World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/barn-owl): Barn Owl — wildlife guide.

## Do barn owls hoot?
No. Barn owls produce a long, harsh screech along with hisses and bill-snapping. The familiar 'twit-twoo' hoot belongs to the tawny owl, and is actually two birds calling to each other rather than one bird's call.

## How do barn owls hunt in complete darkness?
By sound. The facial disc funnels noise to ear openings set at different heights on each side of the skull, so tiny differences in arrival time give both bearing and elevation. Barn owls can strike prey accurately in total darkness, including animals hidden under vegetation or snow.

## Why is barn owl flight silent?
A comb-like fringe on the leading edge of the flight feathers and a velvety upper surface break up air turbulence and damp feather noise. The trade-off is poor waterproofing, so barn owls hunt badly in prolonged rain.

## Are barn owls endangered?
Not globally — the IUCN lists the barn owl as Least Concern because of its enormous worldwide range. Regional populations have declined sharply in intensively farmed landscapes through loss of rough grassland and nest sites, rodenticide poisoning and road collisions.

## How can I help barn owls?
Leave rough tussocky grass margins uncut over winter to support field voles, install a correctly sited nest box away from busy roads, and avoid second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides — poisoned rodents remain active and are exactly the prey owls take most easily.

## What do barn owls eat?
Barn owls hunt field voles, mice, shrews and rats — a breeding pair may take around 3,000 small mammals in a year according to this guide's stats. They locate prey by sound alone using asymmetric ear openings and a facial disc that funnels sound, even beneath vegetation or snow.

## Where do barn owls live?
Barn owls are found on every continent except Antarctica, hunting low over rough grassland at dusk. They nest in barns, hollow trees and nest boxes near open foraging habitat. Regional populations have declined sharply in intensively farmed landscapes through loss of rough grassland, rodenticide poisoning and road collisions.

## Are barn owls dangerous?
Barn owls are not a threat to people. They are pale, heart-faced owls that hunt almost entirely by sound and fly almost silently thanks to comb-like leading edges on their flight feathers. Their main hazards to humans are indirect — rodenticides in prey and road collisions near busy routes.

## How long do barn owls live?
Typical wild lifespan is about four years according to this guide's stats, though many die in their first winter. Barn owls screech rather than hoot and are among the most widespread land birds on Earth, present on six continents.

## How big is a barn owl?
Barn owls have a wingspan of 80–95 cm and weigh 250–350 g according to this guide's quickFacts. Their silent flight and acoustic hunting — pinpointing prey vertically as well as horizontally through ear openings set at different heights — make them effective hunters in complete darkness.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/snowy-owl): Snowy Owl — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large, mainly white Arctic owl that hunts by day and is nomadic rather than territorial; its breeding success tracks lemming abundance, and it was reclassified as Vulnerable in 2017.

## Introduction
The snowy owl is the heaviest owl in North America and one of the few that hunts by day — an adaptation to an Arctic summer with no darkness to hunt in. Males become progressively whiter with age; females and juveniles keep dark barring across the white.

Almost everything about snowy owl ecology tracks lemmings. In a good lemming year a pair may raise a large brood; in a poor one they may not breed at all. Rather than holding a fixed territory, snowy owls are nomadic, moving across the Arctic between seasons in search of rodent-rich ground — which is why tracking individuals has repeatedly overturned assumptions about how many there are.

## Takeaway
Snowy owls hunt in daylight — an adaptation to the Arctic summer's continuous light.

## Takeaway
Breeding is tied to lemming abundance; in poor years pairs may not breed at all.

## Takeaway
They are nomadic, not territorial, moving across the Arctic between seasons.

## Takeaway
Males whiten with age; females and juveniles retain dark barring.

## Takeaway
'Irruptions' bring birds far south in some winters — usually young birds after a good breeding year.

## Takeaway
Reclassified from Least Concern to Vulnerable in 2017 when population estimates were revised down.

## Life on the lemming cycle
Arctic lemming populations rise and crash on multi-year cycles, and snowy owl reproduction follows them closely. In a peak lemming year a female may lay a large clutch and fledge many young; in a crash year the pair may skip breeding entirely rather than start a nest that cannot be provisioned.

This makes snowy owl numbers naturally volatile and makes any single-season count misleading. It also means the birds cannot afford to sit still: they move to wherever rodents are abundant, sometimes thousands of kilometres between consecutive breeding attempts.

## Why the status changed in 2017
Snowy owls were long listed as Least Concern on the assumption of a large global population. Satellite tracking then revealed that individual birds range enormously and that the same owls were being counted in different places, meaning earlier estimates had substantially overcounted.

The revised figure was far lower, and combined with evidence of decline the IUCN moved the species to Vulnerable in 2017. It is a good example of a status change driven by better measurement rather than by a sudden new threat.

## Irruptions
In some winters snowy owls appear well south of their range — across southern Canada, the northern United States, and occasionally western Europe. These irruptions are widely reported as birds fleeing starvation, but the pattern often follows a *good* breeding season: an unusually large cohort of young birds disperses widely.

Irrupting owls are typically juveniles, often in poor condition by the time they are noticed, and they attract crowds. Repeated disturbance at a roost forces a bird already low on reserves to burn more energy, which is why photographers and birders are asked to keep distance and never bait owls with live or dead prey to obtain a flight shot.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/snowy-owl): Snowy Owl — wildlife guide.

## Pressures on an Arctic specialist
Climate change is the central long-term threat: warming disrupts the snow conditions lemmings depend on for winter breeding beneath the snowpack, which destabilises the cycle the owls rely on. Rain-on-snow events and shifting vegetation compound it.

Other documented pressures include collisions with vehicles and aircraft when birds winter in open agricultural and airport landscapes that resemble tundra, secondary rodenticide poisoning in wintering areas, and localised hunting. Disturbance at wintering sites is an increasing, and entirely avoidable, addition.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education including the cases where public behaviour matters directly. Wintering snowy owls are among the most photographed wild birds in the world, and the difference between a bird surviving the winter and not can come down to how often it is flushed from a roost.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/snowy-owl): Snowy Owl — wildlife guide.

## Are snowy owls endangered?
They are listed as Vulnerable. The IUCN moved the snowy owl from Least Concern in 2017 after satellite tracking showed individual birds range so widely that earlier surveys had double-counted them, meaning the true population is far smaller than assumed.

## Do snowy owls hunt during the day?
Yes. Unlike most owls they hunt in daylight, an adaptation to an Arctic summer with continuous light and no night to hunt in. They remain active in daylight in their wintering areas too.

## Why do snowy owls appear far south some winters?
These movements are called irruptions. They often follow a good breeding season rather than a bad one: a large cohort of young owls disperses widely in search of unoccupied hunting ground. Most irrupting birds are juveniles.

## Do snowy owls turn whiter as they age?
Males do, becoming progressively whiter over successive moults, with the oldest appearing almost pure white. Females and juveniles keep dark barring across the white plumage throughout their lives.

## What do snowy owls eat?
Mainly lemmings — an adult may take around 1,600 in a year — supplemented by voles, ptarmigan, waterfowl, hares and, in coastal areas, seabirds. Their whole breeding cycle is tied to lemming abundance.

## Where do snowy owls live?
Snowy Owls live in Arctic tundra of North America, Greenland, Scandinavia and Russia, Irregular winter movements far south of the breeding range. The snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large, mainly white Arctic owl that hunts by day and is nomadic rather than territorial; its breeding success tracks lemming abundance, and it was reclassified as Vulnerable in 2017.

## Are snowy owls dangerous?
Snowy Owls are not generally dangerous to people. The snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large, mainly white Arctic owl that hunts by day and is nomadic rather than territorial; its breeding success tracks lemming abundance, and it was reclassified as Vulnerable in 2017. Give wild individuals space and do not corner or handle them.

## How long do snowy owls live?
A precise wild lifespan for snowy owls is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. The snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large, mainly white Arctic owl that hunts by day and is nomadic rather than territorial; its breeding success tracks lemming abundance, and it was reclassified as Vulnerable in 2017. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.

## How big is a snowy owl?
A Snowy Owl is about 1.6–2.9 kg — heaviest North American owl. The snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large, mainly white Arctic owl that hunts by day and is nomadic rather than territorial; its breeding success tracks lemming abundance, and it was reclassified as Vulnerable in 2017. Conservation status: Climate disruption of the lemming cycle.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/bald-eagle): Bald Eagle — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is a large North American fish eagle that recovered from roughly 400 nesting pairs in the contiguous United States in the 1960s to tens of thousands today, after DDT was banned and legal protection was strengthened.

## Introduction
The bald eagle is a large North American fish eagle, unmistakable as an adult with its white head and tail against a dark brown body. It is not bald: the name comes from an older sense of 'balde', meaning white.

Its real significance is as a recovery story. By the early 1960s the population in the contiguous United States had fallen to a few hundred nesting pairs, driven down by shooting, habitat loss and above all DDT, which thinned eggshells so severely that eggs broke under the incubating parent. After DDT was banned and legal protection tightened, the population rebounded to tens of thousands of pairs. It remains one of the most cited demonstrations that removing a specific chemical cause can reverse a collapse.

