African Spurred Tortoise (Geochelone sulcate)

Range:  The African spurred tortoise lives in hot dry climates such as dry savannahs and the edges of desert areas. They can be found along the southern edge of the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa. They can thrive in extreme heat by digging burrows in the ground for shelter. 

Description: The African spurred tortoise is the third largest tortoise in the world, and actually the largest on the continent of Africa. They can reach length up to 30 inches and a weight of 100 pounds. Some males even reach up to 200 pounds. These tortoises have become popular as pets in the United States. When they are born, they are much smaller and more manageable at 2 inches, but over the course of 10 years they can outgrow their domestic environment causing issues for owners.

Diet: This tortoise can go for weeks without food or water, but when they do find water, they can drink up to 15 percent of their body weight. Like all tortoises, they are herbivores and like to eat grasses, weeds, flowers, and even cacti.

Lifespan: The African Spurred Tortoise can live for 80-100 years.

Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)

Range:  Capybaras are native to Central and South America and live near lots of water; such as swamps, lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers. Capybaras are semiaquatic mammals found throughout almost all countries of South America except Chile. They live in densely forested areas near bodies of water, such as lakes, rivers, swamps, ponds, and marshes, as well as flooded savannah and along rivers in the tropical rainforest.

Description: They are stocky, a somewhat pig-like animal, and characterized by a large, blunt head, heavy muzzle, short, robust legs, and rudimentary tail. Although they look like beavers, capybaras are actually the world’s largest rodent.

Diet: They are herbivorous animal that only eats plant matter; made up of grasses and aquatic plants, along with fruits and berries and the occasional munch on soft tree bark.

Lifespan: 8–10 years on average, but live less than four years in the wild.

Clouded Leopard  (Neofelis nebulosa)

Range: Clouded leopards live in tropical forests, grasslands, scrub, and mangrove swamps in Nepal, Sikkim, southern China, Sumatra, Thailand, and Borneo. They prefer to live in dense lowland rainforests, but have been found in dry woodlands as well.  As majestic as these cats are, Clouded leopards remain quite elusive and prefer to live alone, which makes them nearly impossible to study in their natural habitat.

Description: While more closely related to big cats, the clouded leopard is frequently described as bridging the gap between big and small cats due largely to its smaller stature. Their coat is brown or yellowish-gray and covered with irregular dark stripes, spots and blotches and irregular spots and stripes reminiscent of clouds. Its head-and-body length ranges from 27 to 42.5 inches with a 24 to 36 inch long tail. It uses its tail for balancing when moving in trees and is able to climb down vertical tree trunks head first. It has proportionately short legs which helps in climbing trees.

Diet: Clouded leopards are ambush hunters. They get as close as possible to its target, then make a brief and explosive charge, pouncing on its prey and dispatching it with a bite to the neck. Being carnivores, Clouded leopards primarily hunt gibbons, monkeys, small deer, wild pigs, birds and rodents; also domestic calves, pigs, goats and poultry.

Lifespan: Clouded leopards are thought to be primarily nocturnal, protecting them from predators. Their average life span is 12 to 15 years in their native environment, though they may live up to 17 years in human care.

Common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus)

Range: The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) also called white-tufted marmoset is a New World monkey that originates from the northeastern coast of Brazil. Through both intentional and unintentional release, their range has expanded since the 1920s to Southeast Brazil. They were first sighted in Rio de Janiero in 1929. Now they can be seen in a variety of forest types off the coast of Brazil. They are known to be flexible to various different forest habitats.

Description: Common marmosets are small bodied monkeys that have a brown/grey coat with white tufted ears and long, banded tails. Infants are born with brown and yellow boat and develop their tufted ears and white face coloring with age. Males and females are similar in size both measuring about 7 inches long and 9oz in weight. Males tend to be slightly larger. They have claw like nails called tegulae that allow them to climb and hang vertically in trees.

Diet: The chisel-shaped incisors and specialized large intestine allow common marmosets to adapt to a special diet. They are omnivorous, eating a variety of insects, lizards, flowers, fruit, and tree 

Lifespan: The average lifespan of a common marmoset in the wild is 12 years. In captivity they are known to live to be 16 years old.

