Wild mongooses

Mongooses are small mammals. They are fearless predators, have long bodies and short legs. Mongooses are essentially terrestrial. Nearly all species are very poor tree-climbers and are rarely seen on anything but the lowest branches.

However, Herpestes sanguineus is exceptional and its climbing ability is said to resemble that of a squirrel.

They live in forests, savannahs and dry grasslands.  Many more mongoose species live in grassland habitats. These habitats have two distinct seasons and constantly high temperatures.

All species swim well when force to do so and a few species are semi-aquatic or aquatic such as Atilax in Africa, Herpetes urva and H. vitticollis in India and H. brachyurus in the East Indies.

Members of the mongoose family are other social or solitary mammals. Many of the mongoose species that live outside Africa are solitary animals.
Wild mongooses

Orangutan

Orangutans survive only in the dwelling tropical rainforest of Borneo, an island in the Malay Archipelago and northern Sumatra, being dependent on the forest for food and nesting sites.

The word orangutan means ‘person of the forest’ in the Malay language. The Borneo subspecies is Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus, while Sumatra subspecies name, Pongo pygmaeus abelii.

After humans, orangutans are the most intelligent animals on earth.

Currently, the orangutan is a victim of global economic forces. Orangutan populations are seriously affected when their forest is destroyed or logged, not least because they are often killed for meat or to protect newly planted crops.

Orangutans play a crucial role in the forest they inhabit: their diet of fruit and their mobility means that they are excellent seed dispersers.

Orangutan is an ape which the only ape that live in Asia, while other apes live in Africa. Sometimes they are called red apes because they have reddish hair on their bodies.

Adult male orangutans grow to a height of 1.7 m and may weigh up to 91 kg. Females can stand only 1.2 m at the most and on average weigh half as much as the males.

The orangutan’s skin is coarse and dark gray, and the hair, which is rufous orange in color, is shaggy by sparse, so the skin can be seen through it in many places.
Orangutan

North American Porcupine

Porcupines rank among the world’s most widely recognized animals. Among local rodents, porcupines are second in size only to the beaver. The animals appear even larger and heavier than they actually are because of the abundant pelage.

Porcupines belong to two separate families of the Hystricomorph suborder of rodents. One family, the Erethizontidae, lives in the New World – North and South America. There are five genera of Erethizontidae. The other family, the Hystricidae, lives in the Old World – Eurasia and Africa.

Scientific name for North American porcupine: Erethizon dorsatum. The North American porcupine occurs from Alaska and Canada southward to northern Mexico. In the United States, the animals are present in all forested regions except the Southeast.

The porcupine is adapted to a variety of habitats. It is largely an inhabitant of forested areas in the West and prefers rocky areas. They are expert at climbing trees, although their movements are slow, methodical and seemingly awkward.

Although the bulk of their species range coincides with coniferous forest, porcupines inhabit a variety of other habitats including mixed forests.

Habitat use generally refers seasonal and vegetation changes, and also may be educated by activities including foraging predator avoidance and resting or sleeping.
North American Porcupine