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Animals

Factoid:
To protect themselves from strong winds and the glaring sun during the day, addax dig ‘beds’ into the sand with their forefeet in which they rest, often in the shade of boulders or bushes.

Addax at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Addax

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African wild dogs’ large, round ears allow for excellent hearing that is vital to the pack hunt, but they also serve as radiators of heat in a hot climate.

African Wild Dog at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

African Wild Dog

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The badger is well known for its incredible ability to DIG!

American Badger at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

American Badger

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The Amur leopard is one of many species of animal that zoos are conserving through captive breeding.

Amur Leopard at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click here to see more.

Amur Leopard

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A steer named Lurch is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest horn length of 10 feet.

Ankole Longhorn Cattle at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Ankole Longhorn Cattle

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They are often called the “unicorn of the desert”, because, when you look at them from the side, they appear to have only one horn.

Arabian Oryx at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Arabian Oryx

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The Barbados Blackbelly is a hair sheep breed which means they do not grow wool but have course hair instead. Thus, they do not need to be sheared.

Barbados Blackbelly Sheep at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Barbados Blackbelly Sheep

Factoid:
The bat-eared fox is possibly named after the Egyptian slit-faced fruit bat, which also has ears that are large in proportion to its head.

Bat-Eared Fox at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Bat-Eared Fox

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The name “dragon” comes from the color of the interior of the mouth. When opened, it gives the appearance of breathing fire. This action is used to deter predators or male rivals during the breeding season.

Bearded Dragon at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Bearded Dragon

Factoid:
The Bennett’s wallaby is a member of the macropod family. Macropod means “large foot” and refers to a family of marsupials including kangaroos and pademelons native to Australia. Well-developed males tend to be aggressive with each other and they fight by ‘boxing’. When these wallabies feel threatened, they stamp their feet to alert others. They can also communicate using their ears, scent marking, and some vocalizations like growling and hissing.

Bennett's Wallaby at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Bennett's Wallaby

Bettong at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Bettong

Blue-Tongued Skink at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Blue-Tongued Skink

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Bobcats get their name from their short, stubby tails, and their bobbing gait.

Bobcat at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Bobcat

Budgeriar at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Budgeriar

Factoid:
They cannot shoot their quills.

Cape Porcupine at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Cape Porcupine

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Possibly the best bird hunter known! It is an expert jumper, often catches birds by leaping at them to a height up to 10 feet and swats them out of the air with its paws: up to 10 at a time. There are a few theories for their tufts: used as antennas, keep flies away, as camouflage in tall grass by breaking outline of its head and, most widely accepted, the tufts help them communicate.

Caracal at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Caracal

Centralian Carpet Python at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Centralian Carpet Python

Factoid:
Until recently, this species was known to science only through fossil remains. The first modern-day sightings of live Chacoan peccaries in Paraguay were reported in 1972.

Chacoan Peccary at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Chacoan Peccary

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While running, the cheetah’s flat shaped tail acts like the rudder of a boat, allowing swift turns mid-air with superior steering and balance.

Cheetah at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Cheetah

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When threatened, they will dive into a crack in the rocks and gulp air until their body inflates and becomes wedged so tightly between the rocks that they cannot be pulled out.

Chuckwalla at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Chuckwalla

Factoid:
Cockatiels use their crests to show their mood. The crest is completely vertical when the birds are excited or alarmed, diagonal when they are relaxed, completely flat when they are angry, and flat with some feathers sticking out in the back during the mating rituals.

Cockatiel at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Cockatiel

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Their scientific name means “Barking dog”.

Coyote at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Coyote

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The local Arabic name for them is “edmi gazelle”.

Cuvier's Gazelle at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Cuvier’s Gazelle

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Bighorn sheep are specially designed for the unforgiving rocky mountain terrain they call home, from cloven hooves and use of vegetation for hydration to large domineering horns.

Desert Bighorn Sheep at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Desert Bighorn Sheep

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These clever reptiles build up most of their fat and water reserves in the spring when the desert is painted with wildflowers, grasses and succulent green plants.

Desert Tortoise at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens

Desert Tortoise

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They were introduced to arid regions of central Australia, where some of the only feral populations now persist.

