Habitat · 119 species
Animals of grasslands and savannas
Animals of open grasslands, prairies and savannas, from lions, zebras and cheetahs to bison and prairie dogs.
Species profiles
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.
African bush elephant
Loxodonta africana
The African bush elephant is the largest land animal, with bulls weighing about 5–7 tonnes. Facts on its size, tusks, herds, diet, calves, range and threats.
African wild dog
Lycaon pictus
The African wild dog, or painted wolf, is an endangered pack hunter of Africa's savannas. Its coat, pack life, hunting, pups, range and why so few remain.
Aldabra giant tortoise
Aldabrachelys gigantea
The Aldabra giant tortoise is one of the world's largest tortoises, living over 100 years on a remote Seychelles atoll. Size, diet, tortoise turf and status.
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.
American crow
Corvus brachyrhynchos
The American crow is a glossy black, highly intelligent bird found across North America. Facts on its size, calls, diet, family life, roosts and lifespan.
American goldfinch
Spinus tristis
The American goldfinch is a small North American finch that molts twice a year and eats almost only seeds. Facts on its size, colors, diet, nesting and range.
Andean condor
Vultur gryphus
The Andean condor is a huge South American vulture with a wingspan near 3 m (10 ft). Facts on its size, soaring flight, diet, breeding, long life and status.
Asian elephant
Elephas maximus
The Asian elephant is Asia's largest land animal, smaller-eared than African elephants and Endangered. Facts on its size, tusks, diet, herds, range and threats.
Bactrian camel
Camelus bactrianus
The Bactrian camel is the two-humped camel of Central Asia, built for cold deserts. Its size, humps, winter coat, diet, lifespan and its rare wild relative.
Barn swallow
Hirundo rustica
The barn swallow is the world's most widespread swallow: a fork-tailed insect hunter that nests in barns and migrates between continents. Size, diet, lifespan.
Bighorn sheep
Ovis canadensis
The bighorn sheep is a wild mountain sheep of western North America, famous for the huge curled horns of its rams. Size, climbing, rut, range and recovery.
Black mamba
Dendroaspis polylepis
The black mamba is Africa's longest venomous snake, usually 2–3 m long and gray-brown, not black. Facts on its size, real speed, habitat, diet and venom.
Black rhinoceros
Diceros bicornis
The black rhino is a critically endangered, hook-lipped browsing rhino of eastern and southern Africa. Its size, diet, behavior, poaching and slow recovery.
Blue wildebeest
Connochaetes taurinus
The blue wildebeest, or brindled gnu, is a large grazing antelope of East and southern Africa, famed for the Serengeti's Great Migration. Size, diet and calves.
Boa constrictor
Boa constrictor
The boa constrictor is a large, nonvenomous snake of tropical America, usually 1.8–3 m long. Facts on its size, red tail, habitat, diet, birth and taxonomy.
Brown bear
Ursus arctos
The brown bear is the most widespread bear, found across North America, Europe and Asia, and includes grizzly and Kodiak bears. Size, diet, dens, life, status.
Brown recluse
Loxosceles reclusa
The brown recluse is a shy, six-eyed spider of the south-central US with a violin mark and tissue-damaging venom. Its real range, habits, life cycle and bites.
Budgerigar
Melopsittacus undulatus
The budgerigar is a small green-and-yellow parrot of Australia's dry interior that roams in nomadic flocks. Wild facts on its size, diet, nests and lifespan.
Buff-tailed bumblebee
Bombus terrestris
The buff-tailed bumblebee is one of Europe's commonest bumblebees: an early-flying pollinator with a yearly colony, used in greenhouses and invasive abroad.
Burmese python
Python bivittatus
The Burmese python is a giant constrictor of Southeast Asia that can top 5 m. Facts on size, ambush hunting, egg brooding and its invasion of the Everglades.
California condor
Gymnogyps californianus
The California condor is North America's largest flying land bird, a bald-headed scavenger saved from extinction by captive breeding. Size, diet and threats.
