World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/squirrel): Squirrel — wildlife guide.

## Diet, breeding and lifespan
Squirrels are largely plant eaters, favouring seeds, nuts, fruit, buds and fungi, and supplementing this with insects, eggs and occasionally small animals; like other rodents they cannot digest cellulose, so leaves are a poor food source. Gestation is short, typically three to six weeks, and litters of helpless, hairless young, usually called kits or kittens, are born in a nest. The young are weaned over several weeks and most reach breeding age within their first year. In the wild squirrels commonly live five to ten years, while protected captive animals can reach 10 to 20 years.

## Conservation across the family
Because Sciuridae is so large, conservation status varies widely from species to species. The majority of squirrels, including familiar tree squirrels like the eastern gray squirrel, are assessed as Least Concern and remain common; the eastern gray squirrel is even considered invasive in parts of Europe. The risk is concentrated in species with small or isolated ranges. The Hon Khoai squirrel, endemic to a tiny island group off southern Vietnam, and the Namdapha flying squirrel, known from a single specimen in northeast India, are both Critically Endangered. Deforestation, habitat fragmentation, hunting and introduced competitors are the principal threats to vulnerable members of the family.

## WARN work
This guide is educational reference content, part of the World Animal Rescue Network's wider mission to build global awareness of wildlife and the habitats they depend on. Squirrels as a worldwide family fall outside WARN's current funded field programmes, which at this launch stage focus on partner-network countries: its partner-network countries. We do not run or fund squirrel-specific projects, and we do not claim to. What this page can honestly do is help people understand the family, explain why forest-dependent and island species are at risk, and point readers toward the nearest relevant WARN work: protecting the forest and woodland habitats that squirrels and countless other animals share.

## Donation hook
Squirrels are a worldwide family, and WARN does not fund squirrel-specific projects. But the forests and woodlands many species depend on are exactly the habitats our broader work aims to protect. Supporting WARN's habitat protection helps safeguard the wild places that wildlife everywhere relies on.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/squirrel): Squirrel — wildlife guide.

## How many species of squirrel are there?
There are roughly 280 to 285 living squirrel species in the family Sciuridae, organised into about 58 genera and five subfamilies, including tree squirrels, ground squirrels and flying squirrels.

## What is a baby squirrel called?
Baby squirrels are usually called kits or kittens. They are born hairless and helpless, and depend on their mother in the nest for several weeks before they are weaned.

## What is a group of squirrels called?
A group of squirrels is called a scurry, and the nest a tree squirrel builds is called a drey. Most squirrels are not highly social, though many ground squirrels live in colonies.

## What do squirrels eat?
Squirrels mainly eat seeds, nuts, fruit, buds and fungi, and will also take insects, eggs and occasionally small vertebrates. They cannot digest cellulose, so leaves provide little nutrition.

## Can flying squirrels actually fly?
No. Flying squirrels glide rather than fly. They stretch a membrane of skin called the patagium between their front and back limbs and use it like a parachute to coast from tree to tree.

## Where do squirrels live?
Squirrels live in Worldwide. A squirrel is a small-to-medium rodent in the family Sciuridae, a group of more than 280 species worldwide that includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels and gliding flying squirrels; most are common and Least Concern, though some island species are endangered.

## Are squirrels dangerous?
Squirrels are not generally dangerous to people. A squirrel is a small-to-medium rodent in the family Sciuridae, a group of more than 280 species worldwide that includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels and gliding flying squirrels; most are common and Least Concern, though some island species are endangered. Give wild individuals space and do not corner or handle them.

## How long do squirrels live?
Squirrels typically live 5–10 years in the wild; up to 10–20 years in captivity. A squirrel is a small-to-medium rodent in the family Sciuridae, a group of more than 280 species worldwide that includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels and gliding flying squirrels; most are common and Least Concern, though some island species are endangered. Wild and captive figures can differ; use the sources listed on the guide for the underlying studies.

## How big is a squirrel?
A Squirrel is about 5–10 years in the wild; up to 10–20 years in captivity. A squirrel is a small-to-medium rodent in the family Sciuridae, a group of more than 280 species worldwide that includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels and gliding flying squirrels; most are common and Least Concern, though some island species are endangered.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/octopus): Octopus — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
An octopus is a soft-bodied, eight-armed marine mollusc in the order Octopoda (about 300 species) that is highly intelligent and has three hearts and blue, copper-based blood.

## Introduction
The octopus is a soft-bodied, eight-armed mollusc belonging to the order Octopoda, which includes roughly 300 known species found in oceans worldwide. From the tiny Octopus wolfi, smaller than a coin, to the giant Pacific octopus with an arm span approaching five metres, octopuses are renowned for their problem-solving intelligence, rapid colour-changing camouflage, and unusual biology: three hearts and copper-based blue blood. Most live short lives of one to a few years, with females famously guarding their eggs until they hatch and then dying. Although many octopus species are abundant, growing commercial fishing pressure and controversial proposals to farm octopuses have raised both conservation and animal-welfare concerns.

## Takeaway
Octopuses make up the order Octopoda, with roughly 300 described species in oceans across the globe.

## Takeaway
They have three hearts and blue blood, which carries oxygen using the copper-rich protein haemocyanin instead of iron-based haemoglobin.

## Takeaway
Octopuses are among the most intelligent invertebrates, capable of problem-solving, tool use, and both short- and long-term memory.

## Takeaway
Specialised skin cells let them change colour and texture in seconds for camouflage and communication.

## Takeaway
Most octopuses are short-lived; females typically guard a single clutch of eggs and die soon after the young hatch.

## Takeaway
Many species are currently abundant, but rising fishing pressure and proposed octopus farming raise conservation and welfare concerns.

## What is an octopus?
An octopus is a cephalopod mollusc in the order Octopoda, a group of around 300 species related to squid, cuttlefish, and nautiluses. The body has a rounded mantle housing the organs and eight muscular arms lined with sensitive, gripping suckers. Unlike squid, octopuses have no internal shell or rigid skeleton, so apart from a hard, parrot-like beak they are almost entirely soft, allowing them to squeeze through gaps barely wider than that beak. They live everywhere from shallow tide pools and coral reefs to the deep sea, and most are bottom-dwelling hunters that shelter in crevices and dens.

## Three hearts, blue blood, and remarkable camouflage
Octopuses have three hearts: two branchial hearts pump blood through the gills to pick up oxygen, while a single systemic heart circulates it around the body. Their blood is blue because it uses haemocyanin, a copper-based protein, to transport oxygen efficiently in cold, low-oxygen water. Their skin contains layers of specialised cells, including pigment-filled chromatophores, that let them shift colour, pattern, and even texture almost instantly to blend into their surroundings, startle predators, or signal to other octopuses.

## Intelligence and short, dramatic lives
Octopuses are widely regarded as the most intelligent invertebrates. They solve puzzles, open containers, navigate mazes, use coconut shells and rocks as shelter and tools, and show distinct individual behaviour. Much of their nervous system is distributed through their arms, which can sense and react semi-independently. Yet their lives are brief. After mating, a female lays and tirelessly tends her eggs, often forgoing food, and dies once they hatch as tiny planktonic young called paralarvae. Males also die shortly after mating, making most octopuses semelparous, reproducing only once.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/octopus): Octopus — wildlife guide.

## Conservation, fishing, and farming
The order Octopoda has not been assessed as a whole, and conservation status varies by species; widespread species such as the common octopus are listed as Least Concern, while many lesser-known and deep-sea species remain Data Deficient. Global octopus catches have run into hundreds of thousands of tonnes, and intensifying demand has driven proposals to farm octopuses commercially. Because octopuses are intelligent, largely solitary, carnivorous animals, intensive farming raises serious animal-welfare and sustainability questions, and protecting healthy ocean habitats remains central to their long-term future.

## WARN work
The World Animal Rescue Network does not currently fund octopus-specific projects. At its launch stage, WARN directs hands-on funding to wildlife and animal-welfare work in partner-network countries, and octopuses are a globally distributed marine group that falls outside that funded scope. This guide is published as educational and search-focused content that supports WARN's broader mission of raising awareness for animals and the habitats they depend on. Where readers want to help, the most honest connection is supporting protection of the wild habitats that ocean and coastal wildlife rely on, rather than any claim of direct octopus rescue work.

## Donation hook
Octopuses depend on healthy seas, reefs, and coastlines. While WARN does not run octopus-specific projects, supporting habitat protection helps safeguard the wild places that ocean and coastal wildlife need to thrive.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/octopus): Octopus — wildlife guide.

## How many species of octopus are there?
There are roughly 300 known species in the order Octopoda, ranging from the coin-sized Octopus wolfi to the giant Pacific octopus.

## Why does an octopus have three hearts and blue blood?
Two of its hearts pump blood through the gills to collect oxygen, and a third circulates it around the body. The blood is blue because it carries oxygen using haemocyanin, a copper-based protein that works well in cold, low-oxygen seawater.

## Are octopuses intelligent?
Yes. Octopuses are considered the most intelligent invertebrates, able to solve puzzles, open jars, use tools such as coconut shells, and remember solutions, with much of their processing distributed through their eight arms.

## How long do octopuses live?
Most octopuses are short-lived, typically surviving from about six months to four years depending on the species. Females usually die soon after their eggs hatch.

## What is the difference between an octopus and a squid?
An octopus has eight suckered arms, a soft body with no internal shell, and usually lives on the seafloor. A squid has eight arms plus two longer feeding tentacles, an internal stiff structure called a pen, fins, and generally lives in open water.

## What do octopus eat?
Octopus eat Carnivorous: crabs, shrimp, clams, snails, fish, and other cephalopods. An octopus is a soft-bodied, eight-armed marine mollusc in the order Octopoda (about 300 species) that is highly intelligent and has three hearts and blue, copper-based blood.

## Where do octopus live?
Octopus live in Global oceans. An octopus is a soft-bodied, eight-armed marine mollusc in the order Octopoda (about 300 species) that is highly intelligent and has three hearts and blue, copper-based blood.

