Animal Destination

Cage Tiger

2012-01-15T02:53:00.001-08:00

Cage Tiger

Camel

2012-01-04T22:24:00.000-08:00

Camel

Philippine Carabao

2011-12-19T07:11:00.000-08:00

Philippine Carabaoor Kalabaw in Tagalog. Eating grass, racing, going to festivals, pulling a plough, hauling a cart, preparing the soil for rice.

Starfish

2011-12-05T07:48:00.000-08:00

Starfish

Gansa

2011-11-27T06:43:00.000-08:00

Gansa or goose and geese in english

Baka

2011-11-06T06:59:00.000-08:00

Baka

Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula

2011-10-12T05:51:00.000-07:00

Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula or Grammostola Rosea also known as the Chilean Flame Tarantula, Chilean Fire Tarantula or the Chilean Red Haired tarantula or the Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula or depending on the colormorph, is probably the most common species of tarantula available in pet stores today, due to the large number of wild caught specimens exported cheaply from their native Chile into the US pet trade. Grammostola Rosea originates from the northern Atacama Desert region of Chile and live in the driest deserts on earth. Grammostola Rosea is a common pet of tarantula rearers. Females have been known to live as long as 15 to 20 years but due to the limited time they have been available on the market and hence for extensive study, there is a possibility that they may live considerably longer.

Palaka

2011-10-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

Palaka

Hamadryas Baboons

2011-09-27T18:47:00.000-07:00

Hamadryas Baboons

Brazilian Black and White Tarantula

2011-09-13T05:57:00.000-07:00

Brazilian Black and White Tarantula is a rare and colorful tarantula but due to its aggressive nature as it gets older it is not recommended for beginners. For the experienced caretaker this tarantula can be a delight to own. Like most tarantulas the Brazilian black and white hates light. The Brazilian black and white tarantula, Acanthoscurria Brocklehursti, is a species of spider best known for its aggressive eating habits, distinctive coloring, and rapid rate of growth. It is sometimes called the Giant Black and White Tarantula

Japanese Koi

2011-08-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

The Japanese for Koi is Nishikigoi, it comes from the Japanese word Nishikigoi which literally means colored carp. An adult Japanese Koi should be fed about one gram of dry pellets a day.

Starfish

2011-08-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

Blue Starfish

Kambing

2011-08-07T06:36:00.000-07:00

Kambing

Koala Bear

2011-07-25T02:03:00.001-07:00

Koala Bear

Panda

2011-07-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

Panda is an endangered animal

Cheetah

2011-07-22T06:18:00.000-07:00

Cheetah gets its name from a Hindi word Chita meaning spotted animal.Cheetahs communicate using a series of bird like calls or squeaks. The main time when you see cheetahs communicating is between a mother and her cubs or when they are growling at a rival.

Cheetahs can be found in savannas, open woodlands and in the semi desert areas like southern and eastern Africa, Savanna. And some are spread out around northern Arabian Peninsula and Northwest Afghanistan.

Chaco Golden Knee Tarantula

2011-07-04T02:41:00.000-07:00

Chaco Golden Knee Tarantula

Trigoniulus Corallinus Rusty Millipede

2011-06-25T19:02:00.000-07:00

Trigoniulus Corallinus Rusty Millipede
Trigoniulus Macropygus Giant Flameleg Millipede

Kuhol

2011-06-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

Kuhol

Honduran Curly Hair Tarantula

2011-06-07T02:29:00.000-07:00

Honduran Curly Hair Tarantula

Kalabaw

2011-06-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

Baboy

2011-05-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

Baboy or Pig

Malayan Tapir

2011-05-10T08:26:00.000-07:00

Malayan Tapir

Mexican Redrup Tarantula

2011-05-03T02:18:00.000-07:00

Mexican Redrup Tarantula

Penguins

2011-04-26T18:13:00.000-07:00

Penguins

Maya

2011-04-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

Maya

Mexican Fireleg Tarantula

2011-04-07T01:48:00.001-07:00

Mexican Fireleg Tarantula

Tarsier in Bohol

2011-03-20T21:46:00.000-07:00

Tarsier in Bohol

Sugar Glider

2011-03-10T06:45:00.000-08:00

There are actually six different species of glider found in Australia. They include:

