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

## One-line answer
Termites are eusocial cockroach relatives (Blattodea: Isoptera) that digest cellulose with symbiotic microbes or cultivated fungus; they build elaborate nests including ventilated mounds, and are ecologically vital decomposers though some species damage wooden buildings.

## Introduction
Termites are eusocial insects once classified as their own order Isoptera but now placed within Blattodea alongside cockroaches. Colonies contain reproductive kings and queens, sterile workers and soldiers, and — in many species — a gut microbiome or cultivated fungus that digests cellulose from wood and plant fibre that most animals cannot use. They are among the dominant decomposers in tropical soils and, when they eat human structures, among the most expensive insect pests on Earth.

People compare them to ants because both live in large colonies, but the resemblance is convergent. Termites are hemimetabolous cockroach relatives; ants are hymenopterans related to bees and wasps. Macrotermes mounds in Africa ventilate through a chimney effect studied by architects as a model for passive cooling. The engineering is real; the 'insect architect' headline is optional.

## Takeaway
Termites are cockroach relatives (Blattodea), not ants — eusociality evolved independently.

## Takeaway
Colonies contain kings, queens, workers and soldiers; reproductives may live many years.

## Takeaway
Most species recycle dead wood and plant fibre in ecosystems; a minority attack buildings.

## Takeaway
Macrotermes and related genera cultivate fungus gardens inside mounds with passive ventilation.

## Takeaway
Ant versus termite identification: termites have straight antennae and a broad waist; ants have elbowed antennae and a narrow waist.

## Takeaway
Control of structural pests should target the colony, not individual insects seen indoors.

## Why termites are not ants
Ants belong to Hymenoptera with elbowed antennae, a constricted waist and complete metamorphosis. Termites have straight bead-like antennae, a broad connection between thorax and abdomen, and gradual moulting without a pupal stage. Winged reproductives shed their wings after mating flights — the discarded wings on windowsills are a common sign of indoor swarmers.

Genetically, termites nest within cockroaches. That reclassification matters for understanding evolution: eusociality — overlapping generations, cooperative brood care and reproductive castes — arose at least twice here independently of ants, bees and wasps. Convergent solutions produced similar mound cities from unrelated starting material.

## Digesting wood — symbionts and fungus gardens
Cellulose and lignin in wood are locked behind bonds most animals cannot break. Lower termites harbour flagellate protists or bacteria in the hindgut that ferment fibre. Macrotermes and related higher termites go further: workers cultivate Termitomyces fungus on chewed plant material inside the nest, and the colony eats the fungus, not the raw cellulose directly.

That division of labour lets termites process enormous volumes of dead wood in tropical forests. Without them, fallen timber would choke ecosystems. The same capacity makes them structural pests when the wood is a house frame rather than a log on the forest floor.


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

## Mounds and passive ventilation
Macrotermes bellicosus mounds in Africa can stand more than 3 m tall — cathedrals of clay and saliva-built material enclosing fungus combs. Internal architecture creates convection: heat and metabolic gases rise through central chimneys, drawing fresh air through peripheral passages. The mound breathes without moving parts.

Architects have studied the geometry for passive cooling in human buildings. The biological point is thermoregulation and gas exchange for a colony of millions consuming fermenting material. Mound shape varies by species and soil — some build epigeal mounds, others nest entirely below ground — but the engineering problem is universal: keep fungus gardens within tolerable temperature and oxygen limits.

## Pest species versus ecological majority
Only a fraction of termite species eat sound dry timber in buildings. Many require damp decaying wood or live entirely in soil and dead logs. Swarming reproductives indoors do not prove an active structural infestation — they may have entered from outside — but persistent mud tubes on foundations or hollow-sounding timbers warrant professional inspection.

Ecologically, termites are keystone decomposers and soil engineers. Their tunnels aerate ground; their processing releases nutrients. Local extinctions are rarely reported because most species are unassessed, but habitat conversion removes the same litter-processing capacity that forests depend on.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free insect education that corrects high-traffic confusion — termite versus ant is among the most economically consequential misidentifications in temperate housing markets, and the ecological story is separate from the pest-control story.

## 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/termite): Termite — wildlife guide.

## What do termites eat?
Termites eat cellulose from wood, leaf litter, grass and other plant material, digested with gut symbionts or cultivated fungus depending on the species. Pest species consume timber in buildings; most wild species recycle dead wood in ecosystems.

## Where do termites live?
Mainly tropical and subtropical regions, in soil, dead wood, mounds or arboreal nests. Some species extend into temperate zones. Colonies may contain thousands to millions of individuals in interconnected tunnels and chambers.

## Are termites dangerous to humans?
Termites do not sting or bite people in any medically significant way. The harm they cause is economic — structural damage to wooden buildings — not venom. Soldier mandibles can pinch if handled.

## How long do termites live?
Workers and soldiers live one to several years in many species. Queens of some species may live decades, producing eggs continuously. Exact figures vary by species and are documented mainly for pest species.

## How big are termites?
Workers are typically a few millimetres long — soft-bodied and pale. Soldiers may have enlarged heads and jaws. Winged reproductives are larger and dark; kings and queens grow substantially in long-established colonies.

## How do termites differ from ants?
Termites have straight antennae and a broad waist; ants have elbowed antennae and a pinched waist. Termites are cockroach relatives; ants are related to bees and wasps. Winged termites shed wings after swarming.


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

## One-line answer
A locust is a grasshopper (family Acrididae) in its gregarious phase — triggered by crowding, it changes colour, shape and behaviour and forms swarms; the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) can devastate crops across Africa, the Middle East and southern Asia.

## Introduction
A locust is not a separate kind of insect from a grasshopper. It is the same animal in a different phase. Many grasshopper species in the family Acrididae can switch between a solitary phase — cryptic green or brown, dispersed, relatively inactive — and a gregarious phase triggered by crowding. In that phase the colour, body shape, behaviour and metabolism change together, and the insects march or fly in vast swarms that can strip landscapes bare.

The desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria, is the species behind most historic plague headlines. Its gregarious phase can form swarms of billions covering hundreds of square kilometres, crossing continents on wind. The mechanism is phenotypic plasticity: one genome, two bodies, selected by tactile stimulation from other locusts' hind legs. It is among the clearest demonstrations in insects that environment can rewrite form without changing DNA.

## Takeaway
Locusts are grasshoppers in a gregarious phase — not a separate taxonomic group.

## Takeaway
Crowding — especially tactile stimulation from other locusts — triggers the phase change.

## Takeaway
Gregarious locusts differ in colour, body proportions, activity and tendency to swarm.

## Takeaway
The desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) is the species behind most transcontinental plague events.

## Takeaway
Swarms can travel with wind and cross borders; control requires international coordination.

## Takeaway
Solitary-phase locusts look and behave like ordinary grasshoppers and are easily overlooked.

## One species, two bodies — phenotypic plasticity
Solitary-phase Schistocerca gregaria is green or brown, avoids other locusts, and moves relatively little. Raise density in a laboratory or field cage until individuals touch repeatedly, and within hours to days the offspring and sometimes the adults shift toward gregarious traits: stronger yellow and black colouration, longer wings relative to body, higher activity and attraction to others of the same species.

The switch involves serotonin signalling in the central nervous system — a neurochemical cascade linking touch stimulus to behavioural and developmental change. Reverse the crowding and successive moults can move the population back toward solitary form. One genome produces two ecologically different animals depending on population density.

## Swarms, migration and crop damage
Gregarious desert locusts form bands on the ground that march in the same direction, then take wing as adults in swarms that follow wind and vegetation flushes. A single swarm can contain billions of insects and consume its own weight in green vegetation daily — a figure often quoted in plague reporting and one that scales terrifyingly with swarm mass even when the per-insect rate is ordinary for a large herbivorous insect.

Breeding areas span roughly 16 million square kilometres across more than 60 countries from West Africa to India. Drought followed by rainfall can trigger simultaneous hatching and crowding, initiating a plague cycle that may persist for years if control and weather align against it. Crop loss hits subsistence farmers first; international monitoring through the Food and Agriculture Organization coordinates survey and treatment.


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

## Why ordinary grasshopper control is not locust control
Spraying a garden grasshopper does not address a transcontinental plague species. Locust management relies on early detection of gregarious bands in remote breeding areas, targeted application of approved pesticides or biological agents such as Metarhizium fungus, and cross-border reporting obligations under international agreements.

Confusing a solitary locust-capable grasshopper with a non-swarming species is harmless; confusing a forming band with ordinary hopper density is not. The phase change is the diagnostic: gregarious nymphs march together in coordinated bands rather than dispersing. That behaviour is visible from the ground and in satellite-assisted survey programmes.

## Climate, conflict and the next outbreak
Locust plagues correlate with weather patterns that produce green vegetation in normally dry breeding belts — often after drought breaks. War and inaccessible territory complicate survey: undetected bands in Yemen or the Sahel can seed swarms that reach other countries before control begins.

Schistocerca gregaria is not Red-Listed as a species because it is abundant by definition during outbreaks. The human problem is agricultural and economic, not extinction risk. Other locust species — Australian plague locust, migratory locust in Asia — follow similar phase logic on regional scales.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free insect education that explains mechanisms, not just headlines. Locust plagues are a phase-change story — understanding crowding and phenotypic plasticity is what separates informed reporting from plague panic.

## 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/locust): Locust — wildlife guide.

## What do locusts eat?
Locusts eat green vegetation — leaves, stems, shoots and crops. Gregarious desert locust swarms consume enormous quantities of plant biomass daily; a swarm's total intake scales with its mass and can devastate fields and pasture.