## Takeaway
Bald eagles are not bald — 'balde' is an old word for white.

## Takeaway
Adults gain the white head and tail at about five years old; juveniles are mottled brown.

## Takeaway
DDT thinned eggshells and was the principal cause of the mid-century collapse.

## Takeaway
The US population fell to roughly 400 nesting pairs and has since recovered to tens of thousands.

## Takeaway
They are opportunists: fish, carrion and food stolen from other birds all feature.

## Takeaway
Lead poisoning from ammunition fragments in carrion remains a significant ongoing cause of death.

## The DDT collapse
DDT applied across mid-twentieth-century North America washed into waterways, entered aquatic food chains and concentrated in fish-eating birds at the top. In eagles the breakdown product DDE interfered with calcium deposition, producing eggshells so thin they cracked under the weight of an incubating adult.

Combined with shooting and the loss of large waterside nesting trees, the effect was catastrophic. The species was reduced to around 400 nesting pairs in the contiguous United States, while remaining relatively secure in Alaska and Canada.

## How the recovery happened
Three things, in sequence: DDT was banned in the United States in 1972; legal protection was enforced under federal law; and nest sites were protected and birds reintroduced to areas where they had been lost.

The response was rapid once eggshell thinning stopped. Numbers climbed through the following decades and the bald eagle was removed from the US endangered species list in 2007, remaining protected under separate eagle-specific legislation. Its IUCN status is Least Concern.

## Hunting, scavenging and stealing
Bald eagles are primarily fish eaters, snatching prey from at or just below the surface with their feet. But they are unfussy opportunists: they scavenge carrion heavily, take waterfowl and small mammals, and routinely harass ospreys and other birds into dropping their catch.

That kleptoparasitic habit was noted early. Benjamin Franklin's often-quoted disparagement of the bald eagle as a bird of 'bad moral character' referred precisely to this behaviour — though the story that he proposed the turkey as a national symbol instead is a later embellishment.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/bald-eagle): Bald Eagle — wildlife guide.

## The threat that remains: lead
The modern problem is lead. Eagles scavenging carcasses and gut piles left by hunters ingest fragments of lead ammunition, which dissolve in the acidic stomach and cause acute poisoning. Studies across North America have found lead exposure in a large proportion of tested bald and golden eagles, with a measurable population-level effect on growth rates.

The fix is well understood — non-lead ammunition — and uptake is rising but incomplete. Vehicle collisions at roadside carrion, electrocution on power infrastructure and disturbance at nest sites make up the remainder of the modern threat picture.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education, including the cases where conservation demonstrably worked. The bald eagle shows that identifying a specific chemical cause and removing it can reverse a collapse — and that the follow-on threat, in this case lead ammunition, often needs the same treatment before recovery is complete.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/bald-eagle): Bald Eagle — wildlife guide.

## Why is the bald eagle called bald?
Not because it lacks feathers. The name derives from an older English sense of 'balde' meaning white, describing the adult's white head against its dark brown body.

## Are bald eagles still endangered?
No. The bald eagle was removed from the US endangered species list in 2007 after recovering from roughly 400 nesting pairs to tens of thousands, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern. It remains legally protected under eagle-specific US legislation.

## What caused the bald eagle's decline?
Principally DDT. Its breakdown product DDE disrupted calcium deposition, so eggshells became thin enough to break under the incubating parent. Shooting and the loss of large waterside nesting trees compounded the collapse.

## At what age do bald eagles get their white head?
About five years. Juveniles are mottled dark brown and white and are often mistaken for golden eagles or entirely different species until they acquire full adult plumage.

## What is the biggest threat to bald eagles today?
Lead poisoning. Eagles scavenging carcasses and gut piles ingest fragments of lead ammunition, which dissolve in the stomach and cause acute poisoning. Non-lead ammunition solves it, and uptake is increasing but not universal.

## What do bald eagles eat?
Bald eagles eat fish, carrion and waterfowl, and frequently steal kills from other birds. They are large North American fish eagles that recovered from roughly 400 nesting pairs in the contiguous United States in the early 1960s to tens of thousands today after DDT was banned and legal protection tightened.

## Where do bald eagles live?
Bald eagles nest near lakes, rivers, coasts and wetlands across North America where fish and carrion are available. By the early 1960s the contiguous US population had fallen to a few hundred nesting pairs, driven down by shooting, habitat loss and DDT-thinned eggshells that broke under incubating parents.

## Are bald eagles dangerous?
Bald eagles are powerful raptors with large talons but do not hunt people. They can defend a nest if approached too closely. Today their main hazard to humans is indirect — lead fragments in scavenged carrion poison eagles, and disturbance near nests can cause adults to abandon eggs.

## How long do bald eagles live?
No reliable maximum lifespan figure is established for bald eagles. Adults acquire the white head and tail at about five years. The species' recovery story — from roughly 400 nesting pairs in the contiguous US in the 1960s to tens of thousands today — shows how removing a specific chemical cause can reverse a collapse.

## How big is a bald eagle?
Bald eagles have a wingspan of 1.8–2.3 m and weigh 3–6.3 kg, with females larger than males according to this guide's quickFacts. A large adult's wingspan reaches about 2 m. Their reused nests are enlarged yearly; the largest recorded nest weighed near 1 tonne.


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

## One-line answer
The kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus) is the world's only flightless parrot and the heaviest, a nocturnal New Zealand species now confined to predator-free offshore islands where every individual bird is named, microchipped and monitored.

## Introduction
The kākāpō is the world's only flightless parrot, the heaviest parrot alive, and among the longest-lived birds known. It is nocturnal, smells strongly of something like old honey, and freezes when threatened — a defence that worked perfectly against the aerial predators of prehistoric New Zealand and failed completely against introduced stoats, cats and rats.

Today every living kākāpō is individually named, microchipped and monitored. The population is measured in hundreds, not thousands, and survives only on predator-free offshore islands. It is one of the most intensively managed wild populations of any species on Earth.

## Takeaway
Kākāpō are the only flightless parrots and the heaviest parrot species alive.

## Takeaway
Males 'boom' from excavated bowls to attract females — a lek mating system unique among parrots.

## Takeaway
Breeding is tied to mast fruiting of rimu trees, so it happens only every two to four years.

## Takeaway
Freezing when threatened worked against aerial hunters and failed against introduced mammals.

## Takeaway
The entire species lives on predator-free offshore islands under intensive management.

## Takeaway
Every living kākāpō is named, microchipped and individually monitored.

## Booming: a lek in the dark
Male kākāpō dig shallow bowls in the ground, position them where the acoustics carry, and inflate a thoracic air sac to produce a deep, resonant boom repeated for hours through the night. The low frequency travels several kilometres across valleys but is notoriously hard to locate, which is part of the point.

Females walk in from a distance, assess the displaying males, and choose. This is a lek system — males cluster and display, females select and then raise the chicks alone — and no other parrot in the world does it.

## Breeding on the rimu cycle
Kākāpō breed only when rimu trees mast-fruit, which happens every two to four years. Females need that fruit glut to raise chicks, and in non-mast years they simply do not breed.

That evolutionary caution is sensible for a long-lived bird in a stable environment and disastrous for a species in crisis: recovery can only proceed in bursts. Conservation managers now supplement food to trigger and support breeding, monitor nests continuously, and hand-rear chicks where necessary — measures that would be extreme for almost any other species and are routine here.

## Why the defence failed
New Zealand's land birds evolved with no mammalian predators. The threats were aerial, so freezing and relying on cryptic green plumage was an excellent strategy. Then people arrived, bringing rats, cats, stoats and possums.

Against mammals that hunt by scent, a strongly scented bird that freezes on the ground and cannot fly is close to defenceless — and a nesting female leaves eggs and chicks unattended while feeding. Kākāpō disappeared from the mainland entirely. Every surviving bird was eventually relocated to islands cleared of introduced predators.


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

## Managed to the individual
The recovery programme tracks every bird by transmitter, records genetics across the whole population, supplements food, monitors nests with cameras, and intervenes when a chick is failing. Genetic diversity is critically low — the entire species descends from a small remnant — so pairings are managed to preserve what variation remains, and the genome of essentially every individual has been sequenced.

The population has grown from a low point of a few dozen to a few hundred. It remains Critically Endangered, and the constraint is now space: predator-free islands large enough to hold more birds are scarce, which makes further predator eradication the central task.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education including the extreme end of conservation practice. The kākāpō shows both what is achievable when a species is managed bird by bird, and how expensive and precarious recovery becomes once a population falls that far.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


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

## Can kākāpō fly?
No. The kākāpō is the world's only flightless parrot. It has short wings used for balance and for breaking a fall when climbing down from trees, but it cannot achieve powered flight.

## How many kākāpō are left?
A few hundred — the population is small enough that every living bird is individually named, microchipped and monitored. Numbers have risen from a low point of a few dozen, but the species remains Critically Endangered.

## What is kākāpō booming?
The male's mating call. He excavates a shallow bowl in the ground, inflates a thoracic air sac and produces a deep boom repeated for hours at night. The low frequency carries for kilometres but is very hard to pinpoint. Females travel in to assess displaying males.

## Why do kākāpō breed so rarely?
Breeding is tied to mast fruiting of rimu trees, which occurs only every two to four years. Females need that abundance to raise chicks and will not breed in other years, so population recovery can only happen in bursts.

