These adorable looking animals have very soft fur, which feels like wool to the touch. They are gray above and white below and males can be differentiated from the females by a dark scent patch that is located in the center of their chests. Their thick fur protects them from both high and low temperature and works like a raincoat to repel moisture during the rains.

The body of a koala is designed to suit its arboreal life (meaning, they live on trees). It is lean and muscular, with long, strong limbs that have a great balance. Its paws and soles have rough pads on them, which helps it grip tree trunks and branches better. An average koala can weigh about 30 pounds and grow to be 2 feet tall.

Koalas absolutely love eucalyptus leaves. While they are also known to consume mistletoe and box leaves, their diet primarily consists of leaves and bark from 12 different eucalyptus tree species. They eat up to 5kg of leaves at a time and their highly developed sense of smell helps them differentiate between the poisonous and not-poisonous leaves. Koalas are the only mammals, apart from the Greater Glider and Ringtail Possum, which can survive on solely on a diet of eucalyptus leaves.

Another mysterious thing about koalas is that they don’t need to drink water. Moisture from the eucalyptus leaves is enough to sustain them. In fact, their name “koala” is derived from an aboriginal word that means “no drink.” The only time koalas drink water is when they are unwell or there isn’t enough moisture in the leaves, like during droughts.

Koalas are known to be nocturnal mammals and they can sleep for up to 18 hours a day. They usually move around after sunset, when they can be seen feeding and barking quite aggressively at other koalas. Koalas don’t have a social structure as such. They don’t live in groups and prefer to be left alone.

Coming to their breeding pattern, koalas breed only once a year, though not all females will do that. Some give birth only once every two to three years.

After a 35-day gestation period, a single joey is born, which is hairless, blind and less than an inch long. It crawls into its mother’s pouch and stays there for five to seven months, surviving only on mother’s milk. After this time, they leave the pouch and travel on their mother’s back, beginning gradually to eat leaves and tree bark. Koalas take about three to four years to mature.

As to its physical features, the capybara has a distinctive barrel shaped heavy body, with reddish brown or golden brown fur and a small but solid head. It is tailless and the back legs are longer than the front ones. Its feet are webbed and it has twenty teeth. Like other rodents in its family, the front teeth of the capybara grow continuously since they wear out pretty fast from eating grasses. A fully-grown capybara can measure over 4 ft in length and weigh as much as 140 lbs. The biggest ever recorded capybara was a whopping 232 lbs!! That is one huge rodent.

Capybaras are herbivores. They graze on grasses, aquatic plants, bark of trees, and fruits. Capybara also regurgitates its food to masticate it again. Adult capybara can eat up to eight pounds of grass every day. It is also a coprophagous, which means that it is in the habit of eating its own feces. As disgusting as that may sound, feces help the capybara digest the cellulose in grass.

As mentioned before, the capybara is semi-aquatic rodent. So, while it carries out most of its activities on land, it is equally comfortable in water too. Capybara is a great swimmer; it’s webbed feet being a great asset in this task. It can survive under water for more than 5 minutes. And, it can even sleep underwater by sticking its nose out of the water. During the hottest hours of the day, they seek refuge in the water, and most of the grazing is done in the evening or at night.

Capybara lives in groups that vary in size, ranging from 10 to even 100. The control of the group is in the hand of a single dominant male and there is a very strict pecking order within the group. Capybara is a pretty vocal animal and uses a purr, bark, whistle, squeal and grunt to communicate with its group members.

Capybara mates in water and after a gestation period of 130 days the female gives birth to a litter of two to eight babies. The newborns are able to eat plants and follow their mother almost immediately after being born. However, they continue to suckle and are not weaned before 16 weeks.

The average life span of an adult capybara is about four years in the wild, since they are fair game for many predators, such as jaguar, puma, ocelot, anacondas, eagle and caiman. In captivity, they can live up to 12 years.