## Where do locusts live?
Locust-capable grasshopper species occur on every inhabited continent. The desert locust breeds in arid and semi-arid belts from West Africa through the Middle East to India, with swarms travelling far beyond breeding areas on wind.

## Are locusts dangerous to humans?
Locusts do not bite or sting people in any serious way. The danger is agricultural — crop and pasture loss — and the economic harm that follows, particularly where subsistence farming has no buffer.

## How long do locusts live?
Individual desert locusts live a few months from egg to adult death, with timing driven by temperature and food. Plague cycles persist across years through successive generations, not through long-lived individuals.

## How big are locusts?
Desert locust adults are roughly 6–9 cm long with wings folded. Gregarious-phase individuals may differ in proportions from solitary-phase ones — longer wings and different colouration are part of the phase change.

## What is the difference between a locust and a grasshopper?
A locust is a grasshopper species capable of switching into a gregarious phase when crowded. Not all grasshoppers are locusts — only those with the genetic capacity for phase change. In solitary phase they resemble ordinary grasshoppers.


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

## One-line answer
Slugs are shell-reduced gastropod molluscs — relatives of snails that move on a muscular foot and rasp food with a radula; shell loss evolved independently in many lineages, and common garden slugs are among the invertebrates gardeners query most.

## Introduction
Slugs are gastropod molluscs — the same phylum as snails and octopuses — that have reduced or internalised the external shell their relatives carry. Shell loss has evolved many times in separate lineages, which means 'slug' describes a body form, not a single branch of the tree of life. A slug moves on a muscular foot, secretes mucus for locomotion and moisture retention, and feeds with a radula of chitinous teeth rasping plant material, fungi or decay.

Gardeners search for slugs because they eat seedlings and hostas; ecologists note them because they recycle dead matter and because invasive slug species have spread with horticultural trade. The biological story parallel to the pest story is the snail relationship: slugs are what happens when a lineage finds it cheaper to drop the shell than to maintain it. WARN's snail guide covers the shelled side of the same gastropod divide.

## Takeaway
Slugs are gastropods — the same phylum as snails; slugs are not a single evolutionary group.

## Takeaway
Shell reduction or internalisation evolved independently in multiple snail lineages.

## Takeaway
Most slugs are hermaphrodites; mating often involves elaborate courtship and sometimes apophallation in leopard slugs.

## Takeaway
They need moisture and are most active at night or in damp weather.

## Takeaway
Metaldehyde slug pellets poison predators such as hedgehogs and birds; barriers and hand collection are safer controls.

## Takeaway
See WARN's snail guide for the shelled gastropod side of the same confusion pair.

## How a slug relates to a snail
A snail carries a coiled calcium-carbonate shell secreted by the mantle; a slug either lacks an external shell entirely or retains a small internal plate — a vestige visible only on dissection in some species. Both share the gastropod body plan: head with tentacles (eyes on the upper pair in land slugs), mantle cavity modified for air breathing in terrestrial forms, and a single muscular foot.

Because shell loss arose separately in pulmonate snails, sea-slug relatives and other groups, two slugs may be less closely related to each other than either is to a shelled snail nearby. 'Slug' is a lifestyle label. The snail guide on this site covers the shelled majority and the extinction crisis among island land snails; this page covers the shell-free forms people meet in gardens.

## Mucus, movement and the moisture constraint
Land slugs die by desiccation. Mucus serves as lubricant for movement, glue for climbing, and a barrier against water loss. The cost is visibility — slime trails advertise presence to predators and gardeners alike. Slugs are crepuscular or nocturnal in dry climates, hiding under stones, logs and mulch by day.

Movement uses muscular waves passing along the foot, the same mechanism as snails. Some species can descend on a mucus thread. Speed is not impressive, but the ability to traverse razor edges and vertical glass with mucus adhesion is.


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

## Garden pests, invasive species and control
The grey field slug and Spanish slug complex in Europe, the leopard slug in many temperate gardens, and introduced species worldwide damage soft plant tissue and seedlings. Invasive slugs displace natives and spread with potted plants and compost.

Control methods that avoid poisoning the wider food web work best: evening hand collection, copper or abrasive barriers, encouraging predators (ground beetles, hedgehogs, birds), and reducing daytime refuges. Metaldehyde pellets are being withdrawn or restricted in several countries because poisoned slugs kill the animals that eat them. Ferrous phosphate baits are lower risk to vertebrates.

## Reproduction without shells
Most land slugs are simultaneous hermaphrodites. Mating can be elaborate — leopard slugs perform aerial copulation on mucus threads — and some species practice apophallation, chewing off a partner's penis after mating, which has driven counter-adaptations in anatomy. Eggs are laid in damp soil or crevices in clusters resembling small pearls.

Without a shell, slugs cannot seal themselves into drought dormancy the way snails do with an epiphragm. They rely on refuges and behaviour instead. That constraint shapes where they can live and how hard winter and dry summer hit populations.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free mollusc education for the species people actually encounter in gardens. Slugs and snails share a phylum but divergent body plans; naming that relationship correctly stops gardeners treating them as unrelated nuisances and points control away from poison that kills hedgehogs.

## 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/slug): Slug — wildlife guide.

## What do slugs eat?
Most slugs eat living and decaying plant material — leaves, seedlings, fruit, fungi and detritus. Some species are specialised fungivores or carnivores; garden slugs damage soft plant tissue and are among the commonest horticultural pests.

## Where do slugs live?
Damp habitats worldwide — gardens, woodlands, grassland and compost heaps. They hide under stones, logs, mulch and pots by day and emerge at night or in wet weather. Moisture is the limiting factor.

## Are slugs dangerous to humans?
Slugs are not venomous and do not bite people meaningfully. Some carry parasites in their mucus — notably rat lungworm in parts of the tropics — so washing produce and hands after garden contact is sensible. Angiostrongylus risk varies by region.

## How long do slugs live?
Many garden slugs live one to two years. Larger species may live longer; exact longevity varies by species and climate. Most of the year is spent as an adult only briefly.

## How big do slugs get?
Common garden slugs are a few centimetres long when extended. The leopard slug (Limax maximus) can exceed 15 cm; tropical species can be larger. Extended length includes the flexible body, not a rigid skeleton.

## What is the difference between a slug and a snail?
Both are gastropod molluscs. Snails carry an external coiled shell; slugs have reduced or internal shells. Slugs evolved from shelled ancestors multiple times independently — see WARN's snail guide for the shelled side.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/glow-worm): Glow-worm — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
Glow-worm is not one animal: in Britain and Europe it usually means the beetle Lampyris noctiluca, whose larviform female glows green to attract mates; in New Zealand it means the fungus gnat Arachnocampa luminosa, whose larvae glow in caves to lure prey into silk traps.

## Introduction
Glow-worm is a shared English name for bioluminescent animals that are not worms at all. In Britain and much of Europe the glow-worm is Lampyris noctiluca, a beetle in which the wingless female resembles a larva and glows green from her abdomen to attract flying males. In New Zealand the name goes to Arachnocampa luminosa, a fungus gnat whose predatory larvae live in caves and ravines, producing blue-green light to lure insects into sticky silk snares.

Two unrelated lineages, one colloquial label. Both use light for reproduction or feeding, but the mechanism, habitat and life cycle differ completely. A guide that treats 'glow-worm' as one species will answer the wrong question for half its readers. The correction is taxonomic before it is ecological.

## Takeaway
Glow-worm is a common name applied to unrelated bioluminescent animals, not a single species.

## Takeaway
European Lampyris noctiluca is a firefly beetle; the glowing adult female is wingless and larva-like.

## Takeaway
New Zealand Arachnocampa luminosa is a fungus gnat; only the larva glows, hanging silk snares in caves.

## Takeaway
European males fly and are not luminous; they find females by the green glow on grassland banks.

## Takeaway
Both use bioluminescence but for different purposes — mating signal versus prey attraction.

## Takeaway
European glow-worms have declined in parts of Britain, linked to habitat loss and light pollution.

## Britain and Europe: the beetle that is not a worm
Lampyris noctiluca belongs to Coleoptera, the beetles, in the family Lampyridae — the same broad group as fireflies, though European glow-worms behave differently from the flashing American fireflies most people picture. The larva is a predatory grub feeding on snails and slugs. The adult female retains a larval appearance — soft wingless body — and climbs vegetation at night to glow continuously from the last abdominal segments.

Flying males, smaller and winged, locate her by that green light. After mating she extinguishes the lantern and lays eggs. Adult females do not feed; the glow is pure reproductive advertising. Grassland banks, hedgerows and railway embankments with snail populations are traditional sites; loss of rough grassland and artificial light at night are among the pressures cited in British decline reports.

## New Zealand: the cave larva fishing with silk
Arachnocampa luminosa is a dipteran — a true fly in the family Keroplatidae. Only the larva bioluminesces. It builds mucus tubes on cave ceilings or overhangs in ravines, then dangles sticky silk threads tipped with mucus droplets. Insects attracted to the blue-green glow become entangled; the larva reels them in.

Tourism to glow-worm caves — Waitomo is the famous example — depends on these larvae. Disturbance, light pollution and habitat change affect populations locally. The life cycle is fly-like: larva, pupa, short-lived adult gnat that does not glow. Calling it a worm misleads on every count except shape in the dark.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/glow-worm): Glow-worm — wildlife guide.