Yellow bellied Glider with scientific name of Petaurus australis

Sugar Glider with scientific name of Petaurus breviceps

Squirrel Glider with scientific name of Petaurus phalanger

Greater Glider with scientific name of Petaurioides volans

Feathertail Glider with scientific name of Acrobates pygmaeus

Mahogany Glider with scientific name of Petaurus gracilis

The species of a Sugar Glider is Peatarus Breviceps. The sugar glider is a type of possum which is a type of marsupial.

Ball Python

2011-02-20T06:43:00.000-08:00

They are called ball pythons in the python region and the ball part in the name because they roll up in a ball for defense. When a ball python is falling down, it would roll up in a ball giving it less injuries. Ball pythons also roll into a ball mostly to keep them warm. A ball python is usually 2 to 4 feet long with some exceptions that get 5 to 6 feet. They have a diet of either pinky mice, hoppers, small mice, rats, rat pups, they also eat gerbals and hamsters.

Hedgehog

2011-02-10T06:40:00.000-08:00

Hedgehogs occasionally perform a ritual called anointing. When the animal encounters a new scent, it will lick and bite the source, then form a scented froth in its mouth and paste it on its spines with its tongue. It's unknown what the specific purpose of this ritual is, but some experts believe anointing camouflages the hedgehog with the new scent of the area and provides a possible poison or source of infection to predators poked by their spines. Anointing is sometimes also called anting because of a similar behavior in birds.

Green Tree Python

2011-01-20T06:38:00.000-08:00

Green Tree Python or also known as Morelia Viridis

Grammostola Rosea

2011-01-10T06:36:00.000-08:00

Grammostola Rosea

Duck

2010-12-27T03:24:00.000-08:00

Crocodile

2010-12-27T03:22:00.000-08:00

Pugo

2010-12-27T03:19:00.000-08:00

Kalabaw

2010-12-06T04:21:00.000-08:00

Seahorse

2010-11-06T04:13:00.001-07:00

Chinese Crab

2010-11-06T04:03:00.001-07:00

Gagamba

2010-11-06T04:02:00.001-07:00

Probosis Monkey

2010-11-06T03:59:00.000-07:00

Rooster

2010-11-06T03:56:00.000-07:00

Rooster, cockerel or cock is a male chicken which is usually joined in sabungan. This type of chicken is breed. Immature male chickens of less than a year's age are called cockerels.

Salagubang

2010-11-01T04:18:00.000-07:00

Lion

2010-10-02T22:12:00.001-07:00

Kalapati

2010-10-02T22:10:00.001-07:00

Kalapati is one of the famous pet in Pinoy. The difference of this birds on other domesticated birds such martinez or parrot is that you do not cage them but allow them to fly freely. This is done so that they can attract minority group of kalapati. This is the technique of pet owners to increase their population.

Tutubi

2010-10-02T22:09:00.001-07:00

Dragonflies or tutubi are valuable predators that eat mosquitoes, and other small insects like flies, bees, ants, and butterflies. They are usually found around lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands because their larvae, known as nymphs, are aquatic.

Lipstick Tang Fish

2010-10-02T22:08:00.001-07:00

Sailfin Tang Fish

2010-10-02T22:07:00.001-07:00

Chickens

2010-10-02T22:05:00.001-07:00

Chicken is one of the useful domesticated pets. Poultry have hundreds of chickens and chicks that lay eggs and some are harvest for poultry product.