Whale sharks, the gentle giants of the water; the largest fish in the world, are very elusive creatures. It might be hard for you to digest that a fish that size could elude observation but that is the truth. Very little is known about the whale shark. But you can be absolutely sure that it is not a monster of the seas that it is made out to be. What you might be thinking of is its cousin, the white shark. In fact, this gigantic fish that can weigh up to 20 tons and measure 18 meters in length survives on plankton, tiny fish, and crustaceans. Occasionally, it feeds on larger fish and squid.

There is some speculation about why these fish have been named “whale sharks,” when it clearly belongs to the shark family. Sharks, as you may know, are fish, while whales are warm blooded mammals. Whale sharks have a streamlined body, and there is a distinctive beautiful pattern in light yellow on their back and they have a white underside.

The whale shark can be found in warmer temperate and tropical waters. They are known to migrate really vast distances and often remain in the open sea. Therefore, they are considered pelagic. They are commonly seen in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.

As far as reproduction is concerned, whale sharks are ovoviviparous. What that means is that the female whale shark (which is generally larger than males) can produce living young from eggs that hatch inside her body. The young ones are about 2 feet long. But there isn’t very much else we can tell you about the gestation period and their breeding or birthing grounds since very little is known about them. In fact, it can’t even be stated with any certainty when whale sharks reach sexual maturity.

Scientists have discovered something about whale sharks. Apparently, they have sensors that run the length of its body. These sensors are used to detect pressure changes in the water that surrounds them and they are very useful to these sharks. Since they swim with their mouths wide open to gulp down large quantities of food, they are not able to see very clearly with their small eyes. However, these pressure sensors detect large objects and act like back up vision.

Do you know how long whale sharks live? It is estimated that they have a life span of anywhere between 60-150 years! Imagine living that long.

Gorillas have a reputation of being the smartest among all primates. In various studies and scientific experiments, they have been taught to use sign language to communicate words and they are able to form very basic sentences by putting simple words together.

The Eastern Lowland Gorilla is a subspecies of Eastern gorilla. It is found only in the rainforests of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and its numbers are severely threatened by human encroachment, bushmeat hunters, civil conflict, political instability, and illegal mining. It is estimated that the number of Eastern Lowland gorillas have dipped by 70%.

The Eastern lowland gorilla has shorter teeth and hair than the mountain gorilla, but its arms are longer. They look more robust in appearance than Western Lowland gorillas because of their stocky body and short muzzles. The face, ears, hands, and feet are bare. They have black coats, which, in a male turn silver as they mature, earning them the name “silverback.” They walk on all fours, but use the knuckles on their hands instead of the palms. Interestingly, a gorilla’s thumbs are larger than its fingers.

Contrary to popular notion, Eastern Lowland Gorillas do not eat fruit as much as they do leaves and other vegetation. They feed during the morning and afternoon and rest around midday.

A group of gorillas is made up by one silverback, a few females and the children. The female Eastern Lowland gorilla leaves the groups they were born into and join a single male gorilla when they reach sexual maturity at around 7 or 8 years. For this reason, the bond between the females of a group is not so strong. Only female gorillas that are related are allowed to groom each other.

A group of gorillas isn’t very territorial since they travel 1/3 to 2/3 of a mile every day. It is quite possible for several groups to have overlapping territory and very few disputes related to that.

Once a male gorilla has formed a group, it is most likely that he will stay with that group for the rest of his life or until he is defeated in a fight for dominance by another male. These fights between silverbacks are quite intense and often result in death.

After mating, the female will undergo a gestation period of 260 days and give birth to a single offspring. The baby gorilla weighs 1.8 – 2 kilograms. It begins crawling at 9 weeks and walk after 30-40 weeks. Gorilla infants are breast feed for about 12 months and they normally stay with their mother for 3 to 4 years. In case a rival silverback takes over the group, babies are often killed so that the new male can mate with the females more quickly.

White rhinos live in open, grassy plains and savanna type habitats. South Africa has the largest population of white rhinos occurs in South Africa, though small populations can be found in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Botswana.

