If you’re fascinated by wild animals and would love to learn about unique, exotic animals which you may never have heard of before, you’ve come to the right place. Simply continue reading to discover a list of rare exotic animals.
A list of exotic animals in the world:
1. Agouti
Agouti are small rodents which are native to South America and which choose to live in monogamous pairs.
2. Raccoon dogs
Racoon dogs are usually white or cream in color and look as if they are a hybrid between a raccoon and a dog, hence their name. Racoon dogs are native to Asia and popular pets in Europe, although owning a raccoon dog in the US is forbidden.
3. Hyrax
The Hyrax is one of the strangest looking animals in the world and are related to manatees and elephants although they look like a breed of rodent. However, just like elephants hyrax boast tusks. Although while elephants tusks are easily visible, hyrax’s tusks are hidden in their mouths.
4. Tayra
If you’ve never heard of a tayra, they are a rare species of weasel, which can be found in South America and Central America. One of the reasons why you may never have heard of a tayra before is that they struggle to reproduce and are a relatively rare animal.
5. Zorilla
No, a zorilla is not a deformed animal or a cross between a gorilla and another animal. If you’re curious zorilla are also a member of the weasel family and look much like a skunk. Zorilla are also sometimes referred to as striped pole cats.
6. Ring tailed cats
Ring tailed cats are not related to cats and are actually related to raccoons. As you can probably guess ring tailed cats have bushy tails which feature numerous rings. However ring tailed cats have a relatively plain body with no distinctive patterns or stripes.
7. Springhaas
Springhaas are native to Africa and are a rare type of bipedal rodent which hop around on two feet, just like a kangaroo. As springhaas struggle to breed, even zoos have a hard time trying to breed springhaas to exhibit. So you’ll be extremely lucky if you ever get to see a springhaas in captivity or in the wild.
8. Capybara
While capybara may look like oversized guinea pigs, capybara are actually the largest rodents in the world. You may be shocked to read that capybara normally weigh in excess of 60kg and that some capybara are heavier than small adult humans.
Capybara which are native to South America are also semi-aquatic and spend much of their days swimming. As a result individuals who adopt capybara as pets, require a large swimming pool for their capybara to swim in.
9. Snake necked turtles
Snake necked turtles have necks so long that they can’t tuck their heads away in their shells and are truly a sight to behold. Snake necked turtles are also unique as they are able to emit a foul smelling scent in order to protect themselves from potential predators, just like a skunk.
Hopefully you’ve learned about a few exotic animals, that you never knew existed. As well as a fun fun facts about each type of animal that featured in the list above.
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