A mature forest is one that may have very large trees and many species of plants and wildlife such as tropical rain forests, or may be limited in the number of species of both trees and wildlife, such as is the case with the coniferous forests found in the very cold taiga regions of the world.

The elephant, the planet’s largest terrestrial mammal, is a fascinating creature .

There are two types of elephant, the Asian elephant and the African elephant (although sometimes the African Elephant is split into two species, the African Forest Elephant and the African Bush Elephant).

The largest elephant on record weighed about 24,000 pounds (10,886 kg) with a height of 13 feet (3.96 m).

The Giraffe is the tallest mammal in the world, with even new-born babies being taller than most humans.

Baby Giraffes can stand within half an hour and after only 10 hours can actually run alongside their family.

Giraffes spend most of their lives standing up; they even sleep by standing up.

Leopards run up to 58 km/h and can leap 6 meter horizontally and 3 meter vertically. They are also very strong swimmers.

Leopards eat small hoof stock such as gazelle, impala, deer and wild beast. On occasion, they may also hunt monkeys, rodents and birds. They often bring their prey up into the branches of a tree to eat it and protect it from other predators and scavengers.

Leopards are astoundingly strong. They are pound for pound the strongest of the big cats. They are able to climb trees, even when carrying heavy prey, and often choose to rest on tree branches during the day.

Lions are very social animals. They live in groups, called prides, of around 30 lions. A pride consists of up to three males, a dozen related females, and their young. The size of the pride is determined by the availability of food and water.

Lions run at a speed of up to 81 km/h. Lions hunt large animals such as zebra and wild beast. In the wild, lions live for an average of 12 years and up to 16 years. They live up to 25 years in captivity.

There are currently 264 known monkey species. Monkeys can be divided into two groups, Old World monkeys that live in Africa and Asia, and New World monkeys that live in South America.

Some monkeys live on the ground, while others live in trees. Different monkey species eat a variety of foods, such as fruit, insects, flowers, leaves and reptiles.

Monkeys have a brain that is large for their size and it is part of the reason why they are so intelligent. They are believed to be smarter than other primates including Apes and Lemurs.