Contrary to their popular name, a white rhino is not white in color. Early English settlers misunderstood the Afrikaans word “weit” (meaning “wide”) for white, thereby giving this rather unusual name to this animal. It is usually either brown or slate grey. The average white rhino can live up to 45 in the wild, but in captivity, they can touch upto 60 years.

Size-wise, the white rhinoceros is the second largest land mammal next only to elephants. They are typified by their incredible size, two distinct horns, and a hump on the back of their short necks. White rhinos have weak vision, but they more than make up for it with their keen sense of smell and hearing. They locate one another by following the trail of scent.

You may not think so looking at their size but white rhinos are classified as grazers, that is, they feed on grass. They spend close to 50% of their daylight hours feeding and can eat upto 60-80kg a day. It doesn’t happen too often, but sometimes white rhinos can be seen eating soil near termite mounds, which is rich in some minerals. Rhinos are also highly dependent on water and drink up to 80 liters of water a day. Also, since they have no sweat glands, they wallow in mud to cool off. The mud dries off and offers protection from flies and ticks.

The female rhinoceros achieves sexual maturity at 7 years while the male takes a little longer, maturing at the 10 to 12 years of age. Although mating can take place at any time of the year, it is higher around the rainy season. Females reproduce once every three to five years. Following a gestation period that lasts more than a year, a single calf is born.

The calf weighs 65kg at birth and is quite small in size. After it is born, the mother will produce colostrums (also known as “foremilk since it precedes the production of true milk) for the calf’s first feeding. Colostrums are rich in essential minerals and antibodies, which builds the calf’s immune system. The calf begins nibbling grass within three months of being born, but it continues to suckle its mother for more than a year.

The white rhino is on the verge of extinction since it is easy game for poaching. It’s also hunted for its horn, which is used for medicinal purposes in Taiwan, China Singapore, and Hong Kong. There are only 11,000 white rhinos in the wild today. Steps are being taken to protect it.

The Red Kangaroo, also known as Macropus rufus (“macropus” meaning “big foot” and “rupus” meaning “red”) is the largest mammal in Australia, not to mention the largest marsupial in the world. They can be found in the arid open grasslands and deserts of Australia. Males can grow to be as tall as 2 meters and weigh up to 90kg, while females rarely exceed 30 kg. However, what they lose in size they make up for it in speed. The female is lighter, and consequently faster than the male.

Red kangaroos have long ears, long feet, thick tails, and powerful back legs. This tail is used to balance the top half of their body when they are in motion. Their smaller front legs, which don’t seem very useful, lend support to them when they bend over to graze. Females have a pocket of skin on the lower part of their stomachs, known as pouches, which is used to carry their young. The legs of a kangaroo cannot move independent of each other, and for this reason, they have to hop everywhere. They can bound 25 feet in a single leap and achieve speeds of over 56 kilometers an hour.

Red kangaroos are herbivores and survive on leaves, roots, and grass. They don’t chew their food, but swallow it and regurgitate a cud to chew it later. They don’t need a lot of water and it’s possible to carry on for months without drinking. The moisture from the plants they eat keeps them well hydrated. Red kangaroos are also known to dig their own water wells.

Kangaroos are sociable by nature and gather in groups that can go upto 100 known as “mobs.” The mob is ruled over by one dominant male. Kangaroos usually graze at night, preferring to remain inactive during the day. While grazing red kangaroos are always on the lookout for danger. If they spot a threat, they communicate with the rest of its group by stamping their feet.

Red kangaroos mature sexually by the age of 2 or 3. During the mating season, males fight each other over potential mates. They use their front paws to box their opponents and their hind legs land lethal double kicks.

Females have only one baby at a time, which at birth is just about the size of a cherry! This tiny kangaroo baby is known as a “joey.” It climbs into its mother’s marsupial pouch and once in, it latches onto the mother’s teat and suckles her. For the first four months, the baby suckles the mother continuously and doesn’t let go off the teat. Joeys are weaned around the age of one, but most of them stay pretty close to their mothers for the next six months.