Cane toad
Rhinella marina
The cane toad is a huge, toxic toad native to the Americas that became a notorious invader in Australia, Florida and Pacific islands. Size, toxins, life cycle.
Carolina wolf spider
Hogna carolinensis
The Carolina wolf spider is North America's largest wolf spider, a burrowing night hunter with no web. Its size, range, eyeshine, egg sacs and real bite risk.
Central bearded dragon
Pogona vitticeps
The central bearded dragon is a spiny Australian lizard of dry woodland and desert. Facts on its size, beard display, arm-waving, diet, breeding and range.
Chimpanzee
Pan troglodytes
The chimpanzee is an endangered great ape of equatorial Africa and, with the bonobo, our closest relative. Facts on size, diet, tools, social life and range.
Common earthworm
Lumbricus terrestris
The common earthworm, or nightcrawler, is a large European worm that digs burrows up to 2 m deep. Facts on its body, ten hearts, diet, mating and role in soil.
Common eastern firefly
Photinus pyralis
The common eastern firefly is North America's best-known lightning bug, a beetle that draws J-shaped flashes at dusk. Facts on its light, larvae and lifespan.
Common European adder
Vipera berus
The European adder is Britain's only venomous snake and the world's most widespread viper. Facts on its zigzag pattern, size, habitat, venom and life cycle.
Common garter snake
Thamnophis sirtalis
The common garter snake is a striped, harmless snake found across most of North America. Facts on its size, color forms, diet, live birth and winter dens.
Common green darner
Anax junius
The common green darner is a large North American dragonfly with a green thorax and blue abdomen. Its size, hunting, nymphs and multigeneration migration.
Common harvestman
Phalangium opilio
The common harvestman is a long-legged arachnid, not a spider: one-piece body, two eyes, no silk, no venom. Size, diet, range, life cycle and detachable legs.
Common ostrich
Struthio camelus
The common ostrich is the largest living bird, up to 2.75 m tall and 130 kg. Facts on its speed, two-toed feet, giant eggs, shared nests, range and status.
Common pill bug
Armadillidium vulgare
The common pill bug is a land crustacean, not an insect, that rolls into a ball and eats dead leaves. Facts on its looks, range, diet, breeding and lifespan.
Common swift
Apus apus
The common swift is a dark, sickle-winged bird that feeds, drinks and sleeps on the wing for most of the year. Size, diet, nesting, migration and decline.
Common warthog
Phacochoerus africanus
The common warthog is a wild African pig of savannas, with facial warts, curved tusks and a habit of grazing on its knees. Size, diet, burrows and predators.
Common wasp
Vespula vulgaris
The common wasp is Europe's black-and-yellow yellowjacket. Facts on its size, paper nests, one-year colony cycle, diet, sting and spread to New Zealand.
Common wombat
Vombatus ursinus
The common wombat is a stocky burrowing marsupial of southeastern Australia and Tasmania, famous for cube-shaped droppings. Size, diet, burrows and lifespan.
Corn snake
Pantherophis guttatus
The corn snake is a harmless orange-red rat snake of the southeastern US, usually 0.6–1.2 m long. Facts on its colors, range, habitat, diet, eggs and lifespan.
Desert locust
Schistocerca gregaria
The desert locust is a grasshopper that can switch from a shy loner to a swarming plague insect. Facts on its phases, swarms, diet, life cycle and upsurges.
Dromedary camel
Camelus dromedarius
The dromedary is the one-humped camel of Arabia and North Africa. Its fat-filled hump, how it survives without water, size, lifespan and domestication.
Eastern box turtle
Terrapene carolina
The eastern box turtle is a small land turtle of eastern US woods that can shut its hinged shell tight and may live 100 years. Size, diet, range and threats.
Eastern cottontail
Sylvilagus floridanus
The eastern cottontail is North America's most common wild rabbit. Facts on its cotton-ball tail, size, diet, grass nests, fast breeding, lifespan and enemies.
Eastern diamondback rattlesnake
Crotalus adamanteus
The eastern diamondback is the largest rattlesnake: a heavy pit viper of southeastern US pine forests. Size, diamond pattern, diet, birth, venom and decline.
