Enormous Elephants

Did you know that the elephant is the largest land animal on earth? Elephants are not always called elephants. Girl elephants are called cows, men elephants are called bulls and baby elephants are called calves.

Elephants' skin is at least an inch thick, which is really thick for skin. Elephants' tusks are made of ivory, so a lot of people want their tusks. People who collect elephant tusks don't often kill them. Some elephants sleep standing up and some roll on their sides.

Elephants are located in these places around the world, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Burma, Thailand and India. Asian elephants are sometimes called Indian elephants. You can also find elephants in a zoo.

Elephants sometimes get captured. When they get captured it's not to hurt them, it's to tame them. Elephants get tamed to work in a circus or to help people. Did you know that an elephant is really light footed? When they are roaming in the wild you can hardly hear them except when they get frightened, then they're as loud as a bulldozer. Elephants are harmless to other animals.

Big Cats by Will

These magnificent cats are mammals, which means that the females produce milk to feed their young. Big cats belong to a huge cat family ranging from Tigers to an Ocelot and through to the small Pampas cat.

All big cats have reasonable sized whiskers. The cheetah has extremely long whiskers to help it navigate high up in a tree. A tail of a snow leopard can grow up to 90cm long which is huge for its size. Clouded leopards get their name from the unique cloud pattern all over their bodies. Different animals have different patterns all over their bodies such as the tiger. Tigers have stripes on various places on their bodies. Cheetahs have the same markings as leopards,panthers and jaguars. They have spots as their unique marking. All cats have beautiful almond eyes. Their pupils are narrow during the day and expands at night.

These interesting animals live in rain forests, grassland, forests (Broad Leaf), mountains and tundra. These habitats are in Canada, United States, Central America, South America, Africa, India, Siberia, Southeast Asia, and Asia.

All Big Cats are fast runners, they can all reach speeds of 50kph. A jaguar has the most powerful jaws and teeth of all the cats. A cat's tail distinctively shows what mood it is in. It will be lashed around when it is angry, or raised high when greeting or exploring new places.

Snakes By Billy

Snakes are carnivorous reptiles. They are predators which means they prey on other animals. These rough creatures are ectothermic which means their body temperature is the same as their environment. If the temperature is too cold then the snake dies.


These elegant, legless animals have scaly skin. Some snakes have a gland in their head which produces venom. Once the fangs are stabbed into their prey the poison is injected into the animal's body. The snake with the longest fangs is the Gabon Viper,
which has fangs up to 12cm. They can grow up to 12 metres long. Snakes have over 500 backbones. We have 206 bones in our whole body! Some snakes have red and yellow scales, this is a warning the snake is poisonous. Most snakes have dull skin colours like black, grey and brown. Rattlesnakes have a rattle on the end of their tail, which makes a sound, warning their predators to stay away.
Sea snakes have flattened tails to help them paddle through the sea. Blind snakes do not have eyes at all, so they rely on their other senses to find their way around.
Snakes blend in well with different things depending on the snakes scale colour.
A snake's nostrils are far apart from each other. Snakes have an avocado shaped head.


Many islands including Iceland, Ireland and New Zealand do not have any snakes at all. These reptiles do not live near the North and South Poles because it is far too cold for them to live there. Most sea snakes live in the Indian ocean.


Snakes prey on deer, crocodiles and even people. Big snakes like boas and pythons constrict and squeeze their prey to death. Once the food is dead the snake starts to uncoil slightly, then begins to swallow the prey head first in one whole gulp.
Some snakes glide up to 100m from tree to tree.

By Billy A2

Stick Insects By Jean

Stick insects are nocturnal creatures.

Each foot on a stick insect has a little sucker and two sharp claws, allowing them to walk on walls vertically and even upside down. Stick insects are camouflaged, so their predators won't be able to see them when looking for them. Their colours are grey, light brown and green.

Stick insects are mostly found in New Zealand. Stick insects' natural habitats are trees and leaves.

There are over 2,500 different types of stick insects in the world. Their predators are birds and lizards. The longest Stick insect in the world is 400mm long. Stick insects lays eggs out of their mouths. They are really cautious when a predator is coming to eat them. Most Stick insects are females. Female stick insects don't need to mate with male stick insects to have babies. They can have babies by themselves.

