Animals

The Cicada: Master Of Time And Numbers

Equations, maths, and continuous calculations are not universally loved. Generally speaking, our lives do not depend on knowing statistical analysis and arithmetic. However, for one creature locked in an eternal bluffing game with predators, mathematics is vital. Welcome to the esoteric world of the Cicada, the Chess Grand Master of insects.

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The Cow: More Than Just A Producer Of Milk

Mammals

What is your experience of cows? If you have not encountered one, what image is formed in your imagination? Do they conjure up the likeness of docility? Do you think of great big lumbering creatures raking grass with their highly dexterous tongues? Or perhaps when you look at a cow and it stares right back at

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The Bat: A Fascinating But Misunderstood Creature

Mammals

A fleeting movement cleanly cuts through the air. A nearby leaf temporarily oscillates in the momentum before returning to its more accustomed, stationary position. The pattern reiterates itself and a swiftly passing shadow can be glimpsed by the keen-sighted. Rapid, roaming and precise, it closes in on its target. A sonic volley of pulsing chirps morph into

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The Albatross Bird: The True Majestic King Of The Skies

Birds

Albatross Bird A large shadow casts its moving mark along the ground. Silently soaring in the heavens, a great expanse of white feather glides across the horizon. It seems to be in defiance. Stark, raw and untroubled, it appears to disregard the laws of physics as it steadfastly refuses to flap its wings. Instead they lay

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The Chimpanzee: A Creature That We Continually Underestimate

Mammals

Two big searching eyes confront an interested viewer from the other side of a half-reflective glass. A black hand slowly raises itself to greet the onlooker. In this union resides a strange meeting of not too dissimilar minds. It is a scene that is repeated across the world in zoos and wildlife parks. An eerie feeling of

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Dolphin: Our Love Affair With Our Favourite Cetacean

Mammals

Dolphin A tremour ripples through the dark blue water. An onlooker fixes her gaze in wild wonderment as child-like emotions transfix her eyes to a tiny point on the water. A dorsal fin protrudes, breaching the blue skin. The onlooker’s feelings change from fascination to dread. These feelings once more morph becoming joyous upon the

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Bees: Collectors Of Honey And Providers Of And For Life

Insects

It is a beautiful warm sunny day and you are sitting on a park bench. The sky is blue, there are multi-coloured flowers gently swaying in the balmy breeze. The birds are singing sweetly in the trees, and all around, people are relaxing in the sun. Suddenly, you hear a scream, you look over where

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The Ant: Incredible Intelligence In Such A Tiny Creature

Insects

Unnoticed and unwatched, a small tiny creature slowly and steadily makes it way through an invisible road. However, it is not alone, it is joined by hundreds of similar creatures all busily making their way on some impenetrable and unknowable journey to an unimaginable world. The world of the ant.