The lion (Panthera leo ) is a large cat of the genus Panthera native to Africa and India. It is the most widely recognized animal symbol in human culture and it has been extensively depicted in sculptures and paintings, on national flags, and in...
The Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is a marine mammal and a baleen whale. It is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The Blue whale was once abundant in nearly all the Earth's oceans until the end of the 19th century. It was hunted...
The leopard (Panthera pardus) is one of the five extant species in the genus Panthera, a member of the cat family, Felidae. The leopard is distinguished by its well-camouflaged fur, opportunistic hunting behavior, broad diet, strength, and its...
The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae, the other being the Pygmy hippopotamus. Its name comes from the ancient Greek...
The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. When its close relative the bonobo was more commonly known as the Pygmy chimpanzee, this species was often called the Common chimpanzee...
The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea ), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to 1.8 metres and...
The African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) is one of two living African elephant species. It is the largest living terrestrial animal and is distributed across 37 African countries. Since 2021, it has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red...
The secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is a large, mostly terrestrial bird of prey found only in Africa. John Frederick Miller described the species in 1779. Although a member of the order Accipitriformes, which also includes many other...
The Pygmy hippo (Choeropsis liberiensis or Hexaprotodon liberiensis) is a small hippopotamid native to the forests and swamps of West Africa. It is one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae, the other being its much larger...
The olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea ), also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world....
The ocean sunfish or common mola (Mola mola) is one of the largest bony fish in the world. It was misidentified as the heaviest bony fish, which was actually a different species, Mola alexandrini. Adults typically weigh between 247 and 1,000 kg (545...
The Martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) is a large eagle native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of the most persecuted bird species in the world. Due to its habit of taking livestock and regionally valuable game, local farmers and game wardens...
Rüppell's vulture (Gyps rueppelli) is a large bird and its name comes from the 19th-century German zoologist and explorer Eduard Rüppell. It is native to the Sahel region and East Africa and its current population is decreasing due to loss of...
The Giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) is the biggest and the rarest of the African species of pangolin. It looks like an armored animal and behaves in the secretive manner of a spy. Its footprints look the same as a small elephant’s. This unusual...
The Sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys) is an Old World monkey found in forests of Africa. These rare and endangered monkeys live in groups and communicate with each other using a wide repertoire of vocalizations, including distinct alarm calls for...
The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major oceans. It is the only known...
The White-headed vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis) is an Old World vulture native to Africa. This species is unique among African vultures as it shows a degree of reversed sexual dimorphism, where females are somewhat larger than males.
The African golden cat (Caracal aurata) remains little known by science, though within Africa there is much tribal superstition about it. It is also called the ‘leopard’s brother’ because, according to local people, it follows the leopard. It is...
The White-backed vulture (Gyps africanus) is the most common large vulture in Africa and is an accomplished scavenger that eats the carcasses of large animals. Hundreds of these vultures gather to feed on large dead animals. They gorge themselves so...
The Tree pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) is a species of pangolins ("scaly anteaters"), and is native to equatorial Africa. It is the most common of the African forest pangolins.
The lappet-faced vulture or Nubian vulture (Torgos tracheliotos ) is an Old World vulture belonging to the bird order Accipitriformes, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the only member of the genus Torgos. It is not...
The tawny eagle (Aquila rapax ) is a large bird of prey. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Its heavily feathered legs illustrate it to be a member of the subfamily Aquilinae, also known as "booted eagles". Tawny eagles have an...
The African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis ), also known as the West African manatee, is a species of manatee that inhabits much of the western region of Africa – from Senegal to Angola. It is the only manatee species to be found in the Old World....
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of 18.8 m (61.7 ft). The whale shark holds many records for size in the animal...
The hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus ) is an Old World vulture in the order Accipitriformes, which also includes eagles, kites, buzzards and hawks. It is the only member of the genus Necrosyrtes, which is sister to the larger Gyps genus, both...
The western red colobus (Piliocolobus badius ), also known as the bay red colobus, rust red colobus or Upper Guinea red colobus, is a species of Old World monkey in West African forests from Senegal to Ghana. All other species of red colobuses have...
The bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), also known as the Zambezi shark (informally zambi) in Africa and Lake Nicaragua shark in Nicaragua, is a species of requiem shark commonly found worldwide in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in rivers. It...
The black crowned crane (Balearica pavonina ) is a part of the family Gruidae, along with its sister species, the grey crowned crane. It is topped with its characteristic bristle-feathered golden crown. It is usually found in the shallow wetlands of...
The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is the second-largest living shark and fish, after the whale shark. It is one of three plankton-eating shark species, along with the whale shark and megamouth shark. Typically, basking sharks reach 7.9 m (26...
The Diana monkey (Cercopithecus diana ) is an Old World monkey found in the high canopy forests in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and western Côte d’Ivoire. Named for its white brow which is said to resemble the bow of the Roman goddess Diana, this...
The western chimpanzee, or West African chimpanzee, (Pan troglodytes verus ) is a Critically Endangered subspecies of the common chimpanzee. It inhabits western Africa, mainly in Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, and Sierra Leone but with...
The Long-tailed pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla), also called the African black-bellied pangolin, or Ipi, is a diurnal, arboreal pangolin species belonging to the family Manidae, in the order Pholidota. The common names for this species stem from...
The Liberian mongoose (Liberiictis kuhni) is a mongoose species native to Africa. It was discovered in Liberia in 1958. Phylogenetic analysis shows it is closely related to other small, social mongooses and that the Banded mongoose is its closest...
The West African slender-snouted crocodile (Mecistops cataphractus) is a critically endangered species of African crocodile. It is one of five species of crocodile in Africa. The scientific name cataphractus is retained for the West African species...
The haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Melanogrammus. It is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and associated seas, where it is an...
The Abyssinian ground hornbill or northern ground hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus ) is an African bird, found north of the equator, and is one of two species of ground hornbill. It is the second largest species of African hornbill, only surpassed by...
The dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis ), also known as the African dwarf crocodile, broad-snouted crocodile (a name more often used for the Asian mugger crocodile) or bony crocodile, is an African crocodile that is also the smallest extant...
The European turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur) is a member of the bird family Columbidae, the doves and pigeons. It breeds over a wide area of the south western Palearctic including north Africa but migrates to northern sub-Saharan Africa to winter.
The grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus ), also known as the Congo grey parrot, Congo African grey parrot or African grey parrot, is an Old World parrot in the family Psittacidae. The Timneh parrot (Psittacus timneh) once was identified as a subspecies...
The zebra duiker (Cephalophus zebra ) is a small antelope found primarily in Liberia, as well as the Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, and occasionally Guinea. They are sometimes referred to as the banded duiker or striped-back duiker. It is believed to be...
The shortfin mako (; Māori: /ˈmaːko/; Isurus oxyrinchus), also known as the shortfin mako shark, blue pointer, or bonito shark, is a large mackerel shark. It is commonly referred to as the mako shark, as is the longfin mako shark (Isurus paucus)....
The Atlantic cod (pl.: cod; Gadus morhua) is a fish of the family Gadidae, widely consumed by humans. It is also commercially known as cod or codling. Dry cod may be prepared as unsalted stockfish, and as cured salt cod or clipfish.In the western...