## Are octopus dangerous?
Octopus are not generally dangerous to people. An octopus is a soft-bodied, eight-armed marine mollusc in the order Octopoda (about 300 species) that is highly intelligent and has three hearts and blue, copper-based blood. Give wild individuals space and do not corner or handle them.

## How big is an octopus?
An Octopus is about About 6 months to 4 years, varying by species. An octopus is a soft-bodied, eight-armed marine mollusc in the order Octopoda (about 300 species) that is highly intelligent and has three hearts and blue, copper-based blood.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/frog): Frog — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A frog is a tailless amphibian of the order Anura, a group of over 7,700 species worldwide that begins life as an aquatic tadpole and is widely used as a bioindicator of environmental health.

## Introduction
Frogs are tailless amphibians in the order Anura, a group of more than 7,700 living species spread across nearly every continent and habitat except Antarctica. They range from frogs smaller than a fingernail to giants weighing several kilograms, and almost all begin life as water-dwelling tadpoles before transforming into air-breathing adults. Their thin, permeable skin makes them exquisitely sensitive to pollution, disease, and a changing climate, which is why scientists treat frogs as bioindicators: living gauges of ecosystem health. That same sensitivity has placed amphibians at the center of one of the most severe wildlife declines on record, driven by habitat loss and the spread of chytrid fungus. This guide explains what frogs are, how they live, and why their fate matters far beyond the pond.

## Takeaway
Frogs form the order Anura, with more than 7,700 described species, making them by far the largest group of amphibians.

## Takeaway
Nearly all frogs hatch as tadpoles in water, then undergo metamorphosis into lunged, often land-going adults.

## Takeaway
Their permeable skin absorbs water, oxygen, and toxins, making frogs sensitive bioindicators of ecosystem health.

## Takeaway
Conservation status varies enormously by species, from Least Concern to Critically Endangered and recently extinct.

## Takeaway
Two of the biggest threats are habitat loss and chytridiomycosis, a fungal skin disease that has devastated populations worldwide.

## Takeaway
All toads are frogs: 'toad' usually refers to drier-skinned, warty species, especially the family Bufonidae, within Anura.

## What is a frog?
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura, a name meaning 'without a tail.' Adults are recognizable by their squat bodies, large eyes, and long, powerful hind legs built for jumping or swimming. The order is staggeringly diverse, with more than 7,700 species across roughly 59 families, from tiny rainforest frogs measuring under a centimeter to bulky species weighing more than 3 kilograms. Importantly, 'toad' is not a separate scientific category: all toads are frogs, with the word generally describing drier, warty, more terrestrial species, especially members of the family Bufonidae. Frogs live on every continent except Antarctica and occupy deserts, wetlands, forests, and high mountains alike.

## Life cycle and behavior
Most frogs reproduce by laying eggs in or near water. These hatch into tadpoles: fully aquatic larvae with tails and gills that typically graze on algae and plankton. Through metamorphosis, a tadpole grows legs, absorbs its tail, develops lungs, and emerges as an adult, which is usually carnivorous and feeds on insects and other small invertebrates. Reproductive strategies vary widely: some species carry eggs on their backs, brood young in vocal sacs, or skip the tadpole stage entirely with direct development. Male frogs are famous for their calls, produced by inflating vocal sacs to attract mates and defend territory, and many species are most active at night.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/frog): Frog — wildlife guide.

## Why frogs are bioindicators
A frog breathes and drinks partly through its skin, which is thin and highly permeable. This makes frogs unusually exposed to pollutants, pesticides, ultraviolet radiation, and pathogens in their environment. When frog populations crash or show deformities, it often signals broader problems in water quality or habitat, which is why ecologists describe amphibians as bioindicators or 'canaries in the coal mine.' Because frogs sit in the middle of food webs, eating vast numbers of insects and feeding birds, fish, and mammals in turn, their decline can ripple outward through entire ecosystems, affecting pest control and the species that depend on them.

## Conservation: a global decline
Amphibians are among the most threatened groups of animals on Earth. The most recent global assessments estimate that roughly two in five amphibian species are threatened with extinction, and more than 120 frog species are believed to have vanished since the 1980s. Two forces dominate: habitat destruction from agriculture, logging, and development, and chytridiomycosis, a disease caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium that attacks frog skin and has driven catastrophic die-offs across the Americas, Australia, and beyond. Climate change, pollution, invasive species, and the wildlife trade compound the pressure. Many species are now Critically Endangered, and conservation responds with habitat protection, disease research, captive-breeding programs, and reintroductions.

## WARN work
Frogs are a globally distributed group, and this guide is educational rather than a description of a funded field program. At its current launch stage, the World Animal Rescue Network directly funds hands-on work across its partner network, so we do not claim to run dedicated frog or amphibian projects worldwide. We publish this guide to raise awareness of the amphibian decline crisis and to support our broader mission of protecting wildlife and the habitats they share. The most honest connection between this page and our work is habitat: wetlands, forests, and clean freshwater that frogs depend on are the same ecosystems our habitat-protection efforts aim to safeguard.

## Donation hook
Frogs depend on healthy wetlands, forests, and clean freshwater, the very habitats our work aims to protect. While the World Animal Rescue Network does not yet fund dedicated frog projects, supporting our Habitat Protection appeal helps safeguard the ecosystems that countless species, amphibians included, rely on to survive.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/frog): Frog — wildlife guide.

## How many species of frogs are there?
There are more than 7,700 known species in the order Anura, spread across roughly 59 families. New frog species are still being described every year, so the total continues to rise.

## What is the difference between a frog and a toad?
Scientifically, all toads are frogs within the order Anura. 'Toad' is an informal term for species with drier, wartier skin and shorter legs that spend more time on land, especially members of the family Bufonidae. 'Frog' usually refers to smoother-skinned, more water-bound species.

## What is a baby frog called?
A baby frog is called a tadpole, sometimes also a polliwog. Tadpoles are aquatic, have tails and gills, and gradually transform into adult frogs through metamorphosis.

## What do frogs eat?
Adult frogs are generally carnivorous, eating insects, spiders, worms, and other small invertebrates. Some larger species also take small vertebrates. Tadpoles often feed on algae, plant matter, and plankton.

## Why are frogs important to the environment?
Frogs control insect populations, serve as prey for birds, fish, and mammals, and act as bioindicators. Because their permeable skin makes them sensitive to pollution and disease, declines in frog populations often signal wider problems in an ecosystem's health.

## Where do frogs live?
Frogs live in Worldwide. A frog is a tailless amphibian of the order Anura, a group of over 7,700 species worldwide that begins life as an aquatic tadpole and is widely used as a bioindicator of environmental health.

## Are frogs dangerous?
Frogs are not generally dangerous to people. A frog is a tailless amphibian of the order Anura, a group of over 7,700 species worldwide that begins life as an aquatic tadpole and is widely used as a bioindicator of environmental health. Give wild individuals space and do not corner or handle them.

## How long do frogs live?
Frogs typically live Commonly 4-15 years in the wild; some species exceed 20 years. A frog is a tailless amphibian of the order Anura, a group of over 7,700 species worldwide that begins life as an aquatic tadpole and is widely used as a bioindicator of environmental health. Wild and captive figures can differ; use the sources listed on the guide for the underlying studies.

## How big is a frog?
A Frog is about Commonly 4-15 years in the wild; some species exceed 20 years. A frog is a tailless amphibian of the order Anura, a group of over 7,700 species worldwide that begins life as an aquatic tadpole and is widely used as a bioindicator of environmental health.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/bat): Bat — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
Bats (order Chiroptera) are the only mammals capable of true flight, with around 1,400 species worldwide that mostly navigate by echolocation and provide vital pest control, pollination, and seed dispersal.

## Introduction
Bats make up the order Chiroptera, a remarkably diverse group of roughly 1,400 species found on every continent except Antarctica. They are the only mammals capable of true, sustained powered flight, and most navigate the dark using echolocation, sending out high-pitched calls and listening for the echoes that bounce back. Far from the villains of folklore, bats keep insect numbers in check, pollinate flowers, and scatter seeds that regrow forests. Yet many species are in trouble, squeezed by habitat loss, persecution, and the spread of white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that has devastated populations across North America.

## Takeaway
Bats are the only mammals that can truly fly, using wings formed from a thin membrane stretched over elongated finger bones.

## Takeaway
With around 1,400 species, bats account for roughly one in five of all mammal species on Earth.

## Takeaway
Most bats use echolocation, emitting calls and reading the returning echoes to hunt and navigate in darkness.

## Takeaway
Insect-eating bats can consume large quantities of pests each night, saving farmers significant crop losses.

## Takeaway
Fruit and nectar bats pollinate hundreds of plant species and disperse seeds that help regenerate forests.

## Takeaway
White-nose syndrome, habitat loss, and persecution have pushed many bat species toward decline or extinction.

## The only mammals that truly fly
Many animals glide, but bats are the only mammals that achieve genuine, flapping flight. Their wings are not feathered like a bird's; instead, a flexible skin membrane called the patagium stretches between greatly elongated finger bones, the body, and often the legs and tail. This design makes bats astonishingly agile, able to hover, turn sharply, and snatch insects mid-air. Body size spans a huge range, from tiny species weighing around two grams, among the smallest mammals alive, to large flying foxes with wingspans approaching 1.7 metres.

## Seeing with sound
Most bats hunt and move through the dark using echolocation. They produce rapid, high-frequency calls and interpret the echoes that bounce off surroundings, building a detailed sound picture of obstacles and prey. This sense is precise enough to detect an insect on the wing or a thin twig. Not all bats rely on it, however: many Old World fruit bats lean mainly on keen eyesight and a strong sense of smell to find ripe fruit and flowers.

