Our porcupines live alongside our meerkats and their diet is predominantly a wide variety of vegetables. Porcupines are monogamous animals and live in extended family groups consisting of an adult male and female and their offspring.

The Blue and Yellow Macaw is often considered to be one of the most trainable birds of these parrots with the perceived intelligence equivalent of a 3 year old child.

In the wild, these mongoose would be found in Sub-Saharan Africa in savannah and woodland areas. Their diet consists of fruit, invertebrates, small reptiles and sometimes eggs. Although relatively small animals, they have very sharp teeth and so are well-equipped predators.

The tapir is related to the horse and rhinoceros. Today’s tapirs closely resemble those found roaming the Earth 35 million years ago. The Brazilian or Lowland Tapir is nearly always found close to water and is an excellent swimmer. It is fast and sure-footed on land too, even on the roughest terrain.

The Royal Palm is a breed of domestic turkey. This breed of Turkey is not found in the wild, rather bred in captivity. It is not primarily selected for meat production, and is usually kept as an ornamental bird with a unique appearance, largely white with bands of metallic black. These turkeys are active, excellent foragers, and good flyers.

As its name suggests, the Scarlet Ibis is completely red – apart from its black wing tips. With long legs and a slender neck, they grow to 75cm (30in) high and have a wingspan of 30cm (1ft).

African Sacred Ibis are wading birds that are black and white in colour. Their long legs allow them to wade through the water without getting their feathers wet. They also allow them to jump and take off quickly should they spot a predator. They have a long beak which curves downwards which also allows them to retrieve their food in amongst mud and shallow water.

The iconic symbol of Australia, the kangaroo is the largest marsupial mammal.

The Orange-winged Amazon Parrot has no protective status at the moment, but it is now treated as a pest by farmers.

All domesticated ducks are believed to be a descendent of the Mallard Duck. The Mallard is a native species to most countries in the Northern Hemisphere.

The migration of a Demoiselle Crane is so long and hard that many die from hunger or tiredness.

Small in size compared to the Scarlet Macaw, the Yellow Collared Macaw is just 38cm (15in) in length – half of which is its tail.

With its bright feathers and a long pointed tail, the Scarlet Macaw is one of the most recognisable parrots in the world. It’s also one of the most long lived – reaching up to 75 years of age.

Like ostriches and emus, the rhea is flightless and uses its long powerful legs to escape from predators. Living in flocks of 30 or more, rheas roam the vast pampas grasslands in search of grass seed, roots and fruits. However, they are also known to boost their diets with protein rich meals such as fledgling birds, insects and small reptiles.

Scimitar-horned Oryx were once widespread throughout the semi-desert north and south of the Sahara, but are now extinct in the wild.

The Western Grey is one of the largest and most common species of Kangaroo and is suited to life in the outback of Australia by not needing much water.

Capybaras are semi-aquatic, spending a lot of their time in the water. They are very well adapted to this lifestyle with their eyes, ears and nostrils being on the top of their large heads, allowing them see and breathe while swimming.

In 1974 numbers of Vicugnas had dropped to just 6,000 animals. Now they number around 125,000 due to conservation measures and government protection.

Work assessing wildlife populations and forest health in Tanzania continued this month despite the elements. Flamingo Land’s field assistants have had to wade to work to complete the important conservation activities that are helping to save a threatened tropical forest.

Flamingo Land’s Dr. Andrew Marshall first discovered the animal while surveying monkeys in the Magombera Forest for the University of York Environment Department. The specimen used to describe the new species was first spotted being eaten by a deadly twig snake, which spat out the hapless chameleon as the researcher approached!