Asiatic wild asses, also cal­led Kulans, are an end­an­ge­red spe­cies. Through con­ser­va­tion efforts, their stock with about 2000 ani­mals are now con­s­i­de­red secure. Kulans live in cold step­pes and semi-deserts in Turk­me­nis­tan and Kaz­akhs­tan. They reach a shoul­der height of 0.97 to 1.38 meters. Kulans are her­bi­vo­res but can also live for months on dry grass and woody plants.

Lions are the second lar­gest cats in the world, next to tigers. Unlike other cats, they are very social ani­mals and live in groups cal­led “Pri­des”. In the past, lions were spread all over Africa, except for rain­fo­rests and the Sahara. Before and during the Ice Ages, they also inha­bi­ted all of Europe and large parts of Asia. Today there is a group in the Gir Natio­nal Park in Guja­rat (India) and still some popu­la­ti­ons south of the Sahara. In the Afri­can natio­nal parks, the lions are under com­p­lete pro­tec­tion. Thus, this spe­cies is con­s­i­de­red vul­ne­ra­ble.

Lion-tai­led macaques, also known as Bear­ded mon­keys, live in the rain­fo­rests of sou­thwes­tern India and in groups of 10 to 20 ani­mals in which a strict ran­king is for­med. They live ter­ri­to­rially and defend their ter­ritory. Bear­ded mon­keys are very skil­led. They can even open the prickly fruits of the Cul­le­nia exa­ril­lata tree. Even tool use, like insects fis­hing with a stick out of a hole, has already been obser­ved. They are curr­ently clas­si­fied as end­an­ge­red!

Low­land tapirs are light brown to bla­ckish brown. They only have a very thin stubby coat, which is why they can easily get sun­bur­ned. If the sun is shi­ning in Seren­geti Park, then the Low­land tapirs even get a pro­tec­tive sun­sc­reen from the ani­mal kee­pers to keep them com­for­ta­ble. Tapirs can weigh up to 250 kilo­grams and are 2.5 meters long. They are clas­si­fied as a vul­ne­ra­ble spe­cies on the Red List of end­an­ge­red spe­cies of the World Con­ser­va­tion Union IUCN.

Man­drills inha­bit the rain­fo­rests of Cen­tral Africa. They are clas­si­fied as a vul­ne­ra­ble spe­cies! These ani­mals usually live on the ground and only occa­sio­nally climb trees. They live in small family asso­cia­ti­ons. The males are usually aloof but always alert and pro­tect their family mem­bers as an enemy approa­ches. Man­drills have a striking, blue-red face dra­wing. The alpha male has the most pro­noun­ced color. This color indi­ca­tes the rank, and addi­tio­nally helps with threa­te­ning and impo­sing beha­vior.

Meer­kats belong to the family of mon­goo­ses, Her­pes­ti­dae. Like all mem­bers of this diur­nal group, they are car­ni­vo­res. Their food con­sists of almost 90% insects, but they can also cap­ture lizards, frogs, birds, scor­pi­ons and eggs. Meer­kats inha­bit the sav­an­nas and semi-deserts of sou­thern Africa, such as the Kala­hari Desert in Bots­wana and the Namib Desert in Nami­bia. They dig under­ground tun­nel sys­tems that can reach up to 3 meters into the ground. Up to 30 indi­vi­duals can live in a “clan”, but some super-fami­lies usually con­ta­ins about 50 or more mem­bers.

The Mus­covy duck, also known as the Musk duck, is a domesti­ca­ted form of the wild Mus­covy duck. They are native to Mexico, Cen­tral and South Ame­rica and were pre­viously bred by the indi­ge­nous peo­p­les. At the begin­ning of the 16th cen­tury, they were estab­lis­hed in Europe. The male (drake) has a low brea­thy call, while the fema­les (hens) have a quiet tril­ling coo.

The Nandu, also known as the Grea­ter Rhea, Com­mon Rhea or Les­ser Rhea, can be found in Nor­theas­tern Bra­zil to cen­tral Argen­tina. Nan­dus are, like ostri­ches and emus, good run­ners. Unlike ostri­ches, Nan­dus’ feet have three toes and they can tra­vel 1.5 meters in one step and reach speeds of up to 60 km / h. By hol­ding out a wing, they can quickly change their direc­tion at full speed. Nan­dus have redu­ced wing span and are unable to fly.

The Nile Lechwe or white-necked moor ante­lope is an Afri­can ante­lope from the genus Water­buck. They are also cal­led Mrs. Gray’s Water­buck. This was the name of the wife of the zoo­lo­gist, who descri­bed this ante­lope spe­cies for the first time. The Nile Lechwe is a strong marsh ante­lope with a long coat. If you com­pare them with other spe­cies, this ante­lope spe­cies has a short face, while the hoo­ves are excep­tio­nally long. They are con­s­i­de­red end­an­ge­red with popu­la­tion dec­rea­sing.

Surely you are won­de­ring where this ante­lope got its name from? The name “Nil­gai” is com­po­sed of an Indian and an Eng­lish word: “nil” means “blue” and “gai” comes from the Eng­lish “cow”. The Eng­lish name “blue bull” allu­des to the steel blue color of full-grown bulls. The Nil­gai ante­lope is an Indian ante­lope spe­cies.