## Nature's pest controllers and pollinators
Bats deliver ecosystem services worth billions to agriculture. Insect-eating species devour vast numbers of moths, beetles, and crop pests each night, reducing the need for pesticides. In tropical and desert regions, nectar-feeding bats pollinate plants including agave and many wild relatives of cultivated crops, while fruit bats disperse seeds across cleared land, jump-starting forest recovery. Plants pollinated or seeded by bats include those linked to bananas, mangoes, and cacao, the source of chocolate.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/bat): Bat — wildlife guide.

## Threats and conservation
Bat fortunes vary enormously by species, ranging from abundant and secure to critically endangered. A leading threat in North America is white-nose syndrome, a cold-loving fungus that rouses hibernating bats and burns their energy reserves; it has killed more than 90 percent of little brown, northern long-eared, and tri-colored bats in affected areas. Elsewhere, habitat destruction, wind-turbine collisions, disturbance of roosts, and killing driven by fear or myth all take a toll. Protecting caves, forests, and roost sites is central to keeping bat populations healthy.

## WARN work
Bats are a globally distributed group and fall outside the countries where the World Animal Rescue Network currently funds hands-on rescue work. WARN does not run or fund bat-specific projects, and this guide does not claim otherwise. At our launch stage, this page is educational content created to answer common questions accurately, support broader awareness of misunderstood wildlife, and strengthen the wider WARN mission. Where readers want to help, we point them toward the nearest relevant WARN focus: protecting the habitats that bats and countless other species depend on.

## Donation hook
Bats fall outside WARN's current rescue countries, so we cannot claim to fund work for them directly. If this guide sparked your interest, the most relevant way to help is to support WARN's habitat protection efforts, which safeguard the forests, caves, and wild spaces that bats and countless other species rely on.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/bat): Bat — wildlife guide.

## Are bats the only mammals that can fly?
Yes. Bats are the only mammals capable of true, sustained powered flight. Animals like flying squirrels only glide; they cannot flap to stay airborne the way bats do.

## How many species of bats are there?
There are roughly 1,400 known bat species, making up about one in five of all mammal species on Earth. New species are still being described by scientists.

## Do all bats use echolocation?
Most bats use echolocation to navigate and hunt in the dark, but not all. Many Old World fruit bats rely mainly on excellent eyesight and smell instead of sound.

## Are bats blind?
No, the phrase 'blind as a bat' is a myth. All bats can see, and fruit bats in particular have very good vision. Echolocating species simply add sound to their senses for hunting in darkness.

## What do bats eat?
Diet varies widely among roughly 1,400 bat species. Most eat insects; others take fruit, nectar or pollen, and a few eat fish, frogs or blood. Far from folklore villains, bats provide vital pest control, pollination and seed dispersal that regrows forests.

## Where do bats live?
Bats occur on every continent except Antarctica, in habitats from rainforest to desert and city streets. They roost in caves, tree hollows, buildings and foliage. Roughly one in five of all mammal species are bats — the only mammals capable of true, sustained powered flight.

## How long do bats live?
Lifespan varies by species but commonly runs 5–20 years, with up to roughly 41 years recorded in the wild according to this guide's quickFacts. That longevity is remarkable for small mammals and makes population recovery slow when white-nose syndrome or habitat loss hits a colony hard.

## How big is a bat?
Bats range from Kitti's hog-nosed bat at about 2 g and a 17 cm wingspan to large flying foxes weighing roughly 1.6 kg with wingspans near 1.7 m. Body length spans about 3–40 cm across the order Chiroptera.

## Are bats dangerous?
Bats are not generally dangerous to people. Bats (order Chiroptera) are the only mammals capable of true flight, with around 1,400 species worldwide that mostly navigate by echolocation and provide vital pest control, pollination, and seed dispersal. Give wild individuals space and do not corner or handle them.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/peacock): Peacock — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A peacock is the male of the peafowl, a large ground-dwelling pheasant whose shimmering, eyespotted tail train is fanned out to attract mates; the Indian peafowl is Least Concern, but the green peafowl is Endangered.

## Introduction
The peacock is one of the most recognizable birds on Earth, famous for the male's enormous, jewel-toned tail train studded with eyespots. Strictly speaking, "peacock" refers only to the male; females are peahens, and together they are called peafowl. The word covers three distinct species: the Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) of South Asia, the green peafowl (Pavo muticus) of Southeast Asia, and the Congo peafowl (Afropavo congensis) of Central Africa. The Indian peafowl is by far the most widespread and well known, kept and admired around the world, while its two cousins are far rarer and under real pressure in the wild. This guide focuses on the Indian peafowl while keeping the wider peafowl picture in view.

## Takeaway
"Peacock" is the male; the female is a peahen, and "peafowl" covers both. Babies are peachicks.

## Takeaway
There are three peafowl species: Indian, green, and Congo. The Indian peafowl is the famous blue bird most people picture.

## Takeaway
The male's spectacular train is not its actual tail. It is made of elongated upper-tail covert feathers raised over the true tail during display.

## Takeaway
Conservation status varies sharply: the Indian peafowl is Least Concern, the green peafowl is Endangered, and the Congo peafowl is Near Threatened.

## Takeaway
Indian peafowl are native to South Asia and are the national bird of India, where they are culturally protected.

## Takeaway
They are omnivores, eating seeds, grains, berries, insects, and small reptiles, and roost in trees at night to avoid predators.

## What is a peacock, and what makes the train so famous?
A peacock is the male of the peafowl, a large member of the pheasant family. Its signature feature is the train: a fan of up to roughly 200 elongated covert feathers, each tipped with a colorful eyespot, or ocellus. These feathers are not the bird's true tail; the actual tail feathers sit beneath and prop the train upright during display. When courting, a male raises and quivers the train into a vast iridescent fan, the colors shifting with the angle of light because of microscopic structures in the feathers rather than pigment alone. Peahens are smaller and camouflaged in mottled brown, which helps them stay hidden while nesting on the ground. The train grows back each year after the breeding season and reaches full size when a male is several years old.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/peacock): Peacock — wildlife guide.

## Where peafowl live and what they eat
The Indian peafowl is native to South Asia, ranging across India, Sri Lanka, and neighboring areas, in forests, farmland edges, and scrub where open ground meets cover. It has also been introduced to parks and estates in many other countries. Green peafowl live in Southeast Asia, and the Congo peafowl is restricted to rainforests in Central Africa. Peafowl are omnivorous ground foragers, feeding on seeds, grains, fruits, flower parts, insects, worms, and small reptiles or amphibians; near villages they will also raid cultivated crops. They feed mostly at dawn and dusk and fly up into trees to roost at night, which protects them from ground predators.

## Breeding, peachicks, and behavior
During the breeding season males display to groups of peahens, and a female chooses a mate partly based on the quality of his train and display. The peahen alone builds a simple ground nest and lays a clutch of about 4 to 8 eggs, incubating them for roughly 28 days. The downy chicks, called peachicks, can walk and feed soon after hatching and follow their mother closely. Peafowl are loud, with a far-carrying call often heard before rain or at dawn. Although they spend most of their time on the ground, they are strong short-distance fliers, bursting upward to escape danger or reach a roost.

## Conservation: a tale of three species
Peafowl conservation cannot be summed up by a single label, because the three species face very different futures. The Indian peafowl is widespread and assessed as Least Concern, with a large and stable population, helped by cultural reverence and legal protection in India. The green peafowl, by contrast, has been listed as Endangered since 2009, with its population fragmented and declining due to hunting, egg collection, and habitat loss across Southeast Asia. The Congo peafowl is Near Threatened, with a relatively small population in the Congo Basin threatened by deforestation and bushmeat hunting. So while the peacock you are most likely to see is doing well, two of its relatives need active protection.

## WARN work
WARN does not currently fund field projects for peafowl. As a launch-stage network, our funded conservation work is concentrated in a network of partner countries, and the peacock falls outside that scope. We publish this guide as educational and search-optimized content that supports our broader mission of building global awareness of wildlife and the habitats animals depend on. We will not overstate our role: where peafowl populations such as the green peafowl are genuinely threatened, the most honest thing we can do today is help people understand the species accurately and direct support toward the habitat-protection work that underpins healthy ecosystems everywhere.

## Donation hook
Love the peacock's dazzling display? The wild places that birds like peafowl depend on are shrinking. While WARN does not yet fund peafowl projects directly, your gift to Support Habitat Protection helps safeguard the forests and ecosystems that wildlife everywhere needs to thrive.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/peacock): Peacock — wildlife guide.

## What is the difference between a peacock and a peahen?
A peacock is the male, with the large iridescent train and bright blue neck. A peahen is the female, which is smaller and mottled brown for camouflage and lacks the showy train. Together they are called peafowl.

## Are peacocks endangered?
It depends on the species. The Indian peafowl is Least Concern and common. The green peafowl is Endangered, and the Congo peafowl is Near Threatened, so two of the three peafowl species are of conservation concern.

## What is a baby peacock called?
A baby peafowl is called a peachick. Peachicks hatch covered in down and can walk and feed themselves within hours, following the peahen closely.

## What is a group of peacocks called?
A group of peafowl is most often called an ostentation or a muster, and sometimes a party or a pride. "Ostentation" is a fitting name given the male's flamboyant display.

## What do peacocks eat?
Peafowl are omnivores. They eat seeds, grains, fruits, berries, and flower parts along with insects, worms, and small reptiles or amphibians, and they will sometimes feed on cultivated crops near farmland.

## Where do peacocks live?
Peacocks live in South Asia. A peacock is the male of the peafowl, a large ground-dwelling pheasant whose shimmering, eyespotted tail train is fanned out to attract mates; the Indian peafowl is Least Concern, but the green peafowl is Endangered.

## Are peacocks dangerous?
Peacocks are not generally dangerous to people. A peacock is the male of the peafowl, a large ground-dwelling pheasant whose shimmering, eyespotted tail train is fanned out to attract mates; the Indian peafowl is Least Concern, but the green peafowl is Endangered. Give wild individuals space and do not corner or handle them.

