The only mammals who can both flap their wings and fly, bats play a key role in pollinating our crops and controlling insect populations in our neighborhoods.

Bears are powerful, majestic animals who face numerous threats.

Once driven to the brink of extinction by the fur trade, beavers are finally making a comeback.

From the soaring eagles we watch from afar to the pet parakeets and canaries chirping in our homes ...

Named for their stubby tails, bobcats are so elusive that you’d be lucky to catch a glimpse of one in your lifetime.

A symbol of beauty transformed from humble beginnings, butterflies are one of the few insects who garner near universal appreciation.

Undeniably adorable, chipmunks play a vital role in healthy ecosystems.

Sensitive, intelligent elephants are the world’s largest land mammal (by weight) and a living link to long-extinct species like the woolly mammoth.

With their distinctive honks and propensity to graze on roadside grass, Canada geese are among the most ubiquitous of our wild neighbors.

Giraffes are gentle giants.

Combine a bulbous snout with a prominent jaw, a body like a beer keg set on four stubby legs, and you have a hippopotamus.

They look like a deer crossed with a giant jack rabbit; with long, muscular tails and belly pouches, kangaroos are the world’s largest marsupial.

African lions are stunning and iconic creatures in danger of extinction.

Whether you call them mountain lions or cougars, they’re one of the most adaptable big cats in the Western Hemisphere.

Depending on pack ice for their habitat, polar bears are threatened by climate change—and by traffic in their fur and parts.

These furry masked bandits probably hang out in your neighborhood—they’re amazing survivors and can thrive in all sorts of habitats.

One of the largest living land mammals, rhinoceroses once shared the earth with saber-toothed cats and the earliest humanlike apes.

Sheep are complex and intelligent animals.

Misunderstood skunks are gentle, near-sighted animals with one infamous—and pungent—defense mechanism.

Solitary creatures who prefer to be left alone, snakes have a bad reputation that doesn’t match their behavior.