Dromedary Camel at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Dromedary Camel

Emu at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Emu

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When threatened, they can leap approximately four times their body length from a standing position and burrow rapidly into the sand.

Fennec Fox at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Fennec Fox

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Frill-neck lizards have three middle toes and can run on their two hind legs.

Frill-neck Lizard

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Affectionately known as the ‘Watchtowers of the Savannah’ because coexisting species look to the giraffe as indicators of safety.

Giraffe at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Giraffe

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Africa’s second largest antelope.

Greater Kudu at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Greater Kudu

Factoid:
It is widely believed that this zebra was the famed “Hippotigris” (horse-tiger) of the Roman circus. The first specimens known to the scientific world were named for President Grevy of France, so although the species may have been new to science, it was known to earlier Europeans.

Grevy's Zebra at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Grevy’s Zebra

Factoid:
Island foxes are thought to have evolved in the three largest northern Channel Islands and were moved to the three largest southern Channel Islands by the Chumash native people who traded with the Gabrielino people of the southern islands. The Chumash considered the fox to be a sacred animal–a pet of the sun, and possibly a dream helper. The Island Chumash performed a fox dance and probably used the pelts of foxes to make articles like arrow quivers, capes, and headdresses.

Island Fox at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Island Fox

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Jaguars are the largest cats in the Americas and the only representative of the genus Panthera

Jaguar at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Jaguar

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Kit foxes are the smallest member of the family Canidae in North America

Kit Fox at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Kit Fox

Kookaburra at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Laughing Kookaburra

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Leopard tortoises are the fourth largest species of tortoise after the Sulcata tortoise, the Galapagos tortoise and Seychelles Island tortoise.

Leopard Tortoise at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Leopard Tortoise

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Whether out foraging or just playing near their burrows, there is always a “watch meerkat” posted to warn the group of approaching danger.

Meerkat at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Meerkat

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Mexican wolves have a complex social structure and communication system, which includes vocalizations, facial expressions, scent marketing and body language.

Mexican Wolf at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Mexican Wolf

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Despite its size, it is more closely related to the small cats, and like them, purrs (due to an ossified hyoid bone in the throat) and cannot roar.

Mountain Lion

Mountain Lion

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Nigerian dwarf goats are popular as pets and family milkers due to their easy maintenance and small stature.

Nigerian Dwarf Goat at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Nigerian Dwarf Goat

Factoid:
The North American porcupine is a good swimmer, its hollow quills help keep it afloat.

North American Porcupine at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

North American Porcupine

Olive Python at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Olive Python

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They are the world’s fastest living hoofed mammals and the second-fastest land mammals.

Peninsula Pronghorn at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Peninsular Pronghorn

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Modern ringtails so closely resemble their upper tertiary (2 mil.+ years) ancestors that they are like living fossils.

Ringtail at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Ringtail

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Sand cats have an exceptionally large middle ear cavity making them extremely sensitive to the small scratching sounds of burrowing rodents as well as large ears that can swivel and funnel sounds to the inner ear.

Sand Cat at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Sand Cat

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They can jump up to 10 feet to catch birds in flight.

Serval at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Serval

Factoid:
During the mating season, one to ten males form a line and follow a receptive female, sometimes for weeks. The female chooses the most persistent male that walks behind her for the longest time. To deter predators, they curl into a ball or dig a shallow hole into the ground, and expose their sharp spines.

Short Beaked Echidna at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Short Beaked Echidna

Factoid:
If a group of donkeys is attacked, they will form a circle and fight the predator with their hooves.

Sicilian Dwarf Donkey at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Sicilian Dwarf Donkey

Factoid:
In Arabic, “ghazal” means “bright-eyed.”

Slender-horned Gazelle at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Slender-horned Gazelle

Factoid:
The closest living relative to the hyena family is the civet family, and they are more closely related to the cat than the dog family.

Striped Hyena at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Striped Hyena

Factoid:
Dens can get very complex with up to 24 “entrances”, although most have only two to seven.

Swift Fox at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Swift Fox

Tawny Frogmouth at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Tawny Frogmouth

Factoid:
Because of moving and feeding on their knees, warthogs develop thick calluses on their wrists.

Warthog at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Warthog

Yellow-Footed Wallaby at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Click to see more.

Yellow-Footed Wallaby