Planet Zoo: Console Edition

The North American beaver is a large species of rodent that lives in the temperate woodland and riverine areas of the USA and Canada. The North American beaver has a double coat, meaning its fur has a surface layer of long, coarse hairs and an undercoat of shorter, finer hairs. This coat gives the beaver’s fur a coarse appearance. The beaver may be brown, red or tan in appearance and have small ears and eyes, a black nose high on the snout and large, pronounced front teeth. North American beavers have a head-body length of 74 to 90cm and a tail length of 20 to 35cm.

Various subspecies of moose are native to Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the USA and Canada. They live in boreal and deciduous woodland and their diet consists mostly of the young shoots from trees and woody plants. The moose is a large deer with thick brown fur and a noticeable neck hump. They have a characteristic nasal proboscis. The Alaska moose is the largest subspecies, males are extremely large, measuring between 1.7 and 2.3m tall at the shoulders, have a head-body length of 2.4 to 3.1m and weigh 380 to 700kg.

The cougar is a large species of felid that lives in the forests, mountains, grassland, deserts and scrubland of Canada, the USA, Mexico, and all of South America. The cougar is also commonly known as the puma and the mountain lion. The cougar has sandy coloured fur, thick legs and a thick tail, a broad head with rounded ears, a white muzzle and dark tear marks coming down from the eyes. Male cougars have a head-body length of 120 to 200cm, a height of 60 to 90cm at the shoulder, a tail length of 63 to 95cm and weigh between 53 and 100kg.

The California Sea Lion is a species of eared seal native to the coastal regions of the Western USA and Mexico. This sea lion is usually dark brown in colour with paler coloration on the sides and belly, although some females are pale brown in colour. Young pups are different in appearance, possessing a juvenile coat that is tan and fluffy, which they lose for their adult coat when they are between 5-7 months old. Male California sea lions measure 2.25 to 2.5m in length and weigh 250 to 350kg. Females are much smaller, measuring 1.8 to 2.1m and weighing 80 to 100kg.

The Arctic fox is a small species of canid that lives in the Arctic regions and Alpine tundra of Canada, the USA, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. In the winter, most Arctic foxes have a thick, white coat that insulates them from extreme temperatures. In summer, their coat is brown or dark grey, pale on the underside and is much thinner. A small percentage of the population stays brown in both winter and summer, known as blue morphs. The Arctic fox has broad rounded ears, small amber eyes and a small black nose.

The American alligator is a large species of crocodilian that lives in the rivers, swamps, marshes and wetlands of the Southern USA and Mexico. American alligators may be dark green, brown or grey in colour. They have a broad rounded head with a large gape and many teeth, of which some can be seen protruding externally. The body of the American alligator is broad, with several raised ridges of scales running down their back. Their legs stick out laterally and they move close to the ground but will raise themselves off the ground when running.

The sacred scarab beetle is a dung beetle native to the coastal dunes and marshes around the Mediterranean Sea, meaning it is found in North Africa, Europe and the Middle East. The head of the scarab beetle has 6 oblong projections and its front legs have an additional 4 each, giving the appearance of an arc of rays on the beetle’s front end. The sacred scarab beetle is 10 to 25mm in size and has a shiny, black carapace.

The Southern white rhinoceros is a large species of ungulate native to Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia). They are large, broad animals with thick, grey skin. The Southern white rhinoceros has two horns, with the front horn being much longer than the secondary horn. The head of the rhinoceros is almost rectangular in shape with a square snout. They have protuberant ears on the top of their head and a hump at the base of the neck formed of the musculature that supports the head.

The meerkat is a species of social mongoose that is found in complex underground burrows in the savannahs and semi-deserts of Southern Africa. It lives in family packs and is considered to be ‘eusocial’, meaning it is highly socially organised and pack members have strongly defined roles within their group. Meerkats have a flat, pointed head and a sandy-coloured face with black eyes and ears. They have a mottled pattern of grey and yellow fur on their back and a pointed, black tipped tail. Meerkats move on all fours but assume a distinctive stance on their hind legs when alert.