The beaded lizard is so called because of the bead-like scales on its head and dorsal surface. They are nocturnal so will hide in burrows during the day and are active at night. They are carnivores. Their diet includes mammals, birds, lizards, frogs, insects and the eggs of birds and reptiles. They swallow their prey […]
The Gorongosa girdled lizard is a large, flattened, girdled lizard found on Mount Gorongosa in Mozambique and low elevation in the Chimanimani Mountains at the border of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Males are dark brown to black with bright orange undersides and black throats. Females and juveniles are dark brown with small cream scattered on their […]
Leaf cutter ants are so called because they have sharp jaws that they use to cut leaves into tiny pieces. They carry the leaf parts back to their nests where the pieces decay. Fungus grows in the decaying leaves, and the ants eat this fungus. The fungus they cultivate on their leaf clippings can only be found in their colonies […]
The Rainbow lorikeet is a medium sized Australasian member of the parrot family which is found in the rainforest, woodland and bush of Australia and eastern Indonesia. There over 20 sub-species of this bird in Australasia. Rainbow lorikeets live in pairs or small flocks of up to 20 birds although flocks of up to 100 […]
Also known as the Philippine Sailfin water dragon, Sailfin lizard, Sailfin water lizard, Soa-Soa water lizard, this striking member of the Agamid family is notable for the well-developed crest of tooth like scales on its head but more especially the erect sail at the base of the tail which may be up to 8cm high. […]
The yellow-backed chattering lory is one of three subspecies found living in the tropical forests on the Moluccan Islands of Indonesia. They spend most of their lives in the forest canopy where they feed mainly on nectar and pollen. Lories as a group have specially adapted tongues to collect the nectar and pollen. They are […]
The 650 or more species of leech, belong in the Phylum Annelida meaning they are in the same group of animals as earthworms and segmented marine worms like ragworms. The medicinal leech has a body divided in to 33 34 segments with two suckers, one at each end, called the anterior and posterior suckers. […]
At DZG we hold Carpathian lynx, a subspecies of the Eurasian lynx, found in the Carpathian mountain regions of Europe. It is a comparatively large cat, characterised by long legs, a bob tail, tall ears adorned with conspicuous black tufts and cheek hair which forms a facial ruff. Their thick soft fur is more densely […]
The range of the Asiatic lion formerly stretched across the coastal forests of northern Africa and northern Greece across southwest Asia to eastern India. Today the only living representatives of the lions once found throughout much of South-West Asia occur in the Gir Forest of Western India. Asiatic lions are smaller and lighter than their […]
