Follow 7 of the world's most amazing animal journeys

Ever heard about butterflies who travel 3,000 miles? Or the turtles who swim up to 12,000 miles year? Here are just 7 of the journeys featured in Amazing Animal Journeys, our new book about the most incredible migrations in the natural world, written by nature expert Philippa Forrester.
Amazing Animal Journeys

Amazing Animal Journeys

Go on an epic adventure in this fascinating and detailed look at the incredible journeys that occur in the animal kingdo...

£20.00

A message from Philippa Forrester


The animal kingdom is bursting with incredible adventure stories that fill our planet with wonder and delight. Some are epic migrations across the land or in the skies. Others may be less obvious – microscopic in scale, or deep down in the ocean. But all journeys are an important part of life for these creatures. Writing this book, I learnt about some amazing discoveries made by scientists around the world, especially biologists. So, as you read it, I hope you uncover some new surprises, discover your own questions answered and maybe find yourself even more curious. After all, the natural world will always need people who care.

Summer seekers

There's nothing quite as spectacular as the seasonal migration of millions of monarch butterflies. When the temperature drops and the cold sets in, a blazing blanket of orange butterflies leave their breeding grounds in Canada and follow the sun for 3,000 miles to sunny Mexico. After their long flight south, the monarch butterflies settle down to roost in trees before they begin their long journey back to Canada at the end of winter. However, most monarch butterflies live for only eight weeks, so they don’t have enough time to make it all the way home. Instead, the butterflies fly as far as they can, lay eggs, and pass on for a new generation of monarch butterflies to complete the trip home.

Mega migrators

More than one-third of Earth’s birds migrate, but it's the Arctic tern that makes the longest migration in the natural world. Every year, the Arctic tern embarks on an epic 22,000 mile journey from the Arctic to the Antarctic, and then back again in time for summer. In its lifetime, the average Arctic tern will fly the same distance as to the Moon and back!

Arctic adventurers

Antarctica is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent on Earth. Despite this extreme environment, about half a million emperor penguins breed here each winter. Every year, the colony make an intrepid journey across the snowy landscape, through howling winds and –40ºC temperatures, to lay their eggs, and raise their chicks in the same breeding site. Whilst the male penguins bear out the harshest winter conditions huddled together, the females trek back across the ice to the sea, where they hunt and feed over the winter. After two months at sea, the females, once again, travel back across the ice to feed their newly hatched chicks.

Long-distance swimmers

Leatherback turtles have lived in our oceans for more than 150 million years, surviving the dinosaur extinction! They are some of the greatest migrators on the planet, and cross entire oceans searching for food and to breed, travelling between 10,000 to a record-breaking 12,000 miles a year. Despite their longevity, these graceful gliders are a critically endangered species due to climate change, entanglement in fishing nets, plastic pollution, boat strikes, and habitat loss.

Slow movers

Not all migrations cross countries and continents. Sloths start high in the treetops and move slowly but surely down to the forest floor. This journey takes an entire week, because sloths are the world’s slowest-moving mammals. Why does the sloth make all this effort? To find a spot on the ground where it can go to the toilet. Despite this seemingly straightforward weekly toilet trip, the journey from the leafy canopy to the forest floor is a steep and dangerous one. Sloths use their strong claws to stay safe and balanced, whilst their brown fur blends in with the branches so they can avoid any nearby hungry predators.

Great wanderers

There’s truth to the saying “elephants never forget”. Every year, African elephants - the largest land mammals in the world - embark on a long journey across the dry African savanna using their memories and the Earth’s magnetic fields to reach rich feeding grounds and water sources. For many hundreds of years, matriarchs – the oldest, biggest, and wisest female elephant – have led their herds all over Africa using their unique ancient migration routes, which humans are only just beginning to understand.

Micro adventurers

Teeny, tiny tardigrades are nature’s pioneers. These microscopic animals are so small that one could fit inside the full stop at the end of this sentence. But despite their small size, stumpy legs, and slow movements, they are among the toughest creatures on Earth. They are often the first animals to reach and to survive our most extreme environments, including scorching climates, freezing temperatures, severe dehydration, and even space! Yes, these tough little creatures became the first animals to survive in the extreme conditions of open space.
Discover more incredible animals as they embark on the most extraordinary adventures on Earth in Amazing Animal Journeys.
Amazing Animal Journeys

Amazing Animal Journeys

Go on an epic adventure in this fascinating and detailed look at the incredible journeys that occur in the animal kingdo...

£20.00