Crested screamer  (Chauna torquata)

Range:  The Crested Screamer (also known as the Southern Screamer) also known as the crested screamer, belongs to the order Anseriformes. It is found in southeastern Peru, northern Bolivia, Paraguay, southern Brazil, Uruguay and northern Argentina. Crested screamers are found around tropical lowland fresh water, such as lakes, ponds, rivers, marshes, and swamps. They often roost in trees and shrubs at the water's edge.

Description: The Southern Screamer may look ungainly at first glance, with its big body, disproportionately small head, and thick legs. But this large, gray marsh bird, closely related to geese and other waterfowl, is actually a strong swimmer and flier. They get their name from their extremely loud call used during courtship. Courtship involves loud calling by both sexes, which can be heard up to two miles away.

Diet: Crested screamers feed on a variety of vegetation, including grasses, stems, seeds, berries, and leaves of several different plants. They will also occasionally eat insects and small animals.

Lifespan: The Southern Screamers are endemic in South America. Their estimated lifespan is about 15 years in the wild, possibly will live an additional 3-5 years in captivity.

Curassow (Crax rubra)

Range:  The Great Curassow can be found throughout Central America. They prefer to live in lowland humid forests and mangroves. 

Description: These birds can grow up to three feet in length. They have broad, rounded wings that makes flying difficult, so they typically stick to terrestrial living. Males are typically black with white feathers on their belly and tail. Females can vary in color from reddish brown to black with a striped pattern on their head and tail.  

Diet: Their primary food source is fallen fruit and seeds on the forest floor, but will also eat insects and small lizards. These birds are helpful in dispersing seeds and help maintain the health of forest habitats.

Lifespan: These birds can live 5-10 years in the wild and up to 24 years in captivity. 

Giant anteater  (Myrmecophaga tridactyla )

Giant anteaters, also known as the ant bear, is an insectivorous mammal native to Central and South America. They are edentate animals, meaning they have no teeth. Generally they are known as solitary, non-aggressive animals, but when corned can yield out four inch claws to fight off even a puma or jaguar.

Range:  Native to Central and South America, its known range stretches from Honduras to northern Argentina, living primarily in tropical rainforest, deciduous woodland, open grassland, and timber plantations.

Description: One of the more stranger-looking animals on our planet. Can measure up to 6.5 feet in length, weighing 40-100 pounds. Coat is shaggy, greyish/brown with black and white diagonal markings on their shoulders. Their heads are long and narrow with a tubular snout. 

Diet: Insectivore, eating ants and terminates. Their long tongues can lap up 35,000 ants and termites a day.

Lifespan: In captivity, the average lifespan of an anteater is 20 years. They normally live about 14 years in the wild. Currently, they are considered a vulnerable species with their population currently decreasing.

Fun facts: Their tongues are about 2 feet long, and covered with tiny spines which point toward the back of the throat. Additionally, their tongue is coated with a thick, sticky coat of saliva (which is secreted from relatively enlarged salivary glands). Prior to swallowing, the insect-coated tongue is firmly pressed against the anteater's hard upper palate – crushing their meal and easing ingestion.   

Anteaters are able to detect insects with their powerful sense of smell, 40 times that of man.

If threatened, the typically non-vocal giant anteater may make a bellowing noise. Additionally, they will often rear up on their hind quarters and swipe with their up to 4 inch long foreclaws.

Anteaters do not walk on the soles of their forefeet. Rather, they flex the digits upward and turn the forefeet inward, such that the large foreclaws do not come in contact with the ground.

Two-toed Sloth (Choloepus linnaeus)

Range: Two-toed sloths range throughout Central America and northern South America, including portions of Brazil and Peru. Sloths are strictly arboreal, staying high in the canopy of the tropical rain forests and maintaining a range of about 10 acres. Sloths are naturally solitary, aside from mothers with their young. It is unusual for two to be found sharing a tree. The name "sloth" means "lazy", but the animal’s slow movements are actually a survival adaptation from a low-energy diet of leaves.

