Planet Zoo: Console Edition

The Eastern brown snake (or Pseudonaja textilis) is a venomous species of reptile that lives in Australia and New Guinea. It prefers to live in dry areas so can be found in the grassland, scrubland and sparse forests. The snakes are pale to dark brown in colour, often with a paler underside, and they may have slightly darker brown mottling on their scales as camouflage.

The common death adder (or Acanthophis antarcticus) is a venomous snake that lives in the grasslands, forests and bushlands of Eastern and Southern Australia. It has a flat, triangular head, a squat body and a rapidly tapering tail, as well as a banded patternation of light brown, dark brown and grey in order for it to be well disguised in leaf litter and other debris. On average, the common death adder is between 70 and 100cm long.

The Brazilian wandering spider (or Phoneutria nigriventer) is a species of arachnid native to South America – predominantly in the rainforests, although it does often live in urban areas alongside humans. The spiders are large, venomous and pale brown in colour, with a hairy body and black striations on their legs. Males are slightly smaller than females with a much smaller abdomen, and also have swollen bulbs on the end of their palps, which are the segmented appendages near the mouth and are often used to distinguish the sexes.

The Brazilian salmon pink tarantula (or Lasiodora parahybana) is a large species of spider exclusively endemic to the Atlantic Forest area of East Brazil. They are black in colour, with pink or red hairs on their legs and abdomen. When looked at as a whole, the males are slightly larger than females with a leg span that can reach 28cm, but females are heavier with a larger abdomen. Males also often have brighter coloration than females.

The boa constrictor is a large species of snake native to Central and South America. They are a ubiquitous species split into 9 subspecies, all of which are capable of living in most environments but mostly found in rainforests, coastal areas and semi-deserts. Although there are many different colours and patterns among these snakes, the typical appearance is pale brown, dark brown and black scales in a rhomboid pattern down the length of the body. The species exhibits sexual dimorphism; the males and females look different.

The Amazonian giant centipede (or Scolopendra gigantea) is a large, fearsome and predatory arthropod that is native to the forests of South America and the Caribbean. It is capable of catching, envenoming and killing many animals, and has learned specific techniques for catching particular prey. The centipede can reach 30cm in length and can occur in a variety of colours – typically red, yellow, brown or black – with yellow legs and dark stripes between body segments.

The giant panda (or Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is a species of bear native to the mountains of Central China. They have black and white fur in a distinctive pattern, with black legs, ears and circles around their eyes. Pandas feed almost exclusively on bamboo and, as a result, are extremely dependent on rich bamboo forests to survive. This is a low energy food, so pandas must eat a lot of it to live and spend most of their waking hours foraging and eating. Their low energy intake also means they produce very tiny and vulnerable cubs.

The Giant Galapagos tortoise (or Chelonoidas nigra) is a species of reptile endemic to the Galapagos Islands and does not appear anywhere else in the world. They come in two types – saddleback shelled and dome shelled – and both variants have a dull grey-brown shell and scaly, grey coloured skin. Saddleback shell tortoises have long necks and live in dry lowland areas, while dome shell tortoises have short necks and live in humid highland areas.

Gharials (or Gavialis gangeticus) are a critically endangered species of crocodile native to the rivers of the Indian subcontinent. With recent estimations stating there are just 200 left in the wild, the dwindling population is now restricted to just four stretches of river in Nepal and North India. Their collapse in numbers has been caused by the increase in river pollution reducing the amount of fish in the water, as well as by sand-mining destroying sandbanks that are essential for egg-laying females.

The gemsbok (or Oryx gazella) is a species of antelope that lives in the Kalahari and Namib deserts of Southern Africa. They are characterised by several visual features: long, slim and spiral horns; a black face with white markings over the eyes and muzzle; a grey-brown coat with black markings on the upper legs and back; as well as white ‘socks’. On average, Gemsbok stand between 1.1 and 1.3m tall at the shoulder, measure 1.9 to 2.4m long and have an average horn length of 85cm. The males are also slightly larger and significantly heavier than the females.