Places

Spain contains several geographically diverse regions with different climates and terrain, so it has a great variety of wildlife. Birdwatching is a popular pastime amongst tourists and natives. 70% of Europe’s bird species either visit or breed in Spain. Rare birds of prey such as the black vulture and Eleonora’s falcon can be seen there. […]

The Canary Islands are a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa. Surprisingly, the islands were not named for the bird, but rather for the wild canines which lived on it. Wildlife on the islands includes lizards, geckos, many European and African bird species and five species of marine turtles. The […]

The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef. The reef contains an abundance of marine life and comprises of over 3000 individual reef systems and coral cays. It is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in north-east Australia. In 1981, it was selected as a World Heritage Site. It […]

The Indian Ocean is the world’s third largest ocean, covering 20% of the earth’s water. The warmth of the Indian Ocean keeps phytoplankton production low in most of the ocean. As a result, there is not a tremendous amount of life in the Indian Ocean. Russia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan all border this ocean […]

Finland claims to be the last wilderness in Europe. The country has large lakes and forests and a fairly small population relative to its size. There are at least sixty native mammal species, 248 breeding bird species, over seventy fish species and eleven reptile and frog species in Finland today. Finland’s cold climate is home […]

According to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “some 47,000 living species have been identified in Israel, with another 4,000 assumed to exist. There are 116 species of mammals native to Israel, 511 kinds of birds, 97 types of reptiles and seven types of amphibians.” Conservation There are 190 nature reserves and 66 national parks […]

The cold climate of Wales means that the native animals are hardy creatures. They include sheep and cattle, wild goats, the Welsh Mountain Pony, and the puffin. In 1934, the Duke of York gave Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppies to his daughters, Elizabeth, later to become Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and Margaret Rose. Queen Elizabeth […]

Native Americans welcomed wolves into their homes and domesticated them. According to a Native American legend, the dog freely chose to become a companion to man. Dogs were considered part of the family and given names which reflected their personalities and characteristics. Before the introduction of horses to North America (by the Europeans), dogs were […]

Since 1949, Tibet has been part of China, but was an independent country until then. Some of the wildlife found in Tibet includes Tibetan eagles, marmots, Himalayan mouse hares, foxes, and Himalayan ravens. Marmots, which are rodents which live in burrows, are the most common animal seen in Tibet. Himalayan mouse hares have been seen […]

Thailand spans widely varying geological and climactic zones, in which over 10 percent of the world’s animals live. It is home to more than 285 mammal species and 925 species of birds. Some of the animals native to Thailand are the White-Handed Gibbon, Dusky langur (also known as the leaf monkey) and the Mudskipper (a […]