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Temperate grassland

Temperate grasslands — prairies, steppes, and pampas — are dominated by grasses, shaped by grazing and fire, and home to burrowing mammals and ground-nesting birds.

48 animals in this habitat

Mammals NT American Bison Bison bison The American bison is North America's largest land animal and its greatest conservation comeback — from tens of millions to a few hundred, and back. Learn how it shapes the prairie. Read the guide →
Reptiles NT Ball Python Python regius The ball python is a small, shy West African constrictor that curls into a ball when frightened. It is the world's most popular pet snake, bred into thousands of colour morphs. Read the guide →
Birds LC Barn Owl Tyto alba The barn owl hunts in total darkness by sound alone, guided by its heart-shaped face and lopsided ears. Learn how its silent flight works and why farmers put up nest boxes for it. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Black Mamba Dendroaspis polylepis The black mamba is Africa's most feared snake — long, fast, and armed with a fast-acting neurotoxic venom. Learn where the name comes from, how dangerous it really is, and why it usually flees. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Boa Constrictor Boa constrictor The boa constrictor is a large non-venomous snake of the Americas that kills by cutting off blood flow, not by suffocation, and gives birth to live young. It is a popular but long-lived, powerful pet. Read the guide →
Birds VU North Island Brown Kiwi Apteryx mantelli The kiwi is a chicken-sized flightless New Zealand bird that behaves like a mammal — it forages by smell at night, has whiskers and heavy bones, and lays a huge egg for its size. Read the guide →
Amphibians LC Cane Toad Rhinella marina The cane toad was released in Australia in 1935 to eat beetles and became one of the worst invasive species in the world. Learn why it is toxic, how far it has spread, and what is being done. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Capybara Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris The capybara is the world's largest rodent — a 50-kilogram, semi-aquatic grazer famous for its calm tolerance of almost every other animal. Learn how it lives in the wetlands of South America. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Coyote Canis latrans The coyote has expanded across North America and into its cities faster than any other large predator, thriving under intense hunting pressure. Learn how it adapts, hunts, and outlasts persecution. Read the guide →
Mammals NE Dromedary Camel Camelus dromedarius The dromedary is the one-humped camel of Arabia and North Africa — a desert specialist that stores fat in its hump, lets its body temperature swing, and can drink 100 litres in minutes. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Crotalus adamanteus The eastern diamondback is the largest venomous snake in North America and the heaviest rattlesnake on Earth. It warns before it strikes, shelters in tortoise burrows, and is declining fast. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus The echidna is a spine-covered, egg-laying mammal that has no teeth, senses prey by electric field, and can lower its body temperature almost to freezing. Learn how this ancient oddity survives. Read the guide →
Reptiles VU Galápagos Tortoise Chelonoidis niger The Galápagos tortoise is the largest living tortoise and one of the longest-lived animals, with shell shapes that differ island to island — an observation that helped inspire evolutionary theory. Read the guide →
Reptiles NT Gila Monster Heloderma suspectum The Gila monster is one of only a handful of venomous lizards — a slow, beaded, black-and-orange desert reptile that spends 95% of its life underground and inspired a widely used diabetes drug. Read the guide →
Birds LC Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos The golden eagle is one of the largest and most widespread birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere, a mountain hunter that stoops on prey at highway speeds. Learn how it lives and hunts. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Honey Badger Mellivora capensis The honey badger has loose armour-like skin, partial resistance to snake venom, and a documented talent for escaping any enclosure. Learn why it takes on cobras, lions, and beehives. Read the guide →
Invertebrates NE Honeybee Apis mellifera The honeybee runs a colony of tens of thousands, navigates by the sun, and tells hivemates where to find flowers with a dance. Learn how the hive works and what's behind the decline in bee health. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Indian Cobra Naja naja The Indian cobra is one of the "big four" snakes behind most of India's snakebite deaths. It spreads a spectacle-marked hood, and it is the snake of charmers' baskets and Hindu myth. Read the guide →
Reptiles LC Leopard Gecko Eublepharis macularius The leopard gecko is a ground-dwelling desert lizard with movable eyelids, a fat storage tail it can drop and regrow, and a calm nature that made it one of the first domesticated reptiles. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Meerkat Suricata suricatta The meerkat lives in tight cooperative gangs where members take turns standing guard, babysitting, and teaching pups to handle scorpions. Learn how a meerkat mob works and survives the Kalahari. Read the guide →
Birds LC Ostrich Struthio camelus The ostrich is the largest and heaviest bird alive, the fastest thing on two legs, and the layer of the biggest egg of any living animal. Learn how a bird this size survives on the African plains. Read the guide →
Birds LC Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal on the planet, hitting nearly 390 km/h in a hunting dive. Learn how its body survives that speed and how it came back from near-extinction. Read the guide →
Mammals NT Plains Zebra Equus quagga The plains zebra is the most common wild horse, famous for stripes no two animals share. Learn what the stripes are actually for, why zebras were never tamed, and how their herds work. Read the guide →