## Bioluminescence — same word, different chemistry and purpose
Both animals produce cold light through luciferin-luciferase reactions, but the evolutionary origins of their systems differ because beetles and flies are not close relatives. In Lampyris the light is a mate beacon — maximal at female peak fertility. In Arachnocampa it is a trap lure — maximal where flying insects are dense.

Light pollution interferes with the beetle's signal more than with the cave fly's, because cave systems are dark by definition while European grasslands are increasingly lit. That asymmetry shapes conservation advice: reduce unnecessary outdoor lighting near known glow-worm banks; protect cave access regimes that limit vibration and torch glare.

## Why one name covers two animals
English colloquial names often track appearance over ancestry. A elongated glowing creature in grass and a dangling glowing thread in a cave both earned 'worm' before children learned phyla. Disambiguation is now a search-engine problem: queries from Britain and New Zealand return the same headword for different animals.

This page treats both because that is what the name requires. If you are on a chalk bank in Sussex on a June night, you want Lampyris. If you are in a Waitomo boat, you want Arachnocampa. Neither is a worm.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free invertebrate education that disambiguates shared common names before answering biology questions. Glow-worm is a high-traffic example of one English word mapping to two unrelated animals — answering without naming which one fails half the readers.

## 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/glow-worm): Glow-worm — wildlife guide.

## What do glow-worms eat?
European glow-worm larvae (and larviform adult females do not feed as adults) eat snails and slugs as predatory beetle grubs. New Zealand glow-worm larvae eat small insects caught on sticky silk threads, lured by the larva's bioluminescence.

## Where do glow-worms live?
European Lampyris noctiluca lives on grassland banks, hedgerows and rough pasture in Britain and Europe. New Zealand Arachnocampa luminosa larvae live in damp caves, tunnels and forest ravines, especially on the North Island.

## Are glow-worms dangerous?
Neither animal poses any meaningful risk to humans. European larvae may bite small prey; New Zealand larvae are tiny and confined to caves and overhangs. Tourism access rules protect cave populations from disturbance.

## How long do glow-worms live?
European glow-worm larvae live one to two years before pupating; adult females glow for a few weeks to attract mates. New Zealand larvae live roughly nine months before pupating; adult fungus gnats are short-lived and do not feed.

## How big are glow-worms?
European adult females reach roughly 15–20 mm — larva-like and wingless. New Zealand larvae are a few centimetres long when mature, including the silk fishing lines that extend further into the cave darkness.

## Why are there two different glow-worms?
English reuses names across unrelated animals. Britain's glow-worm is a beetle; New Zealand's is a fungus gnat larva. Both glow, but they are not closely related and should not be treated as one species in reference material.


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

## One-line answer
The silkworm (Bombyx mori) is the domesticated larva of a flightless silk moth bred for millennia in sericulture; it eats mulberry leaves, spins a silk cocoon, and cannot survive without human husbandry — one of only two fully domesticated insects alongside the honey bee.

## Introduction
The silkworm is the larva of Bombyx mori, a moth domesticated in China thousands of years ago for silk production. Adults have reduced mouthparts and do not feed; wings are vestigial and bodies too heavy for flight. The caterpillar eats mulberry leaves almost exclusively, spins a continuous silk fibre to form a cocoon, and is killed in most sericulture lines before emerging so the filament stays intact.

Bombyx mori cannot survive in the wild. It has lost the camouflage, behaviour and genetic diversity needed to evade predators and find food without people planting mulberry and tending trays. Alongside the honey bee, it is one of the two insects fully domesticated — bred for a human product across so many generations that the wild type is a different species, Bombyx mandarina. WARN's honey bee guide covers the other domesticated insect at equivalent depth.

## Takeaway
Bombyx mori is a domesticated moth — the silkworm is its larval stage.

## Takeaway
Adults cannot feed effectively and do not fly; the species depends on humans for mulberry and protection.

## Takeaway
One cocoon yields a single continuous silk filament up to about a kilometre long.

## Takeaway
Wild ancestor Bombyx mandarina still occurs in China; domesticated lines are genetically distinct.

## Takeaway
Most commercial cocoons are stifled before the moth emerges to preserve filament continuity.

## Takeaway
Sericulture welfare — killing pupae for silk — is a legitimate ethical topic alongside honey bee management.

## Domestication and what was lost
Selection over thousands of years enlarged the silk gland, accelerated cocoon spinning, and reduced the adult to a brief egg-laying stage. Bombyx mori larvae are sluggish, pale and dependent on mulberry (Morus) leaves provided by growers. Adults emerge with degenerate mouthparts, mate quickly, and die within days.

They lack fear responses and predator avoidance adequate for wild survival. Releases do not establish feral populations except where they can interbreed with wild Bombyx mandarina — a concern for genetic integrity of the ancestor. The domesticated insect is a livestock product, not a biodiversity asset in the conservation sense.

## From mulberry leaf to silk thread
A larva moults four times through five instars, eating continuously. In the final instar it spins a cocoon from a single fibre extruded through spinnerets — a pair of modified salivary glands secreting fibroin coated in sericin. The fibre is pulled off the cocoon in reeling baths for commercial silk, or brushed off for spun silk from shorter fragments.

Quality depends on leaf diet, temperature and humidity control in rearing houses. China and India dominate production; Brazil and other countries also farm at scale. Silk is protein fibre, biodegradable and long-lasting — properties that kept sericulture economically relevant long after synthetic polymers arrived.


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

## Ethics, welfare and alternatives
Conventional sericulture kills pupae inside cocoons — by heat or steam — before the moth cuts the filament emerging. Ahimsa or peace silk allows adult emergence but produces shorter, tangled fibre. Animal welfare debates treat silkworms as sentient enough to matter in ethical silk marketing; scientific consensus on insect pain is still evolving, but the economic default remains stifling.

Research into recombinant spider silk in bacteria and yeast aims to bypass silkworms entirely. Until that scales, silk remains an insect agriculture product with the same husbandry and welfare questions as honey production — different animal, same domestication logic.

## The honey bee parallel
Honey bees were domesticated for honey and pollination services; silkworms for fibre. Both are insects whose wild-type ecology has been replaced by human-managed lifecycles. Conservation messaging that lumps all insects together misses that distinction — Bombyx mori is not declining in the wild because it does not exist in the wild as a self-sustaining population.

Readers comparing domesticated silkworms to threatened wild Lepidoptera should separate sericulture from butterfly conservation. Planting mulberry for silk is agriculture; planting native host plants for endangered swallowtails is ecology.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free education that separates domesticated livestock insects from wild pollinator decline. Silkworms and honey bees share full domestication; conflating them with threatened wild insects distorts both sericulture ethics and conservation priorities.

## 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/silkworm): Silkworm — wildlife guide.

## What do silkworms eat?
Silkworm larvae eat mulberry leaves (Morus species) almost exclusively in commercial sericulture. Other Moraceae are sometimes used experimentally, but Bombyx mori is a mulberry specialist after millennia of domestication.

## Where do silkworms live?
Only in human-managed sericulture — rearing trays and controlled rooms in producing countries such as China, India and Brazil. They do not occur as self-sustaining wild populations.

## Are silkworms dangerous?
No. They are slow, defenceless larvae reared in captivity. Adult moths do not bite or sting. Allergies to silk dust or scale can affect workers in processing facilities.

## How long do silkworms live?
The larval stage lasts roughly 25–30 days under typical rearing temperatures. Pupation inside the cocoon lasts about two weeks before emergence unless the cocoon is stifled. Adult moths live only a few days.

## How big are silkworms?
Final-instar larvae reach roughly 7–9 cm long and several grams in weight — much larger than wild Bombyx mandarina larvae because domestication selected for silk gland size.

## How is a silkworm different from a honey bee?
Both are fully domesticated insects. Silkworms are moth larvae farmed for silk fibre; honey bees are social bees farmed for honey and pollination. See WARN's honey bee guide for the bee side of that pair.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/sea-urchin): Sea Urchin — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
Sea urchins (class Echinoidea) are spiny echinoderms that graze algae on rocky seabeds worldwide; some species such as the red sea urchin live more than 100 years with little measurable senescence, while others drive kelp forest loss when predators are removed.

## Introduction
Sea urchins are echinoderms — relatives of starfish and sea cucumbers — with a rigid calcite test covered in movable spines and, on the underside, a five-part jaw apparatus called Aristotle's lantern for scraping algae and encrusting organisms off rock. They shape entire coastlines: dense urchin barrens where kelp has been overgrazed are a familiar Pacific pattern when predator removal lets urchins multiply unchecked.

Some species also challenge the assumption that animals must senesce. The red sea urchin Strongylocentrotus franciscanus off North America's Pacific coast has been aged by size and tagging studies at more than 100 years, with negligible signs of age-related decline in reproduction — a pattern that earns it a place on lists of exceptionally long-lived animals including WARN's longest-living animals collection at /wildlife-guides/lists/longest-living-animals/. Not every urchin lives centuries; many smaller species have far shorter lives. The class spans both extremes.

## Takeaway
Sea urchins are echinoderms with a calcite test, spines and a five-part grazing jaw.

## Takeaway
They control algae on reefs; unchecked populations can create urchin barrens devoid of kelp.

## Takeaway
The red sea urchin Strongylocentrotus franciscanus can live more than 100 years in the wild.

## Takeaway
Some species show negligible senescence — fertility may not decline with age as expected.

## Takeaway
Sea urchin roe (uni) is commercially harvested; overfishing has depleted regional stocks.

## Takeaway
See WARN's longest-living animals list for red sea urchin among other age-defying species.

## Anatomy of a spiny grazer
The test is a rigid skeleton of calcite plates arranged in five-fold symmetry — the echinoderm trademark. Spines articulate in sockets and are used for locomotion, defence and wedging into crevices. Tube feet on the underside, powered by a water vascular system, grip substrate and manipulate food toward the mouth.