## Why did kākāpō become so endangered?
New Zealand's birds evolved without land mammals, so the kākāpō's defence was to freeze and rely on camouflage. That fails completely against introduced rats, cats and stoats, which hunt by scent. Being flightless, ground-nesting and strongly scented left it defenceless once mammals arrived.


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

## One-line answer
The kea (Nestor notabilis) is the world's only alpine parrot, native to New Zealand's South Island mountains; it is highly intelligent and inventive, and is listed as Endangered largely because of introduced predators, lead poisoning and human conflict.

## Introduction
The kea is the only parrot in the world adapted to alpine conditions, living in the mountains of New Zealand's South Island. Olive-green at rest, it flashes brilliant orange under the wings in flight. It is also, by most measures used on animals, among the most intelligent birds studied — inventive, persistent and famously destructive of anything left unattended.

That curiosity is a survival trait in a harsh, food-poor environment, and it is also what puts kea in constant conflict with people. Birds strip rubber from car windscreens, open backpacks and dismantle equipment, which makes them beloved by tourists and unpopular with some residents. The species is Endangered, and much of the mortality is human-caused.

## Takeaway
Kea are the only parrots adapted to alpine environments.

## Takeaway
They solve novel problems, use tools in captivity and cooperate on multi-step tasks.

## Takeaway
Kea have a 'play call' — hearing it prompts other birds to start playing.

## Takeaway
Lead flashing and nails on old buildings poison kea, which chew soft metal.

## Takeaway
Introduced stoats and possums take eggs and chicks from ground-level nests.

## Takeaway
Feeding kea is harmful: it draws them to roads and buildings where most human-caused deaths occur.

## Problem solvers
Kea have been shown to work through multi-step puzzles, use objects as tools in captivity, cooperate with a partner on tasks needing simultaneous action, and adjust their behaviour based on statistical information — a capacity previously demonstrated mainly in great apes.

The likely driver is their environment. Alpine New Zealand offers scattered, seasonal, unpredictable food, and an animal that can work out how to open something novel does better than one that cannot. In practice this means kea investigate everything by taking it apart, which is intelligence and destruction being the same behaviour.

## Play, and a call that spreads it
Kea play extensively as adults — tumbling, wrestling, tossing objects and inventing games with whatever they find. Research identified a distinct warbling call that functions as a play vocalisation: birds hearing a recording of it spontaneously begin playing, which makes it one of very few documented emotionally contagious calls outside mammals.

Play in adult animals is generally associated with cognitively complex, long-lived, social species, and the kea fits all three.

## Why they are Endangered
Introduced stoats and possums are the largest natural-history problem: kea nest in cavities at ground level, so eggs, chicks and brooding females are easy targets.

The rest is human. Lead is a major documented poison — kea chew lead flashing, nails and head-bolts on old alpine buildings, and blood-lead levels in wild kea are high enough to cause illness and death. Vehicle strikes kill birds drawn to roadside car parks. Historically, kea were shot under a government bounty over sheep predation, and illegal killing still occurs.


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

## Why feeding a kea harms it
Kea are engaging and will approach people readily, which makes feeding them almost irresistible. It is also one of the worst things a visitor can do. Fed birds concentrate at car parks, roadsides and buildings — precisely the places where vehicle strikes, lead exposure and conflict with residents occur.

Human food is also nutritionally wrong for them, and habituated birds become bolder, which escalates property damage and the hostility that follows. The consistent conservation advice is simple: watch them, do not feed them, and secure anything you would rather keep intact.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education including the cases where the most important conservation action is something a visitor chooses not to do. Kea are harmed most reliably by well-meant feeding, and that is a message education can actually shift.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


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

## How intelligent are kea?
Among the most capable birds studied. Kea solve multi-step puzzles, use tools in captivity, cooperate with partners on tasks needing simultaneous action, and have demonstrated statistical reasoning previously shown mainly in great apes.

## Why do kea destroy things?
Investigation and destruction are the same behaviour in a kea. They live in a harsh alpine environment with scattered, unpredictable food, where taking novel objects apart is a useful strategy. Cars, backpacks and buildings are simply novel objects.

## Are kea endangered?
Yes, kea are listed as Endangered. Introduced stoats and possums take eggs and chicks from ground-level nests, and lead poisoning from old alpine buildings, vehicle strikes and illegal killing add substantial human-caused mortality.

## Why shouldn't you feed kea?
Feeding concentrates them at car parks, roads and buildings, which is exactly where vehicle strikes, lead exposure and conflict with residents happen. Human food is also nutritionally unsuitable, and habituated birds become bolder and more destructive.

## Where do kea live?
Only in the alpine and subalpine zones of New Zealand's South Island. They are the only parrot species in the world adapted to an alpine environment.

## What do keas eat?
Keas eat Omnivorous — roots, berries, insects, carrion. The kea (Nestor notabilis) is the world's only alpine parrot, native to New Zealand's South Island mountains; it is highly intelligent and inventive, and is listed as Endangered largely because of introduced predators, lead poisoning and human conflict.

## Are keas dangerous?
The kea (Nestor notabilis) is the world's only alpine parrot, native to New Zealand's South Island mountains; it is highly intelligent and inventive, and is listed as Endangered largely because of introduced predators, lead poisoning and human conflict. Give wild keas space; do not corner them.

## How long do keas live?
A precise wild lifespan for keas is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. The kea (Nestor notabilis) is the world's only alpine parrot, native to New Zealand's South Island mountains; it is highly intelligent and inventive, and is listed as Endangered largely because of introduced predators, lead poisoning and human conflict. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.

## How big is a kea?
A Kea is about ~48 cm. The kea (Nestor notabilis) is the world's only alpine parrot, native to New Zealand's South Island mountains; it is highly intelligent and inventive, and is listed as Endangered largely because of introduced predators, lead poisoning and human conflict. Conservation status: Stoats and possums, lead poisoning, vehicle strikes.


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

## One-line answer
Storks are large wading birds of the family Ciconiidae — 19 species — that soar on thermals rather than flapping, and most of which are effectively voiceless, communicating by clattering their bills.

## Introduction
Storks are large, long-legged, long-billed wading birds in the family Ciconiidae, with 19 species worldwide. They are built for soaring: broad wings and a habit of riding thermals let migratory species cross continents on very little muscular effort, which is why their routes bend around large water crossings where thermals do not form.

Most storks have almost no voice. Their syrinx is reduced, so instead of calling they communicate by clattering their bills — a loud, rattling display used in greeting at the nest and in territorial disputes. The white stork's long association with human buildings has made it one of the most culturally embedded wild birds in Europe.

## Takeaway
Most storks are effectively voiceless and communicate by loud bill-clattering.

## Takeaway
They migrate by soaring on thermals, so routes avoid long sea crossings.

## Takeaway
The marabou stork has one of the largest wingspans of any land bird.

## Takeaway
White storks nest on buildings and reuse the same nest for decades.

## Takeaway
Some species have adapted to landfill sites, which changes migration behaviour.

## Takeaway
Wetland drainage is the main pressure across the family; several Asian species are threatened.

## Soaring, not flapping
A stork's broad wings and light wing-loading make it an efficient soarer. Migrating birds climb in a rising thermal, glide down across country, find the next thermal and repeat — covering enormous distances for a fraction of the energy that continuous flapping would demand.

Thermals form over land, not open sea, so migratory storks funnel through narrow land bridges such as the Bosphorus and Gibraltar rather than crossing the Mediterranean directly. Those bottlenecks concentrate huge numbers of birds and make them both spectacular to watch and vulnerable to anything that goes wrong along a very narrow corridor.

## Bill-clattering instead of song
The stork syrinx is reduced, so adults of most species produce little more than hisses. In place of calls they throw the head back and clap the mandibles together rapidly, producing a hollow rattle that carries well.

Clattering serves as greeting between pair members at the nest, as a territorial signal, and as part of courtship. Chicks can produce mewing calls, but lose most vocal ability as they mature.

## Living on human landscapes
White storks have nested on roofs, chimneys and church towers for centuries, and in much of Europe are treated as welcome tenants. Nests are reused and enlarged over decades and can reach enormous size and weight.

More recently, some populations have shifted onto landfill sites, where year-round food is reliable. In parts of Iberia this has produced birds that no longer migrate to Africa at all. That is a striking adaptation, and a fragile one: it ties the birds to waste-management policy, and landfill closures have already forced local behavioural change.

## Status across the family
Family-level generalisation is unhelpful because status varies enormously. The white stork is Least Concern and recovering in parts of its range after reintroductions and nest-platform schemes. Several Asian species — including the greater adjutant and storm's stork — are far more threatened, hit by wetland drainage, deforestation and hunting.

The common thread is wetland loss. Storks need shallow water and floodplain grassland to feed, and those are precisely the habitats drained first for agriculture and development.


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

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education across the whole of animal life. Storks are a useful lens on wetland loss: they are large, visible and culturally valued, so where they disappear, the drainage of a floodplain becomes something people actually notice.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


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

## Can storks make sounds?
Barely. Most stork species have a reduced syrinx and are effectively voiceless as adults, producing little beyond hisses. They communicate by clattering their bills together loudly, used in greeting, courtship and territorial display.

## How many species of stork are there?
Nineteen species in six genera, in the family Ciconiidae, found across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia.

## Why do storks migrate over land rather than sea?
They travel by soaring on thermals, which form over land and not over open water. Migratory storks therefore funnel through narrow land routes such as the Bosphorus and the Strait of Gibraltar instead of crossing the Mediterranean directly.