Invertebrates NE Praying Mantis Mantis religiosa The praying mantis is an ambush hunter that strikes in under 70 milliseconds, turns its head 180 degrees, and hears bats with a single ear. Learn how it hunts and the truth about sexual cannibalism. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Pronghorn Antilocapra americana The pronghorn is the fastest land animal in the Americas and Earth's best distance runner — built to escape a predator that went extinct 12,000 years ago. Learn about its speed and odd horns. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Ring-Tailed Lemur Lemur catta The ring-tailed lemur is the most recognisable of Madagascar's lemurs — a ground-loving primate that sunbathes in a lotus pose, is led by females, and holds "stink fights" with its scented tail. Read the guide →
Birds LC Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris The ruby-throated hummingbird weighs about as much as a penny, beats its wings 50 times a second, and crosses the Gulf of Mexico non-stop — a 800-kilometre flight over open water. Read the guide →
Birds EN Secretary Bird Sagittarius serpentarius The secretary bird is a long-legged African raptor that hunts on foot, killing snakes and other prey by stamping with a force five times its body weight, delivered in a fraction of a second. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Sloth Bear Melursus ursinus The sloth bear is a shaggy, termite-slurping bear of the Indian subcontinent that carries its cubs on its back — and is responsible for more human maulings than any other bear. Learn how and why. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Spotted Hyena Crocuta crocuta The spotted hyena is Africa's most successful large predator — a skilled pack hunter, not just a scavenger, living in female-led clans of up to 130, with bone-crushing jaws and an eerie call. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Tasmanian Devil Sarcophilus harrisii The Tasmanian devil is the world's largest carnivorous marsupial — a bone-crushing scavenger fighting a contagious cancer that has killed most of the wild population. Learn how it's being saved. Read the guide →
Birds LC Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura The turkey vulture is a wide-ranging American scavenger that finds carcasses by smell — a rare skill among birds — soars for hours without flapping, and defends itself by projectile vomiting. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Common Vampire Bat Desmodus rotundus The common vampire bat is the only mammal that feeds entirely on blood. It runs and leaps like a spider, shares meals with hungry roost-mates, and its saliva has led to a stroke drug. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Wild Boar Sus scrofa The wild boar is the ancestor of the domestic pig, one of the most widespread mammals on Earth, and — as feral hogs — one of the most destructive invasive animals. Learn how it lives and spreads. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Wombat Vombatus ursinus The wombat is a burrowing Australian marsupial with a backward-facing pouch, a bum made of armour, and — uniquely in the animal kingdom — cube-shaped droppings. Learn how and why. Read the guide →
Mammals EN African Elephant Loxodonta africana The African elephant is the largest land animal alive, with a 40,000-muscle trunk and a 22-month pregnancy. Learn how herds are led by matriarchs and why ivory poaching still threatens them. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Giraffe Giraffa camelopardalis The giraffe is the tallest animal on Earth, with a heart built to pump blood two metres straight up. Learn how its neck, tongue, and blood pressure work — and why it faces a "silent extinction". Read the guide →
Mammals LC Gray Wolf Canis lupus The gray wolf is a cooperative pack hunter and the wild ancestor of every domestic dog. Learn how packs work, why wolves howl, and how they reshape whole ecosystems. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibius The hippopotamus spends its days in water and its nights grazing on land, sweats a red antibiotic sunscreen, and is one of Africa's most dangerous animals. Learn how this river giant lives. Read the guide →
Reptiles EN Komodo Dragon Varanus komodoensis The Komodo dragon is the largest lizard alive, a venomous ambush predator found on just a few Indonesian islands. Learn how it hunts prey many times its size and why it's now Endangered. Read the guide →
Invertebrates VU Monarch Butterfly Danaus plexippus The monarch butterfly makes a 4,000 km migration that takes several generations, guided by a sun compass. Learn how milkweed makes it toxic and why monarch numbers have crashed. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Red Fox Vulpes vulpes The red fox is the most widespread wild carnivore on Earth, at home in forests, deserts, and city centres alike. Learn how it hunts by the Earth's magnetic field and why it thrives around people. Read the guide →
Mammals LC Red Kangaroo Osphranter rufus The red kangaroo is the largest marsupial alive, built to bounce across Australia's dry interior. Learn how hopping saves energy, how the pouch works, and why females can pause a pregnancy. Read the guide →
Birds VU Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus The snowy owl is a heavy, day-hunting owl of the Arctic tundra that lives and breeds on lemmings. Learn how it survives the cold, why some years it flies far south, and why numbers are falling. Read the guide →
Mammals EN Tiger Panthera tigris The tiger is the largest cat on Earth and a solitary ambush hunter. Learn how it stalks prey, why every tiger's stripes are unique, and why fewer than 5,600 remain wild. Read the guide →
Mammals NT White Rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum The white rhino is the second-largest land animal and a conservation rollercoaster — saved from under 100 animals a century ago, then hammered by a poaching crisis for its horn. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Cheetah Acinonyx jubatus The cheetah is the fastest land animal, built entirely for the sprint. Learn how it hits 100 km/h, why the chase costs so much, and why only about 6,500 remain in the wild. Read the guide →
Mammals VU Lion Panthera leo The lion is the only big cat that lives in social groups. Learn how prides hunt, how cubs are raised, and why lion numbers have fallen by roughly half since 1990. Read the guide →