Mammal

The Queensland koala bear (or Phascolarctos cinereus) is an arboreal marsupial that lives in the eucalyptus forests of Eastern Australia. They have grey to brown fur, stocky limbs with dexterous claws, rounded fluffy ears, and a face with a bulbous black nose. They are a sexually dimorphic species, meaning the males are significantly bigger than the females; Queensland koalas are between 60 to 75cm long, with males weighing between 4.2 and 9.1kg, and females weighing 4.1 to 7.3kg. Both sexes feed almost exclusively on eucalyptus leaves.

The giant anteater (or Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is a medium sized mammal that lives in the grasslands and forests of Central and South America. As the name suggests, the species feeds almost exclusively on ants and termites, detecting ant colonies by smell, before digging a hole to feed using its long, sticky tongue. The giant anteater has a very distinctive appearance, with a long, tubular snout, small eyes and ears, stocky limbs, a coarse mane and a thick bushy tail.

The Colombian white-faced capuchin monkey (or Cebus capucinus) is an arboreal primate that lives in the forests of Colombia, Panama and Ecuador. There are 11 species of capuchin and even more subspecies, and the Colombian white-faced variant can be distinguished by its black body fur and distinctive white fur on the shoulders, upper chest and around the face. They also have a 'cap' of black fur on the top of their head and a pale pink face covered in sparse hair, as well as forward facing brown eyes.

The llama (or Lama glama) is a species of camelid native to the mountains and steppes of Western South America. Naturally found in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, llamas have since been introduced all over the world as livestock because of the high-quality wool they produce. They are domesticated animals and have lived alongside humans as livestock and pack animals for 4000 years. They have a long neck, long legs and a stocky body covered in thick, shaggy wool, and they can be white, tan, piebald, black or grey in colour.

The jaguar (or Panthera onca) is a species of big cat that lives throughout South America, Central America and Mexico, with rare individual sightings in southern USA. Although they can live in multiple environment types, they prefer to be in dense forests, near swamps and rivers. They are stockily built compared to the other big cat species, weighing an average of between 56 and 96kg, and measuring 112 to 185cm long. They have yellow to orange fur with black rosette patterning, and a white underside.

The reindeer (or Rangifer tarandus) is a species of ungulate that lives throughout the Arctic and Sub Arctic – specifically in Canada, The USA (Alaska), Russia, Norway, Finland and Greenland. A reindeer’s appearance changes depending on their origin and the time of year, but generally they have a brown and white coat, and a face with a white underside and muzzle, often with darker coloration on the snout. They also have large antlers, multiple points of which are covered in brown velvet. The males are between 1.8 and 2.1m long, weighing between 159 and 182kg.

The polar bear (or Ursus maritimus) is a large ursine species that lives in the Arctic Circle and the sub-Arctic regions. With a completely white coat, dark eyes and a dark nose, they are stocky in build, with sturdy legs and large feet that are well adapted to swimming. To minimise heat loss, the bears have small ears and a short tail. Males are between 2.4 and 3.0m long, weighing between 350 and 750kg; females are between 1.8 and 2.4m long, weighing 150 to 250kg. Both sexes feed on both ringed and bearded seals.

The Dall sheep (or Ovis dalli) – also known as ‘Dall’s sheep’ or ‘thinhorn sheep’ –  is a species of wild sheep that lives on the mountain meadows of Alaska (USA), Yukon and British Colombia (Canada). They are white to pale brown in colour, with yellow-brown horns, and are sexually dimorphic; the males being significantly larger than the females and with much thicker, curlier horns. Males measure between 1.3 and 1.8m long and weigh between 73 and 113kg, while females measure between 1.3 and 1.6m and weigh 46 to 50kg.

Arctic wolves (or Canis lupus arctos) are a large canid species that live in Northern Canada and Greenland. Also known as white wolves, they are large pack predators that feed primarily on muskoxen and arctic hares, although they may also eat foxes, birds and bear cubs, as well as occasionally scavenging carrion.

The Western lowland gorilla (or Gorilla gorilla gorilla) is native to Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo and Southern Niger, living and foraging in the rainforests, swamp forests and abandoned farmland there. They have black skin, dark forward-facing eyes, a prominent brow ridge, large nostrils and coarse hair which covers most of their body except the face, ears, hands and feet. Males are much larger than females and, when they mature, the hair on their backs becomes grey and they are identified as ‘silverbacks’.