## How long do peacocks live?
Peacocks typically live Up to ~25 years in the wild; around 16-23 years in captivity. A peacock is the male of the peafowl, a large ground-dwelling pheasant whose shimmering, eyespotted tail train is fanned out to attract mates; the Indian peafowl is Least Concern, but the green peafowl is Endangered. Wild and captive figures can differ; use the sources listed on the guide for the underlying studies.

## How big is a peacock?
A Peacock is about Up to ~25 years in the wild; around 16-23 years in captivity. A peacock is the male of the peafowl, a large ground-dwelling pheasant whose shimmering, eyespotted tail train is fanned out to attract mates; the Indian peafowl is Least Concern, but the green peafowl is Endangered.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/flamingo): Flamingo — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
Flamingos are a family (Phoenicopteridae) of six species of tall, filter-feeding wading birds whose pink colour comes from carotenoid pigments in the algae and small crustaceans they eat in saline and alkaline lakes.

## Introduction
Flamingos are tall, long-legged wading birds famous for their rosy-pink plumage and their habit of standing on one leg. The family Phoenicopteridae contains six living species spread across the Americas, Africa, southern Europe and Asia, from the Caribbean and the high Andes to the alkaline lakes of East Africa. They are specialised filter feeders, sweeping their downturned bills through shallow water to strain out algae, tiny crustaceans and other minute organisms. The carotenoid pigments in this diet are what turn their feathers pink. Several species are doing well, while others face shrinking habitat and are listed as Near Threatened or Vulnerable.

## Takeaway
Flamingos form one bird family, Phoenicopteridae, with six living species across three genera.

## Takeaway
Their iconic pink colour is not innate: it comes from carotenoid pigments in the algae and small crustaceans they eat.

## Takeaway
They are filter feeders, holding the bill upside down and using comb-like lamellae to strain food from water and mud.

## Takeaway
They specialise in harsh saline, alkaline and high-altitude lakes where few other birds can compete.

## Takeaway
Conservation status varies by species, from Least Concern (greater and American flamingos) to Vulnerable (Andean flamingo).

## Takeaway
Both parents incubate a single egg and feed the grey chick a protein-rich 'crop milk' produced in their digestive tract.

## Why are flamingos pink?
Flamingo chicks hatch grey, and adults would stay a dull whitish colour without the right diet. The pink to reddish hues come from carotenoid pigments, the same family of compounds that make carrots orange and tomatoes red. Flamingos take in these pigments by eating algae and pigment-rich invertebrates such as brine shrimp, then deposit the carotenoids in their feathers, skin and bill. Because colour reflects how much pigment a bird is getting, brighter plumage is a signal of good nutrition and health, and it plays a role in courtship. Captive flamingos that are not fed carotenoid-rich food gradually fade toward pale pink or white.

## Filter feeding and saline-lake life
Flamingos are among the few birds built to thrive in shallow saline, brackish and highly alkaline lakes. They feed with the head lowered and the bill held upside down in the water, pumping water in and out with the tongue. Fine comb-like plates called lamellae line the bill and trap algae, diatoms, tiny crustaceans, seeds and aquatic invertebrates while letting water and mud pass through. This specialised feeding lets large flocks exploit lakes that are too salty or caustic for most predators and competitors, which is one reason flamingos often gather in enormous numbers at just a handful of key sites.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/flamingo): Flamingo — wildlife guide.

## The six species and where they live
The greater flamingo, the largest and most widespread, ranges across Africa, southern Europe and Asia, while the American (Caribbean) flamingo is the brightest and lives around the Caribbean and Galapagos. The Chilean flamingo occupies temperate South America. Three high-altitude specialists, the lesser flamingo of Africa and South Asia plus the Andean and James's (puna) flamingos of the South American altiplano, breed on remote salt lakes. The lesser flamingo is the most numerous overall yet depends on very few breeding lakes, which leaves it sensitive to disturbance and habitat change.

## Breeding and raising chicks
Flamingos are highly social and nest in dense colonies, sometimes tens of thousands of pairs strong. Each pair builds a cone-shaped mud nest and lays a single egg, which both parents take turns incubating for roughly 27 to 31 days. The newly hatched chick is grey with a straight bill that curves only as it grows. Both parents feed it a nutritious 'crop milk' secreted in the upper digestive tract; this red-tinted fluid is rich in fat and protein. Within weeks chicks gather into large groups called creches, watched by a few adults, while parents leave to feed.

## WARN work
The World Animal Rescue Network does not currently fund flamingo conservation. Flamingos are a globally distributed group, while WARN's funded field projects are focused on partner-network countries (its partner-network countries). We publish this guide as free educational and search-friendly content that supports WARN's broader mission of raising awareness for wildlife and the habitats they depend on. The wetlands and saline lakes flamingos rely on are exactly the kind of ecosystems WARN's habitat work aims to protect, and learning about flamingos helps build the global understanding that underpins all conservation.

## Donation hook
Flamingos depend on healthy wetlands and saline lakes, the same fragile habitats that wildlife everywhere rely on. WARN does not yet fund flamingo-specific projects, but your gift to our habitat protection appeal supports the broader work of safeguarding the wild places animals need to survive.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/flamingo): Flamingo — wildlife guide.

## How many species of flamingo are there?
There are six living species of flamingo in the family Phoenicopteridae: the greater, lesser, American (Caribbean), Chilean, Andean and James's (puna) flamingos.

## Why are flamingos pink?
Flamingos are pink because of carotenoid pigments in their food. They eat algae and small crustaceans such as brine shrimp that are rich in carotenoids, then deposit those pigments in their feathers, skin and bill. Without this diet their colour fades.

## What do flamingos eat and how do they feed?
Flamingos are filter feeders. They hold the bill upside down in shallow water and use comb-like plates called lamellae to strain out algae, diatoms, small crustaceans, seeds and aquatic invertebrates while letting water and mud pass through.

## What is a group of flamingos called?
A group of flamingos is most often called a flamboyance. They are also sometimes called a stand or a colony.

## How long do flamingos live?
In the wild flamingos typically live around 30 to 40 years. In captivity they can live much longer, with one famous greater flamingo reaching an age in its 80s.

## Are flamingos endangered?
Most flamingos are not endangered, but status varies by species. The greater and American flamingos are Least Concern, the Chilean, lesser and James's flamingos are Near Threatened, and the Andean flamingo is Vulnerable with a declining population.

## Where do flamingos live?
Flamingos live in shallow saline and alkaline lakes, coastal lagoons and estuaries across the Americas, Africa, southern Europe and Asia. Six living species in family Phoenicopteridae filter-feed on algae and tiny crustaceans in water often too salty or alkaline for many other birds. The greater flamingo — the tallest species at up to about 1.5 m standing height — numbers more than 550,000 worldwide. Habitat shrinkage threatens some species listed Near Threatened or Vulnerable.

## Are flamingos dangerous?
Flamingos are not dangerous to people. These tall filter-feeding waders are timid in the wild and rely on flocking in shallow water for safety. Their downturned bills strain algae, diatoms and brine shrimp — carotenoid pigments from this diet turn feathers pink. Standing height ranges from about 0.8 m to 1.5 m depending on species. Wild birds typically live 30–40 years. Andean flamingos are Vulnerable with a declining population.

## How big is a flamingo?
Flamingos stand roughly 0.8 to 1.5 m tall depending on species, with the greater flamingo the largest. They weigh about 2.5–3.5 kg and filter-feed in shallow saline or alkaline water using comb-like bill plates called lamellae. Six living species exist worldwide. Carotenoids from algae and brine shrimp colour their pink plumage. Wild lifespan is typically 30–40 years, with greater flamingos numbering more than 550,000 globally.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/hedgehog): Hedgehog — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A hedgehog is a small spiny insectivorous mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae; there are 17 species across Europe, Asia and Africa, and the widespread European hedgehog was listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2024 after sharp declines.

## Introduction
Hedgehogs are small, spine-covered mammals that have shuffled through gardens, hedgerows and woodlands for tens of millions of years. The group is not a single species but a subfamily, Erinaceinae, of 17 species spread across Europe, Asia and Africa. All share the same signature defence: a coat of thousands of stiff spines and the ability to curl into a near-impregnable ball. Despite that armour, hedgehogs face mounting pressure from people. The familiar European hedgehog, once considered common, was reclassified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2024 after steep declines linked to roads, pesticides, habitat loss and everyday garden hazards. This guide answers the most-searched questions about hedgehogs and explains why their numbers are falling.

## Takeaway
Hedgehogs are not one species but a group of 17, united by their spines and curl-up defence.

## Takeaway
They are insectivores at heart, eating beetles, earthworms, slugs, caterpillars and other invertebrates.

## Takeaway
Spines are modified hairs without barbs, so unlike a porcupine a hedgehog cannot shoot or shed them at will.

## Takeaway
The European hedgehog was moved to Near Threatened in 2024 after declines approaching or exceeding 30% in a decade.

## Takeaway
Roads, pesticides that wipe out prey, tidy fenced gardens and hazards like strimmers and netting are major killers.

## Takeaway
Simple garden help, such as hedgehog-sized gaps in fences and avoiding slug pellets, can make a real difference.

## What is a hedgehog?
A hedgehog is a small mammal belonging to the subfamily Erinaceinae, within the family Erinaceidae. Scientists recognise 17 species split across five genera: Erinaceus, Atelerix, Hemiechinus, Mesechinus and Paraechinus. They live naturally across Europe, Asia and Africa, and were introduced to New Zealand by people; none are native to the Americas or Australia. The most familiar is the European or West European hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus. Every species shares a coat of spines, modified hairs stiffened with keratin, and most can roll into a tight ball when threatened, presenting a predator with nothing but points. Adults are typically about 20 to 30 centimetres long and weigh from roughly 400 grams to over a kilogram depending on species and season.