## Do storks really deliver babies?
No — it is a European folk tradition, probably rooted in white storks returning to nest on buildings each spring around the same time as a seasonal peak in births. The birds themselves have no such role.

## Where do storks live?
Storks live in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia, Wetlands, floodplains, grassland and, increasingly, farmland and landfill. Storks are large wading birds of the family Ciconiidae — 19 species — that soar on thermals rather than flapping, and most of which are effectively voiceless, communicating by clattering their bills.

## Are storks dangerous?
Storks are not generally dangerous to people. Storks are large wading birds of the family Ciconiidae — 19 species — that soar on thermals rather than flapping, and most of which are effectively voiceless, communicating by clattering their bills. Give wild individuals space and do not corner or handle them.

## How long do storks live?
A precise wild lifespan for storks is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. Storks are large wading birds of the family Ciconiidae — 19 species — that soar on thermals rather than flapping, and most of which are effectively voiceless, communicating by clattering their bills. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/honey-badger): Honey Badger — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is a stocky African and Asian mustelid with exceptionally thick, loose skin that lets it twist within its own hide when gripped, a partial tolerance to snake venom, and well-documented problem-solving and escape ability.

## Introduction
The honey badger, or ratel, is a stocky member of the weasel family found across Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and into India. Its reputation for fearlessness is genuine and has a physical basis: exceptionally thick, remarkably loose skin that lets a gripped animal twist around inside its own hide and bite whatever is holding it.

It is also an unusually capable problem-solver. Honey badgers have been documented using objects to climb, working out latches and gates, and cooperating with a bird — the greater honeyguide — in one of the few reported mutualisms between a wild bird and a wild mammal, though the strength of that particular story is debated.

## Takeaway
Honey badgers are mustelids — closer to weasels and otters than to true badgers.

## Takeaway
Their skin is thick and unusually loose, so a gripped animal can turn inside it and bite back.

## Takeaway
They have partial tolerance to some snake venoms, not immunity — bites can still kill them.

## Takeaway
Documented tool use and latch-opening make them notorious escape artists in captivity.

## Takeaway
They raid beehives, which drives conflict with beekeepers across their range.

## Takeaway
Least Concern globally, but persecuted and declining in many local populations.

## Built to be hard to kill
The honey badger's defence is structural. Its hide is thick enough to resist most bites and stings, and it is attached loosely enough that a badger seized by the neck can rotate almost freely inside its own skin and reach the attacker's face.

Add powerful jaws, long claws, and anal glands that release a strongly repellent secretion, and the result is an animal of about 10 kg that larger predators frequently decide is not worth the trouble. That is the real basis of the reputation: not that a honey badger wins fights, but that it makes fights expensive.

## Venom tolerance, accurately stated
Honey badgers do prey on venomous snakes including cobras and puff adders, and they can survive bites that would kill a similar-sized mammal. The mechanism appears to involve mutations in the receptor that neurotoxins target, reducing binding — a change seen convergently in mongooses and some hedgehogs.

The crucial qualification is that this is tolerance, not immunity. Bitten honey badgers can be incapacitated for hours and can die. Popular accounts of a badger shrugging off a cobra bite and walking away are describing the best-case outcome as if it were the only one.

## The honeyguide question
The greater honeyguide is famous for leading honey badgers to bees' nests, which the badger opens and both then feed on. It is a compelling story and it is genuinely uncertain: direct observations of a honeyguide guiding a honey badger are rare, and some researchers argue the relationship is far better documented between honeyguides and humans.

What is not in doubt is the badger's appetite for honey and bee brood, which is where the name comes from and where the conflict starts.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/honey-badger): Honey Badger — wildlife guide.

## Conflict, and why 'Least Concern' understates it
Honey badgers raid beehives and occasionally poultry, so beekeepers and smallholders trap, poison and shoot them. They are also caught as bycatch in snares set for other animals and killed in retaliation for livestock losses that are often misattributed.

The IUCN lists the species as Least Concern because it remains widespread across a vast range. That masks substantial local declines, particularly where commercial beekeeping and honey badger range overlap. Badger-proof hive stands — raising hives on smooth metal poles — reduce the conflict effectively and are the standard mitigation.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education for animals whose main threat is retaliation rather than trade. Honey badger conflict has a well-tested practical fix, and conflict-mitigation work of exactly this kind is what WARN funds through partners elsewhere in its network.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/honey-badger): Honey Badger — wildlife guide.

## Are honey badgers immune to snake venom?
No — they are partially tolerant, not immune. Mutations in the receptor that snake neurotoxins target reduce binding, so honey badgers can survive bites that would kill a comparable mammal. They can still be incapacitated for hours, and bites can still be fatal.

## Are honey badgers actually badgers?
Not closely. The honey badger is a mustelid, in the same family as weasels, otters and martens, but it sits in its own subfamily and is not closely related to the true badgers of Europe and North America.

## Why are honey badgers so hard to kill?
Their skin is both very thick and very loosely attached, so an animal gripped by the neck can rotate inside its own hide and bite the attacker's face. Combined with strong jaws, long claws and repellent anal-gland secretions, this makes attacking one costly for a larger predator.

## Do honey badgers really work with honeyguide birds?
It is the traditional account and it is genuinely uncertain. Direct observations of a greater honeyguide leading a honey badger to a bees' nest are rare, and the far better-documented version of this partnership is between honeyguides and human honey-hunters.

## What do honey badger / ratels eat?
Honey Badger / Ratels eat Omnivorous — insects, reptiles, rodents, honey and bee brood. The honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is a stocky African and Asian mustelid with exceptionally thick, loose skin that lets it twist within its own hide when gripped, a partial tolerance to snake venom, and well-documented problem-solving and escape ability.

## Where do honey badger / ratels live?
Honey Badger / Ratels live in Sub-Saharan Africa, Arabian Peninsula, South and Central Asia to India. The honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is a stocky African and Asian mustelid with exceptionally thick, loose skin that lets it twist within its own hide when gripped, a partial tolerance to snake venom, and well-documented problem-solving and escape ability.

## Are honey badger / ratels dangerous?
Its reputation for fearlessness is genuine and has a physical basis: exceptionally thick, remarkably loose skin that lets a gripped animal twist around inside its own hide and bite whatever is holding it. Give wild honey badger / ratels space; do not corner or handle them.

## How long do honey badger / ratels live?
A precise wild lifespan for honey badger / ratels is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. The honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is a stocky African and Asian mustelid with exceptionally thick, loose skin that lets it twist within its own hide when gripped, a partial tolerance to snake venom, and well-documented problem-solving and escape ability. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.

## How big is a honey badger / ratel?
A Honey Badger / Ratel is about 9–16 kg. The honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is a stocky African and Asian mustelid with exceptionally thick, loose skin that lets it twist within its own hide when gripped, a partial tolerance to snake venom, and well-documented problem-solving and escape ability.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/fennec-fox): Fennec Fox — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) is the world's smallest fox, native to the Sahara, whose oversized ears act as heat radiators and which can survive without drinking free water by extracting moisture from its food.

## Introduction
The fennec fox is the smallest canid in the world — around 1 kg — with ears that can reach 15 cm, roughly a sixth of its body length. Those ears are not primarily about hearing prey, though they do that well. They are heat exchangers: a dense network of blood vessels close to the surface dumps body heat into the air, an essential adaptation in a habitat that swings from extreme daytime heat to cold nights.

Almost everything else about the animal is a desert adaptation too. Fur-covered footpads insulate against hot sand and improve grip on dunes. Kidneys concentrate urine to minimise water loss. And fennecs can survive without drinking free water at all, extracting what they need from food and metabolism.

## Takeaway
Fennec foxes are the smallest canids in the world, at around 1 kg.

## Takeaway
Their ears are heat radiators first and hearing organs second.

## Takeaway
Fur-covered footpads insulate against hot sand and grip loose dunes.

## Takeaway
They can survive without drinking, taking water from food and metabolism.

## Takeaway
Unusually for foxes, they are social, living in small family groups.

## Takeaway
They are poor pets: nocturnal, loud, strongly scented and impossible to litter-train reliably.

## Ears as radiators
A fennec's ears carry a dense surface network of blood vessels. Warm blood routed through them loses heat to the air, cooling the animal without the water cost of panting — which matters enormously in a habitat where water is the binding constraint.

The hearing is a bonus, and a good one: fennecs locate insects and small vertebrates moving beneath the sand and dig them out. The same surface-area-to-volume principle explains why Arctic foxes have tiny ears. Ear size across the fox genus tracks climate almost perfectly.

## Living without drinking
Fennec kidneys concentrate urine strongly, limiting water loss. The foxes are nocturnal, sheltering in deep burrows through the heat of the day where humidity is higher and temperature far lower. Their diet — insects, small rodents, reptiles, eggs, roots and fruit — supplies moisture directly.

Between behavioural avoidance of heat, physiological water conservation and dietary water, a fennec can complete its life cycle without ever drinking. It will drink when water is available, but does not require it.

## Sociable, for a fox
Most fox species are solitary outside breeding. Fennecs live in family groups sharing an extensive burrow system, and are notably vocal — chattering, barking, whimpering and squeaking at a volume that surprises people meeting them for the first time.