Stick Insects By Tamati

The stick insect is a camouflaged creature and like every other insect has predators so they stay very still during the day. Stick insects are also nocturnal creatures just like the kiwi.

The stick insect has six legs and they have suckers on the end of their legs, two antennae,two eyes and a really long body.

Stick insects are found all the way across the world but most come from the far east. In New Zealand we sometimes find them in our houses,in the bush or on trees.

Most stick insects are females and they don't need a male to mate to have babies. Stick insects have their babies out of their mouths. Stick insects lie very still
on nice juicy leaves. They put their two front legs forward by their heads while their other four legs are planted firmly on the branch.

Komodo Dragons By Zainey

Komodo dragons are carnivorous, which means they only eat meat. These beasts are Indonesian Lizards. They're known to be the top predator on the small islands that they're found on.


Komodo dragons have thick skin which is good because they're often found fighting over a female or prey. These strange reptiles can grow up to 10 feet and 3 metres
long. Some can grow longer than a mini car. Komodo Dragons have really sharp claws and teeth to grip into their prey. These fast animals can weigh over 100 to 125 kg. These active eaters have poisonous saliva which makes them dribble while they move. Komodo dragons have tongues and skin like a snake, but the komodo dragons' skin is thicker.

These amazing predators are found on a small island in Indonesia. They're also found in very hot weather countries like Australia. Komodo dragons live in small caves that they dig by themselves.

Breeding season for the Komodo dragon is June and July. Komodo dragons can live up to 30 or even 50 years. This reptile's meal is made up of mammals, fish, birds, and insects. The Komodo dragon's scientific name is Varanus Komodoensis. A female can lay up to 20 to 28 eggs. Komodo dragons are related to the family of monitor lizards such as the water monitor and the small lizards that are found in Australia.

Stick insects by Levi

Stick insects are nocturnal creatures. There are over 2,500 different types of stick insects in the world.


They have six legs, four at the back and two in the front. They also have suckers on the ends of their feet to hold on to branches. They come in many colours like brown, green and white. They are also skinny, thin, long and stick like. Stick insects can grow up to 400mm long.


These insects are found in lots of places like homes, plants, leaves, twigs and trees. One of the longest stick insects can be found in Sarawak. They are very hard to find because they camouflage themselves and blend into bushes.


Stick insects do not need a male to mate with. Female stick insects lay their eggs through their mouths. Most stick insects are female.

Possums Are Pests By Jean.

Possums are nocturnal, which means this particular critter is a night seeker that only comes out at night scouting for food. These furry pests are marsupials. This means they have pouches to carry their young, like kangaroos. Possums are warm blooded pests, which means they are also mammals.

These pests have red eyes during the day, but at night they have eyes of flame scampering through the dark seeking their prey. Possums have big bushy tails and large ears.

Possums are found in our native forest. They are mostly found in the North Island, rather than the South Island. Possum live in little burrows and up in trees.

Possums are tree exterminators which means they destroy our forest life and birds' homes. They also carry diseases to cows by infecting their drink holes. These creatures are tree dwellers and should be eradicated from New Zealand.

Possum Report by Hannah.

Did you know that possums are nocturnal animals? This means they sleep during the day and hunt for food at night. Also these fluffy critters are marsupials so when their young ones are born, the baby gets towed around in a pouch to protect them from any danger. If they have to evacuate the nest, the adults can move the cub easily.

These fluffy mammals have bright fluro orange eyes by day and fiery red eyes at night. All of these furry creatures have big long bushy tails, so when they are climbing HUGE tall trees and they feel unbalanced they can regrip and move on.

Now when ever you stay up late at night and see the vegetable killers, they are usually roaming around gardens to gather food for the family or climbing trees to play around. But finding them in the light is a whole different story. You see, because they sleep during the day, this means they hide away and come out at night. But really the only way to be able to see them during the day is if they are ROAD KILL!!

But do you know what these balls of fluff really do? Well it is quite easy to explain. During the night, Possums wake up as soon as the sky goes black and if they are near cattle they might carry diseases to them, but f they are near a forest they might eat eggs and exterminate some of the native birds.

In conclusion I don’t think these pests should be in New Zealand. I say take them back to the country they came from. There is no use whatsoever for them to be here.

By Hannah A2.