Aristotle's lantern — five calcareous teeth meeting at a point — scrapes algae, sponges and encrusting organisms from rock. Purple sea urchins in kelp forests can consume substantial biomass daily, and when sea otters or lobsters that prey on them are removed, urchin numbers explode and kelp disappears. The ecology is predator-mediated, not intrinsic villainy.

## Long life and negligible senescence
Age research on Strongylocentrotus franciscanus used size-at-age relationships, tag-recapture and radiocarbon dating of spine material. Individuals exceeding 100 years have been reported, with reproductive capacity persisting at ages that would finish most vertebrates. That places red sea urchins among the animals discussed in longevity comparisons alongside bowhead whales and Greenland sharks — see /wildlife-guides/lists/longest-living-animals/ for the wider context.

Mechanisms are still studied: telomere dynamics, maintenance of somatic tissues and low predation risk at large size may all contribute. Smaller tropical urchins may live only a few years. 'Sea urchin' covers both mayflies-by-comparison and centenarians.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/sea-urchin): Sea Urchin — wildlife guide.

## Fisheries, roe and population collapse
Sea urchin gonads — uni in Japanese cuisine — support fisheries in Chile, Japan, California and elsewhere. When harvest removes urchins faster than recruitment, kelp may recover — a rare case where fishing reduces grazing pressure — but the economic cycle of boom and bust has depleted several regional stocks.

Climate change adds heat stress and ocean acidification, which weakens calcite skeletons in echinoderms generally. Urchins sit at the intersection of food web ecology, commercial harvest and changing chemistry. Species-level status varies; few have global Red List assessments despite local collapses.

## Urchin barrens versus healthy kelp forests
A kelp forest with moderate urchin grazing stays balanced when predators such as sea otters, wolf eels and large crabs control urchin density. Remove those predators — historically through fur trade otter extirpation, modern fishing pressure — and urchins emerge from crevices to mow kelp stems. The resulting barren is stable until something resets the system.

Restoration often targets predator recovery or manual urchin removal rather than chemical control. Understanding sea urchins as herbivores in a food web — not as spiky decorations — is prerequisite for coastal conservation on both Pacific and Atlantic shores.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free marine invertebrate education linking ecology to fisheries and longevity research. Sea urchins sit in kelp forest food webs and on lists of negligibly senescent animals — two stories that share a taxonomic class but not the same headline.

## 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/sea-urchin): Sea Urchin — wildlife guide.

## What do sea urchins eat?
Most sea urchins eat algae scraped from rock with Aristotle's lantern — their five-part jaw. Some species also consume seagrass, sponges or detritus. Kelp forest urchins can remove substantial kelp biomass when predator numbers are low.

## Where do sea urchins live?
All oceans from shallow intertidal zones to deep sea. They attach to or shelter in rocky reefs, kelp holdfasts, seagrass beds and coral rubble. Spines and tube feet allow grip on hard surfaces in wave-exposed coasts.

## Are sea urchins dangerous to humans?
Spines can puncture skin and break off, causing pain and possible infection if not treated. Venomous species exist in some regions, but most shallow temperate urchins injure through mechanical spine wounds, not systemic envenomation.

## How long do sea urchins live?
Highly variable. The red sea urchin Strongylocentrotus franciscanus has been documented at more than 100 years. Many smaller species live only a few years. Longevity correlates with species, size and predation regime.

## How big do sea urchins get?
Test diameter ranges from a few centimetres in small species to more than 30 cm in large red sea urchins. Spine length adds considerably to apparent size; the edible gonad is inside the test.

## Why are sea urchins on longest-living animal lists?
Some species, notably the red sea urchin, show negligible senescence — they continue reproducing without clear age-related decline across century-scale lifespans documented in field studies. WARN's longest-living animals list includes them alongside other exceptional cases.


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

## One-line answer
The chambered nautilus (Nautilus pompilius) is a nocturnal Indo-Pacific cephalopod with an external coiled shell and pinhole eyes; it adjusts buoyancy with gas-filled chambers, is listed Vulnerable due to shell trade and slow reproduction, and represents an ancient nautiloid lineage.

## Introduction
Nautiluses are cephalopods that retained an external coiled shell while octopuses and squids lost theirs. The chambered nautilus Nautilus pompilius fills the shell with gas-filled chambers to control buoyancy, swimming by jet propulsion and adjusting depth like a submarine. Eyes are pinholes without a lens — functional but coarse compared with the camera eyes of other cephalopods.

The lineage extends back hundreds of millions of years; nautiloids dominated Palaeozoic seas long before ammonites appeared. Today's survivors are slow breeders — females lay few eggs over years — and that makes them vulnerable to shell collection for the curio and jewellery trade. Nautilus pompilius is listed Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and several countries restrict harvest and export.

## Takeaway
Nautiluses are cephalopods with external coiled shells — the only living group to retain one.

## Takeaway
Nautilus pompilius is listed Vulnerable, threatened by shell collection and slow life history.

## Takeaway
Eyes are pinholes without lenses — adequate for low light but not comparable to octopus vision.

## Takeaway
Buoyancy is controlled by gas and fluid in shell chambers connected to the living chamber.

## Takeaway
They are nocturnal scavengers on deep reef slopes, rising toward shallower water at night.

## Takeaway
CITES Appendix II listing restricts international trade in nautilus shells.

## Shell, chambers and buoyancy
The nautilus shell is a logarithmic spiral divided by septa into chambers. The animal occupies only the outermost chamber; earlier chambers are sealed and filled with gas and fluid regulated through a siphuncle tube. Adding gas or removing liquid changes buoyancy without constant swimming effort — a solution octopuses abandoned when they internalised or lost the shell entirely.

The shell is also armour. Predators include sharks and large fish; the hard exterior survives attacks that would finish a soft-bodied octopus. Trade demand for that same shell is now the primary human threat.

## Pinhole eyes in a cephalopod class built for vision
Octopuses and cuttlefish evolved camera eyes with lenses capable of forming sharp images. Nautiluses did not. Their eye is a simple pinhole aperture — no lens, no cornea — producing a fuzzy image adequate for detecting contrast and movement in dim reef light at depth.

Because they are nocturnal scavengers rather than diurnal hunters of fast prey, that may be sufficient. It is also a window into deep time: nautiloid eyes represent an earlier stage before cephalopod vision escalated. Living nautiluses are not primitive — they are successful survivors — but they carry ancestral traits side by side with modern ones.

## Slow life history meets shell trade
Nautiluses mature late and lay few eggs — often a dozen or fewer per year in some species, attached to hard substrate in deep water. Population recovery from fishing is slow. Harvest for shells — whole specimens for the curio trade, polished sections for jewellery — removes breeding adults directly.

IUCN assessed Nautilus pompilius as Vulnerable in 2018, citing trade-driven declines in the Philippines and other range states. CITES Appendix II regulates international export. Enforcement and bycatch in deep reef fisheries remain ongoing problems. A shell on a shelf is often a removed adult that will not be replaced quickly.


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

## Ancient lineage, modern ocean
Nautiloids appear in the fossil record roughly 500 million years ago and were major predators of Palaeozoic seas. Ammonites — extinct relatives with more elaborate sutures — dominated the Mesozoic until the end-Cretaceous extinction. Nautilus is the familiar living remnant of that radiation, not an ammonite itself but a cousin that persisted.

Deep slopes and night feeding kept nautiluses off many human radars until scuba and trade demand exposed them. Climate change and ocean acidification may weaken shell formation over time, stacking pressure on a group already hit by direct harvest.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free marine species education for animals traded as souvenirs without buyers understanding life history. Nautilus shells in shops represent slow-reproducing adults removed from reef slopes — the Vulnerable listing is a direct response to that market.

## 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/nautilus): Nautilus — wildlife guide.

## What do nautiluses eat?
Nautiluses are scavengers and opportunistic predators, eating crustacean moult remains, carrion and small live prey such as crabs and fish at night on reef slopes. They use tentacles — up to 90 without suckers — to deliver food to the beak.

## Where do nautiluses live?
Indo-Pacific coral reef slopes and deep reef habitats, typically from about 100 m to 500 m by day, rising to shallower water at night. Nautilus pompilius occurs from the Philippines and Indonesia to Papua New Guinea, Australia and nearby waters.

## Are nautiluses dangerous to humans?
No. They are slow, nocturnal and not aggressive toward divers. The beak can bite if handled, but they are not venomous and pose no meaningful risk in ordinary encounters.

## How long do nautiluses live?
Estimates often cite 15–20 years or more, but precise longevity in the wild is poorly documented because of depth and tagging difficulty. Slow maturity and low fecundity make population recovery slow regardless of exact lifespan.

## How big do nautiluses get?
Nautilus pompilius shells commonly reach roughly 20–25 cm in diameter in large adults. The soft body occupies only the outer chamber; most of the visible shell is empty buoyancy space.

## Are nautiluses endangered?
Nautilus pompilius is listed Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, primarily due to overcollection for the shell trade. CITES Appendix II restricts international trade. Status varies among the six living nautilus species.


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

## One-line answer
The numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) is a diurnal marsupial of south-western Australia that eats almost exclusively termites using a long sticky tongue; after falling to roughly 300 animals in the 1970s, recovery efforts have raised numbers to an estimated 2,000–3,000 and the IUCN downlisted it to Near Threatened in 2026.

