Wild Animals

Born pregnant? You bet. It's a survival instinct but could also explain how these garden pests spread like wildfire.

By Mark Mancini

This exotic bird could seriously injure or kill a person or a dog in an instant with its deadly claws.

By Wendy Bowman & Marie Look

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, the colorful little fish with the craaaaazy long name, is Hawaii's state fish, but it wasn't always.

By Jesslyn Shields

Piranhas are some of the most feared fish in the world, but is their reputation for ferocity a bit overblown?

By Jesslyn Shields & Zach Taras

A master of camouflage, the cuttlefish can count, gender-bend and use a hidden weapon to outsmart its enemies.

By Alia Hoyt

The anteater has one of the strangest-looking noses in the animal kingdom, a truly fabulous hairdo and a tongue that reaches places never meant to see the light of day.

By Wendy Bowman

The deadly Asian giant hornet, the largest hornet in the world, was spotted in the U.S. for the first time in late 2019. You'll want to stay far away from this creature. Its nickname? The "murder hornet."

By Jesslyn Shields

While yaks share the bovine family tree with cows, they're a different species altogether. And, unlike cow dung, yak poop doesn't stink.

By Katie Carman

A new species of green pit viper found in India has been named after the founder of Harry Potter's Slytherin house.

By Patty Rasmussen

Mayflies have the shortest adult life span of any animal, but swarms of them can still be seen on weather radar.

By Jesslyn Shields

Some cicadas are annual breeders and some show up loudly about every 17 years, but all cicadas produce a "song" that can reach 120 decibels - very close to a level that can damage human ear drums.

By Robert Valdes

What lives in water, has no gills, scales or fins and is not a fish? Yep, a starfish - which is why marine biologists have renamed these creatures sea stars.

By Mitch Ryan

Wondering what's going on in the animal world while you're all cooped up under quarantine? Check out these webcams and get a virtual glimpse into how the animals live.

By Carrie Dennis

Known in some circles as a 'musk hog' or 'skunk pig,' the javelina's good looks may be in the eye of the beholder, but there's a lot more to this beauty than meets the eye.

By Wendy Bowman

When a half-full plate of dinner sits before you and your overstuffed tummy, have you ever been told your eyes are too big for your stomach? The pelican's got a similar problem.

By Shanna Freeman

Work by volunteers and nonprofit organizations, such as butterfly waystations and increased education efforts, has turned around long-term population decline for some butterfly species.

By Laurie L. Dove

They both have prehistoric looking shells and squatty legs, but how are they different?

By Jesslyn Shields

Fruit flies are annoying, but we also owe them a huge debt of scientific gratitude.

By Jesslyn Shields

A bright pink manta ray named Inspector Clouseau is causing a splash on the runway of the Great Barrier Reef.

By Jesslyn Shields

Locusts are just mild-mannered grasshoppers until they swarm up and become monstrous. In parts of the world, locust plagues are becoming a way of life.

By Jesslyn Shields

The arctic fox is able to thrive in temperatures as low as -58 degrees F (-50 degrees C), largely because it has fur on the soles of its feet and the warmest coat of any animal on Earth.

By Wendy Bowman

Puma, panther, mountain cat, mountain lion, mountain screamer, painter, catamount and, yes, cougar. This cat has a lot of names!

By Wendy Bowman

If you've never seen a botfly, it looks rather harmless - like a basic bumblebee even. Until it lays its eggs inside a living host, and that's when things get really gross.

By Mark Mancini

The green anaconda is the largest of the anaconda species, which makes it arguably the biggest snake in the world.

By Mark Mancini

Dragonflies are fast, powerful and unbelievably aggressive, using a rudimentary form of 'trigonometry' to calculate distance and move in for the kill.

By Jesslyn Shields