Description:  Two-toed Sloths have long, coarse fur that is brownish gray in color. They typically weigh 9 – 17 pounds having a round head, a short snout, small eyes, long legs, tiny ears, and a stubby tail. Two-toed sloths are slightly bigger than other sloths, and tend to spend more time hanging upside-down than their three-toed cousins. They are the world's slowest mammals, so sedentary that algae grows on their coat, at times giving them a greenish tint, perfect camouflage from predators.

Diet: Night eaters; sloths eat leaves, shoots, and fruit. Almost all of their water consumption comes from juicy plants. It takes two weeks for a sloth to digest one meal — the slowest digestion time of any mammal!

Lifespan: Two-toed sloth males reach maturity between 4 and 5 years of age, and the females reach maturity at 3.5 years of age. Average lifespan in their native habitat is 12 to 20 years. In a zoo setting, they can survive upwards of 30-40 years. Per the IUCN Red List, the Two-toed Sloth’s natural habitat population status is considered of Least Concern.

Kori bustard  (Ardeotis kori)

Range: The Kori Bustard has two distinct ranges in Africa: one in the southwest near the Horn of Africa, and one in the far south. The southwestern range includes parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania. The far southern range includes all of Botswana and Namibia, as well as parts of Zimbabwe and South Africa. Kori Bustards inhabit wide, open grasslands, and lightly wooded savanna. The subspecies kori can be found in arid savanna areas where trees are usually scattered.

Description: The Kori Bustard is cryptically colored, meaning there are many blotches and spots all over its body. Its back and tail are a light brown, with large black and white spots near the front underside of their wings. The chin, throat and neck are whitish with thin, fine black lines. The upper parts and neck are a vermiculated black and greyish-buff color. The feathers around the neck are loose, giving the appearance of a thicker neck than they really have. When standing, their height reaches 3.5 – 4.5 feet tall

Diet: Kori bustards are omnivorous birds, although they tend to be more carnivorous than other species of bustards. Insects form a large portion of their diet, especially when they are chicks. They also eat a variety of small mammals, lizards, snakes, seeds and berries.

Lifespan: The lifespan of wild kori bustards is not known in the wild, but they live to at least 26 or possibly 28 years old in captivity.

Macaw family: Blue and Gold Macaw and Hyacinth Macaw

Blue and Gold Macaw  (Ara ararauna)

The blue and gold macaw, also known as the blue-and-gold macaw, is a large South American parrot with mostly blue top parts and light orange underparts, with gradient hues of green on top of its head. It is a member of the large group of neotropical parrots known as macaws

Range: Blue-and-gold macaws are native to South and Central America, where they inhabit forests and woodlands. Their range includes Venezuela south to Peru, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, as well as parts of Panama. According to IUCN Red List, the wild population of Blue-and-gold macaws has not been quantified, but it is believed to be more than 10,000 adult birds, with a decline over the past 10 years of less than 10%.

Description: The Blue and Yellow Macaw has blue wings and tail, black chin, golden underparts and a green forehead. Their beaks are black and very strong for crushing nuts. The naked face is white, turning pink in excited birds and lined with small black feathers. An adult will grow in height to 2.5-3 feet. There is no reliable way to determine if your macaw is male or female by external physical examination. DNA testing is the least invasive of all the methods to determine the sex of a macaw. The other methods are chromosomal testing and surgical sexing. 

Diet: In the wild, most macaws, including blue-and-gold macaws, eat a variety of seeds, plant material, fruits, and nuts. The wild macaw's diet tends to be high in fat, which is acceptable for a bird that spends its day flying through the rainforest, finding food, nesting, and rearing chicks.

Lifespan: Adult blue and gold macaws typically live between 30 and 35 years in the wild. When captive as pets or cared for at zoos, these birds can live upwards of 50 years. One blue and gold macaw was reported to be 112 years old in 2011, although claims that the bird belonged to Winston Churchill were proved false.

___________________

Hyacinth Macaw  (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus)

Range: The hyacinth macaw is native to central and eastern South America. There are three main populations: one in the Pantanal wetland region of Brazil, eastern Bolivia, and northeastern Paraguay; another in the Cerrado region of Brazil's eastern interior; and one in the Amazon basin of Brazil. The hyacinth macaw lives primarily in the scrublands at the outskirts of the rainforest, though its large range also includes grasslands and lightly forested regions. It is an endangered species; there are an estimated 2,500 to 5,000 Hyacinth macaws left in the wild today.