## Introduction
The numbat is the only marsupial that feeds almost exclusively on termites, and one of the very few mammals active by day rather than night. It is a small, striped dasyuromorph — not an anteater despite the old name 'banded anteater' — with a long sticky tongue, a sensitive pointed snout and claws built for scratching open shallow termite galleries in soil and rotting wood.

By the late 1970s the numbat had collapsed to around 300 individuals, confined to a handful of remnant eucalypt woodlands in south-western Australia after foxes, cats, habitat loss and changed fire regimes removed it from most of its former range across southern Australia. Decades of predator control, fenced sanctuaries, captive breeding at Perth Zoo and translocations have raised the population to an estimated 2,000–3,000 mature animals — enough for the IUCN to downlist the species from Endangered to Near Threatened in July 2026. That improvement is real, but numbats still occupy a tiny fraction of their historical range and depend on ongoing fox and cat management.

## Takeaway
The numbat is the sole living member of the family Myrmecobiidae and one of the few strictly diurnal marsupials.

## Takeaway
Its diet is almost entirely termites — up to roughly 20,000 per day — extracted from shallow galleries with a sticky tongue up to about 10 cm long.

## Takeaway
Foxes and feral cats drove the collapse; predator baiting, fencing and translocations underpin the recovery.

## Takeaway
The IUCN downlisted the numbat from Endangered to Near Threatened in July 2026, with an estimated 2,000–3,000 mature individuals.

## Takeaway
Numbats remain listed as Endangered under Australia's federal EPBC Act despite the global downlisting.

## Takeaway
Western Australia declared the numbat its mammal emblem in 1973.

## Takeaway
Activity follows termite availability in the upper soil layers, which warm through the day.


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

## A marsupial built around termites
Most insect-eating mammals take a broad menu. The numbat does not. Field studies and dietary analyses show a diet consisting almost exclusively of termites, with the occasional ant swallowed by accident while foraging. That specialisation shapes everything about the animal: the elongated snout for probing galleries, the reduced peg-like teeth that do not chew prey, the enlarged salivary glands that produce sticky saliva, and the sharp foreclaws for shallow excavations in soil and rotting logs.

Numbats locate termites by scent and vibration, then lap them up with a vermiform tongue that can extend well beyond the snout. Daily intake is enormous relative to body size — commonly quoted figures range from about 15,000 to 20,000 termites per day, roughly 10% of an adult's body weight. Because termites retreat deeper when the surface cools, numbats are diurnal: they forage when termites move into shallow tunnels and chambers warmed by the sun. That schedule is the opposite of most marsupial predators and is dictated entirely by prey biology — the WARN termite guide covers the insects that define this animal's existence.

## From near extinction to a cautious recovery
At European settlement the numbat ranged across much of southern Australia. Introduced red foxes and feral cats, together with land clearing and altered fire regimes, removed it from almost everywhere. By the late 1970s only around 300 individuals survived in remnant eucalypt woodland in Western Australia — among the lowest points for any Australian mammal.

Research in the 1980s identified predation as the primary driver and led to a recovery plan in 1994. Western Australia's government, Perth Zoo, Australian Wildlife Conservancy and community volunteers combined fox and cat control, predator-proof fencing, captive breeding and translocations. Several self-sustaining populations now exist beyond the original range fragments. The IUCN's July 2026 assessment estimated 2,000–3,000 mature individuals and moved the species to Near Threatened — a milestone, not a finish line. Numbats still occupy about 0.04% of their original range, and feral predators remain on the landscape throughout.

## Why diurnal life suits a termite specialist
Termites thermoregulate within their mounds and galleries. As the upper soil warms through the morning, worker termites move into shallow tunnels where numbats can reach them. By late afternoon the surface cools and termites retreat; numbats return to hollow logs or burrows to sleep. In winter the active window narrows to a mid-morning to mid-afternoon peak when soil temperatures suit both termites and foragers.

The numbat's bold black-and-white rump stripes and dark eye stripe break up its outline against bark and litter — useful for an animal that must feed in open woodland rather than hunt from cover like a nocturnal dasyurid. Females lack a permanent pouch; instead the belly folds into a shallow depression where young attach to a teat for much of their development, then ride on the mother's back before independence at about a year old.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education for threatened Australian mammals whose recovery depends on predator control the public rarely sees. The numbat's downlisting only holds if fox and cat management continues — accurate guides keep that requirement visible.

## 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/numbat): Numbat — wildlife guide.

## Where do numbats live?
Wild populations are mainly in south-western Western Australia, in eucalypt woodland and mallee with abundant termites, hollow logs and fallen timber. Reintroduced populations exist in fenced and managed sites in South Australia and New South Wales.

## Are numbats dangerous to humans?
No. Numbats are small, non-venomous insectivores that flee from people. They have peg-like teeth adapted for lapping termites, not for biting through flesh, and are not aggressive.

## How long do numbats live?
Up to about five years in the wild, though many individuals live only two to three years. Predation and the specialised diet limit lifespan.

## How big is a numbat?
Head and body length is about 20–29 cm, with a tail of roughly 10–21 cm. Adults weigh about 300–750 g, with males typically heavier than females.

## Are numbats still endangered?
The IUCN listed the numbat as Near Threatened in July 2026 after recovery from roughly 300 individuals to an estimated 2,000–3,000. Australia still classifies it as Endangered federally, and ongoing fox and cat control remains essential.

## Why is the numbat active during the day?
Termites move into shallow soil galleries when the surface warms. Numbats forage during those daylight hours and sleep in hollow logs or burrows when termites retreat deeper — their schedule follows prey thermoregulation, not a choice to be diurnal for its own sake.

## What do numbats eat?
Numbats eat almost exclusively termites — commonly 15,000 to 20,000 per day — lapped from shallow soil and log galleries with a long sticky tongue. Occasional ants are swallowed by accident while foraging; the specialisation shapes the snout, teeth, saliva and claws.


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

## One-line answer
The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is a Vulnerable, nocturnal, burrowing marsupial of arid Australia with long ears and silky fur; fewer than 10,000 mature individuals remain after foxes, cats and habitat loss removed it from most of its former range across the mainland.

## Introduction
The greater bilby is a nocturnal, burrowing marsupial of Australia's arid interior — about the size of a rabbit, but a bandicoot relative with a long pointed snout, huge pink ears and silky blue-grey fur. Before European settlement it occurred across more than 70% of the mainland. Today it survives in scattered populations in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland, with an estimated fewer than 10,000 mature individuals and a range reduced to roughly 20% of what it once was.

Bilbies are ecosystem engineers. Their spiralling burrows — up to about 3 m long and 2 m deep — aerate soil, trap seeds and provide shelter for other species. They eat bulbs, seeds, fungi, insects and small animals, turning over soil as they forage. The lesser bilby, Macrotis leucura, is extinct, lost by the 1950s; the greater bilby is what Australians now mean by 'bilby'.

Since the 1990s chocolate bilbies have replaced Easter bunnies in many Australian shops, with part of the proceeds funding conservation — a rare case where a marketing campaign directly supports a threatened native species. The animal behind the chocolate is still Vulnerable, predated by foxes and cats, competing with rabbits and cattle, and losing ground to changed fire regimes and land clearing.

## Takeaway
The greater bilby is a Vulnerable marsupial with fewer than 10,000 mature individuals estimated on the IUCN Red List.

## Takeaway
Its range has contracted to roughly 20% of the area it occupied before European settlement.

## Takeaway
Bilbies dig extensive burrow systems that aerate soil and shelter other desert species.

## Takeaway
Foxes and feral cats are the primary predators; rabbits and livestock compete for food and degrade habitat.

## Takeaway
The lesser bilby (Macrotis leucura) is extinct; only the greater bilby survives.

## Takeaway
Easter Bilby chocolate campaigns have raised public awareness and conservation funds since the 1990s.

## Takeaway
Feral-free fenced exclosures are central to current recovery and reintroduction programmes.

## A rabbit look-alike that is nothing of the sort
European settlers called bilbies 'rabbit-eared bandicoots' because of the ears and burrowing habit. Taxonomically they are peramelemorphs — bandicoot relatives — with a backward-opening pouch, syndactylous hind feet and a dental formula suited to omnivory rather than grazing. The resemblance to rabbits is convergent: large ears radiate heat in desert conditions, powerful forelimbs dig burrows, and nocturnal habits avoid daytime heat and predators.

Males reach up to about 2.5 kg and roughly 55 cm head-to-tail; females are smaller, typically up to about 1.1 kg. The tail is crested, grey near the body and black with a white tip. Strong claws on the forefeet excavate burrows in hours; a single bilby may maintain up to a dozen active burrows within a home range, rotating between them and digging a new burrow on average every few weeks.


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

## The Easter Bilby campaign
Rabbits are among the bilby's problems — introduced European rabbits compete for food, degrade vegetation and support fox populations that prey on bilbies. Replacing the Easter Bunny with the Easter Bilby was a deliberate attempt to redirect a cultural symbol towards a native animal that needs help rather than an invasive one that causes damage.

Darrell Lea, Haigh's Chocolates and other Australian makers sell chocolate bilbies, often with a portion of proceeds supporting bilby conservation programmes. The campaign dates from the early 1990s and has raised both funds and public recognition. It does not substitute for field conservation — fox and cat control, fenced sanctuaries and reintroduction remain essential — but it keeps a threatened desert marsupial in public view in a way that dry population statistics do not.

