The length of Japanese Crested Ibis is about 79 centimeters and it weighs about 1.8 kilograms. The male and female birds show dimorphism in plumage. Body feathers are white, with slightly pink feather end. There is a bared skin from forehead to cheek known as ponceau. The primary quills are deep pink at the base. This bird species has a beak which is 18-centimeter-long, black, slender having down-curved terminal. The bird wades in nearby rivulets, morass and rice fields. It is also seen hunting fingerlings, crabs, frogs, spiral shells and other aquatic animals, as well as insects.

Being a resident bird, it gads in small groups to low hills and plains in autumn and winter. The eggs are nattier blue with thin brown spots. Both the male and female birds take part in hatching. The squabs come out of the shell in about 30 days and leave the nest after 40 days.

The bird population was rediscovered after many years of survey by Chinese bird experts, in May’81, in Yangxian County. Hereafter a lot of work on the protection and scientific research of this bird has been done and with prominent results. By 1995, the number of this wild bird in China had reached about 35, and the breeding number was 25. These steps brought hope to save this precious bird.

The Jaguars have a body length of about 3.5 – 6.25 feet, where the tail comprises of 18 – 30 inches. The height is 21.5 – 30 inches and they weigh between 36 and 160 kg. With no exception, females are 20% smaller than males. The size tends to increase from North to South. The Jaguar is compact and well muscled. The claws and limbs are developed for climbing, swimming and crouching. Jaw is powerful like other cats. The black Jaguars are far less common than the spotted form. They are known as Panthers or black Leopards. Jaguars are solitary, apart from a mother with cubs, and they only meet for mating. Their territory ranges between 30 and 150 km. The diet mainly consists of deer, tapirs, peccaries, sloth, monkeys, fish, reptiles and domestic livestock. After a gestation period of 91 – 111 days commonly 2 cubs are born in a den. They are born blind, gaining sight within 14 days.

Excluding a known and possibly breeding population in Arizona, the cat has largely been extirpated from the United States since the early 20th century. The jaguar is a near threatened species and the count is decreasing. Threats include habitat loss and fragmentation. While international trade in jaguars or their parts is prohibited, the cat is still frequently killed by humans, particularly in conflicts with ranchers and farmers in South America.

The Indian Rhinoceros is the 4th largest land animal. Typical characteristic is the presence of one nasal horn, present in both male and female. The horn is black in color and is made up of pure keratin, like human fingernails. Its skin has loose folds and rivet-like knobs, that’s why it appears as if armored. Average body length is 412 cm and girth is 396 cm. The female Indian rhino can weigh up to 1600 kg, while a male is heavier and can weigh up to 2200 kg. The average height of the female is about 1.6 m; the males average about 1.8 m. The species is active mostly at night, in early morning and in the late afternoon; and spent the middle of the day by resting. Apart from cow-calf pairs, Indian rhinos rarely form groups and adult males are usually solitary. The Indian rhino is not territorial.

The main reason for the decline of the Indian rhino from its historical levels was the loss of alluvial plain grasslands to agricultural development, which destroyed the rhino’s prime habitat, led to conflicts with human interests, and made the rhino more accessible to hunters. Most of them can be seen today only in sanctuaries. With due efforts, its population has increased in the late 20th century.

The Imperial parrot stands about 46-50 cm (18-20 inches), and is the largest Amazon parrot. Male and female don’t show sexual dimorphism and are very similar. Green body with purple feathers on the underside and at the head can be observed. This produces a scaly impression in most of its area; and the purple color looks dark when seen in flight. Also red patches on wings are there, which is visible in flight and sometimes when perched. Its legs are grey and bill is relatively dark. In the flight, it makes relatively slow wing movement. The pre-fledging young have less green and eyes are darker brownish-grey unlike the adults who have bright reddish eyes. The nesting place of these parrots is natural cavities in the larger forest trees. Sometime around 2008, it was for the first time observed that one nest occasionally can produce two fledging offspring, violating the rule of one. The diet of this species is more restricted to native plants unlike the Red-necked Parrots, which eat commercial fruits.

Much of the bird’s habitat was destroyed due to logging, hunting for food and sport. This reduced the population up to around 80-120. Hurricane David in 1979 wiped out the population in half of Dominica, and it took 15-20 years before the forest was mature enough for the bird to resettle these areas. A second strong hurricane during such a period would have the potential to wipe out the species.

An adult Humpback whale ranges in length from 12–16 meters and the weight could be about 36,000 kilograms (79,000 lb). This whale has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knob like head. The species’ diet consists mostly of krill and small fish. They have a diverse way of feeding methods; and feed only in summer, in polar waters, and migrate to tropical or sub-tropical waters to breed and give birth in the winter. Males produce a complex song, which lasts for 10 to 20 minutes and is repeated for hours at a time. The purpose of the song is not yet clear, although it appears to have a role in mating.

