Wild Animals

The snakehead fish can breathe air, double its population in 15 months and has a huge appetite, which is not a good thing for native species.

By Jesslyn Shields

Spider monkeys, an endangered species, are the largest monkeys in the Americas and live in the forest canopy, where they swing through the trees with the greatest of ease.

By Jesslyn Shields

These four-legged salamanders look like they've been rolled flat and can weigh up to 5 pounds, but polluted streams put these amphibians in danger of extinction.

By Mark Mancini

It's an age-old question. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck? Turns out, none at all. So what would a woodchuck chuck if it couldn't chuck wood?

By Katie Carman

The okapi may look like a zebra-horse combo, but its closest relative is the giraffe. Here are nine fascinating facts about this curious creature.

By Wendy Bowman

Bees get a lot of credit for pollinating important food crops, but they get a lot of secret help from their nocturnal friends, the moths.

By Jesslyn Shields

The elephant hawk moth is breathtakingly beautiful as an adult, but as a baby ... not so much.

By Jesslyn Shields

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

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

By Jesslyn Shields

The basking shark, an endangered species, may look like a fearsome predator, but is actually a filter-feeder, gathering zooplankton and other tiny animals, such as shrimp, in bulk as it roams the seas with a wide open mouth.

By Mark Mancini

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

By Jesslyn Shields

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

Bird mobs are not roving gangs of thug birds. But they are bands of birds coming together to harass bigger predators. And the behavior is loud and raucous.

By Kristen Hall-Geisler

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 Wendy Bowman

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