European hares are found in the temperate open country and they prefer to live in open pastures and fields. Unlike rabbits they do not live in burrows and often rely on their fast speed to get them to safety. European hares are also found around agriculture fields and crops. In certain areas of Argentina and Australia, they are considered a pest, since they breed really fast and can destroy crops.

European hares are herbivores. During the summers they feed on grasses, herbs, buds of young orchard trees, and field crops while in winters they change their diet to twigs, shrub bark, young fruit tree bark, and small trees. Two to three European hares can east as much as one sheep. Very often they also eat their soft fecal pellets.

European hares are generally quiet and shy mammals, but, their behavior undergoes a remarkable change during spring time, which is the mating season for them. Several times, you can see them chasing one another in meadows in broad daylight, in some form of dominance competition. Male hares (referred to as “jack” or “buck”) have “boxing matches” where they hit each other with their paws. The winner gets to take the girl home. However, if a female hare (also known as “doe” or “jill”) is not ready to mate, she also flexes her muscles and lands a knockout punch on the male. That is, however, not very usual.

The European hare’s natural predators are the golden eagle, the red fox, wolves, wild cats, coyotes, and larger owls. The European hare has excellent sense of smell, sight and hearing allowing him to detect a predator from a distance. As mentioned before, its incredible speed allows European hares great leverage over their predators. While running, they can also dodge and change direction quickly to confuse the animal chasing it.

The number of European hares is dwindling rapidly. There are a couple of reasons for this. Since they are considered to be pests by the farming community, they are exterminated mercilessly. In addition, they are also an important game animal in North America. Their white meat is considered to be particularly delicious.

The Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) is one of the most familiar and common Antarctic penguin species. Smaller in size than all the other species of penguins, Adelies are named after the wife of the French polar explorer, Dumont d’Urville. They can be found living in huge colonies on rocky coasts, islands, ice floes, beaches, and headlands along the coastline of Antarctica.

It is not uncommon to see thousands of penguins waddling and sliding comically to the edge of the water and dive headlong into the freezing Antarctic waters. No doubt Adelie penguins are powerful swimmers and are able to jump straight out of the water onto the land. They can also be spotted sledding downhill on their bellies.

Adelies have the classic penguin look with their white ‘tuxedo shirt’ front, black backs, wings and head, and the white rings around their eyes. Their beaks are reddish in color with a black tip. These penguins can grow to heights of up to 61cm and on an average weigh 4 to 5.5kg. Both the sexes have similar plumage.

As mentioned before, Adelie penguins form large colonies, some of which have over 200,000 pairs of birds. The breeding takes place on rocky islands and coasts, a perfect place for each mating pair to build a nest out of stones and pebbles. Around early November the female lays just two light-green eggs. Both the male and female take turns incubating the egg. However, the female takes the first turn to go back to the sea to forage for food. Meanwhile the male is left to take care of the egg, sometimes for up to ten days.

The eggs hatch after about 5 weeks, and for the first few weeks, the chicks are brooded closely by their parents. The chicks grow quickly matching the size of their parents in a matter of a few weeks. Adelie chicks grow the fastest of all penguins.

By the third or fourth week, they are introduced into nursery groups called ‘crèches.’ Here they huddle with other chicks for warmth and protection, leaving the parents free to go to sea to hunt krill (a shrimp-like crustacean) to keep up with their young ones’ appetite. When the parents return with food from the sea, they don’t simply hand it over to their chick. They make the chick chase them and catch the food. By late March, most of the chicks are able to swim. The Adelies then depart for the pack ice and the sea.

During early times, the giraffe was considered to be an exotic animal, a cross between a leopard and a camel, earning it the scientific name “Giraffa camelopardalis.” So intrigued was man by the sight of this animal that it was exchanged as diplomatic gifts between different countries. In early records, a giraffe is described as being “magnificent in appearance, bizarre in form, unique in gait, colossal in height and inoffensive in character.” That just about sums up this animal beautifully.