Large whales, also the Humpback whale, have been the target for the whaling industry since many decades. Its population fell by an estimated 90% due to that reason. A whaling moratorium introduced in 1966, was successful to stop overhunting. There are at least 80,000 humpback whales worldwide. Once hunted to the brink of extinction, there whale-watchers, which watch these Humpback whales particularly off parts of Australia, New Zealand, South America, Canada, and the United States.

Grizzly bears are large and brownish in color. They have received their name, because their brown fur can be tipped with white, which gives them a grizzled look. Like other brown bears this subspecies also have black noses and short, rounded ears. One of the most noticeable characteristics of the grizzly bear is the hump on its back. Grizzly bears can weigh more than 700 pounds and like every common animals the males are heavier than the females. Being omnivore in nature, their diet consists of both plant and animal food. The plants may be nuts, fruits, grasses, fungi, moss and roots. If grizzly bears are on the hunt, their prey can include fish, insects, mountain sheep, elk, and rodents.

Grizzly bears live about 25 years in the wild. They can run pretty fast, reaching speeds upwards of 40 miles per hour. They are good swimmers too. Young grizzly bears can climb trees to evade danger, but this ability is lost with age. The bears were excessively hunted and now there are less than 1,500 grizzlies left in the continental United States. Today, grizzly bears can be found in select areas of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington, such as Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park.

The whales have mottled grey skin with scarring and pigmentation and much of the body is covered with barnacles and whale lice. Average adult ranges from 11 – 14 meters in length. This whale possesses no dorsal fin, only a small hump followed by a series of ‘knuckles’, which covers 2/3 of the way back from the head. The blow is a typical characteristic of all the whales. In its case the blow is low and bushy, up to 3-4 meters in height, and often ‘heart’ shaped. It is the only baleen whale in which the upper jaw is longer than the lower jaw. The baleen plates are short about 5-25 cm, uniform and cream-yellow in color.

The Gray whales are very unobtrusive at the surface; so sometimes referred to as ‘breathing rocks”. They do not breach. Socially the whales are normally solitary, and pairs of mothers and calves are often seen during migration. A migrating gray whale has a predictable breathing pattern, generally blowing 3-5 times in 15-30 second intervals before raising its fluke and submerging for 3-5 minutes. A gray whale can travel at 3-6 miles per hour. At one time there were three different gray whale populations: a north Atlantic population, a Korean or western north Pacific stock and the eastern north Pacific population, the largest surviving population.

The green turtle is a large and heavy sea turtle. It has a wide, smooth carapace, or shell. It inhabits tropical and subtropical coastal waters around the world and has been observed clambering onto land to sunbathe. These turtles weigh up to 700 pounds i.e. 317.5 kilograms. The head is small with respect to the body and is non retractable. The head extends from a heart-shaped carapace and measures up to 5 feet. Males are slightly larger than females and have a longer tail. Unlike most sea turtles, adult green turtles are herbivorous, feeding on sea grasses and algae. Juvenile green turtles, however, will also eat invertebrates like crabs, jellyfish, and sponges.

Green turtles are listed as an endangered species, and a subpopulation in the Mediterranean is listed as critically endangered. These turtles are still killed for their meat and eggs. Their numbers are also reduced by boat propeller accidents, fishnet-caused drowning, and the destruction of their nesting grounds by human encroachment.

As per appearance is concerned, the Greater Prairie Chicken is typically brown in color with the presence of light and dark barring. This bird has a short rounded tail. The chicken is popular for its mating dance, which can be viewed in these grouses. Dancing together communally, the males raise ear-like feathers above their heads; inflate orange sacs on the sides of their throats, and stutter-step around while making a deep hooting moan. Once the mating has taken place, the female moves about one mile from the booming grounds and begins to build their nests. These Hens lay between 5 and 17 eggs per clutch, which take between 23 and 24 days to hatch. One can find five and 10 young per brood.

Major threat to these prairie-chickens comes in the form of spring rains, which can wreak havoc on their chicks. Another major natural threat is drought. Human interactions, by far, is considered as the greatest threat. It was found in a radio telemetry study conducted by Kansas State University that “most prairie-chicken hens avoided nesting or rearing their broods within a quarter-mile of power lines and within a third-mile of improved roads.”

The Great auk, measuring about 75-85 centimeters and weighing around 5 kilograms, was the largest of both its family and the order. The males and females were similar in plumage, but some distinction in femur length was observed. This species had black and white coloration of the body; back being black in color and stomach being white. Appearance, to some extent was similar to the penguins found at present. Fossil study says that the bill was large about 11 centimeters long and curved downwards at the top, the wings were only 15 centimeters in length and the longest wing feathers were only 10 centimeters long. The legs were developed for powerful swimming, present at way back of the body. The infants were seen gray and downy.

Referring to history, these Auks were seen to walk slowly and used their wings while traversing through rain. They generally walked in straight lines. The natural predators were marine mammals such as Orca and white tailed eagles. This species is estimated to have had a maximum population in the millions. Its extermination began with a slaughter for food and eggs by local inhabitants, but its fate was sealed when bird feathers became fashion items. The last colony of Great Auks is believed to be lived on Geirfuglasker (the “Great Auk Rock”) off Iceland.