Burrows can be extensive, with multiple entrances, dug into stable sand. In loose dune sand a fennec can dig fast enough to effectively disappear.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/fennec-fox): Fennec Fox — wildlife guide.

## The pet trade problem
The fennec's appearance drives sustained demand for it as an exotic pet, supplied partly by wild capture across North Africa. The IUCN lists the species as Least Concern, but capture pressure is a documented concern and the species is CITES Appendix II listed.

As pets they are a poor match for a household. They are nocturnal and highly active at night, extremely vocal, dig compulsively, scent-mark persistently and cannot be litter-trained reliably. Veterinary care is specialist and hard to find. Many are surrendered or abandoned once the novelty passes, and a captive-bred fennec cannot be released into the Sahara. The kindest response to finding them appealing is not to buy one.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education including the welfare reality behind exotic-pet demand. Fennec foxes are an unusually clear case: the animal is genuinely charming and genuinely unsuited to living in a house, and demand drives both wild capture and a steady flow of surrendered animals.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/fennec-fox): Fennec Fox — wildlife guide.

## Why do fennec foxes have such big ears?
Primarily for cooling. A dense network of blood vessels near the ear surface dumps body heat into the air, letting the fox lose heat without the water cost of panting. The ears also give exceptional hearing for locating prey moving under the sand.

## How small is a fennec fox?
It is the smallest canid in the world, weighing around 1 kg — smaller than many domestic cats — with ears up to about 15 cm, roughly a sixth of its body length.

## Do fennec foxes need to drink water?
Not necessarily. Highly concentrating kidneys, nocturnal habits, deep burrows and a moisture-rich diet of insects, small vertebrates, roots and fruit let a fennec survive without free water, though it will drink when water is available.

## Do fennec foxes make good pets?
No. They are nocturnal and very active at night, extremely vocal, dig compulsively, scent-mark persistently, cannot be reliably litter-trained, and need specialist veterinary care that is hard to access. Many are surrendered once the novelty fades, and captive-bred animals cannot be returned to the wild.

## What do fennec foxes eat?
Fennec foxes are omnivores eating insects, small rodents, reptiles, eggs, roots and fruit. Moisture from this diet, together with highly concentrating kidneys and nocturnal habits, lets them survive without drinking free water — a critical adaptation in the Sahara. Adults weigh around 0.7–1.6 kg, making the fennec the world's smallest canid. They hunt at night using exceptional hearing to locate prey moving beneath the sand.

## Where do fennec foxes live?
Fennec foxes live in the Sahara Desert and arid scrub of North Africa, including sand-dune systems where they shelter by day in deep burrows. Fur-covered footpads insulate against hot sand and improve grip on loose dunes. They are nocturnal to avoid extreme daytime heat. The IUCN lists them Least Concern, but CITES Appendix II regulates trade and capture for the exotic pet market is a documented pressure on wild populations.

## Are fennec foxes dangerous?
Fennec foxes are not dangerous to people. They are small — about 1 kg — nocturnal and secretive, retreating into burrows rather than confronting threats. Their oversized ears up to about 15 cm are heat radiators first and hearing organs second. As exotic pets they are vocal, dig compulsively and scent-mark persistently, but they pose no venom, sting or serious bite risk to humans in normal circumstances.

## How big is a fennec fox?
A fennec fox is the world's smallest canid, weighing 0.7–1.6 kg — smaller than many domestic cats — with ears up to about 15 cm, roughly a sixth of its body length. Those ears radiate body heat through dense surface blood vessels, an essential adaptation in the Sahara's extreme temperatures. Fur-covered footpads grip hot sand. Adults are nocturnal, sheltering in deep burrows by day.

## How long do fennec foxs live?
A precise wild lifespan for fennec foxs is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. The fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) is the world's smallest fox, native to the Sahara, whose oversized ears act as heat radiators and which can survive without drinking free water by extracting moisture from its food. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/arctic-fox): Arctic Fox — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) has the warmest coat of any mammal, does not begin shivering until around −40°C, and changes from a brown-grey summer coat to thick white winter fur; its main modern threat is the red fox expanding north.

## Introduction
The Arctic fox is built for cold to a degree few mammals match. Its winter coat is the warmest of any mammal measured, and the fox does not begin to shiver until the temperature falls below roughly −40°C. Short ears, a short muzzle, compact body and fur-covered footpads all minimise heat loss — the exact inverse of the fennec fox's desert design.

Most Arctic foxes change colour seasonally, from brown-grey summer coats to thick white winter ones. A minority, the 'blue' morph, stay dark year-round and are commoner on coasts where snow cover is unreliable.

## Takeaway
The Arctic fox has the warmest coat of any mammal and tolerates −40°C before shivering.

## Takeaway
Body shape minimises heat loss — the exact inverse of the fennec fox's design.

## Takeaway
Most change from brown-grey summer coats to white winter coats; 'blue' morphs stay dark.

## Takeaway
Litter size tracks lemming abundance and can reach 14 pups in a peak year.

## Takeaway
They travel enormous distances over sea ice, including crossings of over 1,000 km.

## Takeaway
Red foxes moving north with warming are outcompeting and killing Arctic foxes.

## Engineered against heat loss
Every proportion works against losing warmth: small rounded ears, a short muzzle, short legs, a compact trunk and a thick tail used as a wrap when curled up. Fur covers the footpads — the species name *lagopus* means 'hare-foot' — insulating against ice and improving grip.

A countercurrent heat exchanger in the legs keeps the paws close to freezing while the core stays warm, so heat is not wasted at the extremities. The result is an animal that maintains core temperature through Arctic winters with no shelter beyond a snow hollow.

## Two colour morphs
The white morph turns brown-grey in summer and thick white in winter, matching snow cover. The blue morph keeps a dark charcoal or brown coat year-round and is commoner in coastal and island populations — Iceland's foxes are predominantly blue — where snow cover is patchy and a white coat would be conspicuous.

The morphs interbreed freely; colour is determined by a single genetic locus rather than by separate populations.

## Lemmings, and travelling for food
Inland Arctic foxes depend heavily on lemmings, and litter size tracks the lemming cycle sharply — up to 14 pups in a peak year, few or none in a crash. Coastal foxes rely more on seabirds, eggs and carrion and are less volatile.

Winter forces long movements. Arctic foxes follow polar bears to scavenge kills and range across sea ice; tracked individuals have covered well over a thousand kilometres, including crossings between continents. That mobility depends on sea ice being there.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/arctic-fox): Arctic Fox — wildlife guide.

## The red fox problem
The clearest modern threat is competition. As the Arctic warms and shrub tundra advances north, red foxes — larger, more aggressive and better suited to milder conditions — expand into Arctic fox range. Red foxes take over dens, outcompete for food and kill Arctic foxes directly.

The Scandinavian Arctic fox population remains critically small despite decades of protection, and red fox control alongside supplementary feeding has been necessary to keep it viable. Globally the species is Least Concern because the circumpolar population is large; that number conceals a real and worsening squeeze at the southern edge of the range.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education including the pressures that are hard to see. The Arctic fox is not declining because of hunting or trade — it is losing ground to another fox that warming has let move north, which is what climate-driven biodiversity loss usually looks like in practice.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/arctic-fox): Arctic Fox — wildlife guide.

## How cold can an Arctic fox survive?
It has the warmest coat measured in any mammal and does not begin to shiver until around −40°C. Short ears and muzzle, compact body, fur-covered footpads and a countercurrent heat exchanger in the legs all reduce heat loss.

## Why are red foxes a threat to Arctic foxes?
Warming allows shrub tundra and red foxes to advance north into Arctic fox range. Red foxes are larger and more aggressive, take over dens, outcompete for food and kill Arctic foxes directly, squeezing them at the southern edge of their range.

## Where do Arctic foxes live?
Arctic foxes inhabit circumpolar Arctic tundra and sea ice across Eurasia, North America, Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard. In winter they follow polar bears to scavenge kills and have been tracked crossing more than 1,000 km over sea ice — mobility that depends on ice being present.

## Are Arctic foxes dangerous?
Arctic foxes are not a threat to people. They are small carnivores weighing 3–3.5 kg, built for extreme cold rather than aggression toward humans. Their main modern threat is the red fox expanding north with warming, outcompeting and killing Arctic foxes at the southern edge of their range.

## How long do Arctic foxes live?
No reliable maximum lifespan figure is established for Arctic foxes. Litter size tracks lemming abundance sharply — up to 14 pups in a peak lemming year, few or none in a crash — reflecting a life history tied to Arctic food cycles rather than steady annual breeding.

## How big is an Arctic fox?
Arctic foxes weigh 3–3.5 kg according to this guide's quickFacts. They have the warmest coat measured in any mammal and do not begin shivering until around −40°C, with short ears, a compact body and fur-covered footpads that minimise heat loss.

## What do Arctic foxes eat?
Inland foxes depend heavily on lemmings, with litter size tracking the lemming cycle. Coastal foxes rely more on seabirds, eggs, fish and carrion, including scavenging from polar bear kills.


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

## One-line answer
The okapi (Okapia johnstoni) is the giraffe's only living relative, a solitary rainforest herbivore found exclusively in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with striped hindquarters for camouflage and a long dark prehensile tongue.