## Diet, behaviour and life cycle
Hedgehogs are mainly nocturnal and largely solitary, coming together only to breed. They are classic insectivores, hoovering up beetles, earthworms, slugs, snails, caterpillars, millipedes and earwigs, and will opportunistically take eggs, carrion or small vertebrates. After a gestation of about 31 to 35 days, females give birth to a litter usually of four to six young, called hoglets, born blind with soft spines hidden beneath the skin that harden within hours. In cooler climates, hedgehogs hibernate through winter, dropping their body temperature and surviving on fat reserves. In the wild they typically live around three years, though some reach ten or more.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/hedgehog): Hedgehog — wildlife guide.

## Why hedgehogs are declining
For decades the European hedgehog was treated as a common backyard animal, but long-term monitoring revealed a worrying slide. In 2024 the IUCN reclassified it as Near Threatened, citing a decline approaching or exceeding 30 percent over ten years across much of its range, with populations in some countries, including the UK and Germany, falling by more than half. The drivers are overwhelmingly human. Roads kill huge numbers each year; pesticides and intensive farming strip away the insect prey they depend on; hedges and rough ground are cleared; and gardens have become hazardous, with strimmers, slug pellets, netting, ponds with steep sides and bonfires all taking a toll. Notably, rural declines have been steeper than urban ones, making wildlife-friendly gardens and connected green spaces increasingly important refuges.

## WARN work
Hedgehogs fall outside the countries where the World Animal Rescue Network currently funds frontline rescue work, and as a group spread across Europe, Asia and Africa they sit beyond our present funded footprint. We are honest about that: WARN does not run or fund hedgehog projects today. This guide is educational and search content, created to support our broader mission of raising global awareness about wildlife and the habitat loss, pesticide use and human pressures that threaten species worldwide. The most truthful way to help through WARN is to support the habitat protection and wildlife-welfare work we do fund, which addresses the same root causes hurting hedgehogs elsewhere.

## Donation hook
WARN does not currently fund hedgehog projects, but the threats they face, lost habitat and human pressure on wildlife, are exactly what our funded work targets. Support our habitat protection efforts to help wildlife where WARN works today.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/hedgehog): Hedgehog — wildlife guide.

## Are hedgehogs endangered?
Hedgehogs as a group are not all endangered, and status varies by species. However, the widespread European hedgehog was reclassified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2024 after declines approaching or exceeding 30 percent over ten years in parts of its range.

## How many species of hedgehog are there?
There are 17 recognised species of hedgehog, grouped into five genera within the subfamily Erinaceinae, found across Europe, Asia and Africa.

## What do hedgehogs eat?
Hedgehogs are insectivores. Their diet is mostly invertebrates such as beetles, earthworms, slugs, snails, caterpillars, millipedes and earwigs, and they occasionally eat eggs, carrion or small vertebrates.

## What is a baby hedgehog called?
A baby hedgehog is called a hoglet. Hoglets are born blind, with soft spines beneath the skin that harden within hours of birth.

## What is the difference between a hedgehog and a porcupine?
They are unrelated. Hedgehogs are small insectivores in the subfamily Erinaceinae with short, barb-free spines, while porcupines are larger rodents with long, barbed quills. Hedgehogs roll into a ball to defend themselves; porcupines cannot shoot quills but can detach them on contact.

## Where do hedgehogs live?
Hedgehogs live in Europe, Asia, Africa. A hedgehog is a small spiny insectivorous mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae; there are 17 species across Europe, Asia and Africa, and the widespread European hedgehog was listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2024 after sharp declines.

## Are hedgehogs dangerous?
Hedgehogs are not generally dangerous to people. A hedgehog is a small spiny insectivorous mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae; there are 17 species across Europe, Asia and Africa, and the widespread European hedgehog was listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2024 after sharp declines. Give wild individuals space and do not corner or handle them.

## How long do hedgehogs live?
Hedgehogs typically live ~3 years in the wild (up to 10+). A hedgehog is a small spiny insectivorous mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae; there are 17 species across Europe, Asia and Africa, and the widespread European hedgehog was listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2024 after sharp declines. Wild and captive figures can differ; use the sources listed on the guide for the underlying studies.

## How big is a hedgehog?
A Hedgehog is about ~3 years in the wild (up to 10+). A hedgehog is a small spiny insectivorous mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae; there are 17 species across Europe, Asia and Africa, and the widespread European hedgehog was listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2024 after sharp declines.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/gorilla): Gorilla — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A gorilla is the largest living primate, a ground-dwelling, mostly plant-eating great ape native to the forests of equatorial Africa. There are two Critically Endangered species — the Western and Eastern gorilla — and gorillas share roughly 98% of their DNA with humans.

## Introduction
Gorillas are the largest living primates and, after chimpanzees and bonobos, our closest animal relatives, sharing roughly 98% of our DNA. There are two species — the Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and the Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei) — and both are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. These powerful yet gentle, mostly plant-eating apes live in close-knit family groups led by a mature male called a silverback, deep in the rainforests and mountain forests of equatorial Africa. Poaching, habitat loss, disease and instability across their range have driven steep declines, though the mountain gorilla offers a rare glimmer of hope.

## Takeaway
There are two gorilla species — the Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and the Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei) — and both are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

## Takeaway
Gorillas are the largest living primates: a wild silverback male can weigh around 200 kg and stand about 1.7 m tall when upright.

## Takeaway
They share roughly 98% of their DNA with humans, making them among our closest living relatives after chimpanzees and bonobos.

## Takeaway
Gorillas live in stable family groups led by a dominant adult male, the silverback, and are mostly herbivorous, eating leaves, stems, shoots and fruit.

## Takeaway
Key threats are poaching, habitat loss, disease (including Ebola) and armed instability across their Central and East African range.

## Takeaway
The mountain gorilla, a subspecies of the Eastern gorilla, is a rare conservation success, with numbers rising above roughly 1,000 individuals.

## Why Are Gorillas Endangered?
Both gorilla species are Critically Endangered, and the reasons overlap. Poaching is a major pressure: gorillas are killed for bushmeat, caught in snares set for other animals, and infants are sometimes taken for the illegal trade. Habitat loss is equally serious — forests are cleared for agriculture, logging, mining and settlement, fragmenting the connected forest gorillas need. Disease is a distinctive threat for great apes: outbreaks of the Ebola virus have killed thousands of western lowland gorillas in parts of Central Africa, and because gorillas share so much of our biology, they are also vulnerable to human respiratory infections. Finally, much of the gorilla's range sits in regions affected by armed conflict and instability, which makes long-term protection and law enforcement extremely difficult. Gorillas reproduce slowly — females give birth roughly once every four years — so populations recover only gradually, and a single epidemic or surge in poaching can undo decades of gains. The combination of these pressures is why both species carry the Red List's highest threat category short of extinction in the wild.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/gorilla): Gorilla — wildlife guide.

## How Do Gorillas Live? Silverbacks and Family Life
Gorillas are deeply social, living in cohesive groups usually of around 5 to 30 members. Each group is led by a dominant mature male known as a silverback, named for the saddle of silver-grey hair that develops across his back as he matures. The silverback makes the decisions — where the group feeds, travels and rests — and defends it from rivals and predators, sometimes by an intimidating display of chest-beating, hooting and charging that is mostly bluff rather than true aggression. Groups typically include several adult females, their offspring and sometimes younger 'blackback' males. Gorillas build a fresh nest of bent branches and leaves to sleep in each night, on the ground or in low vegetation. They are intelligent and expressive: they use a range of vocalisations and gestures, show signs of grief, and some have learned elements of sign language in research settings. Despite their great strength and fearsome reputation, wild gorillas are generally shy, peaceable animals that prefer to avoid conflict.

## Western vs Eastern Gorilla: The Two Species
The two gorilla species are separated by hundreds of kilometres of the Congo Basin. The Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) lives in the lowland rainforests and swamp forests of Central Africa — including Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo and neighbouring countries. Its most numerous subspecies, the western lowland gorilla, is the gorilla most often seen in zoos. The Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei) is found further east, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and along its borders with Rwanda and Uganda, and is split into two subspecies: the eastern lowland (Grauer's) gorilla and the famous mountain gorilla. The mountain gorilla lives at high altitude in cool, misty forest and has longer, thicker fur to cope with the cold. While most gorilla populations are still falling, the mountain gorilla is a notable exception: intensive, sustained protection has lifted its numbers above roughly 1,000 individuals, the only gorilla population currently increasing.

## Where Do Gorillas Live?
Gorillas are found only in equatorial Africa, across a band of tropical forest in the centre of the continent. Western gorillas occupy the lowland and swamp forests of Central Africa, with strongholds in Gabon and the Republic of the Congo and further populations in Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea. Eastern gorillas live in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the mountainous border zone shared with Rwanda and Uganda, where the mountain gorilla clings to a few high-altitude forest patches. All gorillas depend on dense, connected forest for food and shelter, which is exactly the habitat being lost to clearance and fragmentation. Because gorillas need large areas of intact forest to thrive, protecting their habitat also safeguards countless other species — birds, forest elephants, and the plants that depend on the forest canopy — that share the same threatened landscapes.

## WARN work
WARN supports the protection of mountain gorillas and the forests they depend on, alongside our free educational and awareness work like this guide. The same pressures that threaten gorillas — habitat loss, snaring and forest fragmentation — also affect the animals WARN protects in its partner countries, so funding forest and wildlife protection helps gorillas and their neighbours alike.

## Donation hook
Gorillas reproduce slowly and recover even more slowly, so every protected family group matters — your support helps fund the habitat and wildlife protection that gives mountain gorillas and their forests a future.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/gorilla): Gorilla — wildlife guide.

## How much DNA do gorillas share with humans?
Gorillas share roughly 98% of their DNA with humans, making them among our closest living relatives after chimpanzees and bonobos. This genetic closeness is one reason gorillas are vulnerable to many of the same diseases we are, including respiratory infections, and why conservationists take great care to limit human contact with wild groups.