Description: Hyacinth macaws are the largest of the parrots and, as their name implies, are covered with bright blue plumage. They have bare yellow eye ring circles around large black eyes, a yellow chin, a strongly hooked beak and zygodactylous feet (2 toes that point forward and 2 toes that point backward). Anecdotally known as "gentle giants," these parrots can make fine pets for highly experienced bird owners. Hyacinth macaws are intelligent birds, and have shown a facility for limited tool use both in captivity and in the wild. They can also learn to talk but are not among the parrot world's best talkers.

Diet: The majority of the hyacinth macaw diet is Brazil nuts, from native palms, such as acuri and bocaiuva palms. They have very strong beaks for eating the kernels of hard nuts and seeds. Their strong beaks are even able to crack coconuts, the large brazil nut pods, and macadamia nuts.

Lifespan: Their lifespan in the wild is between 50-60 years, and they can live even longer in captivity. Some zoo and private pet owners record some Hyacinth macaws living in excess of 100 years.

Macaw family: Green-winged Macaw and Military Macaw

Green-winged Macaw (Ara chloropterus)

Range: Green-winged macaws, also known as red-and-green macaws, are native to southern Central America and northern South America. They inhabit tropical rainforest. The Maryland Zoo features a green-winged macaw among its Animal Ambassadors, which are introduced to audiences in education programs on and off grounds. They live throughout north and central South America, where they prefer humid, lowland forest. In the southern part of their range, they frequent open habitats, including deciduous forest. In flight, these birds call loudly to each other. Green-winged macaws eat fruits and nuts.

Description: The green-winged macaw has a partly red plumage and a blue back and rump. Its long tail is tipped with blue, and its wings are blue with dark green upper wing coverts. The bird's upper beak is horn-colored, and the lower beak is black. It has gray legs. The green band transitions to dark blue on the wings, and there is light blue on the rump and on the tail feathers. The long tail feathers are red, tipped in blue. The legs and feet are a deep gray, and the beak is horn-colored with a black lower mandible. Green-winged Macaws are a full sized Macaws. They have an average length of about 35.5 inches and a weight of up to about 2.7 pounds. That great big beak can look intimidating, but the green-winged macaw is actually the gentler of the large macaws, not known for biting and massive mood swings.

Diet: In the wild, green-wing macaws eat fruit, seeds, berries, and nuts. They also congregate at clay cliffs. Clay contains minerals and salts that the birds consume to neutralize toxins.

Lifespan: A well-kept green wing, one that's healthy and well-treated, is a pleasant companion and long-time friend, with a life span of more than 70 years.

____________________

Military Macaw (Ara militaris)

Range: Occasionally treated as being conspecific with the Great Green Macaw, the Military Macaw has a wide but distinctly patchy range, which extends from Mexico to the northern Andes and adjacent ranges, to Bolivia and northwest Argentina. Military macaws are native to Central America and South America. Their range generally extends from Mexico to Argentina. Unlike other parrots, military macaws tend to prefer arid lands over tropical rainforests. You can also find them in dry forests and in trees near the water.

Description: Military macaws are mostly green with light blue and yellow flight and tail feathers and a bright red patch on their forehead. Their face is bare and white in color with black striations. The large strong beak is grey-black and the iris is yellow. It bears a red frontal patch, with a white bare facial area barred with narrow black lines. The flight feathers are blue and the red tail bordered with blue. The large strong beak is grey-black and the iris is yellow. Military Macaws can often be heard long before they are seen. They have a very loud squawk that can be heard for miles.

Diet: The Military Macaws diet consists of seeds, fruits, nuts, berries and other vegetation found on treetops in the rainforests. Their beaks are well adapted for eating various seeds and nuts as they have the ability to break open the hardest of shells with relative ease.

Lifespan: Military macaws live in large flocks and can live about 50–60 years in the wild. They can often be heard long before they are seen. In captivity, they can live well beyond 80 years old.