## Introduction
The okapi looks assembled from other animals — striped hindquarters like a zebra, a body like a large antelope, and the long dark prehensile tongue and ossicones of a giraffe. The last of those is the giveaway: the okapi is the giraffe's only living relative, the sole other member of the family Giraffidae.

It lives in the dense rainforests of the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and nowhere else. Solitary, quiet and superbly camouflaged, it went undescribed by Western science until 1901, which is late for a large mammal and reflects how hard it is to see.

## Takeaway
The okapi is the only living relative of the giraffe, in the family Giraffidae.

## Takeaway
It occurs in the wild only in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

## Takeaway
Striped hindquarters break up its outline in dappled forest light.

## Takeaway
Its tongue is long enough to clean its own eyes and ears.

## Takeaway
Mothers and calves communicate using infrasound below the range of human hearing.

## Takeaway
It is Endangered, threatened by logging, mining, hunting and armed conflict.

## A giraffe that stayed in the forest
Okapi and giraffe share defining giraffid traits: ossicones on the skull of males, a long dark prehensile tongue, and the same distinctive lobed canine teeth. The okapi kept the ancestral forest habits while the giraffe lineage moved onto open savanna and stretched.

At around 1.5 m at the shoulder, the okapi is built for pushing through dense undergrowth rather than reaching into acacias. Its tongue does the same job as a giraffe's — stripping leaves and buds — and is long enough that the animal can clean its own eyes and ears with it.

## Camouflage and secrecy
The horizontal white stripes on the hindquarters and upper legs break up the body's outline in the shifting, dappled light of the forest floor. They may also help a calf follow its mother visually through dense vegetation.

Okapi are solitary, largely silent to human ears, and use scent-marking to communicate. Mothers and calves exchange infrasonic calls below the range of human hearing — likely an adaptation to communicate without alerting leopards, their main natural predator. All of this is why a large mammal remained unknown to Western science until 1901.

## Why it is Endangered
The okapi's entire range lies within one country, much of which has experienced prolonged armed conflict. That single fact drives most of the threat picture.

Logging and agricultural clearance remove forest. Artisanal mining, particularly for coltan and gold, brings people, roads and bushmeat hunting deep into previously inaccessible forest. Armed groups occupy okapi habitat and hunt directly. In 2012 the Okapi Wildlife Reserve headquarters was attacked and captive okapi were killed — an unusually direct illustration of how conservation and conflict intersect here.


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

## What conservation looks like in a conflict zone
Protecting okapi is mostly about protecting people who protect okapi. Ranger patrols in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve operate under genuine danger, and the practical work is ranger support, community engagement around reserve boundaries, and reducing the bushmeat trade that supplies mining camps.

Captive breeding maintains an insurance population in zoos worldwide, but there is no realistic reintroduction pathway while the habitat is insecure. As with many species in conflict zones, the limiting factor is not biology.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education including the species whose fate is decided by conflict rather than by ecology. The okapi is a reminder that in some places the binding constraint on conservation is security, and that rangers are the people carrying that risk.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


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

## Is the okapi related to the zebra?
No. Despite the striped hindquarters, the okapi is the giraffe's only living relative, in the family Giraffidae. The stripes are camouflage for dappled forest light, not a sign of any relationship to zebras.

## Where do okapi live?
Only in the rainforests of the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, principally the Ituri forest. They occur naturally nowhere else on Earth.

## Why was the okapi discovered so late?
It was formally described by Western science only in 1901 because it is solitary, silent to human ears, superbly camouflaged and lives in dense, difficult rainforest. Local communities had long known the animal.

## Are okapi endangered?
Yes, the IUCN lists the okapi as Endangered. Logging, agricultural clearance, artisanal mining, bushmeat hunting and prolonged armed conflict across its single-country range all contribute.

## How long is an okapi's tongue?
Around 30 cm — long enough for the animal to clean its own eyes and ears, and to strip leaves and buds from branches in the same way a giraffe does.

## Are okapi / forest giraffes dangerous?
Okapi / Forest Giraffes are not generally dangerous to people. The okapi (Okapia johnstoni) is the giraffe's only living relative, a solitary rainforest herbivore found exclusively in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with striped hindquarters for camouflage and a long dark prehensile tongue. Give wild individuals space and do not corner or handle them.

## How long do okapi / forest giraffes live?
A precise wild lifespan for okapi / forest giraffes is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. The okapi (Okapia johnstoni) is the giraffe's only living relative, a solitary rainforest herbivore found exclusively in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with striped hindquarters for camouflage and a long dark prehensile tongue. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.

## How big is an okapi / forest giraffe?
An Okapi / Forest Giraffe is about ~1.5 m. The okapi (Okapia johnstoni) is the giraffe's only living relative, a solitary rainforest herbivore found exclusively in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with striped hindquarters for camouflage and a long dark prehensile tongue.

## What do okapi / forest giraffes eat?
Okapi / Forest Giraffes eat plant material — leaves, buds, shoots and soft vegetation. The okapi (Okapia johnstoni) is the giraffe's only living relative, a solitary rainforest herbivore found exclusively in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with striped hindquarters for camouflage and a long dark prehensile tongue.


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

## One-line answer
The kinkajou (Potos flavus) is a nocturnal Central and South American rainforest mammal in the raccoon family, one of only two carnivorans with a fully prehensile tail, feeding mainly on fruit and nectar and acting as an incidental pollinator.

## Introduction
The kinkajou is a nocturnal, golden-brown rainforest mammal that spends almost its entire life in the canopy. It is frequently mistaken for a primate or a small bear; it is neither. It belongs to the family Procyonidae, alongside raccoons and coatis.

What sets it apart within that family is its tail. The kinkajou is one of only two carnivorans with a fully prehensile tail — it can hang by it, use it as a fifth limb, and sleep wrapped in it. Combined with hind feet that rotate to let the animal run down a trunk head-first, it is exceptionally well equipped for a life spent above the ground.

## Takeaway
Kinkajous are procyonids — related to raccoons and coatis, not to primates or bears.

## Takeaway
They are one of only two carnivorans with a fully prehensile tail.

## Takeaway
Hind feet rotate through 180°, letting them run down trunks head-first.

## Takeaway
The diet is roughly 90% fruit, plus nectar reached with a long tongue.

## Takeaway
Feeding on flowers makes them incidental pollinators of some rainforest trees.

## Takeaway
They are poor pets: nocturnal, long-lived, sharp-clawed and prone to sudden aggression.

## Built for the canopy
The prehensile tail is the kinkajou's defining feature — strong enough to support the animal's full weight, used for balance, for anchoring while reaching for fruit, and as a blanket when sleeping. Only the kinkajou and the binturong, among the entire order Carnivora, have one.

Hind feet that rotate through 180° let a kinkajou descend a trunk head-first, a trick otherwise associated with squirrels. Together these adaptations mean it rarely needs to come to the ground at all.

## A carnivoran that eats fruit
Despite sitting in the order Carnivora, the kinkajou's diet is roughly 90% fruit, supplemented with nectar, flowers, insects and occasionally eggs or small vertebrates. Figs are a staple.

The long, slender tongue reaches nectar deep inside flowers, and in doing so the animal transfers pollen between blooms. Kinkajous are therefore incidental pollinators of several rainforest trees, and as fruit eaters they are also significant seed dispersers — an ecological role well out of proportion to their profile.

## The 'honey bear' confusion
The nickname honey bear, and the kinkajou's habit of raiding bee nests for honey, has led to persistent confusion with the sun bear of Southeast Asia, which shares the nickname and is a genuine bear.

They are unrelated, live on different continents, and differ by an order of magnitude in size. The kinkajou weighs 1.4–4.6 kg; a sun bear reaches 60 kg or more.


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

## Pet-trade demand and welfare
Kinkajous are captured for the exotic pet trade and hunted for meat and fur in parts of their range. The species is Least Concern overall, but local pressure is real and habitat loss compounds it.

As pets they go badly. They are strictly nocturnal, so an owner's waking hours are the animal's sleeping ones. They live 20 years or more, have sharp claws and teeth, scent-mark, and are known for unpredictable aggression on reaching maturity — bites requiring medical treatment are commonly reported. They also carry a roundworm transmissible to humans. Specialist veterinary care is scarce, and surrendered adults are difficult to place.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education for the animals that turn up in the exotic pet trade with almost no accurate information attached. The kinkajou is a canopy specialist with a twenty-year lifespan and nocturnal habits — facts that make it ecologically important and entirely unsuited to a living room.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


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

## Is a kinkajou a primate?
No. Kinkajous belong to the family Procyonidae, alongside raccoons and coatis, in the order Carnivora. The resemblance to a monkey comes from convergent adaptations to canopy life, including a prehensile tail.

## Why is the kinkajou called a honey bear?
Because it raids bee nests for honey. The nickname causes persistent confusion with the sun bear of Southeast Asia, which shares it and is a true bear. The two are unrelated, live on different continents, and differ enormously in size.

## What do kinkajous eat?
Roughly 90% fruit, especially figs, plus nectar reached with a long slender tongue, flowers, insects and occasionally eggs or small vertebrates. Their nectar feeding makes them incidental pollinators of some rainforest trees.

## Do kinkajous make good pets?
No. They are strictly nocturnal, live over 20 years, have sharp claws and teeth, scent-mark, are known for unpredictable aggression at maturity, and can carry a roundworm transmissible to humans. Specialist veterinary care is scarce and surrendered adults are hard to rehome.