Kangaroo

2010-09-02T22:18:00.000-07:00

Jellyfish

2010-09-02T22:17:00.000-07:00

Blue Spotted Ribbontail Ray

2010-09-02T06:25:00.000-07:00

Owl

2010-09-02T06:19:00.001-07:00

Goat or Kambing

2010-09-02T06:15:00.000-07:00

Black Spotted Shark

2010-09-02T06:13:00.000-07:00

Bee In a Flower

2010-08-10T22:17:00.000-07:00

Porcupine

2010-08-03T06:26:00.000-07:00

Jelly Fish at Manila Ocean Park

2010-08-03T06:23:00.000-07:00

Bamboo Shark Fish Egg

2010-08-03T06:20:00.000-07:00

Bamboo Shark Fish Egg

Sea Lion

2010-08-03T01:57:00.000-07:00

Puting Kalabaw

2010-08-02T22:13:00.000-07:00

Reef Stonefish

2010-07-31T22:07:00.000-07:00

Reef Stonefish

Wakatobi Fish

2010-07-31T21:48:00.000-07:00

Wakatobi Fish

Honey Bee

2010-07-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Honey bees are the only extant members of the tribe Apini, all in the genus Apis. Currently, there are only seven recognized species of honey bee with a total of 44 subspecies though historically, anywhere from six to eleven species have been recognized. Honey bees represent only a small fraction of the approximately 20,000 known species of bees. Some other types of related bees produce and store honey, but only members of the genus Apis are true honey bees.

Tiger

2010-07-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

Tiger

Longhorn Cowfish

2010-07-07T22:11:00.001-07:00

The longhorn cowfish, Lactoria cornuta, is a variety of boxfish from the Ostraciidi family, recognizable by its long horns that protrude from the front of its head, rather like those of a cow or bull. They are a resident of the Indo-Pacific region and can grow up to 20 inches long. Whilst badly suited to the home aquarium, the cowfish is becoming increasingly popular as a pet.

Adults are reef fish, often solitary and territorial, live around sand or rubble bottom up to a depth of 50 m. They are omnivorous, feeding upon benthic algae, various microorganisms, and foraminiferans that it strains from sediments, sponges, polychaete worms from sand flats, mollusks, small crustaceans, and small fishes, able to feed on benthic invertebrates by blowing jets of water into the sandy substrate.

Hippopotamus

2010-07-07T20:52:00.000-07:00

The hippopotamus with scientific name Hippopotamus amphibius or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse", is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae, the other is the Pygmy Hippopotamus. The hippopotamus is the second largest land animal after the elephant and the heaviest extant artiodactyl, despite being considerably shorter than the giraffe.

The hippopotamus is semi-aquatic, inhabiting rivers and lakes where territorial bulls preside over a stretch of river and groups of 5 to 30 females and young. During the day they remain cool by staying in the water or mud; reproduction and childbirth both occur in water. They emerge at dusk to graze on grass. While hippopotamuses rest near each other in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and hippos are not territorial on land.

Despite their physical resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, their closest living relatives are cetaceans such as whales, porpoises, from which they diverged about 55 million years ago. The common ancestor of whales and hippos split from other even-toed ungulates around 60 million years ago. The earliest known hippopotamus fossils, belonging to the genus Kenyapotamus in Africa, date to around 16 million years ago.

The hippopotamus is recognizable by its barrel-shaped torso, enormous mouth and teeth, nearly-hairless body, stubby legs and tremendous size. It is the third-largest land mammal by weight between 1½ and 3 tonnes, behind the white rhinoceros and both species of elephant. Despite its stocky shape and short legs, it can easily outrun a human. Hippos have been clocked at 30 km/h over short distances. The hippopotamus is one of the most aggressive creatures in the world and is often regarded as the most ferocious animal in Africa. There are an estimated 125,000 to 150,000 hippos throughout Sub-Saharan Africa; Zambia with 40,000 and Tanzania with 20,000–30,000 possess the largest populations. They are still threatened by habitat loss and poaching for their meat and ivory canine teeth.

