#862: Yeti

The Yeti is a large semi-bipedal bear, occasionally seen in the Himalayas. He is a creature of myth and legend, often mistaken for an ape. Yeti are extremely shy, and when danger threatens will run and hide, even burying themselves in snow. His white pelt offers ideal camouflage against his snow-covered environment. His main diet consists of Himalayan ungulates, such as tahr, markhor and takin. To hunt, he uses ambush tactics, relying on his camouflage to disguise him against the snow until the prey comes close enough to seize.

#656: Ringtail

The Ringtail is a small relative to the racoon. He makes his home in the deserts and dry areas of the south-western US and is the state mammal of Arizona.

#655: Ribbon Seal

If you are wondering why the alphabet is a bit out of order here - I was initially intending to draw a Ringed Seal today. However, when I googled for images, I stumbled upon this species, and her striking colouration (plus the fact she starts with R too), persuaded me to illustrate her instead.

The Ribbon Seal is a strikingly-coloured pinniped. She can  be found in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic regions, rarely coming to land but spending her life either on ice or in the water.  She will dive to depths of 200m to catch food in the form of fish, cephalapods and crustaceans.  In April, she comes up onto the pack ice to give birth and mate again. Pups are born pure white and are sometimes mistaken for harp seals. She remains with her pup for his first month, then returns to the sea, abandoning him. Over the next few weeks he loses his dense white fur, moults into his adult coat and loses a dramatic amount of weight, before heading out to sea himself.

#647: Red Panda

The Red Panda is not related to the Giant Panda. He is actually more closely related to the Racoons. The reason the two were once considered related is because they both bear a pseudo-thumb, used for better grasping bamboo.

More information to come tomorrow.

#635: Raccoon

The Raccoon is a carnivore of the Procyonide family, found in North America, with two related species occuring in South America. She is characterised by her facial mask and dextrous front paws, which are adept at manipulating objects. Although generally a solitary creature, she will share her territory with other females and gather together occasionally to feed or rest. Males also form loose social groups, especially around breeding season, to help defend their territory from intruders. Originally found in deciduous woodland, Raccoons are very adaptable and have colonised urban areas - including attics. Their diet is equally adaptable and she is known to raid rubbish bins and even slip through cat doors, as well as feeding on invertebrates, plant matter and small vertebrates.

#615. Puma

The Puma, also known as the cougar, is a large feline, found in America. His range extends from Yukon, Canadian to the southern Andes. Highly adaptable and generalistic, he can be found in almost every habitat across his range. Like all cats, he is an obligate carnivore and will feed on everything from insects up to large ungulates, favouring deer and sheep. Solitary and secretive, he comes in contact with the female only long enough to mate and plays no role in raising the cubs.

#599: Polar Bear

The Polar Bear is specially adapted for her Arctic home. Her diet is almost entirely carnivorous, with seals featuring high on the menu, although she will also take animals as large as a musk ox or as small as eggs and rodents. She is largely solitary and nomadic, not holding a territory but seeking food where she can find it. Although a large bear, she is classified as a marine mammal because of her reliance on the sea for her survival and spends many months roaming on the frozen ice shelves, occasionally diving into the ocean in pursuit of prey. When the ice begins to melt she is forced back onto solid land. Polar Bears are Vulnerable due to climate change, with the melting of the polar ice forcing them off the ice before they have developed sufficient fat reserves for the leaner months (which for them is summer) and increasing the distances of which they have to swim. It is also forcing them into closer contact with humans, as they scavenge for sustenance.

Creature Feature #565: Panda

The Giant Panda is a member of the Bear Family and instantly recognisable to most of us. She is a sluggish animal, her diet consisting almost exclusively of bamboo - which is low energy and difficult to digest. Therefore, Panda are not noted for being particularly active and they will even avoid venturing up slopes in an effort to conserve energy. They are likewise fairly lacklustre with their breeding, showing little inclination to mate in captivity and artificial insemination was widely used. Cubs are born very small and defenceless. If twins are born in the wild, the mother selects the strongest to raise, allowing the weaker one to die. She does not store enough body fat and nutrients to successfully raise both offspring.

The Panda is classified as Endangered and has become the "poster boy" for the World Wildlife Fund and is treasured in China, her homeland. Unfortunately, despite expensive conservation programs, which have ensured that many captive Panda survive into adulthood, there is not a lot of remaining habitat for them.

