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The Meerkat – if any species of animal had a right to be a little irritated by the name we have gifted them, this is one. Of course, they are blithely unaware of any names we might choose to call them, but this small mammal from the heart of Africa is anything but a mere cat.

Around 800,000 years ago a species developed on the African Savannah, a canid but quite unlike any other. It was small – with a head and body length of only around 55 cm, tawny furred and with black ears. It is the ears which really make this mostly nocturnal animal stand out.  On average they are a staggering 14 centimeters in length.  Proportionally they may not be as large as Dumbo’s but this is no fictional appendage. These ears are for real.

If you came to this page looking for a feature on George Clooney, Harrison Ford or Sean Connery then sorry to disappoint you – this is the wrong place!  This particular silver fox has been around a good deal longer than the movies though its story could be easily made in to a film without a doubt.  You could also be under the impression that the silver fox is a species related to the red fox. There, too, you would be mistaken.  They are the same species.

So, are zebras white with black stripes or are they black with white stripes?  An interesting question and often the first one asked by those of a curious nature when face to face with these beautifully coated creatures.  If you have pondered that question or want to know more about zebras in general then this article has some really cool facts about these strange equine animals.  It has all the answers - for example, how many species of zebra are there?  Where do zebras live?  Oh - and that other question that people ask - what on earth is a quagga?

Written by Brenda Nelson, you can also ask her about animals at her Factoidz page.

Image Credit Flickr User catlover

As the oil begins to wash ashore on Louisiana’s beaches the cost to the human population will be enormous. On the local wildlife the disaster may have an incalculable effect. Here are just some of the species in danger from the oil that continues to flow from the Deepwater Horizon.

These large herbivorous marine mammals – about as friendly as marine animals come (towards humans that is) can grow up to four meters in length. Every year several hundred manatees travel towards the waters off the coast of Louisiana after spending their winter in Florida. Once they get to these waters they graze on the vast beds of sea grass in the area. Already critically endangered the oil from the rig may be what finally ends this unique community.


 This is a critical time of year for many species of songbirds and shorebirds who are going through their primary migratory period. This area is called the Mississipi Flyway and runs right through the area affected by the slick. For other species of birds this is when they nest and lay their eggs. The very first animal casualty to have been rescued was a Northern Gannet. Recovered offshore on April 30, it was alive and has been taken to a local emergency rehabilitation center. As Northern Gannets dive into the sea to catch fish it is expected that many thousands of this species may die.


The Gulf of Mexico is home to five out of seven of the world’s sea turtles, where they live, breed and migrate. By far the most endangered is the Kemp’s Ridley. One of its two main routes of Migration is south of Mississippi. And guess when they start arriving back in the Gulf to take advantage of its warm waters? Yes, you guess it – May.



The Brown Pelican is the avian symbol of Louisiana. Although it is the smallest of the pelican species (eight in total) it is still an impressively sized bird. It has a wingspan of up to eight feet and can weigh up to twelve pounds. It is nesting season for the Brown Pelican and thousands of pairs of birds are in the process of mating and nesting at the moment. Unfortunately their nesting site is the Breton National Wildlife Refuge which is directly threatened by the slick. If the oil gets ashore then it is the end of this year’s nesting season, with the chick populations likely to be wiped out.


The Northern Atlantic right whale has only a population of around four hundred on planet earth – period. They were depleted by commercial whaling and the coastal waters off Florida and Georgia are the only calving areas known for this species. It is feared that these wonderful animals may dive deep for food and then hit the slick as they come up. Although no sightings have been made of the right whale around the slick, this is not the case for the sperm whale. It is not only the oil that threatens these enormous mammals, but the toxins that it is already releasing in to the air.



The whale shark is the largest fish in the world and can reach over eleven meters in length. They are mostly solitary creatures and spend the larger proportion of the year on their own. However at this time of year onwards through summer around a hundred of them get together in the Gulf of Mexico. Right next to the Louisiana/Mississippi state line. This beautifully marked fish has been around for sixty million years – and it was thought for a long time that they fed exclusively on plankton. However, they have been seen feeding on small fish too.



Previously a victim of the plume trade this gorgeous member of the heron family’s luck has just taken a turn for the worse. It is a coastal bird and it has no alternative feeding grounds in the Louisiana area, let alone anywhere else to nest. Out of the two thousand nesting pairs in the US, most are in Texas and are already classified as threatened. What the encroaching oil slick might do to their numbers is an unsettling thought.



The blue crab is a staple of the local seafood industry and lives in the coastal marshes. Although it is not classified as endangered in any way it is vital to the local ecosystems in the coastal marshes of Louisiana. It eats plans and animals – and is also something of a cannibal. Apart from us its natural predators makes for quite a list, from sting rays to trout, eels and sharks.



The season for inshore shrimp begins in the middle of May while the brown shrimp pictured are in their post larval and juvenile stage at the current moment in time. The State of Louisiana has allowed a special shrimp season so that the local fishermen and women can bring in as great a quantity of the maturing shrimp as possible before the almost inevitable major environmental disaster.


This foraging fish spawns all year round and is fertile to say the very least. The eggs are hatched in the ocean and the larvae drift in to sheltered estuaries thanks to the natural currents of the ocean. Here they spend a year before they head out to the ocean again – but that may not be the case this year. While a mature female can produce almost four hundred thousand eggs these numerous fish have a number of uses – from animal feed to cosmetics. Although they spawn all year – this is their major period for reproduction. (Below is a picture of the species killed through severe hypoxia-near anoxia in 2003 but we may be seeing a lot of this on the news very soon.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.  Caught cat napping again, are we?  Sometimes life is so hard you just want to sleep things off, especially if you have had a heavy lunch.  This lion looks delightfully sleepy - but you still wouldn't want to get too close, perhaps.  The eyes may look almost closed but lions have excellent hearing and even a small movement would properly wake this one up!

It's a tough life, being a cat sometimes.  Just that need to be alone sometimes gets the better of you and when those humans really annoy you, then anywhere will do.  Just as long as it's nice and quiet - we don't really care!  Hey, you with the camera, clear off!  Can't you see I just want a little of my own space?

Just when you think you have the perfect pose for the camera, one of your friends completely ruins the shot by gurning for the camera.  This is commonly known as photobombing and even the animal world seems to be getting in on the act these days.  The Oriental Small-clawed Otter at the back seems to be taking a perverse pleasure in ruining the shot for his friend in the front.  What a little 'otter!

You probably haven't heard of the Fossa before - but what a charming fella he is. A native of Madagascar the closest relative in the animal kingdom that his guy has is the mongoose. As such the Fossa is the largest mammalian carnivore on the island of Madagascar (unless you count us of course). There are only about two and a half thousand of these animals left in the wild, with numbers declining as their habitat becomes disconnetced and patchy due to the growth of the human population.