Eurasian magpie
Pica pica
The Eurasian magpie is a long-tailed black-and-white crow of Europe and Asia. Facts on its size, diet, domed nests, intelligence, lifespan and famous myths.
European badger
Meles meles
The European badger is a stocky, black-and-white striped mammal that lives in family clans in underground setts and eats mostly earthworms. Size, diet, range.
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.
European garden spider
Araneus diadematus
The European garden spider is a harmless orb weaver with a white cross on its back. Its size, webs, silk, autumn peak, risky courtship and life cycle explained.
European hare
Lepus europaeus
The European or brown hare is a fast, long-eared hare of open farmland. Facts on its size, speed, spring boxing, leverets, diet, lifespan and status.
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.
European rabbit
Oryctolagus cuniculus
The European rabbit is the wild ancestor of every domestic rabbit breed. Facts on its size, warrens, diet, breeding, lifespan and Endangered status in Iberia.
European starling
Sturnus vulgaris
The European starling is a glossy, speckled songbird famous for mimicry and huge murmurations. Facts on its size, diet, nests, lifespan and spread to America.
Galápagos giant tortoise
Chelonoidis niger
The Galápagos giant tortoise is the largest living tortoise and can live over 100 years. Island forms, domed and saddleback shells, size, diet and recovery.
Garden snail
Cornu aspersum
The garden snail is a brown land snail from the Mediterranean and western Europe, now found worldwide. Facts on its shell, diet, slime, mating and lifespan.
Giant anteater
Myrmecophaga tridactyla
The giant anteater is a toothless, ant-eating mammal of Central and South America. Facts on its size, long tongue, huge claws, babies, range and its status.
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.
Golden eagle
Aquila chrysaetos
The golden eagle is the most widespread eagle in the world, a dark brown hunter of hares and ground squirrels with 2 m wings. Size, range, diet and threats.
Greater roadrunner
Geococcyx californianus
The greater roadrunner is a fast-running ground cuckoo of the US Southwest and Mexico. Facts on its speed, size, diet of lizards and snakes, nesting and status.
Hippopotamus
Hippopotamus amphibius
The hippopotamus is Africa's giant river mammal: up to 1.5 tonnes or more, grazing at night and resting in water by day. Size, behavior, danger and status.
Honey badger
Mellivora capensis
The honey badger, or ratel, is a tough mustelid of Africa and southern Asia. Facts on its loose skin, size, diet of snakes and bee larvae, range and lifespan.
Indian peafowl
Pavo cristatus
The Indian peafowl is the peacock of India and Sri Lanka, famous for the male's eyespot train. Facts on its size, calls, diet, breeding, lifespan and range.
Inland taipan
Oxyuranus microlepidotus
The inland taipan has the most toxic snake venom in mouse tests, yet it is shy and rarely seen. Size, color change, outback range, rat diet and real risk.
Komodo dragon
Varanus komodoensis
The Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard, found only on a few Indonesian islands. Facts on its size, hunting, venom, virgin births and Endangered status.
Least weasel
Mustela nivalis
The least weasel is the world's smallest carnivoran, weighing as little as 25 g. Its size, vole hunting, white winter coat, breeding, range and status.
Leopard gecko
Eublepharis macularius
The leopard gecko is a spotted, ground-dwelling gecko of dry grassland and rocky hills in South Asia. Wild facts on its eyelids, fat tail, diet and breeding.
Monarch butterfly
Danaus plexippus
The monarch is an orange-and-black milkweed butterfly famous for flying up to 4,800 km to winter in Mexico. Its looks, size, life cycle, toxins and status.
Mourning dove
Zenaida macroura
The mourning dove is a slender gray-brown North American dove known for its soft, sad cooing and whistling wings. Facts on size, diet, nests and lifespan.
Nine-banded armadillo
Dasypus novemcinctus
The nine-banded armadillo is an armored, insect-eating mammal and the only armadillo in the US. Its shell, size, diet, quadruplet births and spread north.