## How many gorilla species are there?
There are two species: the Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and the Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei). Each is divided into two subspecies — the western lowland and Cross River gorillas, and the eastern lowland (Grauer's) and mountain gorillas. Both species are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

## Are gorillas dangerous to humans?
Gorillas are powerful but generally shy, peaceable animals that avoid conflict. A silverback may chest-beat, hoot and charge to defend his group, but this dramatic display is usually a bluff rather than a true attack. Most encounters end without aggression, especially when people keep a respectful distance and avoid threatening behaviour.

## What do gorillas eat?
Gorillas are mostly herbivorous. They feed largely on leaves, stems, shoots, pith and bark, with western gorillas in particular eating a good deal of fruit. They also consume small amounts of invertebrates such as ants and termites. An adult silverback can eat many kilograms of vegetation a day to fuel its large body.

## What is a silverback gorilla?
A silverback is a mature adult male gorilla, named for the saddle of silver-grey hair that develops across his back as he ages, usually from around 12 years old. The silverback is the leader of a gorilla family group: he decides where the group feeds, travels and rests, and protects it from rivals and predators.

## Why is the mountain gorilla a conservation success?
The mountain gorilla, a subspecies of the Eastern gorilla, has recovered from a few hundred animals to more than roughly 1,000 individuals thanks to decades of intensive protection, anti-poaching patrols and close monitoring. It is the only gorilla population currently increasing, while most other gorilla populations continue to decline.

## Where do gorillas live?
Gorillas live in Lowland rainforest, swamp forest and montane forest of equatorial Africa. A gorilla is the largest living primate, a ground-dwelling, mostly plant-eating great ape native to the forests of equatorial Africa. There are two Critically Endangered species — the Western and Eastern gorilla — and gorillas share roughly 98% of their DNA with humans.

## How long do gorillas live?
Gorillas typically live ~35–40 years in the wild; can exceed 50 in human care. A gorilla is the largest living primate, a ground-dwelling, mostly plant-eating great ape native to the forests of equatorial Africa. Wild and captive figures can differ; use the sources listed on the guide for the underlying studies.

## How big is a gorilla?
A Gorilla is about Standing height ~1.5–1.8 m; males much larger than females. A gorilla is the largest living primate, a ground-dwelling, mostly plant-eating great ape native to the forests of equatorial Africa.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/chimpanzee): Chimpanzee — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is a great ape from the forests and woodlands of equatorial Africa. Along with the bonobo, it is humans' closest living relative, sharing roughly 98-99% of our DNA. Famous for tool use, complex societies and culture, it is classified as Endangered.

## Introduction
The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is a great ape native to the forests and savanna woodlands of equatorial Africa. Together with the bonobo, it is our closest living relative, sharing an estimated 98-99% of its DNA with humans. Chimpanzees are renowned for their intelligence: they make and use tools, hunt cooperatively, pass learned behaviours between generations as local "cultures", and live in complex fission-fusion societies. Four subspecies are recognised across West, Central and East Africa. Classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and listed on CITES Appendix I, chimpanzees face mounting pressure from habitat loss, the bushmeat trade, disease and the illegal pet trade, and their numbers are falling.

## Takeaway
Chimpanzees and bonobos are humans' closest living relatives, sharing roughly 98-99% of our DNA.

## Takeaway
They make and use tools, from termite-fishing sticks to nut-cracking stones, and pass these skills to their young.

## Takeaway
Chimpanzees live in fission-fusion communities that can exceed 100 members, splitting into smaller foraging parties.

## Takeaway
Four subspecies are recognised across West, Central and East Africa.

## Takeaway
They are classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and listed on CITES Appendix I, with numbers falling.

## Takeaway
Habitat loss, the bushmeat trade, poaching, disease and the illegal pet trade are their main threats.

## What chimpanzees look like and where they live
Chimpanzees are robust, mostly black-haired great apes with bare faces, ears, hands and feet, and long, powerful arms suited to climbing and swinging through trees. Standing upright they reach about 1 to 1.5 metres tall; males typically weigh around 40 kg and females around 30 kg, with exceptional captive individuals heavier still. Their faces lighten or darken with age, and infants are born with a pale face and a tuft of white tail hair that fades over time. They walk on all fours using a distinctive knuckle-walking gait but stand and walk upright when carrying food or peering over vegetation. Chimpanzees range discontinuously across equatorial Africa, from Senegal in the west to Tanzania and Uganda in the east. They occupy a wide variety of habitats, including tropical rainforest, swamp forest, montane forest, woodland and dry savanna, provided there are fruiting trees and water. Each community defends a home range that it patrols and forages across, building fresh leafy sleeping nests in the trees each night.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/chimpanzee): Chimpanzee — wildlife guide.

## Tool use, hunting and chimpanzee culture
Few animals rival the chimpanzee for behavioural complexity. Nearly every wild population studied uses tools, and different communities favour different techniques, a pattern scientists describe as culture because the behaviours are learned socially rather than inherited. Chimpanzees strip leaves from twigs to "fish" for termites and ants, crumple leaves into sponges to soak up drinking water, and in parts of West Africa use stone or wooden hammers and anvils to crack hard-shelled nuts, a skill that takes years to master. Some populations have even been seen sharpening sticks to jab at small prey. Diets are broad and largely plant-based, dominated by ripe fruit but including leaves, seeds, flowers, bark, insects and honey. Chimpanzees also hunt cooperatively, most famously pursuing red colobus monkeys, then sharing the meat in ways shaped by social bonds. Communication is rich, combining dozens of vocalisations such as the carrying pant-hoot with facial expressions, gestures and drumming on tree buttresses. These cultural traditions vary so much between sites that losing a population can mean losing unique behaviours forever.

## Society, family life and reproduction
Chimpanzees live in multi-male, multi-female communities of roughly 15 to more than 150 individuals, organised around a fission-fusion structure: the whole community rarely gathers at once, instead splitting into smaller, ever-changing parties that forage and travel together before regrouping. Males usually remain in their birth community for life and form the core of a status hierarchy headed by an alpha male, whose position depends as much on alliances and grooming as on size or strength. Females often transfer to a new community as they mature, reducing inbreeding. Bonds are maintained through long bouts of social grooming, which calms tensions and reinforces relationships. Reproduction is slow, which makes population recovery difficult. After a gestation of about eight months a female gives birth to a single infant, which she carries, nurses and teaches for years; weaning occurs around three years of age and the interval between births is often four to six years. Youngsters learn foraging, tool use and social rules largely by watching their mothers and others. In the wild chimpanzees can live well past 40 and sometimes beyond 50 years, with some captive individuals reaching their sixties or older.

## WARN work
WARN does not currently run dedicated field projects for chimpanzees, which live outside the countries where WARN's partners work; this guide is part of WARN's free educational and awareness work to help people understand the species and the pressures it faces. The very threats that endanger chimpanzees, above all habitat loss alongside the wildlife trade, also harm the animals WARN does protect, which is why building public understanding of them matters.

## Donation hook
If you value clear, science-based wildlife guides like this one, a small gift helps fund WARN's habitat and wildlife work for the animals in its care.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/chimpanzee): Chimpanzee — wildlife guide.

## Are chimpanzees endangered?
Yes. The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and its population is decreasing. It is also listed on CITES Appendix I, the strictest level of international trade protection. The main threats are habitat loss from logging and agriculture, the bushmeat trade and poaching, infectious disease, and capture for the illegal pet trade.

## How much DNA do chimpanzees share with humans?
Chimpanzees share roughly 98-99% of their DNA with humans, with the most commonly cited figure around 98.8% for directly comparable sequences. Along with bonobos, they are our closest living relatives. This deep genetic similarity is reflected in shared traits such as tool use, complex social bonds, problem-solving and a wide range of emotional expressions, though humans and chimpanzees last shared a common ancestor several million years ago.

## What do chimpanzees eat?
Chimpanzees are omnivores with a largely plant-based diet dominated by ripe fruit. They also eat leaves, seeds, flowers, bark, insects such as termites and ants, and honey. Many populations hunt cooperatively for small and medium mammals, most famously red colobus monkeys, and share the meat. Diets vary between communities and seasons, reflecting both local food availability and learned cultural traditions.

## Do chimpanzees really use tools?
Yes. Nearly every wild chimpanzee population studied uses tools, and they are among the most accomplished tool-users in the animal kingdom. They fish for termites and ants with stripped twigs, soak up water with leaf sponges, and in some regions crack hard nuts using stone or wooden hammers and anvils. Different communities favour different techniques, learned socially, which scientists regard as evidence of chimpanzee culture.

## How long do chimpanzees live?
In the wild chimpanzees commonly live into their thirties and forties, and some individuals survive past 50 years. In captivity they can live even longer, with documented individuals reaching their sixties and, in rare cases, close to 80. Their slow life history, with single births spaced several years apart and years of maternal care, means populations recover slowly from losses.

## What is the difference between a chimpanzee and a bonobo?
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) are closely related great apes and our two closest living relatives. Bonobos live only south of the Congo River and tend to be more slender, with female-centred societies and frequent use of social and sexual behaviour to ease tension. Chimpanzees have a wider range, more male-dominated hierarchies, hunt more often and can show greater intercommunity aggression.

## Where do chimpanzees live?
Chimpanzees live in the rainforest, woodland and savanna of equatorial Africa, across West, Central and East Africa. Four recognised subspecies occupy different parts of this range. They need forest or woodland with fruit, water and cover, and are classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List with a decreasing population trend.

## Are chimpanzees dangerous?
Yes, chimpanzees can be dangerous. Males weigh about 40 kg and females about 30 kg, and wild communities can show serious aggression toward rivals and, rarely, humans. They are far stronger than their size suggests. Observing them in the wild requires distance and expert guidance; they are not safe to approach or treat as pets.

## How big is a chimpanzee?
Standing chimpanzees reach about 1–1.5 m tall. Males weigh roughly 40 kg and females about 30 kg. They share roughly 98.8% of their DNA with humans and show similar proportions, though their arms are longer relative to their legs and they move on all fours through the forest canopy and ground.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/axolotl): Axolotl — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
An axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is a neotenic salamander from the Xochimilco canals near Mexico City that stays aquatic and larval-looking for life, keeping external gills. Famous for regenerating limbs, organs and brain tissue, it is Critically Endangered in the wild yet common in captivity.