Cat

2010-06-14T05:25:00.000-07:00

The cat also known as Felis silvestris catus, also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felines and felids, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and its ability to hunt vermin and household pests. Cats have been associated with humans for at least 9,500 years, and are currently the most popular pet in the world. Due to their close association with humans, cats are now found almost everywhere on Earth. This extreme adaptability and their worrying impacts on native animals has led to them being classed as an invasive species. Most of these problems are caused by the large number of feral cats worldwide, with a population of up to 60 million of these animals in the United States alone.

Cats are similar in size and anatomy to the other Felids, with light, flexible bodies and teeth adapted to killing small prey. A skilled predator, the cat hunts over 1,000 species for food, using its excellent eyesight and hearing. Unusually, cats have lost the ability to taste sugar and in some breeds show hereditary deafness. Despite being solitary hunters, cats are a social species and use a variety of vocalizations, pheromones and types of body language for communication. These include meowing, purring, trilling, hissing, growling, squeaking, chirping, clicking, and grunting. They are also bred and shown as registered pedigree pets. This hobby is known as cat fancy.

Until recently the cat was commonly believed to have been domesticated in ancient Egypt, where it was a cult animal. A study in 2007 found that the lines of descent of all house cats probably run through as few as five self-domesticating African Wildcats (Felis silvestris lybica) circa 8000 BC, in the Near East. The earliest direct evidence of cat domestication is a kitten that was buried with its owner 9,500 years ago in Cyprus.

Bear Cat

2010-06-14T05:17:00.000-07:00

The Binturong with a scientific name of Arctictis binturong, also known as the Asian Bearcat, the Palawan Bearcat, or simply the Bearcat, is a species of the family Viverridae, which includes the civets and genets. It is neither a bear nor a cat, and the real meaning of the original name has been lost, as the local language that gave it that name is now extinct. Its natural habitat is in trees of forest canopy in rainforest of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

It is nocturnal and sleeps on branches. It eats primarily fruit, but also has been known to eat eggs, shoots, leaves, and small animals, such as rodents or birds. Deforestation has greatly reduced its numbers. When cornered, the Binturong can be vicious. The Binturong can make chuckling sounds when it seems to be happy and utter a high-pitched wail if annoyed. The Binturong can live over 20 years in captivity; one has been recorded to have lived almost 26 years.

Tarsier

2010-06-10T23:07:00.000-07:00

Fly

2010-06-04T20:05:00.000-07:00

Little Turtle

2010-06-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Golden Tortoise Beetle or Salaginto

2010-06-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

Dragonfly

2010-05-25T00:34:00.000-07:00

Carabao

2010-05-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

The carabao is Philippines National Animal due to its hard work and help to the farmers. Carabaos are indigenous to Southeast Asia. Adult carabaos weigh seven to eight hundred kilograms—almost 2,000 pounds—and have fairly long gray or black hair thinly covering their huge bodies. They have a tuft of hair on their forehead, and at the tip of their tail. Normally, they are silent and docile, but they will give a trembling snort if they are surprised.

Both male and female have massive horns. Since the carabao has no sweat glands, it cools itself by lying in a waterhole or mud during the heat of the day. Mud, caked on to its body, also protects it from bothersome insects.

The carabao eats grass and other vegetation, feeding mainly in the cool of the mornings and evenings. In some places of the world the carabao is a source of milk just like the cow, or it may be slaughtered for its hide and its meat. Its life span is 18 to 20 years and the female carabao can deliver one calf each year.

Spotted Garden Eels

2010-05-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

Spotted Garden Eels

Dolphin Watching

2010-05-07T05:13:00.000-07:00

My Crablet

2010-05-07T05:09:00.000-07:00

Dolphin

2010-05-06T17:57:00.000-07:00

Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from 4 ft and 90 lb also known Maui's Dolphin, up to 30 ft and 10 tonnes also known as the Orca or Killer Whale. They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating fish and squid. The family Delphinidae is the largest in the Cetacean order, and relatively recent. Dolphins evolved about ten million years ago, during the Miocene. Dolphins are among the most intelligent animals and their often friendly appearance and seemingly playful attitude have made them popular in human culture.

