La Plata three-banded armadillos, also known as southern three-banded armadillos, are the only armadillo that can curl up into a complete ball. Native to South America, they are also one of the only armadillos that are not good diggers.
In the wild they feed primarily on ants and termites, which they obtain using their
Grand Cayman blue iguanas are large, ground-dwelling lizards found only on Grand Cayman Island. Their color ranges from gray to bright blue, and they start their days by warming up basking in the sun.
appear to be a long-lived species, generally surviving for 25 to 40 years in the wild
Corn snakes are slender, orange or brownish-yellow snakes with a pattern of large, red blotches down their backs. They are most abundant in Florida and throughout the southeastern U.S.
snakes live up to 23 years in human care, but their lifespan is shorter in the wild
Bird keeper Wesley Bailey shares an update on the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s success breding brown kiwi.
our team helped raise four Guam kingfishers—a species considered extinct in the wild
True to their name, red-bellied piranhas have red undersides. Their bodies are gray and flecked with bright, silver scales. Native to the Amazon River basin, these fish are important scavengers. They tend to travel in schools of 20 or more.
Food/Eating Habits In the wild, a good portion of their diet consists of fins nipped
Twig catfish, named due to their resemblance to twigs, are found throughout the Amazon, Orinoco and Panara rivers, as well as rivers of the Guyana Shield. They are one of the only fish known that have evolved to eat wood as a primary energy source.
Conservation Efforts The twig fish’s status in the wild is unknown.
Von der Decken hornbills are native to dry regions of eastern Africa. Males have large, red bills while females have black bills. Like other hornbills, female Von der Decken hornbills bury themselves alive to hatch and rear their chicks. For two months, the male feeds the female and the chicks through a slit in the mud nest.
Food/Eating Habits In the wild they eat small ground prey, eggs, fruits and insects
Dunlins are a medium-sized sandpiper with a slightly down-curved black bill. In North America, dunlins spend the summer breeding season in the arctic and subarctic regions, and winter along both coasts of the United States and Mexico.
Lifespan The oldest known wild dunlin from Europe was 24 years old.
One of the most widespread duck species, northern pintails have extensive migratory routes. Habitat loss poses the biggest threat to this duck. As their wetland and prairie habitats are converted and fragmented, northern pintail populations continue to decrease.
In North America, these grounds span from Alaska through the Canadian Arctic to western
Fire-bellied toads, also called bombina, are warty, aquatic toads with bright orange or red undersides. These gregarious frogs are native to China and Russia.
Moderate numbers are exported mainly to Western Europe and North America in the international