## Introduction
The axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is a neotenic salamander native only to the canal system of Xochimilco, near Mexico City. Unlike most amphibians, it never fully metamorphoses: it keeps its feathery external gills, stays aquatic for life and breeds while still in a larval-looking form. It is world-famous for an extraordinary ability to regenerate amputated limbs, parts of its heart, spinal cord and even portions of its brain. The axolotl is also a striking conservation paradox. It is one of the most abundant amphibians on Earth in laboratories, classrooms and home aquariums, yet it is Critically Endangered in the wild, where only a few hundred or fewer may survive.

## Takeaway
The axolotl is a salamander that stays aquatic and larval-looking for life, a trait called neoteny.

## Takeaway
It is native only to the Xochimilco canal system near Mexico City, historically also Lake Chalco.

## Takeaway
It can regenerate limbs, parts of the heart, spinal cord and even brain tissue, making it a key research animal.

## Takeaway
It is Critically Endangered in the wild yet abundant in captivity, a stark conservation paradox.

## Takeaway
Its main threats are urbanisation, water pollution and invasive fish such as tilapia and carp.

## Takeaway
It is listed on CITES Appendix II, regulating international trade.

## What makes the axolotl unique
The axolotl's defining feature is neoteny: it reaches sexual maturity and reproduces while retaining the body of a larva. Where most salamanders absorb their gills, climb onto land and breathe air as adults, the axolotl keeps its three pairs of feathery external gills, its broad tail fin and its fully aquatic lifestyle throughout its roughly 10-to-15-year life. Most individuals stop developing because their bodies produce very little thyroid hormone, the chemical signal that normally triggers metamorphosis. Wild axolotls are usually dark and mottled, providing camouflage among canal sediment and plants. The pale pink and white animals familiar from aquariums and photographs are largely the result of captive breeding for leucistic and albino colour forms, which are rare or absent in the wild. Adults most commonly measure around 23 cm long, though sizes from roughly 15 to 45 cm are recorded. Their permanently upturned mouths give them a distinctive smiling appearance that has made them a global internet and pop-culture icon.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/axolotl): Axolotl — wildlife guide.

## Regeneration and scientific importance
The axolotl is one of the most studied animals in regenerative biology. It can regrow entire amputated limbs, complete with bone, muscle, nerves and skin, in a matter of weeks, and it can repair its heart, spinal cord, retina and parts of its brain rather than forming scar tissue. After injury, cells near the wound form a structure called a blastema, which rebuilds the missing part in the correct shape and orientation. Researchers study this process to understand why mammals, including humans, cannot regenerate in the same way. The axolotl has also become important in developmental biology, cancer resistance research and tissue-engineering studies. Its genome is enormous, around 32 billion base pairs, roughly ten times the size of the human genome and one of the largest animal genomes ever sequenced. Because the species breeds readily in captivity and tolerates laboratory conditions well, hundreds of thousands of axolotls now live in research facilities and homes worldwide, descended largely from a small number of founder animals.

## The wild axolotl in peril
The contrast between the captive and wild axolotl is dramatic. In its only natural home, the canals and wetlands of Xochimilco on the southern edge of Mexico City, the species has collapsed. Surveys over recent decades have recorded sharp declines, and some find almost no animals at all; estimates suggest only a few hundred or fewer remain in the wild, leading the IUCN to list it as Critically Endangered. The causes are tied to the growth of one of the world's largest urban areas. Wetlands have been drained and built over, and remaining waterways suffer from sewage, agricultural run-off and pollution. Invasive fish introduced for food and the aquarium trade, particularly tilapia and carp, eat axolotl eggs and young and compete for food. Restoration efforts in Xochimilco focus on improving water quality, creating refuges free of invasive fish and working with local chinampa farmers who maintain the area's traditional floating gardens, on which the canals depend.

## WARN work
WARN does not currently run a dedicated field project for the axolotl, which lives only in a small area of central Mexico, outside the countries where WARN's partners work partner countries. This guide is part of WARN's free educational and awareness work, helping people understand a species whose wild survival hangs in the balance. The same pressures that threaten the axolotl, habitat loss, water pollution and invasive species, also harm the wetland and freshwater animals WARN does protect elsewhere.

## Donation hook
If you value clear, science-based wildlife guides like this one, a small gift helps fund WARN's habitat and freshwater conservation work for animals facing the very same threats.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/axolotl): Axolotl — wildlife guide.

## Are axolotls endangered?
Yes. The IUCN lists the axolotl as Critically Endangered in the wild, where it survives only in the Xochimilco canal system near Mexico City. Estimates suggest just a few hundred or fewer remain, and some surveys find almost none. This is despite the species being extremely common in captivity, where hundreds of thousands live in labs, classrooms and home aquariums.

## Can axolotls really regrow their limbs?
Yes. Axolotls can regenerate entire amputated limbs, complete with bone, muscle, nerves and skin, usually within weeks. They can also repair the heart, spinal cord, retina and even parts of the brain without scarring. After injury, cells gather into a structure called a blastema that rebuilds the missing tissue. This rare ability makes the axolotl a key animal in regenerative medicine research.

## Why do axolotls stay babies their whole lives?
Axolotls show neoteny, meaning they keep larval features and stay aquatic for life instead of metamorphosing into land-dwelling adults like most salamanders. This happens because their bodies produce very little thyroid hormone, the signal that normally triggers metamorphosis. They keep their feathery external gills and tail fin yet still become sexually mature and breed in this larval-looking form.

## Where do axolotls live in the wild?
Axolotls are native only to the canal and wetland system of Xochimilco on the southern edge of Mexico City, and historically to the now largely drained Lake Chalco. This single, shrinking habitat is the reason the species is so vulnerable: as Mexico City has expanded, the wetlands have been polluted, drained and invaded by non-native fish, leaving very little suitable habitat.

## What do axolotls eat?
Axolotls are carnivores. In the wild they eat small prey such as worms, insects, insect larvae, small crustaceans, molluscs and tiny fish, sucking them in with a rapid gulp. In captivity they are commonly fed earthworms, bloodworms and specially formulated pellets. Their permanently larval anatomy means they hunt entirely underwater, detecting prey by movement and smell.

## What is the difference between an axolotl and a salamander?
An axolotl is a salamander, specifically a species in the mole salamander family. The key difference is that most salamanders metamorphose into terrestrial adults, losing their gills and living partly on land. The axolotl does not: through neoteny it keeps its gills, tail fin and aquatic lifestyle for life. Its close relative, the tiger salamander, does undergo full metamorphosis.

## Are axolotls dangerous?
Axolotls are not dangerous to people. They are small aquatic salamanders native to the Xochimilco canal system near Mexico City. Critically Endangered in the wild — with fewer than a thousand adults possibly remaining — they are abundant in laboratories and home aquariums, famous for regenerating limbs, parts of the heart, spinal cord and even portions of the brain.

## How long do axolotls live?
Axolotls typically live around 10–15 years according to this guide's quickFacts and stats. They remain aquatic and larval-looking for life through neoteny, keeping feathery external gills and breeding while still in that form. Wild survival is severely threatened despite their popularity in captivity.

## How big is an axolotl?
Axolotls are typically about 23 cm long, with a range of roughly 15–45 cm according to this guide's quickFacts. They are neotenic salamanders that never fully metamorphose, staying aquatic with external gills. The species is listed on CITES Appendix II and Critically Endangered in the wild.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/meerkat): Meerkat — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A meerkat (Suricata suricatta) is a small, highly social mongoose native to the arid Kalahari and southern Africa. It lives in cooperative groups of up to about thirty, posts sentinels to watch for predators, and feeds mainly on insects, scorpions and other small prey.

## Introduction
The meerkat (Suricata suricatta) is a small, highly social mongoose of southern Africa's arid Kalahari and surrounding scrublands. Weighing under a kilogram, it lives in cooperative groups, often called mobs or gangs, of roughly two to thirty animals that share burrows, raise pups together and defend a common territory. Meerkats are famous for their sentinel behaviour: while the group forages, one member stands tall on a mound or bush, watching the sky and ground for predators and giving distinct alarm calls. They eat mostly insects, scorpions and other small prey, and show some resistance to scorpion venom. The IUCN lists the meerkat as Least Concern.

## Takeaway
Meerkats are small mongooses, weighing under a kilogram, native to the arid Kalahari and southern Africa.

## Takeaway
They live in cooperative groups of roughly 2 to 30, sharing burrows and raising pups together.

## Takeaway
Sentinels take turns standing guard and give distinct alarm calls for aerial versus ground threats.

## Takeaway
Their diet is largely insects, scorpions and other small prey, and they tolerate some scorpion venom.

## Takeaway
A dominant pair produces most pups, while subordinate group members help feed and protect them.

## Takeaway
The IUCN classifies the meerkat as Least Concern, and it is not listed on CITES.

## What meerkats look like and where they live
Meerkats are slender, ground-dwelling mongooses, measuring roughly 24 to 35 cm in head-and-body length with a thin, tapering tail of about 17 to 25 cm. Adults typically weigh between 0.6 and 1 kg. Their coarse, sandy-to-grizzled coats carry faint dark bands across the back, and dark patches around the eyes act like built-in sunglasses, cutting glare so they can scan a bright desert sky. Long, curved claws make them efficient diggers. They are found across the arid zones of southern Africa, principally in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, with the range barely reaching south-western Angola. Meerkats favour open, dry country with sparse woody vegetation: savanna, scrubland and semi-desert where firm or sandy soils allow extensive burrow systems. Those burrows, often shared with ground squirrels, provide shelter from extreme heat, cold nights and predators, with multiple entrances and deep chambers.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/meerkat): Meerkat — wildlife guide.

