Animals & Trails

Nicknamed antbear for its appetite for ants and termites, the aardvark can consume as many as 50,000 insects in a night.

White lions are leucistic, not albino — they are not totally devoid of pigmentation. Instead of the red eyes seen in albinos, they have blue or yellow eyes.

With 40,000-50,000 left in the wild,. will the last of the megaherbivores be wiped out too?

With a comparatively shorter, sparser and darker mane, the male Asian lion's ears are exposed and visible at all times.

Named for its cloud-shaped coat markings, this cat is threatened by hunting and habitat loss.

Affectionately nicknamed the “Toddy Cat”, this furry fellow is essential for seed dispersal and forest restoration.

One of the few cats that swim readily, this species is named for its ability to fish.

Only a few mammals are known to produce venom and the slow loris is one of them. It mixes the secretion from a gland on the underside of its arm with its saliva to produce a toxin.

When night falls, the flying foxes leave their daytime roost to feed. their keen vision and sense of smell helps them locate fruit and flowers easily.

The Malayan tapir has a dramatic coat pattern, often referred to as the "saddle" pattern because of its position and shape.

To keep their massive bodies cool in the blistering African heat, hippos can spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in water.

The female kiwi produces the largest egg for its body size - the giant egg can weigh up to 25% of her body weight.

Not only does it swim well, it can scoot up a tree with surprising speed. Its prehensile tail works like a fifth limb.

The sloth bears use their sickle-shaped claws as ‘climbing hooks’ to hoist themselves up trees. They climb not to escape danger, but to get at termite or bee nests.

With a vocabulary of 12 different calls, these otters can be a noisy bunch. The calls are used for contact, summons, greeting, threat and alarm.

When startled, it closes its shell completely around its body, leaving a small gap that it squeezes shut on the nose or paw of a would-be predator.

They look like large dogs, but are more closely related to cats like lions and tigers. Their powerful jaws give them the strongest bite of any mammal.

The name “devil” may come from the sounds they make. They make eerie growls while searching for food at night.

White tigers are not albinos or a different sub-species of tigers. Their white coat, brown stripes and blue eyes are the result of a mutated gene. Both white and orange-coloured tiger cubs can be found in the same litter.

A woylie can move six tons of soil per year in nocturnal diggings in search of its favourite food: truffles.