Factsheets

We've produced a number of factsheets on a range of topics from Animal Facts to Environmental facts as part of our commitment to encouraging young people's understanding of the environment and of the need for sustainability.

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  • Snowflakes

    A snowflake is one of the most recognisable symbols of winter weather, used on weather forecasts across the world. Snowflake come in millions of di...

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  • Soil

    Far from being just ‘dirt’ or ‘mud’ beneath our feet, soil is one of the most diverse ecosystems on our planet. Healthy soil is a life support syst...

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  • Squirrel (Grey)

    The grey squirrel was introduced to Great Britain in the mid-19th century. There is now an estimated population of 2 million making them much more ...

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  • Squirrel (Red)

    The red squirrel, the original 'Squirrel Nutkin' of Beatrix Potter fame, is one of our favourite British mammals but it is declining in numbers and...

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  • Stickleback (Three-spined)

    The three-spined stickleback is one of the most familiar fish of Britain's freshwater streams and ponds.

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  • Stoat

    The stoat is sometimes mistaken for its close relative, the weasel, but it is larger and has a distinctive black tip to its tail.

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  • Survival at the Poles

    Polar bears and penguins never bump into each other! Why is this? The answer, of course, is simple; polar bears live only in the Arctic (the North ...

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  • Sustainability

    The United Nations says that sustainability means “meeting the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet...

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  • Swan (Mute)

    For centuries, mute swans were known as 'birds royal' because only the king or a few specially favoured subjects could keep them. They were often s...

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  • Tamarin (Golden Lion)

    Tamarins and marmosets are the smallest monkeys (primates) in the world. The golden lion tamarin is the largest and related to the golden headed an...

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  • Tapirs

    About the size of a shetland pony, the tapir is a rather odd looking animal. Not only has it a long and flexible snout like a short trunk, but it h...

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  • Tarantulas

    The name tarantula is generally applied to any large, hairy spider, especially to the furry, bird eating spiders of South America.

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  • Tiger (Bengal)

    The tiger is the largest member of the cat family. The Bengal tiger is one of the five surviving races of tiger.

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  • Tiger (Siberian)

    The Siberian tiger is a very rare species of tiger. From an estimated low in 2010 of 360, in May 2015 the Russian Government announced that the Si...

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  • Tortoise (Galapagos)

    There were originally fifteen different subspecies of Galapagos giant tortoise each evolved to suit the conditions on the different islands.

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  • Trade and Endangered Species

    Along with habitat destruction, wildlife crimes such as poaching currently pose the largest threat to the future of some of the world’s most endang...

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  • Tsunami

    The word tsunami (pronounced soo-NAH-mee) is Japanese, and it means ‘harbour wave’.

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  • Turtle (Green)

    Green Turtles are found in all the warmer oceans and in the Mediterranean. They have thick, heavy, bony shells, covered in plate-like scales.

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  • Using a Quadrat

    A quadrat is a frame used in geography and ecology studies to section off a standard sized area for study. Predictions can be made about distributi...

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  • Vivisection

    Vivisection is the practice of experimenting on live animals for scientific and medical purposes.

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  • Vole (Field)

    The field vole is also called the short-tailed vole. It is very similar to the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) but the latter has red-brown fur...

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  • Vole (Water)

    Water voles are often mistakenly called water rats, but they are only distantly related to rats. Water voles have a chubby face with a blunt nose a...

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  • Walrus

    Walruses are found in the sub-zero temperature Arctic seas from Alaska, Canada and Greenland to Russia.

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  • Warthog

    Warthogs are mostly found in central, eastern and southern Africa. Both sexes have the prominent tusks and two warts on either side of the face.

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  • Weasel (European)

    The weasel is Britain's smallest carnivore and belongs to the same family as the stoat and otter. It is a fierce hunter and is usually only spotted...

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