Maned wolf  (Chrysocyon brachyurus)

The maned wolf is the largest canid in South America. The particularly long legs of the maned wolf are likely an adaptation which allows them to see above the tall grass in which they often hunt. The maned wolf derives its name from the characteristic mane on its neck which stands erect when it scents danger. There are thought to be only around 23,600 adults left in the wild. Maned Wolves are protected by law in parts of their range, with hunting prohibited in Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia, although enforcing those laws is often difficult.

Range: Found in central South America, from northeastern Brazil, south through Paraguay and west into Peru, small areas of Argentina and Bolivia, and may still be present in some areas of Uruguay.

Description: Its body is covered with long, reddish-brown hair. The mouth, the back and the tail of the animal is black. The tip of the tail, chin and throat are sometimes white. The long, almost black legs allow the maned wolf to see above the long grass while running.
 
Diet: Small mammals such as wild guinea pigs, rabbits, young burrowing rodents, insects, reptiles, and birds, but they also eat fruits, sugarcane, and other plants.

Lifespan: In human care, median life expectancy is 6.5 years with a maximum of 12 to 15 years.

Fun facts: Maned wolves are very social; in fact, in the wild, they share their habitat with a wide variety of other carnivores: bush dog, crab-eating fox, hoary fox, pampas fox, puma, jaguar, pampas cat, jaguarondi, crab-eating raccoon, hog-nosed skunk and grison.

Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia)

Range: Snow leopards live across a vast area in northern and central Asia's high mountains, including the Himalayan region. In the Himalayas, snow leopards live in high alpine areas, mostly above the tree line and up to 18,000 feet in elevation. Their habitat range extends across the mountainous regions of 12 countries across Asia: Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Living in a rocky environment, they are difficult to find. Also, snow leopards are solitary creatures. Since it is so rare to see two snow leopards together, there actually is no term for a group of snow leopards.

Description: Snow leopards have thick grey and yellow-tinged fur, with solid spots on their head, neck and lower limbs and rosettes over the rest of the body. Rosettes are large rings enclosing smaller spots. Researchers rely on spot patterns to identify individual snow leopards when conducting territory studies.   

Diet: Snow leopards are carnivores that actively hunt their prey, although they will also eat carrion at times. They are capable of killing prey up to three times their own weight. They eat blue sheep, Argali wild sheep, ibex, marmots, pikas, deer and other small mammals. The animals which snow leopards typically hunt, such as the Argali sheep, are also hunted by local communities.

Lifespan: In captivity, snow leopards have been known to live for as long as 22 years. Life in their native habitat is much harder, so the life expectancy of wild snow leopards is more likely to be closer to 10 to 12 years. The snow leopard is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

Ring tailed lemurs  (Lemur catta)

Range: Ring tailed lemurs come from Madagascar, the island off the East Coast of Africa. They live in the rainforest and spend most of their time on the forest floor, although they do climb but tend to spend more time in the mid canopy than the very top of the trees like ruffed lemurs.  Endemic to southern and southwestern Madagascar, the ring-tailed lemur ranges further into highland areas than other lemurs. It inhabits deciduous forests, dry scrub, montane humid forests, and gallery forests (forests along riverbanks).

Description: Ring-tailed lemurs have black skin, mostly covered by grey fur. They also have patches of white fur on their faces, ears, and underbelly. Their long tails have a fur pattern of alternating black and white rings. They have bright yellow or amber eyes, surrounded by mask-like black skin. The ring tailed lemur's tail is longer than its body! Male ring tailed lemurs put smells, from glands in their bottoms, on their tail and wave it at rivals. It's known as 'stink fighting'! The ring tailed lemur is used as a symbol for Madagascar and for endangered animals on the island, because it's so well-known.

Diet: The ring-tailed lemur eats from as many as three dozen different plant species, and its diet includes flowers, herbs, bark and sap. It has been observed eating decayed wood, earth, spider webs, insect cocoons, arthropods (spiders, caterpillars, cicadas and grasshoppers) and small vertebrates (birds and chameleons).

Lifespan: The ring-tailed lemur is popular feature in zoos, and they do comparatively well in captivity and reproduce regularly. In captivity, ring-tailed lemurs can live for nearly 30 years, compared to up to 20 in the wild.