Pandas

Pandas are the national animal of China. They are related to bears and have black eye patches.

What do pandas look like?There are two different types of panda. The giant panda is the most well known but the red panda also lives in the mountains in China. The red panda has a long tail and is the same size as a cat. The giant panda is much bigger and has black and white fur. Both the red and giant pandas are have long, sharp claws that they use to climb trees and strip bamboo.

What do pandas eat? Pandas are very fussy eaters. Most pandas only eat bamboo, a type of grass. A giant panda will eat half their own weight in bamboo every day.

! Did you know?Pandas are endangered and if they are not looked after could become extinct.

A giant panda eating bamboo.

What do pandas do?Pandas spend most of their time eating or sleeping. As well as sleeping, young pandas like to play with each other and can be very naughty

ElephantsElephants live in Africa and India and are the largest animals that live on land.

What do elephants look like?Elephants have tough grey skin and large ears. In addition, they have a long nose called a trunk that they use to drink water. African elephants have bigger ears than Indian elephants. Also, elephants have tusks to protect them from other animals.

A bull elephant

What do elephants eat? Elephants are herbivores and eat bark and leaves from trees.

What do elephants do?Usually, elephants are very gentle but can get quite cross. Elephants are very clever and know how to find water even when it is far away. When they find water they like to swim.

Did you know?A mother elephant is called a cow. The dad is a bull and a baby is called a calf!

Tigers

Tigers are a type of big cat that live in India and are very dangerous.

What do tigers look like?Tigers have orange fur with black stripes so they can hide in tall grass.

A male tiger

What do tigers eat? Tigers are carnivores and they hunt for their food. Therefore, they are predators.

What do tigers do?Tigers live on their own and are solitary mammals. In addition, they are the only big cat that likes to swim.

Did you know?Tigers are an endangered species. That means there are not many left in the wild.

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Description

• Thicktrunk• Largehead• Shinyblack• Muscle• Upto6feet• 50years• Handstoexploreandinvestigate

Diet

• Needalotoffood• Vegetarian• Varietyofplants• Wildcelery• Bamboo• Thistles• Stingingnettles

Habitat

• Denseforests• Woodland• Africa• 10,000feetup• Influencedbyfood• Cloudy,mistyandcold

• Rulersofforest

Behaviour

• Nestintrees• Sight,smellandears• Familyrelationships• Gentleandplacid• Silverbackisleader• Groomoneanother• Playandgraze• Notroubleunlessthreatened

Didyouknow?Thegorilla’sonlyknownenemiesare

leopardsandhumans!

Crocodiles and Alligators

How fast are alligators? Alligators, such as the American alligator, can run fast on land, but they are even quicker in water. To swim, they tuck their legs under their bodies and swish their strong tails from side to side, powering themselves through the water. The American alligator lives in south-eastern USA, in warm rivers and swamps. It will eat almost anything it can catch, including water birds, fish and turtles. In busy areas, the American alligator will sometimes attack farm animals that get too close to the water.

Crocodiles and alligators belong to a group of reptiles called crocodilians. These fierce carnivores (meat-eating animals) have not changed much for millions of years. Today, there are 14 different types of crocodile, 2 types of alligator and 6 types of caiman.

Did you know…

• When baby crocodiles hatch out of their eggs, they call out for their mother.

• Crocodiles and alligators have thick, scaly skin which protects them from being attacked.

• You can tell crocodiles and alligators apart by their teeth. When an alligator shuts its mouth you can’t see any teeth in its bottom jaw. When a crocodile closes its mouth you can see the fourth tooth on each side of its bottom jaw.

How do crocodiles care for their young? Crocodiles make much better parents than many other reptiles. A female Nile crocodile lays up to 75 eggs, she buries them under than sand in the riverbank. She guards them for about 3 months until they hatch, and then carries them gently in her big mouth down to the water. She goes on protecting them from predators (animals that would want to eat them) for another few weeks, before leaving them to fight their own battles.

Crocodile grazing in the sun.

Sharks

How do great whites find their food? When the great white shark is close to another animal, it can sense electrical currents made by the animal’s body. When they are further away, it has a powerful sense of smell that can track the scent (smell) of fish from a great distance. Great whites have good eye-sight. They see well in the dark and have a good sense of hearing.

Sharks have rough skin and they cannot fold their fins. Sharks have strong jaws (mouths) and many have sharp teeth, but some have flat grinding teeth. Sharks have a fantastic sense of smell and can sniff out food from huge distances. There are about 350 types of shark; they include some of the largest fish in the world.