The giraffe is the tallest living animal, and is found in arid and dry-savanna zones south of the Sahara, wherever there are trees in plenty. Apart from its size and distinctive pattern, there is one other remarkable feature in this animal – its gait. It moves both right legs forward, and then both left. However, when galloping, it simultaneously swings the hind legs ahead of and outside the front legs, and is capable of reaching speeds of 35 miles an hour.

The principle food source of a giraffe is the acacia tree, but they do eat grass and fruits of other trees and shrubs. It doesn’t seem to mind the sharp thorns of the tree because of its long, muscular tongue. Giraffes are known to be selective feeders and they can maintain themselves on a meager allowance of 15 pounds of foliage per day. They can also survive several days without water, depending on the moisture of the leaves to stay hydrated.

Even though giraffes are seen to move in groups, they don’t have complex social arrangements like many other animals living on the plains. The giraffe is non-territorial by nature and lives in loose, open herds which have no specific leaders. The only time giraffes enter into a “tiff” with one another is during the mating season, and even then it is neither dangerous nor bloody. Young males intertwine their necks slowly and push each other from side to side, similar in a manner to what we do in arm-wrestling.

Female giraffes usually give birth to one calf at a time. Newborn calves are 6 feet tall and are able to stand on their legs within 20 minutes of being born. During their first week they are guarded very carefully since they cannot defend themselves. While the mothers feed during the day, the calves are left together in nursery groups.

Calves grow quite rapidly, gaining up to an inch every day. Male calves are weaned at about 15 months, while female calves take a little longer. Since young giraffes make for very easy preys, scientists estimate that only 25% of the infants get through the first year of their lives. Once they do, a giraffe typically lives for about 25 years.

Unlike all the scary aquatic life based movies you’ve seen where the biggest beasts are the most destructive; in real life, the largest among all creatures that has ever walked across the face of this earth isn’t bloodthirsty. I am talking about the gigantic blue whale.

Blue whales belong to the rorqual family that also includes the fin whale, humpback whale, sei whale, minke whale, and Bryde’s whale. Like I mentioned before, the blue whale is the biggest creature ever to have lived on this planet – bigger than the biggest dinosaur you saw in Jurassic Park. And, to think that on land an animal this size would be smothered under its own weight! It’s only thanks to the buoyant properties of water that the weight of a blue whale’s body’s tissues can be supported.

Wondering what a blue whale eats? Surprisingly, they feed on a tiny species of shrimp known as krill, eating over a thousand krill at one time. Apart from Krill, they also eat small fish and plankton. On an average, a blue whale needs 8,000 lbs (3600kg) of fresh seafood per day to ensure that it is well fed and satisfied.

Even more spectacular than its size or diet is the sound made by the blue whale. The low frequency rumbling sounds that it uses to communicate with other whales were measured by scientists using a decibel meter. Some of their vocalizations were as loud as 188 decibels, which can be heard from 848km away. Even a commercial jet taking off makes a sound of no more than 120 decibels!

Blue whales reach sexual maturity between 6 to 10 years. The calves that are born are 7-8.2m long and weigh about 2,722 kg. They are nursed for 7 to 8 months, at which time they consume 100 gallons of the mother’s milk every day. As a result, they gain up to 8 pounds an hour!

For nearly a century, blue whales were hunted indiscriminately for oil. A single 90-foot blue whale could yield more than 100 barrels of oil. 1931 was probably the worst year for these mammals, since 29,000 blue whales were killed in one season. In 1966, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) gave blue whales worldwide protection and banned their hunting. However, recovery has been very slow. While pre-whaling population ran into estimates of over 350,000 blue whales, today there are less than 10,000 blue whales in the Southern Hemisphere, and only around 3-4,000 in the Northern Hemisphere.

Did you know?

• The largest whale ever measured was a female weighing 171,000 kg and measuring over 27m long.
• The longest whale measured was over 33m.
• An average blue whale can measure 100 feet long and weigh up to 150 tons.
• The heart of a blue whale is as big as a small car.
• Its tongue is so big fifty people could easily stand on it!