## Burrows, diet and desert ecology
Bilbies emerge after dark to forage across spinifex grasslands, mulga scrub and dune fields. Diet is omnivorous: seeds, bulbs, fungi, insects and small vertebrates, dug from the soil with the pointed snout and foreclaws. That turnover benefits seed burial and nutrient cycling — bilbies are functional equivalents of rabbits in arid ecosystems, except that rabbits now outcompete them across much of the former range.

Burrows serve as temperature refuges and predator escape routes — multiple exits are common. Females leave young in the burrow while foraging; pouch life lasts about 75–80 days, followed by a further period of maternal care underground. Breeding can occur year-round when conditions allow, with litters of one to three, though one or two is typical.

## What recovery requires
Bilby conservation rests on predator management and safe habitat. Feral-free fenced exclosures — at sites including Currawinya National Park in Queensland and Australian Wildlife Conservancy sanctuaries — hold insurance populations and source animals for reintroduction. Outside fences, fox and cat baiting, rabbit control and appropriate fire management are the main tools.

The species is listed on CITES Appendix I, reflecting past trade concerns. Indigenous rangers across central Australia monitor bilby populations and manage country using traditional burning practices that maintain the mosaic habitat bilbies need. Without sustained predator control, reintroduced bilbies disappear quickly — which is why fenced exclosures and intensive management remain non-negotiable parts of the recovery plan published in 2023.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education for threatened mammals that compete with invasive species for public attention. The bilby loses ground to rabbits literally and figuratively — accurate guides help redirect that attention towards the native animal.

## 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/bilby): Bilby — wildlife guide.

## What do bilbies eat?
Greater Bilbies eat Omnivorous — seeds, bulbs, fungi, insects. The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is a Vulnerable, nocturnal, burrowing marsupial of arid Australia with long ears and silky fur; fewer than 10,000 mature individuals remain after foxes, cats and habitat loss removed it from most of its former range across the mainland.

## Where do bilbies live?
Greater bilbies survive in arid and semi-arid central and western Australia — spinifex grassland, mulga and sandy desert — mainly in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland, plus fenced reintroduction sites.

## Are bilbies dangerous?
No. Bilbies are shy, nocturnal marsupials that flee into burrows when disturbed. They have small teeth suited to an omnivorous diet and are not aggressive towards people.

## How long do bilbies live?
Around seven years in the wild is typical; captivity records reach about 10–11 years. Most wild animals die younger through predation.

## How big is a bilby?
Head and body length is about 29–55 cm, with a tail of roughly 20–29 cm. Males weigh up to about 2.5 kg; females up to about 1.1 kg.

## Why is the bilby associated with Easter in Australia?
Since the 1990s, chocolate bilbies have been sold as an alternative to the Easter Bunny — redirecting a holiday symbol from an invasive rabbit towards a native threatened marsupial, with sales often supporting conservation.

## Are bilbies endangered?
The IUCN lists the greater bilby as Vulnerable, with fewer than 10,000 mature individuals estimated and a declining trend. It is Endangered in Queensland and presumed extinct in New South Wales.


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

## One-line answer
Marmosets are small New World monkeys in the family Callitrichidae of Central and South America; the pygmy marmoset (Cebuella) at about 100 g is the smallest monkey alive, and the group is heavily traded as pets despite complex social and dietary needs.

## Introduction
Marmosets are small New World monkeys of the family Callitrichidae — the same clade as tamarins, and distinct from the larger monkeys of Africa and Asia. They range from the pygmy marmoset, which weighs little more than 100 g and is the smallest monkey alive, to the common marmoset at several times that weight. All share a body plan adapted to life in trees: sharp claw-like nails for vertical clinging, specialised incisors for gouging bark, and a cooperative breeding system in which a dominant female usually produces twins that the rest of the group helps carry.

Most marmosets eat fruit, insects and gum — exudates tapped from tree wounds that the animals reopen with their teeth. The pygmy marmoset is a gum-feeding specialist with home ranges sometimes smaller than half a hectare centred on a few productive trees. Common marmosets have spread into urban and degraded Atlantic Forest edge, where they are Least Concern; rarer species in the Amazon face logging, fire and capture for the pet trade.

When people search 'marmoset', they usually mean either the pygmy marmoset — marketed online as a 'finger monkey' — or the common marmoset, the white-eared species used in biomedical research. Both are poor pets: they need social groups, specialist diets, vertical space and veterinary care most households cannot provide. CITES Appendix II covers the family; several species are Vulnerable or Endangered.

## Takeaway
Marmosets belong to Callitrichidae — small New World monkeys with claw-like nails and often cooperative breeding.

## Takeaway
The pygmy marmoset at roughly 100 g is the smallest monkey; the common marmoset is larger with distinctive white ear tufts.

## Takeaway
Many marmosets gouge tree bark to feed on gum and sap — pygmy marmosets are gum-feeding specialists.

## Takeaway
Twin births are typical; fathers and siblings help carry infants from the first weeks.

## Takeaway
The pet trade targets pygmy and common marmosets; welfare failures from wrong diet and isolation are common.

## Takeaway
IUCN status varies: common marmoset Least Concern; pygmy marmoset Vulnerable; several Amazonian species are threatened.

## Takeaway
All marmosets are CITES Appendix II — commercial trade requires permits.

## What distinguishes a marmoset from other monkeys
Marmosets and tamarins together form Callitrichidae — the smallest anthropoid primates. Unlike most monkeys they have claw-like nails on all digits except the hallux, which bears a flat nail. That adaptation lets them cling vertically to trunks and vines while gouging bark. Teeth are specialised: lower incisors are chisel-shaped for scraping gum, and the molar row is short because gum and soft fruit need less grinding than leaves.

Social structure is distinctive. Groups of roughly five to fifteen typically contain one breeding female, one or two breeding males, and helpers — previous offspring that carry and feed twins. Suppression of reproduction in subordinate females is hormonal rather than purely behavioural. Twinning is the norm in many species, unusual among primates and demanding enough that alloparental care is essential.


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

## The pygmy marmoset — smallest monkey, biggest pet-trade problem
The pygmy marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea) weighs about 100–140 g — lighter than many squirrels — with a head-and-body length of roughly 12–15 cm and a longer tail. It inhabits river-edge forest in the western Amazon, where family groups centre home ranges as small as 0.1–0.4 ha on one or two gum-producing trees.

The IUCN lists the pygmy marmoset as Vulnerable, threatened by habitat loss and capture for the illegal pet trade. Social media marketing as 'finger monkeys' drives demand; wild-caught animals are smuggled, and captive-bred animals are sold without adequate welfare guidance. Pygmy marmosets cannot thrive alone, on fruit alone, or in a small cage — metabolic bone disease and self-mutilation are documented outcomes.

## Common marmoset — adaptable, invasive and overused in research
The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) from north-eastern Brazil is the species most people encounter in laboratories and, increasingly, in degraded Atlantic Forest where it has become invasive outside its native range. White ear tufts and a banded tail make it identifiable. It is Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because of its expanding population in disturbed habitat — a status that says nothing about welfare in the pet trade or research colonies.

Gum, sap, fruit and insects form the wild diet. Captive and pet marmosets fed fruit without adequate protein and calcium develop dental disease and metabolic bone disease. The species breeds well in captivity, which fuels both research use and the pet market — two industries with different standards and the same underlying problem of animals with needs that most private keepers cannot meet.

## Conservation across the family
Callitrichid conservation is species-specific. Common marmosets need management as an invasive pest in parts of south-eastern Brazil where they compete with native fauna. Pygmy marmosets, buffy-tufted marmosets and several Amazonian Mico species need forest protection and anti-trafficking enforcement. Golden lion tamarins — close relatives in the same family — are among Brazil's best-known recovery stories; marmosets share their Atlantic Forest habitat but receive less funding and attention.

CITES Appendix II regulates international trade in all callitrichids. Domestic laws vary: many countries restrict or ban private primate ownership. The honest message for anyone searching 'marmoset' is that these are arboreal, social, gum-feeding primates — not domestic companions.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education including honest guidance on widely traded wild animals. Marmosets are among the most commonly advertised primate pets and among the least suited to private keeping — accurate information reduces both trafficking demand and welfare failure.

## 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/marmoset): Marmoset — wildlife guide.

## What do marmosets eat?
Most marmosets eat fruit, insects and tree gum tapped from bark wounds. Pygmy marmosets are gum-feeding specialists that gouge holes with chisel-like incisors. Pet marmosets fed fruit alone develop serious nutritional disease.

## Where do marmosets live?
In forests of Central and South America — pygmy marmosets in western Amazon river-edge forest, common marmosets in Brazil's Atlantic Forest and Caatinga, and many species in the Amazon basin. Common marmosets have become invasive in parts of south-eastern Brazil.

## Are marmosets dangerous?
Marmosets can bite when stressed and may transmit diseases to humans, but they are not large or powerful. The greater risk is to the marmoset — improper diet, isolation and small cages cause suffering and shorten life.

## How long do marmosets live?
Roughly 10–12 years in captivity with good care. Wild lifespan is shorter. Pygmy marmosets in poor pet conditions often die much younger from metabolic disease.

## How big is a marmoset?
Size varies by species. The pygmy marmoset weighs about 100–140 g with a head-and-body length of roughly 12–15 cm — the smallest monkey. Common marmosets weigh several times more.

## Can you keep a marmoset as a pet?
Marmosets need social groups, vertical climbing space, specialist diets including gum or substitutes, and exotic-animal veterinary care. Most countries restrict primate ownership. Welfare failures are common in the pet trade.

