Animal facts for kids

The tiger (baagh) is India’s national animal. About three out of every four wild tigers in the world live in India.

The peacock (mor) is India’s national bird. Only the male has the long, shining tail feathers. The female is called a peahen.

The elephant (haathi) is India’s national heritage animal.

The Ganges river dolphin is India’s national aquatic animal. It is almost blind and finds its way using sound echoes.

Asiatic lions live in the wild in only one place in the world: the Gir forest in Gujarat.

Kaziranga in Assam is home to about two-thirds of all the world’s one-horned rhinos.

Cheetahs came back to India in 2022, at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, 70 years after they had disappeared from the country.

The blue whale is the biggest animal that has ever lived, bigger than any dinosaur.

The cheetah is the fastest animal on land. It can run at about 100 km an hour, but only for a short dash.

The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal of all. When it dives for its food it can go faster than 300 km an hour.

The giraffe is the tallest animal. Its long neck has just 7 bones, the same number as ours!

The African elephant is the biggest animal on land.

An octopus has three hearts and blue blood.

An owl cannot move its eyes, so it turns its whole head instead, almost all the way round.

A camel (oont) stores fat in its hump, not water.

A cow’s stomach has four parts.

Honeybees tell each other where flowers are by doing a special “waggle dance”.

Hummingbirds can fly backwards.

A starfish has no brain, and many starfish can grow back a lost arm.

Penguins cannot fly, but they are brilliant swimmers.