Mammals
African buffalo
Syncerus caffer
The African buffalo is a huge wild bovine of sub-Saharan Africa, one of the Big Five. Facts on its horns, size, herds, diet, lions, forest buffalo and status.
Conservation status · 17 species
Near Threatened animals
Species close to qualifying for a threatened category, or likely to qualify in the near future without conservation action.
Species profiles
Mammals
American bison
Bison bison
The American bison is North America's heaviest land animal, a grazing giant of prairies and Yellowstone. Size, hump, herds, diet, near extinction and recovery.
Fish
Atlantic salmon
Salmo salar
The Atlantic salmon hatches in cold rivers, grows up at sea and leaps home to spawn. Its life cycle, size, diet, ocean journeys, threats and current status.
Mammals
Eurasian otter
Lutra lutra
The Eurasian otter is a sleek, fish-eating member of the weasel family found on rivers and coasts from Ireland to Asia. Size, diet, holts, spraints, recovery.
Mammals
European bison
Bison bonasus
The European bison, or wisent, is Europe's heaviest land animal. Wiped out in the wild by 1927 and saved from 12 zoo animals, it now roams forests again.
Mammals
European hedgehog
Erinaceus europaeus
The European hedgehog is a small spiny insect-eater of Europe's gardens and hedgerows. Facts on its spines, diet, hibernation, hoglets, lifespan and decline.
Insects
European stag beetle
Lucanus cervus
The European stag beetle is Europe's largest land beetle. Facts on the males' antler-like jaws, years of larval life in dead wood, brief adult life and decline.
Reptiles
Gila monster
Heloderma suspectum
The Gila monster is a slow, venomous lizard of the US Southwest and Mexico with beaded pink and black skin. Size, venom, diet, habitat, lifespan and protection.
Insects
Periodical cicada
Magicicada septendecim
Magicicada septendecim, the 17-year periodical cicada, lives underground for 17 years, then emerges by the millions in the eastern US. Broods, song, life cycle.
Mammals
Plains zebra
Equus quagga
The plains zebra is the most common zebra, a striped wild horse of eastern and southern African grasslands. Size, stripes, herds, migration, diet and status.
Insects
Red wood ant
Formica rufa
The red wood ant builds large thatched mounds of pine needles in European woodlands. Its size, colonies with many queens, formic acid, diet and conservation.
Fish
Southern stingray
Hypanus americanus
The southern stingray is a diamond-shaped ray of the warm western Atlantic. Its size, sand-burying habits, buried prey, tail barb, Stingray City and status.
Fish
Tiger shark
Galeocerdo cuvier
The tiger shark is a large striped shark of warm seas, usually 3.3–4.7 m long. Its turtle-cutting teeth, huge diet, long migrations, big litters and real risk.
Mammals
White rhinoceros
Ceratotherium simum
The white rhino is the largest rhino, a 2-tonne grazer with a wide square lip. Facts on its size, herds, poaching and its comeback from near extinction.