## Are kinkajous endangered?
The IUCN lists them as Least Concern across a wide range, but they are captured for the exotic pet trade and hunted for meat and fur, and habitat loss is reducing suitable rainforest.

## Where do kinkajou / honey bears live?
Kinkajou / Honey Bears live in Central and South America — southern Mexico to Brazil and Bolivia, Tropical rainforest canopy. The kinkajou (Potos flavus) is a nocturnal Central and South American rainforest mammal in the raccoon family, one of only two carnivorans with a fully prehensile tail, feeding mainly on fruit and nectar and acting as an incidental pollinator.

## Are kinkajou / honey bears dangerous?
Kinkajou / Honey Bears are not generally dangerous to people. The kinkajou (Potos flavus) is a nocturnal Central and South American rainforest mammal in the raccoon family, one of only two carnivorans with a fully prehensile tail, feeding mainly on fruit and nectar and acting as an incidental pollinator. Give wild individuals space and do not corner or handle them.

## How long do kinkajou / honey bears live?
Kinkajou / Honey Bears typically live Over 20 years in captivity. The kinkajou (Potos flavus) is a nocturnal Central and South American rainforest mammal in the raccoon family, one of only two carnivorans with a fully prehensile tail, feeding mainly on fruit and nectar and acting as an incidental pollinator. Wild and captive figures can differ; use the sources listed on the guide for the underlying studies.

## How big is a kinkajou / honey bear?
A Kinkajou / Honey Bear is about 1.4–4.6 kg. The kinkajou (Potos flavus) is a nocturnal Central and South American rainforest mammal in the raccoon family, one of only two carnivorans with a fully prehensile tail, feeding mainly on fruit and nectar and acting as an incidental pollinator.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/whale-shark): Whale Shark — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish on Earth at up to around 18 metres, a filter feeder that eats plankton and small fish, and is listed as Endangered.

## Introduction
The whale shark is the largest fish alive, reaching around 18 metres, and it feeds almost entirely on plankton and small fish. It is a shark, not a whale — the name describes the size and the filter-feeding habit rather than any relationship to cetaceans.

Each whale shark carries a unique pattern of pale spots and stripes behind the gills. Researchers photograph that pattern and identify individuals using software originally written to map star fields, which has allowed the same animals to be tracked across oceans and decades.

## Takeaway
Whale sharks are fish, not whales — the name reflects size and filter feeding.

## Takeaway
They eat plankton, fish eggs and small fish, filtering water through gill rakers.

## Takeaway
Spot patterns are individually unique and are matched using astronomy software.

## Takeaway
Late maturity, around 30 years, makes populations extremely slow to recover.

## Takeaway
They are Endangered, hit by ship strikes, fishing and unmanaged tourism.

## Filter feeding at scale
A whale shark feeds by opening its enormous mouth and either swimming through plankton or holding position and actively suctioning water in. Gill rakers strain out plankton, fish eggs, krill and small fish, and the water passes out through the gills.

It has around 3,000 teeth, each only a few millimetres long, and they play no role in feeding at all. Their function, if any, is unresolved — a good illustration of how much about even the largest fish remains unknown.

## Identified by starlight software
The pattern of pale spots and stripes behind a whale shark's gills is unique to the individual and stable for life. Researchers photograph it and match it using an algorithm adapted from software written to identify star patterns in astronomical images.

That method turned whale shark research into a global collaboration: photographs from tourists and divers feed public databases, and individual sharks have been re-identified years later and thousands of kilometres away.

## Slow lives, sharp declines
Whale sharks are thought to mature at around 30 years and to live far longer. Slow maturity and low reproductive output mean that losing adults has a disproportionate effect, and populations cannot rebound quickly from fishing or bycatch.

The species is listed as Endangered. Targeted fishing has been banned in many countries but continues in some, and bycatch in tuna purse seines, ship strikes at aggregation sites and entanglement all remove animals from a population that replaces them slowly.

## Tourism: the double edge
Predictable seasonal aggregations support significant whale shark tourism, which gives coastal communities an economic reason to protect the animals — a live shark is worth far more repeatedly than a dead one once.

Badly managed, though, tourism harms them. Boat strikes, crowding, touching and provisioning to hold sharks at a site all cause measurable stress and injury. Well-run operations enforce minimum distances, no touching, no flash and boat exclusion zones, and those rules are the difference between tourism that protects the species and tourism that erodes it.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education including where wildlife tourism helps and where it harms. Whale sharks are among the clearest cases: the same activity can fund protection or injure the animals, and the deciding factor is whether operators follow distance and handling rules that visitors are in a position to insist on.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/whale-shark): Whale Shark — wildlife guide.

## Is a whale shark a whale or a shark?
A shark — the largest fish alive. The name refers to its whale-like size and filter-feeding habit, not to any relationship with whales, which are mammals.

## How big do whale sharks get?
Around 18 metres at the largest verified sizes, and roughly 20 tonnes. Reports of considerably larger animals circulate but are generally unverified.

## Are whale sharks dangerous?
No. They are filter feeders with around 3,000 tiny teeth that play no role in feeding. They pose no threat to swimmers, though their size means an accidental tail strike from a startled animal can injure someone who is too close.

## How are individual whale sharks identified?
By the pattern of pale spots behind the gills, which is unique to each animal and stable for life. Researchers match photographs using an algorithm adapted from software built to identify star patterns, and public photo databases let tourists contribute records.

## Are whale sharks endangered?
Yes, the IUCN lists them as Endangered. They mature at around 30 years, so populations recover very slowly from targeted fishing, bycatch in tuna fisheries, ship strikes and entanglement.

## What do whale sharks eat?
Whale Sharks eat Plankton, fish eggs, krill and small fish. The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish on Earth at up to around 18 metres, a filter feeder that eats plankton and small fish, and is listed as Endangered.

## Where do whale sharks live?
Whale Sharks live in Tropical and warm-temperate oceans worldwide, Seasonal aggregation sites off Mexico, the Philippines, Australia and East Africa. The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish on Earth at up to around 18 metres, a filter feeder that eats plankton and small fish, and is listed as Endangered.

## How long do whale sharks live?
Whale Sharks typically live Around 30 years. The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the largest fish on Earth at up to around 18 metres, a filter feeder that eats plankton and small fish, and is listed as Endangered. Wild and captive figures can differ; use the sources listed on the guide for the underlying studies.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/tiger-shark): Tiger Shark — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) is a large generalist predator whose uniquely notched, heavily serrated teeth can cut through sea turtle shell, and which is listed as Near Threatened.

## Introduction
The tiger shark is a large coastal predator named for the dark vertical bars on young animals, which fade with age. It is the most generalist of the large sharks: stomach contents have included fish, turtles, seabirds, rays, other sharks, seals and dolphins, alongside indigestible human litter.

What makes that diet possible is the tooth. Tiger shark teeth are broad, deeply notched and heavily serrated, with a shape suited to sawing through material other sharks cannot handle — including the shell of a sea turtle.

## Takeaway
Tiger sharks have the broadest diet of any large shark, including sea turtles.

## Takeaway
Their notched, heavily serrated teeth are shaped for sawing rather than piercing.

## Takeaway
The stripes that give them their name fade as the animal matures.

## Takeaway
Litters can reach 80 pups, unusually high for a shark.

## Takeaway
They are Near Threatened, taken in fisheries and finning and in shark control programmes.

## The tooth that defines the diet
Most large sharks have teeth built to grip or to slice flesh. The tiger shark's are broad, cockscomb-shaped, deeply notched on one edge and serrated along their whole length — a saw rather than a blade.

That design lets a tiger shark cut through sea turtle shell, which almost no other predator can do, and to open large hard-bodied prey. It is the single anatomical feature that underwrites the species' reputation as an indiscriminate feeder.

## A genuine generalist
Stomach content studies record an extraordinary range: bony fish, rays, other sharks, sea turtles, seabirds, sea snakes, squid, crustaceans, seals and dolphins, plus carrion. In some places seasonal prey drives their movements — tiger sharks gather where fledgling albatrosses first take to the water.

They also swallow indigestible human rubbish, which produced the old 'swimming dustbin' label. That habit is a symptom of an opportunistic feeding strategy rather than a lack of discrimination, and it makes them useful, if grim, samplers of marine litter.

## Ecological role
As a large predator on turtles and dugongs, tiger sharks shape grazing behaviour in seagrass meadows. Where tiger sharks are present, grazers avoid the most exposed areas and seagrass persists; where sharks are removed, grazing intensifies and the meadow degrades.

This is a well-documented example of a predator's effect running through prey behaviour rather than prey numbers — the same mechanism described for wolves and elk, but underwater.

## Pressures
Tiger sharks are taken as target catch and bycatch, and their fins enter the shark fin trade. They are also killed in shark control programmes using drumlines and nets, which remove large numbers of animals with little demonstrated effect on bite risk.

They are listed as Near Threatened. Their relatively high fecundity — litters can reach 80 pups — gives them more resilience than slow-breeding sharks such as the great white, but sustained fishing pressure still drives declines.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education for the animals that are killed because of how they are perceived. Shark control programmes remove large numbers of tiger sharks with limited evidence of benefit, and accurate information about the actual level of risk is what shifts that policy.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/tiger-shark): Tiger Shark — wildlife guide.