Let the Birds Fly

2010-04-30T06:11:00.000-07:00

Philippine Deer

2010-04-23T22:28:00.000-07:00

The Philippine Brown Deer also known as cervus mariannus is originally restricted to the Philippines but was later introduced into the Marianna Islands. It can be found throughout most of the country. Once common, it is now rare due to hunting and habitat loss except in very isolated areas. It can be recognised easily by its hoof prints or bakas ng usa and by the off cut shoots that it leaves behind after feeding, which were frequently seen in cassava plantations in forest clearings on Patnanungan.

It stays in localities in the interior where there are extensive areas still covered with forests especially dense primary and secondary forests and up to about 1,500 meters above sea level in transition mid-mountain-mossy type forest.

The deer feeds in grassland areas preferably close to the edges of forests, and when disturbed, will immediately run towards the dense forest growth for cover.

Starfish

2010-04-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

Zebra

2010-04-20T04:43:00.000-07:00

Zebras are best known for their white and black stripes and are also called African equids. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals and can be seen in small harems to large herds. In addition to their stripes, zebras have erect, mohawk-like manes. Unlike their closest relatives, horses and asses.

Giraffe

2010-04-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

The giraffe also known as Giraffa camelopardalis is an African even toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant. It is covered in large, irregular patches of yellow to black fur separated by white, off-white, or dark yellowish brown background. The average mass for an adult male giraffe is 1,200 kilograms while the average mass for an adult female is 830 kilograms. It is approximately 4.3 metres to 5.2 metres tall, although the tallest male recorded stood almost 6 metres.

The giraffe is related to deer and cattle, but is placed in a separate family, the Giraffidae, consisting of only the giraffe and its closest relative, the okapi. Its range extends from Chad in Central Africa to South Africa.

Giraffes usually inhabit savannas, grasslands, or open woodlands. However, when food is scarce they will venture into areas with denser vegetation. They prefer areas with plenty of acacia growth. They will drink large quantities of water when available, which enables them to live for extended periods in dry, arid areas.

Lobster

2010-04-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

Monkey

2010-03-31T22:53:00.000-07:00

Monkey is a common primate. A monkey is any cercopithecoid or platyrrhine primate. All primates that are not prosimians such as lemurs and tarsiers or apes are monkeys. The 264 known extant monkey species represent two of the three groupings of simian primates. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent and, unlike apes, monkeys usually have tails.

The New World monkeys are classified within the parvorder Platyrrhini, whereas the Old World monkeys form part of the parvorder Catarrhini, which also includes the apes. Thus, scientifically speaking, monkeys are paraphyletic and Old World monkeys are actually more closely related to the apes than they are to the New World monkeys.

Due to its size the Mandrill is often thought to be an ape, but it is actually an Old World monkey. Also, a few monkey species have the word "ape" in their common name.

Bats

2010-03-26T16:33:00.000-07:00

There are about 1,100 bat species worldwide, which represent about twenty percent of all classified mammal species. Bats are flying mammals in the order Chiroptera. The forelimbs of bats are webbed and developed as wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums and colugos, glide rather than fly, and only for short distances. Bats do not flap their entire forelimbs, as birds do, but instead flap their spread out digits which are very long and covered with a thin membrane or patagium. Chiroptera comes from two Greek words, cheir hand and pteron wing.

About seventy percent of bats are insectivores. Most of the rest are frugivores, or fruit eaters. A few species feed from animals other than insects. Believe it not, bats can eat up to 300 hundred bugs an hour! These bugs include mosquitoes, moths, locus, grasshoppers. Such bugs can destroy crops and spread disease. One bat can eat 20 female moths a night reducing the number of crop eating caterpillars. Bats are present throughout most of the world and perform vital ecological roles such as pollinating flowers and dispersing fruit seeds. Many tropical plants depend entirely on bats for the distribution of their seeds.

