Meet the world’s animals.

Photos: 12,825 · Stories: 19,540

• House sparrow Passer domesticus

  

  A small bird of towns and farms. Males and females differ in facial and chest markings; males have a black throat bib.

• African forest elephant Loxodonta cyclotis

  The African forest elephant lives in dense tropical forests of western and central Africa.

• Gray-headed Chachalaca Ortalis cinereiceps

  The Gray-headed Chachalaca has a gray head and neck and a brown body. It lives in groups in secondary woodland and along forest edges in Central America.

• Wild boar Sus scrofa

  A robust wild pig native to Europe and Asia. It uses habitats with water and dense vegetation for cover.

• Common Shrew Sorex araneus

  The common shrew occurs from Europe east to Lake Baikal. It has a differently colored back, flanks, and underside, and searches woodland, grassland, and other habitats for invertebrates.

• Black-capped Donacobius Donacobius atricapilla

  This waterside bird has a black head and back and a long tail with white tips. A Peru-focused species account describes pairs and family groups defending territories along lowland Amazon lakes and rivers.

• Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago

  The Common Snipe has a long, straight bill and mottled brown plumage. In the United Kingdom it is most numerous in northern uplands, and birds from northern Europe also arrive in winter.

• Dugong Dugong dugon

  A mammal of warm coastal seas that feeds mainly on seagrass and uses shallow sheltered waters.

• Curve-billed Thrasher Toxostoma curvirostre

  The Curve-billed Thrasher lives in dry parts of the southwestern United States and Mexico, including scrub with cacti and open woodland. It probes the ground with its long, downcurved bill for insects and fruit.

• Raccoon Procyon lotor

  Native to North and Central America, it has a black mask around the eyes and rings along its tail.

• Greater bilby Macrotis lagotis

  A nocturnal forager of dry country with long ears and a pointed snout.

• Long-tailed Jaeger Stercorarius longicaudus

  The Long-tailed Jaeger is a slender seabird that breeds on Arctic tundra and hunts lemmings during the breeding season. Outside that season, it travels to oceans in the Southern Hemisphere.

• Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus

  A small bird with a blue crown and yellow underside, found from woodland to parks and gardens.

• Mexican Common Mustached Bat Pteronotus (Phyllodia) mexicanus

  Pteronotus mexicanus is an insect-eating bat from Mexico's Pacific slope. A 2024 paper treats it as a distinct species from the P. parnellii group and lists habitats ranging from forest to dry shrubland.

• Red-headed Bunting Emberiza bruniceps

  The Red-headed Bunting breeds in Central Asia and winters in India. In Hong Kong it is a rare winter visitor; females and young can be difficult to identify because they resemble Black-headed Buntings.

• Sei Whale Balaenoptera borealis

  The sei whale is a baleen whale found widely in subtropical, temperate and subpolar seas around the world.

• Pygmy Three-toed Sloth Bradypus pygmaeus

  The pygmy three-toed sloth is a small sloth from an island off Panama. It lives in coastal red mangroves, and its long head and shoulder fur can look like a hood.

• Wreathed hornbill Rhyticeros undulatus

  A tropical forest bird with a ridged structure above its bill.

• Western Cattle Egret Ardea ibis

  A compact white heron with a short neck and legs, it feeds in grassland and pastures, catching insects and small animals disturbed by livestock or farm machinery.

• Linné’s two-toed sloth Choloepus didactylus

  A sloth that hangs from high branches in tropical forests, feeding and resting in the trees.

• Hamerkop Scopus umbretta

  The hamerkop is an African wetland bird whose flat crest makes its head look like a hammer. Pairs build a large, domed nest.

• Northern bottlenose whale Hyperoodon ampullatus

  A whale of the deep North Atlantic, recognized by its rounded forehead and projecting, bottle-shaped beak.

• Common Water Rat Hydromys chrysogaster

  The common water rat is a large rodent adapted to life near water. It has webbed feet and a thick tail with a white tip.

• Hoatzin Opisthocomus hoazin

  The Hoatzin has a long tail and crest; young birds have claws on their wings that help them grip branches.