## What is the smallest monkey?
The pygmy marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea) at about 100 g — a callitrichid gum-feeding specialist of the western Amazon, listed as Vulnerable and heavily targeted by the pet trade.


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

## One-line answer
Flying squirrels are over 50 species of nocturnal gliding rodents with a skin membrane between wrists and ankles; they cannot truly fly, and a 2019 study found that all three North American Glaucomys species fluoresce pink under ultraviolet light.

## Introduction
Flying squirrels are gliding rodents — not true fliers — with a membrane of skin called a patagium stretching from wrist to ankle on each side. Launching from a height, they spread limbs to tense the membrane and steer with tail and body angle, covering tens of metres in a controlled descent to the next tree. Roughly fifty species occur across North America, Eurasia and Southeast Asia, from the tiny Japanese dwarf flying squirrel to the giant flying squirrels of the Himalayas.

The distinction from birds and bats matters: flying squirrels cannot gain altitude or sustain level flight. They are arboreal specialists that reduce travel cost between scattered food trees. Most are nocturnal, with large eyes and sensitive whiskers for navigation in darkness.

In 2019, researchers reported that all three North American Glaucomys species fluoresce vivid pink under ultraviolet light — a trait absent in co-occurring diurnal tree squirrels. The function remains unknown; hypotheses include communication, camouflage in UV-rich twilight, or mimicry of lichen and owl patches. What is established is the discovery itself: Kohler and colleagues published the finding in the Journal of Mammalogy after examining museum specimens spanning 130 years and five wild individuals.

## Takeaway
Flying squirrels glide on a patagium; they cannot gain altitude or fly like bats or birds.

## Takeaway
All three North American Glaucomys species fluoresce pink under UV light — reported in 2019 by Kohler et al.

## Takeaway
Diurnal tree squirrels in the same forests do not show the same fluorescence.

## Takeaway
Most flying squirrels are nocturnal with large eyes adapted for low light.

## Takeaway
Glides typically cover 20–50 metres; longer glides are recorded downhill.

## Takeaway
Old World giant flying squirrels in Asia include threatened species from habitat loss and hunting.

## Takeaway
Flying squirrels are rodents in Sciuridae — relatives of tree squirrels, not related to sugar gliders.

## Gliding mechanics — controlled fall, not flight
A flying squirrel climbs high, launches, and spreads its limbs to extend the patagium — a furred membrane supported by cartilage spurs at the wrist. The tail acts as a rudder; body angle and limb position adjust trajectory. Typical glides cover 20–50 m; downhill glides can exceed that. At landing, the squirrel swoops upward to bleed speed, then grips bark with sharp claws.

This is energetically cheaper than climbing down one tree and up the next, which matters for an animal that commutes between scattered food sources at night. The patagium folds against the body when climbing. New World flying squirrels (Glaucomys) and Old World species (Petaurista, Pteromys and others) evolved gliding independently within Sciuridae — the same solution in separate lineages.


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

## The 2019 pink fluorescence discovery
The discovery was accidental. In 2017, forester Jonathan Martin noticed a flying squirrel at a bird feeder glowing pink under a UV flashlight in Wisconsin. Allison Kohler, Paula Spaeth Anich and colleagues then examined 109 museum specimens of Glaucomys oregonensis, G. sabrinus and G. volans, plus five wild animals, and found pink fluorescence on both dorsal and ventral fur in all but one specimen. Co-occurring diurnal squirrels — grey, fox and red squirrels — did not fluoresce.

The paper, published in the Journal of Mammalogy in 2019, noted fluorescence across 130 years of collection dates, both sexes, and a geographic range from Guatemala to Canada. The ecological function is not established. Proposed explanations include nocturnal signalling visible to UV-sensitive animals, camouflage against lichen-coloured bark in twilight, or predator confusion — but each remains hypothesis. Subsequent work found fluorescence in some other mammals; Glaucomys remains the best-documented rodent case.

## North American species and ecology
Three Glaucomys species occupy North and Central America: the southern flying squirrel (G. volans) across eastern deciduous and mixed forest, the northern flying squirrel (G. sabrinus) in boreal and montane conifer forest, and the Humboldt's or Oregon flying squirrel (G. oregonensis) of Pacific coastal forest — recognised as a separate species in 2017 after genetic work. All three are Least Concern but face local pressure from habitat fragmentation and, for northern populations, climate-driven range shifts.

Diet is omnivorous: seeds, nuts, fungi, lichen, insects and bird eggs when available. Southern flying squirrels often nest in tree cavities communally in winter — aggregations of a dozen or more share a hollow to conserve heat. Owls, martens and domestic cats are the main predators.

## Old World giants and confusion with sugar gliders
Asia holds the largest flying squirrels — Petaurista species can exceed 1.5 kg with glides spanning over 100 m. Several are threatened by deforestation and hunting. The Japanese dwarf flying squirrel (Pteromys momonga) is a cultural favourite but occupies a vulnerable forest type under pressure from logging and urban expansion.

Flying squirrels are sometimes confused with sugar gliders — marsupials of Australia and New Guinea that also glide on a patagium. The two are unrelated; convergent evolution produced similar solutions in a rodent and a marsupial. Sugar gliders are kept as exotic pets; flying squirrels are protected in many jurisdictions and are not domestic animals.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education for animal groups where popular misunderstanding is common. Flying squirrels glide rather than fly, and the 2019 UV fluorescence finding is one of the few genuinely new discoveries about a familiar mammal group in recent years.

## 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/flying-squirrel): Flying Squirrel — wildlife guide.

## What do flying squirrels eat?
Most eat seeds, nuts, fungi, lichen, fruit and insects — diet varies by species and season. Southern flying squirrels also take bird eggs and nestlings when available.

## Where do flying squirrels live?
Forests across North America, Europe and Asia. North American Glaucomys species occupy deciduous, mixed and boreal woodland. Most species are arboreal and require connected canopy.

## Are flying squirrels dangerous?
No. They are small, nocturnal rodents that avoid humans. They can bite if handled but are not aggressive and carry no more disease risk than other wild rodents.

## How long do flying squirrels live?
Roughly five to six years in the wild; up to about ten years in captivity. Predation by owls and martens limits wild lifespan.

## How big are flying squirrels?
Size varies widely. The southern flying squirrel is about 21–26 cm head-and-body with a tail of similar length. Giant Asian Petaurista species exceed 1 kg — much larger than any Glaucomys.

## Can flying squirrels actually fly?
No. They glide on a skin membrane between wrists and ankles — controlled descent from a height, not powered flight. Bats and birds fly; flying squirrels cannot gain altitude under their own power.

## Why do flying squirrels glow pink under UV light?
A 2019 study found all three North American Glaucomys species fluoresce pink under ultraviolet light. The function is not confirmed; proposed explanations include nocturnal communication and camouflage, but research continues.


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

## One-line answer
The American mink (Neogale vison) is a semi-aquatic mustelid listed Least Concern in native North America but invasive across Europe after fur-farm escapes, where it devastated water vole populations and displaced the Critically Endangered European mink.

## Introduction
The American mink is a semi-aquatic mustelid native to North America — sleek, dark-furred, and adapted to hunting along streams, lakes and coastlines. In its native range it is widespread and listed Least Concern. In Europe, where it was introduced deliberately and through fur-farm escapes from the 1920s onwards, it is one of the most damaging invasive mammals on the continent.

American mink are generalist predators: fish, crayfish, frogs, water voles, ground-nesting birds and eggs. They swim well, enter burrows, and kill prey larger than themselves. European wildlife had no evolutionary experience of a semi-aquatic carnivore at this size and efficiency. Water vole populations in Britain collapsed — American mink predation is cited as a primary factor alongside habitat loss — and ground-nesting seabird colonies on Scottish islands were decimated. European mink, a native congener now Critically Endangered, was displaced and killed by the American species across much of its range.

Fur farming drove the invasion. At peak production, millions of pelts were processed annually; escapes and deliberate releases established feral populations from Scandinavia to Iberia. Several European countries have now banned fur farming; managing the feral legacy remains the harder problem. The American mink story parallels other fur-farm introductions — nutria, muskrat — where a commercial species became an ecological liability.

## Takeaway
American mink are Least Concern in native North America but invasive and ecologically destructive across Europe.

## Takeaway
Introduction followed fur farming from the 1920s — escapes and deliberate releases established feral populations.

## Takeaway
Water vole declines in Britain are linked to American mink predation alongside habitat loss and fragmentation.

## Takeaway
European mink (Mustela lutreola) is Critically Endangered; American mink competition and predation contributed to the decline.

## Takeaway
Ground-nesting seabird colonies on Scottish islands suffered heavy predation from mink.

## Takeaway
Several European countries have banned fur farming; feral mink control continues through trapping and rafts.

## Takeaway
Otter recovery may help suppress mink in some areas through territorial aggression.

## Native predator, invasive catastrophe
In North America the American mink occupies a normal mesopredator role along waterways, coexisting with otters, raccoons and native prey communities that evolved alongside it. The IUCN lists it Least Concern because populations remain secure across Canada, Alaska and most of the United States.

In Europe the same species behaves differently because the food web is different. Introduced mink encounter naive prey — water voles that never evolved mink avoidance, ground-nesting birds with no defence against a swimming egg predator, and the European mink, a smaller native congener that loses in direct competition. The pattern repeats on other continents: feral mink in Argentina threaten endangered hooded grebes on remote plateau lakes. Secure globally does not mean harmless everywhere — a lesson shared with other fur-farm escapees and with island extinctions such as the dodo, where introduced mammals destroyed naive native wildlife.