Tiger

2010-03-07T20:43:00.000-08:00

The tiger also known as Panthera tigris is a member of the Felidae family, the largest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera. Native to much of eastern and southern Asia, the tiger is an apex predator and an obligate carnivore. Reaching up to 11 ft in total length and weighing up to 300 kilograms, the larger tiger subspecies are comparable in size to the biggest extinct felids. Aside from their great bulk and power, their most recognisable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes that overlays near-white to reddish-orange fur, with lighter underparts. The most numerous tiger subspecies is the Bengal tiger while the largest subspecies is the Siberian tiger.

Highly adaptable, tigers range from the Siberian taiga, to open grasslands, to tropical mangrove swamps. They are territorial and generally solitary animals, often requiring large contiguous areas of habitat that support their prey demands. This, coupled with the fact that they are endemic to some of the more densely populated places on earth, has caused significant conflicts with humans. Of the nine subspecies of modern tiger, three are extinct and the remaining six are classified as endangered, some critically so. The primary direct causes are habitat destruction and fragmentation, and hunting. Their historical range once stretched from Mesopotamia and the Caucasus through most of South and East Asia. Today it has been radically reduced. While all surviving species are under formal protection, poaching, habitat destruction and inbreeding depression continue to threaten the species.

Tigers are among the most recognisable and popular of the world's charismatic megafauna. They have featured prominently in ancient mythology and folklore, and continue to be depicted in modern films and literature. Tigers appear on many flags and coats of arms, as mascots for sporting teams, and as the national animal of several Asian nations, including India.

Ostrich

2010-03-07T20:42:00.000-08:00

The Ostrich with the scientific name Struthio camelus, is a large flightless bird native to Africa. It is the only living species of its family, Struthionidae and its genus, Struthio. Ostriches share the order Struthioniformes with the kiwis, Emus, and other ratites. It is distinctive in its appearance, with a long neck and legs and the ability to run at maximum speeds of about 72 km/h, the top land speed of any bird. The Ostrich is the largest living species of bird and lays the largest egg of any living bird, extinct elephant birds of Madagascar and giant moa of New Zealand laid larger eggs.

The diet of the Ostrich mainly consists of plant matter, though it also eats insects. It lives in nomadic groups which contain between five and fifty birds. When threatened, the Ostrich will either hide itself by lying flat against the ground, or will run away. If cornered, it can attack with a kick from its powerful legs. Mating patterns differ by geographical region, but territorial males fight for a harem of two to seven females.

The Ostrich is farmed around the world, particularly for its feathers, which are decorative and are also used for feather dusters. Its skin is used for leather products and its meat marketed commercially.

Crocodile

2010-03-07T20:37:00.000-08:00

Crocodile is a species belonging to the family Crocodylidae sometimes classified instead as the subfamily Crocodylinae. The term can also be used more loosely to include all members of the order Crocodilia such as the true crocodiles, the alligators and caimans or family Alligatoridae and the gharials or family Gavialidae, or even the Crocodylomorpha which includes prehistoric crocodile relatives and ancestors. Crocodiles are large aquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Crocodiles tend to congregate in freshwater habitats like rivers, lakes, wetlands and sometimes in brackish water. They feed mostly on vertebrates like fish, reptiles, and mammals, sometimes on invertebrates like mollusks and crustaceans, depending on species. They are an ancient lineage, and are believed to have changed little since the time of the dinosaurs. They are believed to be 200 million years old whereas dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago; crocodiles survived great extinction events.

Elephant

2010-03-07T20:35:00.000-08:00

Elephants are large land mammals in two genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta. Three species of elephant are living today, the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant and the Asian Elephant also known as the Indian Elephant. All other species and genera of Elephantidae are extinct, some since the last ice age: dwarf forms of mammoths may have survived as late as 2,000 BC. Elephants and other Elephantidae were once classified with other thick-skinned animals in a now invalid order, Pachydermata.

