time they are three years old, they take on adult colors.
Prairie dogs are not dogs at all, but belong to the squirrel family. They were named by American pioneers who thought their yelps sounded like the barks of dogs.
The pronghorn is a true North American species that has the features of both goat and antelope, but is neither of these animals. It is sometimes called a "pronghorn antelope," but it is a unique animal. The pronghorn is the only existing member of a family of animals once common in North America. All the other members of the particular family died out thousands of years ago, all except the pronghorn. Today, there is no other animal quite like it.
Rhino horns are made of a tissue similar to that found in horse hoofs and human fingernails. Black rhinos are often accompanied by little birds that eat the insects and parasites in the rhino's thick skin.
Rhinos horns are not made of bone but of many hairlike fibers, which are massed together on a bony patch on the rhino's forehead. Both males and females have horns that can measure up to 18 inches (46 cm). The animal has thick, dark gray skin that falls in distinct folds at the shoulder joints and flanks, which gives it the appearance of wearing armor. The Javan rhino, Rhinoceros sondaicus is its closest relative. The white rhino and the black rhino have two horns. The white rhino's front horn is about 24 inches in length, but it can reach more than 60 inches. The black rhino's front horn averages 20 inches.
The Steller sea lion is the largest of the eared seals, which is a family that includes sea lions and fur seals. Other seals are known as true seals. There are two ways to tell these two groups apart: 1.) Eared seals have small ears, whereas true seals have ear openings. 2) Eared seals can walk on four limbs and even run if necessary. True seals cannot walk on land, but rather "hump" or wriggle their bodies across rocks and beaches.
Sea lion breeding grounds are known as rookeries.
The Siberian tiger is the largest tiger on earth. It is also the largest of all the world's cats.
If you crouched down on all fours, you could hide under the empty shell of a giant tortoise!
Galapagos means "tortoises" in Spanish. The name was given to the islands because once thousands of these animals lived there.
The green sea turtle descends from an ancient family of reptiles that lived two hundred million years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Today, this turtle looks pretty much the same as it did ninety million years ago.