Fun Cheetah Facts for Kids

Fun Cheetah Facts for Kids

Learn more about the cheetah by reading these fun cheetah facts. Cheetahs are part of the big cat family and while they can’t climb trees, they can run faster than any other land animal. Read on for more interesting cheetah information.

• The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world. They can reach a top speed of around 113 km per hour.

• A cheetah can accelerate from 0 to 113 km in just a few seconds.

• Cheetahs are extremely fast however they tire quickly and can only keep up their top speed for a few minutes before they are too tired to continue.

• Cheetahs are smaller than other members of the big cat family, weighing only 45 – 60 kilograms.

• One way to always recognise a cheetah is by the long, black lines which run from the inside of each eye to the mouth. These are usually called “tear lines” and scientists believe they help protect the cheetah’s eyes from the harsh sun and help them to see long distances.

• Cheetahs are the only big cat that cannot roar. The can purr though and usually purr most loudly when they are grooming or sitting near other cheetahs.

• While lions and leopards usually do their hunting at night, cheetahs hunt for food during the day.

• A cheetah has amazing eyesight during the day and can spot prey from 5 km away.

• Cheetahs cannot climb trees and have poor night vision. 

• With their light body weight and blunt claws, cheetahs are not well designed to protect themselves or their prey. When a larger or more aggressive animal approaches a cheetah in the wild, it will give up its catch to avoid a fight.

• Cheetahs only need to drink once every three to four days.

Fun Frog Facts for Kids

Fun Frog Facts for Kids

Frogs are fascinating animals that feature unique behaviors and characteristics.

Keep reading for more interesting information and frog facts.

• A frog is an amphibian. They lay their eggs in water. The eggs hatch into a tadpole which lives in water until it metamorphoses into an adult frog.

• Tadpoles look more like fish than frogs, they have long finned tails and breathe through gills.

• An amphibian can live both on land and in water.

• Although frogs live on land their habitat must be near swamps, ponds or in a damp place. This is because they will die if their skin dries out.

• Instead of drinking water, frogs soak it into their body through their skin.

• Frogs breathe through their nostrils while also absorbing about half the air they need through their skin.

• Frogs use their sticky, muscular tongue to catch and swallow food. Unlike humans, their tongue is not attached to the back of its mouth. Instead it is attached to the front, enabling the frog to stick its tongue out much further.

• The common pond frog is ready to breed when it is only three years old.

• Frogs in the wild face many dangers and are lucky to survive several years. In captivity however, frogs can live for much longer.  

• Frogs can see forwards, sideways and upwards all at the same time. They never close their eyes, even when they sleep.

• Remarkably, frogs actually use their eyes to help them swallow food. When the frog blinks, its eyeballs are pushed downwards creating a bulge in the roof of its mouth. This bulge squeezes the food inside the frog's mouth down the back of its throat.

Fun Gorilla Facts for Kids

Fun Gorilla Facts for Kids

Gorillas are endangered species that are constantly under threat from disease and commercial hunting. Their importance is further enhanced by the fact that they are close relatives to humans, sharing around 98% of the same DNA. Learn more by reading our list of gorilla facts.

• There are only about 700 mountain gorillas and they live high in the mountains in two protected parks in Africa. Lowland gorillas live in central Africa.

• You may have seen baby gorillas being carried on the back of their mothers, but for the first few months after birth the mother holds the baby gorilla to her chest.

• An adult male gorilla is called a silverback because of the distinctive silvery fur growing on their back and hips. Each gorilla family has a silverback as leader who scares away other animals by standing on their back legs and beating their chest!

• Young male gorillas usually leave their family group when they are about 11 years old and have their own family group by the age of 15 years old. Young female gorillas join a new group at about 8 years old.

• Gorillas are herbivores. They spend most of their day foraging for food and eating bamboo, leafy plants and sometimes small insects. Adult gorillas can eat up to 30 kilograms of food each day.

• An adult gorilla is about 1 meter tall to their shoulders when walking on all fours using their arms and their legs.

• A gorilla can live for 40 – 50 years.

• Gorillas are considered to be very intelligent animals. They are known for their use of tools and their varied communication. Some gorillas in captivity at a zoo have been taught to use sign language.

• Gorillas are endangered animals. Their habitat is destroyed when people use the land for farming and the trees for fuel. Gorillas are also killed by poachers and sometimes get caught in poacher’s snares meant for other animals.

Fun Lion Facts for Kids

Fun Lion Facts for Kids

Enjoy these fun lion facts for kids. Learn about lion behavior, how fast they can run, where they are found, how many lions are usually in a pride, the male’s mane, lioness differences and more. Check out the wide range of interesting facts about lions.

• Lions are the second largest big cat species in the world (behind tigers).
  
• The average male lion weighs around 180 kg (400 lb) while the average female lion weighs around 130 kg (290 lb).
  
• The heaviest lion on record weighed an amazing 375 kg (826 lb).
  
• Lions can reach speeds of up to 81 kph (50 mph) but only in short bursts because of a lack of stamina.
  
• The roar of a lion can be heard from 8 kilometers (5.0 miles) away.
  
• Most lions found in the wild live in southern and eastern parts of Africa.
  