Elephants are the largest land animals now living. The elephant's gestation period is 22 months, the longest of any land animal. At birth it is common for an elephant calf to weigh 120 kilograms. They typically live for 50 to 70 years, but the oldest recorded elephant lived for 82 years. The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1956. This male weighed about 12,000 kilograms, with a shoulder height of 14 ft, a metre taller than the average male African elephant. The smallest elephants, about the size of a calf or a large pig, were a prehistoric species that lived on the island of Crete during the Pleistocene epoch.

The elephant has appeared in cultures across the world. They are a symbol of wisdom in Asian cultures and are famed for their memory and intelligence, where they are thought to be on par with cetaceans and hominids. Aristotle once said the elephant was "the beast which passeth all others in wit and mind". The word "elephant" has its origins in the Greek ἐλέφας, meaning "ivory" or "elephant".

Healthy adult elephants have no natural predators, although lions may take calves or weak individuals. They are increasingly threatened by human intrusion and poaching. Once numbering in the millions, the African elephant population has dwindled to between 470,000 and 690,000 individuals according to a March 2007 estimate. While the elephant is a protected species worldwide, with restrictions in place on capture, domestic use, and trade in products such as ivory, there has been an increase in poaching in recent years, perhaps attributable to the reopening of "one time" ivory stock sales. Certain African nations report a decrease of their elephant populations by as much as two-thirds, and populations in even some protected areas are in danger of being eliminated.

Doctor Fish

2010-02-22T21:12:00.000-08:00

Doctor fish is the name given to two species of fish, Garra rufa and Cyprinion macrostomus. Other nicknames include nibble fish, kangal fish, little dermatologists and doctorfishen; in non-medical contexts, Garra rufa is called the reddish log sucker. They live and breed in the outdoor pools of some Turkish spas, where they feed on the skin of patients with psoriasis. The fish are like combfishes in that they only consume the affected and dead areas of the skin, leaving the healthy skin to grow, with the outdoor location of the treatment bringing beneficial effects. The spas are not meant as a curative treatment option, only as a temporary alleviation of symptoms, and patients usually revisit the spas every few months. Some patients have experienced complete cure of psoriasis after repeated treatments, but due to the unpredictable nature of the disease, which is strongly influenced by endogenous factors, this may simply be regression towards the mean.

Garra rufa occurs in the river basins of the Northern and Central Middle East, mainly in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. It is legally protected from commercial exploitation in Turkey due to concerns of overharvesting for export. Garra rufa can be kept in an aquarium at home; while not strictly a "beginner's fish", it is quite hardy. For treatment of skin diseases, aquarium specimens are not well suited as the skin-feeding behavior fully manifests only under conditions where the food supply is somewhat scarce and unpredictable.

In 2006, doctor fish spa resorts opened in Hakone, Japan, and in Umag, Croatia, where the fish are used to clean the bathers at the spa. There are also spas in resorts in Hainan, China, as well as Belgium, The Netherlands,South Korea, Singapore,Hungary from 2010 ,Slovakia,[[ India, Thailand, Indonesia,Malaysia, and Hong Kong. In 2008, the first widely known doctor fish pedicure service was opened in the United States in Alexandria, Virginia and later in Woodbridge, Virginia. They are used to help treat patients suffering from various skin disorders, including psoriasis and eczema, since the fish will eat and remove any dead skin.

Gold Fish

2010-02-14T05:33:00.000-08:00

The goldfish with a scientific name of Carassius auratus auratus was one of the earliest fish to be domesticated, and is still one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish. A relatively small member of the carp family which also includes the koi carp and the crucian carp, the goldfish is a domesticated version of a dark-gray/olive/brown carp native to east Asia the first domesticated in China that was introduced to Europe in the late 17th century. The mutation that gave rise to the goldfish is also known from other cyprinid species, such as common carp and tench.