## Living in a mob: cooperation and sentinels
Meerkats are among the most cooperative of mammals. A group, popularly called a mob or gang, contains roughly 2 to 30 individuals centred on a dominant breeding pair. Most pups are born to that pair, while subordinate adults act as helpers, babysitting, feeding young and sharing guard duty in a system biologists call cooperative breeding. The behaviour they are best known for is sentinel duty: while the rest of the group forages with heads down, one animal climbs to a raised spot and stands sentry, scanning for danger. Sentinels give different alarm calls depending on whether a threat comes from the air, such as a raptor, or the ground, such as a jackal, and the calls even signal urgency. Group living also means warmth on cold mornings, shared pup-rearing, and many eyes and ears, all of which help meerkats survive in an exposed, predator-rich landscape.

## Diet, scorpions and venom resistance
Meerkats are mainly insectivores, foraging by scratching and digging through sand and leaf litter for beetles, larvae, butterflies and moths, spiders, centipedes and other invertebrates. They also take small reptiles, amphibians, birds, eggs and occasionally plant material such as roots and fruit. Scorpions are a notable part of the menu, and meerkats handle them with skill, rapidly biting and rubbing the prey in sand to remove the stinger before eating. They have some physiological resistance to scorpion venom, allowing them to tackle prey that would harm many other animals, though a sting can still be dangerous. Pups are not born knowing how to handle such dangerous food; adults teach them, first bringing dead prey, then disabled prey, and finally live prey as the youngsters gain skill, an example of active teaching that is rare in the animal world. Foraging is near-constant because their small bodies store little fat and must be refuelled daily.

## WARN work
WARN does not currently run dedicated field projects for meerkats, which live outside the countries where our partners work and remain classified as Least Concern. This guide is part of WARN's free educational and awareness work, helping people understand the wildlife that shares our planet. The same pressures that shape arid ecosystems, including habitat loss, land-use change and a warming climate, also affect the animals WARN does protect, so building public understanding of species like the meerkat supports wildlife conservation more broadly.

## Donation hook
If you value clear, science-based wildlife guides like this one, a small gift helps WARN keep protecting habitats and the animals that depend on them.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/meerkat): Meerkat — wildlife guide.

## Are meerkats dangerous to humans?
Meerkats are small wild animals and pose little threat to people; they are far more interested in avoiding predators and foraging for insects. They can bite if cornered or handled, and they are not suited to being kept as pets. In the wild they are shy of humans, and the main risks of close contact are stress to the animal and disease transmission in either direction.

## What do meerkats eat?
Meerkats are mainly insectivores, eating beetles, larvae, butterflies, moths, spiders, centipedes and other invertebrates that they dig from sand and soil. They also take scorpions, small reptiles, amphibians, birds, eggs and sometimes roots or fruit. Because their small bodies store little energy, they forage almost constantly during the day and must feed daily to survive.

## Why do meerkats stand up on their hind legs?
Meerkats stand upright to act as sentinels, gaining a clear view across open country to spot raptors, jackals and other predators. A standing meerkat on a mound or bush is usually on guard duty while the rest of the group forages. They also stand to warm up in the morning sun, exposing their thinly furred bellies after a cold desert night.

## Are meerkats endangered?
No. The IUCN Red List classifies the meerkat as Least Concern, meaning it is widespread and not currently at risk of extinction. It is not listed on CITES. Meerkats remain common across the arid zones of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. As with all wildlife, longer-term pressures such as habitat change and climate shifts are worth monitoring, but the species is presently secure.

## How long do meerkats live?
In the wild, meerkats generally live around five to fifteen years, with survival heavily influenced by predators, drought and competition between groups. In captivity, where food and safety are reliable, they can live considerably longer, with a recorded maximum lifespan of over twenty years. Pups face the greatest risks, and cooperative care from the whole group improves their chances of reaching adulthood.

## Are meerkats immune to scorpion venom?
Meerkats have some physiological resistance to scorpion venom, which lets them hunt and eat scorpions that would seriously harm many other animals. They are not fully immune, and a sting can still be dangerous, so they handle scorpions carefully, biting off or disabling the stinger and rubbing the prey in sand before eating. Adults teach pups this risky skill step by step.

## Where do meerkats live?
Meerkats live in Arid savanna, scrub and semi-desert. A meerkat (Suricata suricatta) is a small, highly social mongoose native to the arid Kalahari and southern Africa. It lives in cooperative groups of up to about thirty, posts sentinels to watch for predators, and feeds mainly on insects, scorpions and other small prey.

## How big is a meerkat?
A Meerkat is about Head-and-body ~24–35 cm; tail ~17–25 cm. A meerkat (Suricata suricatta) is a small, highly social mongoose native to the arid Kalahari and southern Africa.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/platypus): Platypus — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A platypus is a semi-aquatic, egg-laying mammal (a monotreme) native to eastern Australia and Tasmania. It has a duck-like bill, webbed feet and a beaver-like tail, hunts underwater using electroreception, and males carry venomous ankle spurs. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.

## Introduction
The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is one of the strangest mammals on Earth: a furry, duck-billed, beaver-tailed animal that lays eggs, carries venom and hunts by sensing electricity. Found only in the freshwater rivers and streams of eastern Australia and Tasmania, it is a monotreme, a tiny, ancient lineage of egg-laying mammals. So bizarre was the first preserved specimen sent to Britain that naturalists suspected a hoax, sewn together from several creatures. Today the platypus is listed as Near Threatened, with populations quietly declining as drought, dams and land clearing degrade the waterways it depends on. It remains a beloved emblem of Australia's unique wildlife.

## Takeaway
The platypus is a monotreme, one of only five living mammal species that lay eggs rather than giving birth to live young.

## Takeaway
It is one of the very few venomous mammals: males have a spur on each hind ankle that delivers excruciating venom.

## Takeaway
Its rubbery bill detects the faint electric fields of prey, letting it hunt with eyes, ears and nostrils closed underwater.

## Takeaway
The platypus lives only in freshwater habitats of eastern Australia and Tasmania, from Queensland to the southern coast.

## Takeaway
Females lay around two leathery eggs and nurse their young with milk that oozes through the skin, as they have no nipples.

## Takeaway
Listed as Near Threatened, it is squeezed by drought, climate change, dams and land clearing that degrade its rivers.

## A mammal that breaks all the rules
When the first platypus specimen reached Britain in the late 1790s, scientists were convinced it was a fraud, a duck's bill stitched onto the pelt of a mammal. It was real. The platypus belongs to the monotremes, an ancient order of mammals that diverged from the lineage leading to marsupials and placental mammals more than 100 million years ago. Today only five monotreme species survive: the platypus and four echidna species. Like all mammals, the platypus has fur and produces milk, yet it reproduces by laying eggs. Females usually lay two small, leathery eggs in a riverbank burrow and curl around them to incubate. After hatching, the blind, bean-sized young feed on milk, but the platypus has no nipples: milk seeps from pores onto the mother's belly, where the young lap it up. This blend of reptile-like and mammal-like traits makes the platypus a living window into mammalian evolution, and one of the most scientifically prized animals alive.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/platypus): Platypus — wildlife guide.

## Built for the river: bill, fur and venom
Everything about the platypus is shaped for a life spent diving in cool freshwater. Its body is streamlined and covered in dense, waterproof fur that traps a layer of insulating air, keeping it warm in chilly streams. The front feet are strongly webbed for paddling, with the webbing folding back on land to free the claws for digging burrows. The famous bill is not hard like a duck's but soft, leathery and packed with sensory receptors. Males carry one of the animal kingdom's rarest mammalian weapons: a sharp, hollow spur on each hind ankle connected to a venom gland. The venom is not usually life-threatening to humans but causes severe, long-lasting pain that resists ordinary painkillers, and spur use peaks in the breeding season, suggesting it is mainly for competing with rival males. Males are noticeably larger than females, averaging around 50 cm in length against roughly 43 cm, and weighing up to about 1.7 kg.

## Hunting by electricity
The platypus has a sixth sense most mammals lack: electroreception. When it dives, it closes its eyes, ears and nostrils, sealing itself off from the world above, and relies entirely on its bill to navigate and find food. The bill is studded with around 40,000 electroreceptors arranged in stripes, alongside thousands of mechanoreceptors that sense pressure and movement. Together these let the platypus detect the tiny electrical signals given off by the muscles of shrimp, insect larvae, worms and other small prey buried in the riverbed. Sweeping its bill from side to side as it forages, the animal builds a kind of electrical map of its surroundings in pitch darkness or murky water. It scoops up prey along with gravel, stores the food in cheek pouches, and surfaces to grind it using horny pads rather than teeth, which adults lack. A platypus may spend many hours a day foraging, eating a substantial fraction of its body weight to fuel this energetic lifestyle.

## A quiet decline
The platypus is still found across much of eastern Australia and Tasmania, and for that reason has long been considered safe. But its outlook is darkening. The IUCN lists it as Near Threatened with a declining population trend, and researchers estimate numbers have fallen by roughly 30% since European settlement, with sharper local losses in some catchments. Because platypuses depend entirely on healthy freshwater, they are acutely vulnerable to anything that harms rivers. Prolonged drought and a warming, drying climate shrink and fragment their habitat; dams and river regulation alter natural flows and block movement between populations; and land clearing strips the vegetated banks they need for burrows and stable water quality. Platypuses are also drowned in illegal net and trap fishing and entangled in litter. The species is not listed under CITES, but conservationists increasingly argue for stronger national protection. Monitoring is difficult because the animals are shy, nocturnal and easily missed, so true declines may be greater than records suggest.

## WARN work
WARN does not currently run dedicated field projects for the platypus, which lives outside the countries where our partners work. Instead, this guide is part of WARN's free educational and awareness work, helping people understand why even seemingly secure species are quietly slipping. The threats that drive platypus decline, habitat loss, drought, dammed and degraded waterways and land clearing, are the very same pressures bearing down on the animals WARN's partners do protect, which is why healthy habitats sit at the heart of our mission.

## Donation hook
If the platypus's story moves you, a small gift helps fund WARN's wider work protecting wild habitats and the animals that depend on them.