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

## Fur farming and the escape problem
American mink became the most farmed fur-bearing carnivore in the twentieth century, exceeding fox and sable in economic output. Farms across Europe, Russia and China held animals in wire cages; escapes during storms, vandalism and deliberate release by animal-welfare activists all contributed to feral establishment. Soviet introductions in the 1930s and 1940s spread mink across Russia and Belarus deliberately to create a harvestable wild population.

Banning fur farming stops new escapes but does not remove established ferals. The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Norway and several other countries have ended mink farming; control of wild populations relies on trapping — including mink rafts that detect footprints and trigger traps — and in some areas on encouraging otter recovery, as otters aggressively exclude mink from territories.

## Impact on water voles and European mink
The water vole — Britain's largest native vole, the animal Kenneth Grahame's Rat was probably meant to be — has lost more than 90% of its range since the mid-twentieth century. Habitat loss, pollution and fragmentation started the decline; American mink predation accelerated it because water voles have no effective defence against a predator that enters burrows from water and land simultaneously.

Experimental mink removal on British rivers has allowed water vole reintroductions to succeed where habitat is restored — demonstrating that predation was the limiting factor in those sites. European mink, now Critically Endangered and confined to isolated fragments in Spain, France, Romania and the Danube delta, face competition and hybridisation pressure from American mink across much of the former range.

## Management and the fur-trade legacy
Complete eradication of American mink from continental Europe is not considered feasible. Management targets local suppression — protecting seabird colonies before breeding season, maintaining mink-free islands, and supporting water vole recovery projects with ongoing trapping. EU risk assessments classify the species as high-impact; member states implement varying control programmes.

The broader lesson is about introduction pathways. Fur farming, pet trade and deliberate acclimatisation have repeatedly moved species into environments where they outperform native competitors. The American mink is among the clearest cases because the evidence chain from farm escape to population collapse in native prey is well documented across decades of research.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education including invasive-species stories that complicate simple status labels. The American mink is Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and a conservation emergency in Europe — the same animal, two incompatible ecological roles.

## 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/mink): Mink — wildlife guide.

## What do mink eat?
American mink are generalist carnivores: fish, crayfish, amphibians, water voles, rabbits, birds and eggs. Diet reflects local availability; mink hunt in water and on land and enter prey burrows.

## Where do mink live?
Native to North America along rivers, lakes and coastlines. Introduced and feral across Europe, western Asia, South America and Iceland, usually near freshwater or coastal wetland.

## Are mink dangerous to humans?
Wild mink avoid people and are not considered dangerous. They can bite if cornered or handled. Farmed mink in confined conditions have transmitted SARS-CoV-2 during outbreaks — a biosecurity issue, not a field encounter risk.

## How long do mink live?
About three to four years in the wild; up to about ten years in captivity. Most wild mink die within the first year from predation, trapping or starvation.

## How big is an American mink?
Body length about 30–45 cm, plus a tail of roughly 15–25 cm. Males weigh about 0.7–1.5 kg; females are smaller. Farmed lines were selectively bred for larger pelts.

## Why are American mink a problem in Europe?
Fur-farm escapes from the 1920s established feral populations that prey on naive native species. Water vole declines, seabird colony losses and displacement of the Critically Endangered European mink are documented impacts.

## Is mink fur farming still legal?
Several European countries including the UK, Netherlands and Norway have banned mink fur farming. Bans stop new escapes but feral populations persist and require ongoing control.


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

## One-line answer
The muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) is a large semiaquatic rodent native to North American wetlands and listed Least Concern there; introduced to Europe from 1905 for fur farming, it burrows into dikes and river banks and is an EU-listed invasive species.

## Introduction
The muskrat is a large semiaquatic rodent of North American wetlands — not a rat despite the name, but the biggest member of the vole subfamily Arvicolinae, adapted to life in slow water with partially webbed hind feet, a laterally flattened scaly tail and fur that traps air for insulation while diving. Native populations are widespread and Least Concern.

In Europe the story differs. Muskrats were introduced to the Czech Republic in 1905 for fur farming and spread across the continent within decades — aided by deliberate releases to establish wild fur harvests. They burrow into river banks, dikes and levees, causing erosion and flood-defence failures. Crops and native vegetation suffer from grazing. The European Union listed the muskrat as an invasive alien species of Union concern in 2017, prohibiting import, breeding and release.

Britain eliminated muskrats quickly: an eradication campaign from 1932 used overseas expertise and removed at least 4,388 animals by 1939 before the population could establish permanently — one of the few successful mainland removals of an introduced mammal. Continental Europe was not so fortunate, and muskrat control remains a permanent infrastructure cost in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and beyond.

## Takeaway
Muskrats are large voles — semiaquatic rodents of North American wetlands, Least Concern in native range.

## Takeaway
Introduced to Europe in 1905 for fur; spread across most of the continent within decades.

## Takeaway
Burrowing damages river banks, dikes and flood defences — a major cost in the Netherlands and Belgium.

## Takeaway
The EU listed muskrats as invasive species of Union concern in 2017.

## Takeaway
Britain eradicated muskrats by 1939 through an early, well-resourced campaign.

## Takeaway
Muskrats build dome-shaped lodges from vegetation in shallow water, similar in function to beaver lodges.

## Takeaway
Control in Europe relies on trapping; complete eradication from the continent is not considered feasible.

## Native wetland engineer
In North America muskrats inhabit marshes, ponds, slow rivers and coastal wetlands from northern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. They construct lodges from cattails and sedges or burrow into banks, maintaining channels through dense vegetation. Diet is primarily aquatic plants — cattail, bulrush, pondweed — supplemented with mussels, snails and small animals. Muskrats are prey for mink, otters, owls and humans; their populations cycle with habitat conditions and trapping pressure.

Adults weigh about 700–1,800 g with a head-and-body length of roughly 25–30 cm and a long flattened tail. The name comes from musk glands that produce a strong scent used in communication — not from any relationship to true rats. Lips close behind incisors, allowing gnawing underwater.


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

## European introduction and spread
Five muskrats — two males and three females — were released at a Czech estate in 1905. Fur farmers and hunters subsequently translocated animals across Europe to establish harvestable populations. By mid-century muskrats occupied most suitable wetland habitat from France to Russia. Deliberate spread was policy in some countries; in others, natural dispersal along river systems was sufficient.

Damage followed predictably. Muskrats undermine flood defences in a country where much of the land lies below sea level — the Netherlands spends heavily on muskrat control as infrastructure maintenance, not optional pest management. Grazing reduces wetland vegetation that supports native birds and fish. The EU invasive-species listing in 2017 formalised what water managers already knew: muskrats are a permanent management obligation on continental Europe.

## Britain's eradication — and why it succeeded early
Muskrats reached Britain in the late 1920s through fur farms. Unlike the coypu eradication that took until 1989, muskrats were caught early. An eradication campaign began in 1932, drawing on European muskrat-control experience and targeting the species before it saturated suitable habitat. At least 4,388 muskrats were killed by 1939; Britain has had no established population since.

The contrast with coypu — same era, same motive, different outcome — is instructive. Muskrat numbers in Britain were still small when action started; coypu had decades to build population density across East Anglia before the final 1981–1989 campaign. Early action, adequate trapping resources and cold winters that stressed populations all contributed. The muskrat case is now cited in invasion biology as evidence that eradication is possible if implemented before a population reaches critical mass.

## Control, trade and the fur legacy
Muskrat fur — short, dense, grey-brown — was commercially valuable and sustained trapping industries in North America and Europe. Declining fur prices reduce economic incentive to trap in some regions, which can allow populations to rise and damage to increase. European control programmes employ professional trappers on river systems and dikes; some countries pay bounties.

Muskrats are not the only rodent introduced for fur — nutria and American mink share the same origin story with different ecological outcomes. Where muskrats remain in North America they are part of a functioning wetland food web; where they were introduced without co-evolved predators and alongside human flood infrastructure, they became a liability.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education including invasive-species histories that explain why the same animal is Least Concern in one continent and a managed pest in another. Muskrats in Europe are permanent infrastructure policy, not a zoological curiosity.

## 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/muskrat): Muskrat — wildlife guide.

## What do muskrats eat?
Primarily aquatic vegetation — cattails, bulrushes, pondweed and roots — plus mussels, snails and occasional small animals. They graze heavily in wetlands and can damage crops near water.

## Where do muskrats live?
Native to wetlands across most of North America. Introduced across Europe, parts of Asia and South America, usually in slow-moving freshwater, marshes and drainage channels.

## Are muskrats dangerous?
Muskrats avoid humans and are not aggressive under normal circumstances. They can bite if handled. The main concern in Europe is infrastructure damage from burrowing, not direct harm to people.

## How long do muskrats live?
About three years in the wild on average; up to roughly ten years in captivity. High reproduction rates offset short individual lifespan.

## How big is a muskrat?
Head-and-body length about 25–30 cm, tail about 20–25 cm, weight about 700–1,800 g. The largest species in the vole subfamily — much bigger than a rat.

## Are muskrats native to Europe?
No. They were introduced from North America in 1905 for fur farming and spread across the continent. Britain eradicated them by 1939; mainland Europe controls them as invasive pests.

## Why are muskrats a problem in the Netherlands?
They burrow into dikes and flood defences in a country where much land lies below sea level. Damage to embankments is an infrastructure risk, not just an ecological one.