Conservation Glossary

Arboreal   tree dwelling
Boreal   northern forests, a mixture of leaf bearing trees and evergreens
Carnivore   meat eating animal
CITES   Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
Coniferous   forests containing only evergreen trees
Crepuscular   active during the early morning and evening
Deciduous   forest containing only leaf bearing trees
Diurnal   active during daylight hours
Felidae   scientific family name used to identify all cats
Feral   domestic animals that have returned to the wild state
In vitro   artificial conception, followed by embryo transfer to a live animal
Melanistic   black, produced by dark pigment in the skin
Monestrous   mating with only one male
New World   North, Central and South America
Nocturnal   active during the night
Oestrus   the period of femal sexual receptivity
Old World   Asia, Africa and Europe
Polyestrous   mating with more than one male
Riverine   habitat situated on a riverside
Savannah   open, grassy plains or meadows in a tropical region
Scent marking   urine spraying, scraping with the hind feet to notify other animals of their presence
Steppes   plains of southeast Europe and Russia, to the low lands of Siberia
Sexually dimorphic   species where the male and female are visibly different in appearance
Sympatric   populations of related species occupying same or overlapping geographic areas without interbreeding
Taiga   sub arctic evergreen forests of Siberia
Terrestrial   ground dwelling
Ungulate   any hoofed, grazing mammal
Viverrids   scientific order of small mammals possessing external scent glands, i.e. civets, mongoose