• Lions are very social compared to other cat species, often living in prides that feature females, offspring and a few adult males.
  
• Male lions are easy to recognize thanks to their distinctive manes. Males with darker manes are more likely to attract female lions (lionesses).
  
• Lions are the national animal of Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, England, Ethiopia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Singapore.
  
• Lions in the wild live for around 12 years.
  
• When lions breed with tigers the resulting hybrids are known as ligers and tigons. There are also lion and leopard hybrids known as leopons and lion and jaguar hybrids known as jaglions.
  
• Lionesses are better hunters than males and do most of the hunting for a pride.
  
• In the wild, lions rest for around 20 hours a day.
  

Fun Dolphin Facts for Kids

Fun Dolphin Facts for Kids

Check out these fun dolphin facts for kids. Learn about different types of dolphins, how they communicate with each other and much more.

Read on and enjoy these interesting facts about dolphins.

• Compared to other animals, dolphins are believed to be very intelligent.
  
• Dolphins are carnivores (meat eaters).
  
• The Killer Whale (also known as Orca) is actually a type of dolphin.
  
• Bottlenose dolphins are the most common and well known type of dolphin.
  
• Female dolphins are called cows, males are called bulls and young dolphins are called calves.
  
• Dolphins live in schools or pods of up to 12 individuals.
  
• Dolphins often display a playful attitude which makes them popular in human culture. They can be seen jumping out of the water, riding waves, play fighting and occasionally interacting with humans swimming in the water.
  
• Dolphins use a blowhole on top of their heads to breathe.
  
• Dolphins have excellent eyesight and hearing as well as the ability to use echolocation for finding the exact location of objects.
  
• Dolphins communicate with each other by clicking, whistling and other sounds.
  
• Some dolphin species face the threat of extinction, often directly as a result of human behavior. The Yangtze River Dolphin is an example of a dolphin species which may have recently become extinct.
  
• Some fishing methods, such as the use of nets, kill a large number of dolphins every year.
  

Fun Shark Facts for Kids

Fun Shark Facts for Kids

Although sharks have a reputation as destructive beasts that attack almost anything that enters their water habitat, the actual number of shark attacks is probably lower than you imagine.

There are many different types of sharks including the great white shark, hammerhead shark, bull shark, tiger shark and mako, they all offer varied and interesting information so read on and enjoy our cool shark facts.

• Sharks do not have a single bone in their bodies. Instead they have a skeleton made up of cartilage; the same type of tough, flexible tissue that makes up human ears and noses.

• Some sharks remain on the move for their entire lives. This forces water over their gills, delivering oxygen to the blood stream. If the shark stops moving then it will suffocate and die.

• Sharks have outstanding hearing. They can hear a fish thrashing in the water from as far as 500 metres away!

• If a shark was put into a large swimming pool, it would be able to smell a single drop of blood in the water.

• Although most species of shark are less than one metre long, there are some species such as the whale shark, which can be 14 metres long.

• A pup (baby shark) is born ready to take care of itself. The mother shark leaves the pup to fend for itself and the pup usually makes a fast get away before the mother tries to eat it!

• Not all species of shark give birth to live pups. Some species lay the egg case on the ocean floor and the pup hatches later on its own.

• Great whites are the deadliest shark in the ocean. These powerful predators can race through the water at 30 km per hour.

• Unlike other species of shark, the great white is warm-blooded. Although the great white does not keep a constant body temperature, it needs to eat a lot of meat in order to be able to regulate its temperature. 

• A shark always has a row of smaller teeth developing behind its front teeth. Eventually the smaller teeth move forward, like a conveyor belt, and the front teeth fall out.

Fun Tiger Facts for Kids

Fun Tiger Facts for Kids

Enjoy these fun tiger facts for kids. Learn about different types of tigers, how big they are, how fast they run, how they hunt and more.

Check out the wide range of interesting facts about tigers and their cubs.

• The tiger is the biggest species of the cat family.
  
• Tigers can reach a length of up to 3.3 metres (11 feet) and weigh as much as 300 kilograms (660 pounds).
  
• Subspecies of the tiger include the Sumatran Tiger, Siberian Tiger, Bengal Tiger, South China Tiger, Malayan Tiger and Indochinese Tiger.
  
• Many subspecies of the tiger are either endangered or already extinct. Humans are the primary cause of this through hunting and the destruction of habitats.
  
• Around half of tiger cubs don’t live beyond two years of age.
  
• Tiger cubs leave their mother when they are around 2 years of age.
  
• A group of tigers is known as an ‘ambush’ or ‘streak’.
  
• Tigers are good swimmers and can swim up to 6 kilometres.
  
• Rare white tigers carry a gene that is only present in around 1 in every 10000 tigers.
  
• Tigers usually hunt alone at night time.
  
• Tigers have been known to reach speeds up to 65 kph (40 mph).
  
• Less than 10% of hunts end successfully for tigers
  
• Tigers can easily jump over 5 metres in length.
  
• Various tiger subspecies are the national animals of Bangladesh, India, North Korea, South Korea and Malaysia.
  
• There are more tigers held privately as pets than there are in the wild.
  
• Tigers that breed with lions give birth to hybrids known as tigons and ligers.