Creature Feature #550: Otter

There are thirteen species of Otter, aquatic members of the mustelid Family. They range in size from the Giant Otter, at almost two metres in length, to the diminutive Small-clawed Otter, at 60cm. The other large species, which I have not yet drawn, is the marine Sea Otter.

The Giant Otter (above) is the "wolf of the river", living in social groups consisting of a dominant breeding pair and their offspring - from various years. Older, grown youngsters help raise the new pups. Voracious diurnal fishers, they consume everything from crabs and other invertebrates, catfish and characin, and will even devour small caiman. Growing to almost 2 metres in length, Giant Otters are considered an apex predator of their environment, although youngsters are still vulnerable to predation from jaguars.

The European Otter (below) leads a more solitary lifestyle. He hunts at night, spending the day sleeping in his burrow (known as a "holt"). His territory often encompasses that of a female, but after mating he has nothing to do with raising the pups. Fish form the majority of his diet through the summer and spring months, but during winter he relies more on insects, crustaceans, amphibians and even birds or small aquatic rodents.

Creature Feature #533: Olingo

The Olingo are found in Central and South America and bear a striking resemblance to their cousin, the kinkajou. There are four species, including the newly discovered Olinguito. She is arboreal, roaming the canopy at night in search of her favourite food: figs. Her diet consists almost exclusively of fruit, but during the dry season - when fruit becomes  scarce - she drinks nectar and will ocasionally hunt small mammals. She can be distringuished from the kinkajou by her tail, which is not prehensile but used for balance.

The Olinguito is remarkedly similar - which is why she evaded identification until recent years (finally being identified as a distinct species in 2013). One female even lived for a year in Washington's National Zoo, where she showed no interest what-so-ever in breeding with her Olingo cage-mates. She is smaller in size with thicker fur, smaller ears and a shorter tail.

Like their relatives, the kinkajou and the racoon, Olingo are taxonomically classified as Carnivora but follow a largely vegetarian diet.

Creature Feature #473: Mongoose

The Mongoose are a Family of Carnivores that includes the meerkat and the four kusimanse species. They are found naturally in Asia, Africa and southern Europe and have been introduced to Puerto Rico, and parts of Hawaii and the Caribbean. Here they have become an invasive pest due to their diet of anything terrestrial: invertebrates, crustaceans, small mammals, birds. Despite their similar appearance, they are not closely related to the mustelid family (mink, ferret, polecat etc) but are actually more closely related to the felines. Mongoose are immune to neurotoxin snake venom; the Indian Gray Mongoose is famed for his ability to kill cobra, although this is not a regular behaviour.

This is a Yellow Mongoose.

The Malagasy "mongoose" species are not actually mongooses at all, but are their own Family. They will be dealt with indivually (or at least the ringtailed mongoose will be).

Creature Feature #465: Mink

There are two extant species of Mink, a semi-aquatic mustelid. The third, the Sea Mink, was the largest. He was hunted to extinction to fulfil the demand of the fur-trade, around 1870. Of the two living species, the European Mink is Critically Endangered, in part due to the establishment of the other species, the American Mink in Europe (due to escapees or releasees from fur farms). Minks are sleek, alert carnivores characterised by their thick, soft pelt and webbed toes.

Creature Feature #460: Meerkat

The charming Meerkat is a member of the Mongoose Family. She can be found in the deserts of southern Africa where she lives in a large group known as a clan, mob or gang.  The clan lives in a network of tunnels, with multiple entrances. During the day they forage for insects and small vertebrate prey. At all times, one or two of the Meerkat will stand on sentry duty, keeping a watchful eye out for predators. If one is sighted, she will alert her clan with a warning bark or whistle. Females will babysit, even nurse, youngsters that are not their own and non-breeding females may begin lactating to feed the more dominant pair's young.

Creature Feature #424: Linsang

There are four species of Linsang, agile carnivores found in both African and Asia. Once the four species were considered to be closely related, but now studies have shown that the African species are more closely related to genets and the Asian species to felines. This sleek specimen is a Banded Linsang, of the Asian lineage. She is solitary and nocturnal, leading a largely arboreal existence. Her tail is nearly as long as her head and body combined, this is used for balance as she stalks through the branches in pursuit of rodents, small birds and reptilian prey. Very little appears known about her behaviour.