Goldfish may grow to a maximum length of 23 inches and a maximum weight of 4.5 kg. Although this is rare, most individual goldfish grow to under half this size. In optimal conditions, goldfish may live more than 40 years. However, most household goldfish generally only live six to eight years.

Peacock

2010-02-14T05:26:00.000-08:00

The term peafowl can refer to the two species of bird in the genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. The African Congo Peafowl is placed in its own genus Afropavo and is not dealt with here. Peafowl are best known for the male's extravagant tail, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen. Though it is common to hear the female also referred to as a "peacock" or "female peacock." The female peafowl is brown or toned grey and brown.

Turtle

2010-02-07T20:49:00.000-08:00

Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines, the crown group of the superorder Chelonia, characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield. Turtle may either refer to the Testudines as a whole, or to particular Testudines which make up a form taxon that is not monophyletic—see also sea turtle, terrapin, tortoise.

The order Testudines includes both extant and extinct species. The earliest known turtles date from 215 million years ago, making turtles one of the oldest reptile groups and a more ancient group than lizards and snakes. About 300 species are alive today, and some are highly endangered.

Like other reptiles, turtles are ectotherms—varying their internal temperature according to the ambient environment, commonly called cold-blooded. However, leatherback sea turtle have noticeably higher body temperature than surrounding water because of their high metabolic rate.

Like other amniotes such as reptiles, dinosaurs, birds, and mammals, they breathe air and do not lay eggs underwater, although many species live in or around water. The largest turtles are aquatic.

Horse

2010-02-07T20:33:00.000-08:00

The horse also known as Equus ferus caballus is a hooved ungulate mammal, a subspecies of the family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today. Humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BCE, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BCE. Although most horses today are domesticated, there are still endangered populations of the Przewalski's Horse, the only remaining true wild horse, as well as more common populations of feral horses which live in the wild but are descended from domesticated ancestors. There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behavior.

Horses' anatomy enables them to make use of speed to escape predators and they have a well-developed sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight instinct. Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild is an unusual trait, horses are able to sleep both standing up and lying down. Female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months, and a young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under saddle or in harness between the ages of two and four. They reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years.

Horse breeds are loosely divided into three categories based on general temperament, spirited "hot bloods" with speed and endurance, "cold bloods", such as draft horses and some ponies, suitable for slow, heavy work and "warmbloods", developed from crosses between hot bloods and cold bloods, often focusing on creating breeds for specific riding purposes, particularly in Europe. There are over 300 breeds of horses in the world today, developed for many different uses.

Horses and humans interact in a wide variety of sport competitions and non-competitive recreational pursuits, as well as in working activities such as police work, agriculture, entertainment, and therapy. Horses were historically used in warfare, from which a wide variety of riding and driving techniques developed, using many different styles of equipment and methods of control. Many products are derived from horses, including meat, milk, hide, hair, bone, and pharmaceuticals extracted from the urine of pregnant mares. Humans provide domesticated horses with food, water and shelter, as well as attention from specialists such as veterinarians and farriers.

Butterfly

2010-02-06T17:46:00.000-08:00

A butterfly is any of several groups of mainly day-flying insects of the order Lepidoptera, the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, butterflies' life cycle consists of four parts, egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and fluttering flight.

Butterflies comprise the true butterflies in superfamily Papilionoidea, the skippers in superfamily Hesperioidea and the moth butterflies in superfamily Hedyloidea. All the very many other families within the Lepidoptera are referred to as moths. Butterflies exhibit polymorphism, mimicry and aposematism. Some migrate over long distances. Some butterflies have evolved symbiotic and parasitic relationships with social insects such as ants. Butterflies are important economically as agents of pollination. In addition, a few species are pests because in their larval stages they can damage domestic crops or trees.