For many travellers, the chance to see exotic wildlife is one of the major reasons to take a holiday to a specific place.

We’re no different.

Weird and wacky animals always catch our attention, and we’ve made sure most of our tours give travellers the opportunity to spot some of the world’s most unusual wildlife in the flesh.

There are some truly bizarre animals out there in the wild, so we’ve collected a list of our ten favourite strange-looking animals for you to enjoy—and perhaps to go in search of.



1.Pangolin (Africa and Asia)
Pangolins are truly bizarre creatures that look a bit like armoured anteaters. In fact, another name for them is ‘scaly anteaters’! Amazingly, though, they are much more closely related to dogs, cats and even seals that to anteaters or armadillos, the mammals they most resemble.

Despite their strange looks, we think pangolins are actually quite cute, with their beady eyes and big feet, and of course their habit of curling up into a ball when they’re threatened!

A good place to go to try to spot pangolins is sub-Saharan Africa, where three different subspecies may be spotted.

Sadly many species of pangolin have become critically endangered in Africa as well as Asia due to intensive illegal hunting and poaching for their meat and scales.

2. Aye-aye (Madagascar)
Madagascar is known for being home to a great many strange animals, most of which are found nowhere else in the world.

One great example of this is the aye-aye, with its bulging eyes, ever-growing teeth and long fingers. It can be very creepy-looking, especially if you suddenly come face-to-face with one in the forest at night!

Aye-ayes are a type of lemur and can be found exclusively in the jungles of Madagascar, where they come out at night to forage.

3. Velvet ants (South America)
Confusingly, these insects are actually wasps of multiple different breeds. The females are wingless and hairy, and very much resemble ants.

Some specimens in Chile have been found with black and white colouring, and when you see these you will understand why they are also called ‘panda ants’.

These bugs are known for their extremely painful stings. Such is the strength of these stings, in fact, that these wasps are also known by another name: ‘cow killers’..


4. Sloth (Latin America)
Known for their slowness of movement, sloths can be found among the trees in Latin American countries such as Panama, Brazil, and many more.

Their faces look slightly dopey and from some angles they seem to be smiling. Their slowness of movement is due both to their slow metabolism, a result of their leaf diet, and is also thought to help them escape detection by predators who hunt by sight.


Source: Rainbows UK

An interesting topic. You forgot to add that a Pangolin can demolish a building. It energetically and speedily cracks and digs brick walls