Northern mockingbird
Mimus polyglottos
The northern mockingbird is a gray songbird famous for copying other sounds. Facts on its size, songs, night singing, nest defense, range and lifespan.
Painted lady
Vanessa cardui
The painted lady is the most widespread butterfly on Earth, found on every continent except Antarctica. Its looks, host plants, life cycle and migration.
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.
Praying mantis
Mantis religiosa
The praying mantis is a green or brown ambush hunter 5–8 cm long with spiny grasping forelegs. How it hunts, sees in 3D, mates and survives winter as an egg.
Red kangaroo
Osphranter rufus
The red kangaroo is the largest living marsupial, a fast hopper of Australia's dry interior. Size, speed, boxing males, joeys, diet and surviving drought.
Red-tailed hawk
Buteo jamaicensis
The red-tailed hawk is North America's most common large hawk. How to identify it, plus facts on its size, rodent diet, nests, migration, scream and lifespan.
Sacred scarab
Scarabaeus sacer
The sacred scarab is a black ball-rolling dung beetle of the Mediterranean and North Africa, revered in ancient Egypt. Size, dung balls, larvae and range.
Sandhill crane
Antigone canadensis
The sandhill crane is the most numerous crane on Earth: a tall gray bird with a red crown and bugling call. Facts on its size, dances, diet, migration and life.
Secretary bird
Sagittarius serpentarius
The secretary bird is an African bird of prey with an eagle's body on crane-like legs that kills prey by stamping. Facts on its size, diet, nesting and status.
Seven-spot ladybug
Coccinella septempunctata
The seven-spot ladybug is a red beetle 5–8 mm long with seven black spots that hunts aphids. Its life cycle, defenses, winter clusters and spread to America.
Short-beaked echidna
Tachyglossus aculeatus
The short-beaked echidna is a spiny, egg-laying mammal of Australia and New Guinea that eats ants and termites. Size, spines, puggles, hibernation and lifespan.
Southern black widow
Latrodectus mactans
The southern black widow is a shy, glossy black spider of the southeastern US with a red hourglass and potent venom. Its size, web, life cycle and real risk.
Spotted hyena
Crocuta crocuta
The spotted hyena is Africa's most common large carnivore, a skilled hunter living in female-led clans. Facts on its size, bite, diet, calls and lifespan.
Striped skunk
Mephitis mephitis
The striped skunk is North America's familiar black-and-white skunk. Facts on its warning display, spray, size, omnivorous diet, dens, predators and lifespan.
Thorny devil
Moloch horridus
The thorny devil is a small, spike-covered lizard of Australia's deserts that eats only ants and drinks through grooves in its skin. Size, range and defenses.
Toco toucan
Ramphastos toco
The toco toucan is the largest toucan, a black and white South American bird with a huge orange bill. Facts on its size, beak, fruit diet, nesting and range.
Turkey vulture
Cathartes aura
The turkey vulture is the most widespread vulture in the Americas. Facts on its bare red head, wobbly soaring, keen sense of smell, diet, range and lifespan.
Western diamondback rattlesnake
Crotalus atrox
The western diamondback is the big coon-tailed rattlesnake of the US Southwest and Mexico. Size, ID, desert habitat, rodent diet, dens, behavior and venom.
Western honey bee
Apis mellifera
The western honey bee is a social bee that lives in colonies of up to 80,000. Facts on its queen, workers and drones, comb, waggle dance, honey and spread.
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.
White stork
Ciconia ciconia
The white stork is a tall black-and-white bird that nests on rooftops and migrates from Europe to Africa. Facts on its size, diet, bill-clattering and comeback.
White-tailed deer
Odocoileus virginianus
The white-tailed deer is the most widespread deer in the Americas, named for the white tail it flashes when alarmed. Size, antlers, fawns, diet, rut and range.
Wild turkey
Meleagris gallopavo
The wild turkey is North America's largest game bird and ancestor of the farm turkey. Facts on its size, snood and beard, gobbling, flight, diet and comeback.