There are more than a million animal species. There are 6,000 species of reptiles, 73,000 kinds of spiders, and 3,000 types of lice. For each person in the Earth, there are about 200 million insects. The 4,600 kinds of mammals represent a mere 0.3% of animals and the 9000 kinds of birds only 0.7%.
1. There are about one billion cattle in the world of which 200 million are in India.
2. A house fly lives only 14 days.
3. A dog was the first animal in space and a sheep, a duck and a rooster the first to fly in a hot air balloon.
4. The oldest breed of dog is the Saluki.
5. An ostrich can run up to 70 km/h.
6. Pea crabs are the smallest crabs in the world.
7. 75% of wild birds die before they are 6 months old.
8. Pork is the world’s most widely-eaten meat.
9. A giraffe can clean its ears with its 50cm (20 inch) tongue.
10. The South American giant anteater eats more than 30,000 ants a day.
11. Sharks swim at a speed of 70 km/h.
12. The sailfish is the fastest swimmer, reaching 109 km/h. The slowest fish is the Sea Horse, which moves along at about 0.016 km/h.
13. Dolphins can reach 60 km/h.
14. The heart of a blue whale is the size of a small car. The tongue of a blue whale is as long as an elephant.
15. The giant squid has the biggest eyes of any animal: its eyes measure 40 cm (16 inch) in diameter.
16. Animals also are either right-handed or left-handed. Polar bears are left-handed and so is Kermit, the Frog.
17. There are about 54 million dogs in the US, and Paris is said to have more dogs than people.
18. Measured in straight flight, the spine-tailed swift is the fastest bird. It flies 170 km/h. Second fastest is the Frigate, which reaches 150 km/h.
19. There are more than 150 million sheep in Australia, a nation of 17 million people.
20. New Zealand is home to 4 million people and 70 million sheep.