## Why is it called a tiger shark?
For the dark vertical bars along the flanks of young animals, which resemble tiger stripes. The markings fade as the shark matures and are often barely visible in large adults.

## What do tiger sharks eat?
Almost anything. Recorded prey includes fish, rays, other sharks, sea turtles, seabirds, sea snakes, squid, crustaceans, seals and dolphins, plus carrion — the broadest diet of any large shark. They also swallow indigestible human litter.

## How can tiger sharks eat sea turtles?
Their teeth. Tiger shark teeth are broad, deeply notched and serrated along the whole edge, functioning as a saw rather than a blade, which lets them cut through turtle shell that other predators cannot open.

## Are tiger sharks dangerous to humans?
They are among the shark species most often involved in bites on people, along with great whites and bull sharks. Even so, bites are rare in absolute terms, and shark control programmes that kill large numbers of tiger sharks have shown limited evidence of reducing risk.

## Are tiger sharks endangered?
They are listed as Near Threatened. Litters of up to 80 pups give them more resilience than slower-breeding sharks, but targeted fishing, bycatch, the fin trade and shark control programmes continue to drive declines.

## Where do tiger sharks live?
Tiger Sharks live in Tropical and warm-temperate oceans worldwide, Coastal shelves, reefs and open ocean. The tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) is a large generalist predator whose uniquely notched, heavily serrated teeth can cut through sea turtle shell, and which is listed as Near Threatened.

## How long do tiger sharks live?
A precise wild lifespan for tiger sharks is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. The tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) is a large generalist predator whose uniquely notched, heavily serrated teeth can cut through sea turtle shell, and which is listed as Near Threatened. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.

## How big is a tiger shark?
A Tiger Shark is about Typically up to ~5 m. The tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) is a large generalist predator whose uniquely notched, heavily serrated teeth can cut through sea turtle shell, and which is listed as Near Threatened. Conservation status: Fisheries, fin trade, shark control programmes.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/basking-shark): Basking Shark — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is the second-largest fish on Earth at around 10 metres, an entirely harmless filter feeder that strains plankton at the surface, and is listed as Endangered.

## Introduction
The basking shark is the second-largest fish alive, reaching around 10 metres, and it feeds by swimming slowly at the surface with its mouth open, straining plankton through enormous gill rakers. The name comes from that habit — it appears to be basking in the sun.

It is entirely harmless. Its teeth are tiny and unused, and it has no interest in anything larger than a copepod. Despite that, the species was hunted heavily for liver oil and remains Endangered, recovering slowly from a century of exploitation.

## Takeaway
Basking sharks are the second-largest fish, after whale sharks.

## Takeaway
They filter passively, relying on forward motion rather than suction.

## Takeaway
They are completely harmless, with tiny unused teeth.

## Takeaway
Liver oil hunting removed large numbers through the twentieth century.

## Takeaway
They are Endangered and recover slowly, maturing at around 18 years.

## Passive filtering
A basking shark cruises with its mouth wide open, water passing over gill rakers that comb out plankton before it exits through the gill slits. Unlike whale sharks, which can hold station and actively suction, basking sharks rely entirely on forward motion, which is why they are so often seen moving slowly at the surface.

The rakers are shed and regrown, and feeding is seasonal: basking sharks track plankton blooms, appearing predictably in some coastal waters through summer and largely disappearing in winter.

## Where they go in winter
Their winter movements were a long-standing mystery, and it was once proposed that they hibernated on the seabed. Satellite tagging resolved it: basking sharks move to deeper water and continue feeding at depth, and some undertake long migrations, including transatlantic crossings.

This matters for protection, because a species that crosses ocean basins cannot be safeguarded by one country's rules alone.

## A century of liver oil
Basking sharks were hunted intensively for the oil in their enormous livers, used for lamp fuel, lubricants and industrial processes. Fisheries in the north-east Atlantic took very large numbers, and local populations collapsed and in some cases have still not recovered.

Because the species matures at around 18 years and produces few young, recovery is measured in decades. Protection is now widespread across their range, and the species is CITES Appendix II listed.

## Modern pressures
Direct hunting is largely over, but basking sharks are still killed as bycatch in nets, struck by vessels while feeding at the surface, and disturbed at aggregation sites by boat traffic.

Surface feeding is the vulnerability: an animal that spends hours moving slowly just below the waterline is exactly the animal a boat is most likely to hit. Speed restrictions and approach rules at known feeding sites are the practical protection.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education for animals whose recovery depends on decisions taken far from where the public sees them. Basking sharks cross ocean basins, so their protection depends on coordination between countries — and on boat operators observing approach limits at summer feeding sites.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/basking-shark): Basking Shark — wildlife guide.

## Are basking sharks dangerous?
No, not at all. They are filter feeders with tiny, unused teeth that eat plankton. The only realistic risk is accidental contact with a very large animal, which is why approach distances exist at feeding sites.

## How big do basking sharks get?
Around 10 metres, making them the second-largest fish alive after the whale shark. Their mouths can open to roughly a metre wide when feeding.

## Do basking sharks hibernate in winter?
No — that was a long-standing hypothesis, disproved by satellite tagging. They move into deeper water and continue feeding, and some individuals undertake long migrations including transatlantic crossings.

## Why were basking sharks hunted?
For the oil in their very large livers, used as lamp fuel, lubricant and in industrial processes. North-east Atlantic fisheries took large numbers through the twentieth century, and some local populations have still not recovered.

## Are basking sharks endangered?
Yes, the IUCN lists them as Endangered. They mature at around 18 years and produce few young, so recovery from historic hunting is measured in decades, and bycatch and vessel strikes continue to remove animals.

## What do basking sharks eat?
Basking Sharks eat Zooplankton, principally copepods. The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is the second-largest fish on Earth at around 10 metres, an entirely harmless filter feeder that strains plankton at the surface, and is listed as Endangered.

## Where do basking sharks live?
Basking sharks occur in temperate coastal waters worldwide, feeding at the surface in summer off Britain, Ireland and the north-east Atlantic. They were hunted heavily for liver oil through the twentieth century and remain Endangered, recovering slowly from a century of exploitation.

## How long do basking sharks live?
Basking sharks mature at around 18 years according to this guide's quickFacts and stats. That slow life history, combined with passive surface filtering that requires forward motion, means recovery from historic hunting is measured in decades rather than years.


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

## One-line answer
Sawfish are rays with a long tooth-lined rostrum used to sense and strike prey; all five species are threatened and most are Critically Endangered, largely because the rostrum entangles in fishing nets.

## Introduction
Sawfish are rays, not sharks, despite the shark-like body. The defining feature is the rostrum — a long flattened snout lined with tooth-like denticles, used to detect and strike prey. It is both a weapon and a sensory organ, studded with electroreceptors that detect the electrical fields of animals buried in sediment.

That same rostrum is why they are disappearing. It entangles in almost any net, making sawfish exceptionally vulnerable to fisheries even where they are not targeted. All five species are threatened, and sawfish have been lost from a large share of the countries where they once occurred.

## Takeaway
Sawfish are rays, not sharks, despite the elongated body shape.

## Takeaway
The rostrum both detects prey electrically and strikes it.

## Takeaway
The same rostrum entangles in nets, making them exceptionally vulnerable.

## Takeaway
All five species are threatened; most are Critically Endangered.

## Takeaway
They have been lost from a large proportion of their historic range countries.

## The rostrum
A sawfish's saw is an extension of the skull, lined along both edges with modified denticles that are not true teeth and are not replaced if broken. It is covered in ampullae of Lorenzini — the same electroreceptive organs sharks use — allowing the animal to detect prey buried in mud or moving in turbid water.

In use, the sawfish sweeps or slashes the rostrum sideways to stun or impale small fish, then eats them off the seabed. It is one of the few fish structures that serves as both a sensor and a weapon.

## Why nets are so lethal to them
The rostrum snags in gillnets, trawls and almost any mesh a sawfish encounters. Once entangled the animal usually cannot free itself, and fishers frequently cut the rostrum off to recover the net — which is fatal, because the animal can no longer feed.

This makes sawfish vulnerable even in fisheries that have no interest in catching them, and it is the central reason for their collapse. Reducing sawfish mortality is largely about gear, handling training and safe-release protocols rather than about stopping targeted fishing.

## Rivers as well as sea
Several sawfish species move far up rivers, and the largetooth sawfish has been recorded hundreds of kilometres inland in freshwater systems. That habit exposes them to a second set of pressures: river damming, water extraction, habitat modification and inland fisheries.

Mangrove loss compounds it. Juvenile sawfish depend on shallow mangrove nurseries, and mangrove clearance for aquaculture and development removes the habitat the next generation needs.

## A recoverable species, with effort
Sawfish are protected under CITES Appendix I, and international trade in rostra — long sold as curios — is banned. Some populations, notably in northern Australia and parts of Florida, remain viable and are the basis for recovery.

What works is unglamorous: gear modification, trained safe-release, mangrove nursery protection, and paying attention to river systems as well as coasts. The species' extreme vulnerability to nets means small changes in fishing practice produce disproportionate gains.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education for animals whose decline is driven by incidental capture rather than deliberate targeting. Sawfish are the clearest example in the sea: most are killed by fishers who did not want them, which makes gear and handling training the highest-leverage intervention available.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.