Jet
25/09/23
Animal Habitats Around the World
Can you imagine a polar bear living in a desert? Or a giraffe living in the North Pole? The world is such an amazing place. It is full of completely different environments perfectly suited to the worlds animals, so they have a place to live that gives them everything they need.
A habitat is a place an animal lives. It provides the right food, water, shelter and room they need to roam. It should give them everything they need to survive. But with so many different creatures living around the world a lot of different habits are needed!
Lets find out about some of the main animal habitats there are around the world…
Tropical Rainforest Habitats
Tropical Rainforest habitats are the most amazing home to so many of the worlds animals. There are more animals living in rainforest habitats than any other in the world, in fact over half of all animals on Earth live in a rainforest! There are an incredible amount of insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals living in a rainforest habitat, so many more than I could mention! You can find many species of butterflies, spiders and beetles. There are lots of different snakes, lizards and frogs. Flying among the trees you’d find parrots, toucans and eagles. And as for mammals living in the rainforest there are lots of incredible creatures such as, monkeys, sloths, anteaters, jaguars, leopards and tigers. And so many more!
Tropical Rainforests can be found near the Equator, they are hot and humid environments where it rains, a lot. Not only are there an amazing amount of creatures living in rainforests, there is also an incredible amount of plants and trees too. There are so many trees in a rainforest they create a thick canopy a bit like an umbrella, so actually its quite a dark place down on the forest floor.
Grassland Habitats
Grassland habitats are large quite flat habitats covered in grass. They have some trees and plants but plenty of room around them for some bigger animals to roam around. They can also be called savannas, praries or other names but are the same thing.
In grassland habits you can find large creatures such as giraffes, elephants, rhinos, lions, cheetahs, buffalo and zebras. Living among them you would also find antelope, ostriches, monkeys, hyenas and lots of other creatures. Just like rainforests there are also lots of insects, reptiles, amphibians and birds living in a grassland habitat, but they are definitely dominated by these magnificent mammals.
Ocean Habitats
Ocean habitats are a mysterious place. They are so incredibly large and in so many ways an unknown world. Lots of creatures live in in the depths of the oceans, many we haven’t even discovered yet! The oceans, a bit like rainforests are divided into layers or zones. The Sunlight Zone, right near the surface couldn’t be a more different environment than the dark depths of the ocean near the sea floor, or even deeper in the deep sea trenches.
The oceans are home to the largest mammal on Earth, the Blue Whale and lots of other amazing (and terrifying!) creatures such as, dolphins, whales and sharks. They are also home to very strange and unusual creatures, for example sea stars, seahorses, jellyfish and squid. And obviously lots and lots of fish.
Polar Habitats
Polar habitats are extreme environments and the coldest habitats on Earth and therefore not all that suitable for many creatures. Polar habitats are found on the top and bottom of the planet, on the North and South Poles, the furthest points away from the equator. These habitats only have two seasons, summer and winter. It doesn’t get warm in the summer but polar habitats get 24 hours of sunlight during those months. In winter its dark all the time, can you even imagine that!
Some creatures are able to survive in these conditions. In the Arctic in the North Pole you’d find creatures such as polar bears, reindeer, moose, seals and whales. In the Antarctic in the south pole you wouldn’t find creatures that live on the land but there still are creatures like penguins, seals and whales living there.
Desert Habitats
Desert habitats are only suitable to animals adapted to really harsh conditions. A desert is a place that doesn’t get very much rain at all and are very dry habitats. They can actually be hot or cold habitats (polar habitats are actually a type of desert!) Even hot deserts can become incredibly cold at night.
Animals and plants that are found in a desert habitat need to be able to survive on very little water. In hot deserts many animals live underground during the day to stay cooler, only coming out at night. Deserts do have some plants and tress growing, a common type of plant is a cactus which has a special way of storing water to survive. Animals that can be found living in a desert habitat include camels, meerkats and coyotes. There is also lots of different types of reptiles and insects living there too.
There are so many more different types of animal habitats around the world, many more than I could show you in one blog post! Can you think of other habitats that are home to all sorts of different creatures on Earth?
All photos and illustrations in this blog post are Whizzbots, Shutterstock and Public Domain Images.
Other images on the site may be Creative Commons Images, which are credited appropriately.