The dog maybe man’s best friend, but it was horse that built civilization!
Without horses the human history would have been quite different. Almost in every event in history horses were together with people. Almost everywhere alongside with the foot- prints of people you’ll find hoof-prints of the horse.
Scientists believe that the horse first appeared in North America. It was a fox-sized animal only about a foot high at the shoulder. But it kept changing and growing and about a million years ago, pony-sized horses galloped across ancient plains around the world.
About 50,000 years ago man established a relationship with the horse. At first people hunted horses, which wasn’t very easy, then they learned to herd these animals. The horse was becoming a worker — a source of help to man — not just a meal on the hoof. It took people many years to learn how to ride. They had nobody around to teach them, besides they had to invent reins and saddles.
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Pandas look so nice and lovely, rather like huge soft furry toys. In any zoo they are always the center of attention. The Chinese name of this animal means “bear-cat”.
Pandas are white with black ears, black eye patches, black legs and a black stripe between their shoulders. And their coloring is the most striking thing. The scientists don’t know why they have such bold white and black markings. Other animals hide from the enemies thank to their coloring. But pandas have no enemies to hide from! The most popular explanation is that their coloring helps to find each other during mating season, because most of their time they spend wandering alone.
Pandas can weigh up to 115 kilograms and they are excellent swimmers.
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Everyone knows cute polar bears. They are popular characters of many tales and cartoons.
Polar bears spend their lives on sea ice. These animals are very strong. They can swim 100 miles at a stretch. Their paws are used as flippers when swimming.
They are excellent hunters. They hunt seals and use their paws as clubs when hunting. In summer a bear may hunt by swimming under the ice.
In spring males compete for females. Their battles are violent. They stand nose-to-nose with open mouths. Then they start beating each other with the paws. Finally one of them retreats. The strongest bear gains the victory.
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Airedale
This terrier with its rough, wiry coat, originated about 100 years ago in the Valley of Aire in England. Airedales are used to hunt large game in the United States, Canada, Africa, and India. This breed was one of the first to be used for police work.
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Tuatara is the closest living relative to the dinosaurs of the past. Dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago, but tuataras didn’t. Scientists think that they survived because of their small size. Tuataras have a third eye on the top of their heads. They don’t actually see with it but use it as a light sensor.

Dinosaurs roared for about 150 million years before they disappeared. We humans have only been around for about 2 million years. But cockroaches are 350 million years old and still going strong! Cockroaches can survive in extreme conditions. They can be frozen, then thawed, and walk away as if nothing had happened. They can go for incredibly long time without eating anything. And that is the secret of their success. When there’s nothing to eat at all, they’ll turn on each other and dine on their friends. They can even recover after being frozen!
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Gorillas are the largest and most powerful of all primates. They live in the forests of Central Africa. Gorillas live in small family groups of several females and their young, led by a dominant silverback male. At night the family group sleeps in trees, resting on platform nests that they make from branches. The animals are nomadic so they build a new nest every day. The male reaches a height of about 1.8 meters and can weigh 220 kilograms, females are smaller – a maximum of 1.5 meters in height and weigh up to 98 kilograms. Gorillas live from 35 to 50 years. Female gorillas produce one infant after a gestation period of nine months.
These powerful primates are intelligent, peaceful and shy, and of little danger to humans. They have no real predators, although leopards will occasionally take young apes. Their worst enemy is a human. Hunters kill them for meat. Poachers catch baby animals for zoos. Their forests are cut down for farmland.
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The word “dinosaur” is derived from two Greek words, meaning “terrible lizard.” The dinosaurs arose during the interval of geologic time known as the Mesozoic (middle life) era, often called the “golden age of reptiles” or “the age of dinosaurs.”
Species of dinosaurs ranged from chicken-sized creatures to colossal, herbivorous animals known as “sauropods”.
Dinosaurs were remarkable and impressive animals. Some species of dinosaurs were large predators, others were immense herbivores, and still others were smaller predators, herbivores, or scavengers. Most, if not all, dinosaurs laid eggs. Some dinosaurs built large nests to keep their babies together. Large dinosaurs might have lived almost 100 years.
Dinosaurs lived for about 160 million years and were the dominant terrestrial animals on Earth throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods—a span of over 100 million years. The dinosaurs were the ancient cousins of today’s crocodiles, snakes, and lizards.
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