Curated playlist
Mammals of Europe
- Red deerA red deer stag's antlers can grow up to 2.5 cm a day. Each spring they regrow inside soft skin called velvet.
- MooseA bull moose regrows its antlers from nothing in three to five months.
- European badgerThe European badger has a jaw strong enough to amputate a human hand. Its heavy skull also makes it hard to hurt.
- WolfWolves have been driven from the British Isles entirely. Their range is now about one-third of its historic size.
- Brown bearThe brown bear can run down a moose, yet 90% of its food comes from plants. Adults can weigh up to 600 kg.
- Beluga whaleIn 1849, railroad crews laying the first line between Rutland and Burlington in Vermont dug up the bones of a beluga whale in the town of Charlotte. The workers did not know that, of course. They only knew that nearly ten feet below the…
- Wild boarIn 1749, in Hachinohe, Japan, 3,000 people died in what became known as the wild boar famine. The animal behind that name is the wild boar, Sus scrofa, also called the wild swine or the Eurasian wild pig. Its native range covers much of…
- ReindeerA walking reindeer clicks, and the sound can be heard from several hundred metres away. The noise comes from small tendons in the legs slipping over bony knobs called sesamoid bones. It happens as the full weight of a foot lands, or just…
- WalrusAt the Tierpark Hagenbeck, walruses easily pulled a five-pound metal plug out of the bottom of their pool, even though it sat under 1.1 metres of water. The animal behind that feat is the walrus, Odobenus rosmarus, a large marine mammal…
- European hareSpring boxing among European hares is mostly females hitting males. Does punch bucks to say they are not ready to mate.
- RaccoonThe raccoon, Procyon lotor, has been known to live more than 20 years in captivity. In the wild, its life expectancy is only 1.8 to 3.1 years. That gap is strange for a mammal native to North America that is famous for adapting to almost…
- WolverineThe wolverine known as M-56 began his famous journey as a young male, tagged by Wildlife Conservation Society officials in Wyoming near Grand Teton National Park. Researchers tracked him south for almost three months. In June 2009 the…