Which is the fastest shark? The short-finned Mako shark is the fastest shark. It is very streamlined and agile (quick). It is thought by some that it can travel up to 70 miles per hour. It eats other fish such as tuna, which are also some of the fastest swimming fish.

Did you know… • Whale sharks can grow over 14 metres in length. • Hammerheads grow up to 4 metres long and are

found in warm seas. • The world’s largest fish is the whale shark. • The longest known great white is 6 metres.

Why do hammerhead sharks have a funny shaped head?

There are lots of thoughts about why hammerhead sharks have strange shaped heads. Some think it is to help the shark move through the water. Others think it helps their sense of smell – most hammerheads have nostrils on the outer tips of their heads.

Great white shark.

Hammerhead shark.

Spiders

Are black widows dangerous? There are over 30 types of widow spiders, including the red back in Australia. Both black widow and red back widow are mainly black with a red tummy to warn off predators (any animal that might want to eat them!).

Spiders are the world’s most common land carnivore (eats meat). There are about 40,000 different types of spiders and they live in nearly every part of the world. All spiders have a pair of fangs; these fangs release venom (poison).

Do all spiders make webs? Not all spiders make webs, but they all make silk. Many hunt on the ground, like the jumping spiders, and some even build trap-doors under ground so they can hide and wait for their prey (food).

Fun Facts!

• Not all spiders have 8 eyes, some only have 6.

• Tarantulas are the largest spiders. • Some jumping spiders can jump 30

times their own body length.

Spider waiting to jump on its prey.

Spider web with rain droplets.

Spider on its web.

Black widow spider.

Scorpions

Do you get scorpions in Europe? The European yellow-tailed scorpion is found in warm European countries like Italy or Portugal. It is quite small (about 5cm) and eats insects. As global warming is causing the temperature in many countries to get warmer, colonies (nests) of scorpions have been found in the United Kingdom.

Scorpions live all over the world, but mostly in dry, warm areas. Like spiders, they are arachnids and have eight legs. Scorpions have a pair of venom (poison) glands in their stinger; this is what they use for hunting. Scorpion venom is meant for animals so most are not harmful to humans.

How are baby scorpions looked after? Scorpions are born one by one, and the brood (the babies) are carried on the mother’s back until they are old enough to look after themselves. This is after they have shed their first skin. Depending on the type of scorpion, the mother might have 100 young scorpions to take care of!

Fun Facts! • The emperor scorpion can grow 18cm

long and is one of the largest in the world.

• The deathstalker scorpion may be the most poisonous scorpion.

• Scorpions can eat insects, small lizards, snakes and mice.

Mother scorpion with brood on its back.

Yellow-tailed scorpion.

Adult scorpion.

Polar Bears

Have you ever wondered about polar bears? If so, this report will tell you everything you need to know. Polar bears are the kings of the Arctic. Read on to find out more.

Where do Polar Bears live?

Polar bears live in countries around the Arctic: Canada, Russia, the United States, Greenland and Norway. In the winter, temperatures in the Arctic are usually around minus 29 degrees. In the summer, polar bears live on the land and in the winter they live on the ice.

What do Polar Bears do?

Polar bears are solitary which means they spend most of their life alone. The animal will spend its days wandering across the land or swimming in the Artic sea, stalking its prey or napping in shrubs or snow dens. When a polar bear swims under water it closes its nostrils so no water can get in. Polar bears are excellent swimmers because they use their big front feet to paddle and their back legs to steer.

What do Polar Bears look like?

Polar bears are well-equipped for survival in a harsh, cold environment. They have two coats of fur and a thick layer of blubber to help insulate the polar bear's body from the cold. Also, polar bears have wide, large paws which help them to walk in the snow. Their claws help them to catch their prey and to dig out snow dens in the winter. Also, their fur is white to help them camouflage in the snow, although their skin is actually black underneath.

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A polar bear and its cubs.

A polar bear’s body.

What do Polar Bears eat?

Polar bears are carnivores so they eat only meat. They feed mainly on seals but they may also eat walruses or dead whales and narwhals. They will wait patiently by a hole in the ice until a seal comes up to the surface to breathe before they attack it. They have a great sense of smell which they use to find their prey and then they use their sharp claws to catch and tear it up to eat. In addition, they are also excellent swimmers which helps them to hunt too.

Did you know?

Polar bears are the largest carnivores that lives on land.