Thought Zoo

AnimalsDesert

Desert animals 16 riddles for kids, with the answers

A desert is a place where it hardly ever rains. Many deserts are blazing hot by day and cold at night, so animals hide from the sun and come out when it is cooler. They have clever ways to find water, or to live with almost none.

  1. Read one clue at a time
  2. Your friend guesses
  3. Tap Show me to check
Professor Sammy, a cartoon explorer in a safari hat and round glasses

Riddles

Who am I? Guess the animal

Read a riddle to a friend, one clue at a time. How many clues do they need? The last clue gives it away. Tap Show me to check the answer.

  1. Riddle 1

    1. I live in hot, dry places and eat grass, leaves and prickly plants.

    2. My long eyelashes and nostrils that squeeze shut keep the blowing sand away from me.

    3. When I'm really thirsty, I can drink more than a hundred litres of water in about ten minutes.

    4. When I want to warn someone, I spray a smelly mix of half-eaten food from my tummy.

    5. People call me the ship of the desert, and my big hump is full of fat, not water.

    Show me
    Camel, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Camel facts for kids

  2. Riddle 2

    1. I live in trees and bushes in hot, dry Arabia, and I hardly ever touch the ground.

    2. I won't drink from a water bowl, I only lick little drops of water off leaves.

    3. Each of my eyes moves on its own, so I can see almost all the way around me.

    4. My tongue shoots out faster than a blink and reaches farther than my whole body is long.

    5. I change my colours to show how I feel or how warm I am.

    Show me
    Chameleon, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Chameleon facts for kids

  3. Riddle 3

    1. I am a small, furry animal who sleeps all day and wakes up at night.

    2. My teeth never stop growing, so I keep gnawing on hard things.

    3. In the wild, I dig an underground home with rooms for sleeping, storing food and even a toilet.

    4. On my wheel, I can run more than eight kilometres in just one night.

    5. I stuff so much food into my cheeks that they stretch all the way back to my shoulders.

    Show me
    Hamster, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Hamster facts for kids

  4. Riddle 4

    1. I rest during the day and come out at dusk and at night, often near villages.

    2. My mate and I often stay together for life and raise our pups as a team.

    3. My older pups sometimes stay home for a year to help look after the new babies.

    4. I often follow tigers, leopards or wolves to eat the food they leave behind.

    5. I look like a sandy gold wild dog, and my family howls together when the sun goes down.

    Show me
    Jackal, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Jackal facts for kids

  5. Riddle 5

    1. I live in the rocky deserts of Asia and hide under stones during the hot day.

    2. Every few weeks I wriggle out of my old skin, and then I usually eat it.

    3. I lick my own eyes clean, and unlike most of my cousins, I can blink.

    4. My fat tail stores food and water, and if I drop it, it keeps wiggling.

    5. I'm a small lizard and a popular pet, yellow with black spots like a big wild cat.

    Show me
    Leopard gecko, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Leopard gecko facts for kids

  6. Riddle 6

    1. I live with a big, noisy family in the dry, sunny lands of southern Africa.

    2. I chatter softly all day while I dig for food, so my family knows I'm close.

    3. The grown-ups in my family teach the babies to handle scorpions, starting with ones that can't sting.

    4. Dark patches around my eyes work like sunglasses in the bright desert sun.

    5. I take turns standing tall on my back legs to watch for danger while the others dig.

    Show me
    Meerkat, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Meerkat facts for kids

  7. Riddle 7

    1. I live in hot, sandy deserts and hide under rocks during the day.

    2. I can go for months without eating anything at all.

    3. Under a special light, my body glows blue and green.

    4. My babies ride on my back until they shed their skin for the first time.

    5. I have eight legs, two pincers, and a tail that curls over my back with a stinger.

    Show me
    Scorpion, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Scorpion facts for kids

  8. Riddle 8

    1. I live in hot, dry deserts in Africa and Asia, and I eat almost any green plant.

    2. I hear with ears on the sides of my tummy, not on my head.

    3. When we're crowded, I turn from green or brown to yellow and black, or even pink.

    4. Once, a giant cloud of us flew across the whole ocean from Africa to the Caribbean.

    5. I jump on long back legs, and my giant swarms can gobble up a farmer's crops.

    Show me
    Desert locust, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Desert locust facts for kids

  9. Riddle 9

    1. I sleep in a cool burrow all day and come out at night to hunt.

    2. I can go a long time without drinking, because I get water from my food.

    3. I have fur on the bottoms of my feet, so I can run on hot sand.

    4. I belong to the dog family, but I'm even smaller than most pet cats.

    5. My giant ears keep me cool in the desert and hear bugs moving under the sand.

    Show me
    Fennec fox, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Fennec fox facts for kids

  10. Riddle 10

    1. I live in dry, rocky deserts in the USA and Mexico, and I hunt rats and mice.

    2. I have no eyelids and no outside ears, so I hear by feeling the ground shake.

    3. Two tiny pits between my eyes and nose feel the warmth of a mouse in total darkness.

    4. My long, hollow fangs fold back against the roof of my mouth when I don't need them.

    5. When I'm scared, I shake the tip of my tail and it makes a loud buzzing warning.

    Show me
    Rattlesnake, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Rattlesnake facts for kids

  11. Riddle 11

    1. I live in hot, dry deserts in America and Mexico, and I'm awake during the day.

    2. On cold mornings, I fluff my back feathers to show black skin and soak up the sun.

    3. My footprints look like the letter X, with two toes in front and two behind.

    4. I'm a bird that can fly, but I'd much rather dash across the ground after lizards and snakes.

    5. In cartoons, a hungry coyote chases me all the time but never catches me.

    Show me
    Roadrunner, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Roadrunner facts for kids

  12. Riddle 12

    1. I spend my whole life in shallow water, and I like to swim close to the bottom.

    2. When winter gets cold, I slow down and rest in the mud at the bottom.

    3. I can live in water twice as salty as the sea, and in very hot water too.

    4. The boys of my kind can turn bright shiny blue, with yellow or orange tails.

    5. I'm a tiny fish, about as long as your finger, living in pools in the hot desert.

    Show me
    Desert pupfish, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Desert pupfish facts for kids

  13. Riddle 13

    1. I live in a hot, sandy desert and sleep under the ground all day.

    2. I plug the door of my home with sand to keep the heat out.

    3. I never drink water, I get every drop from seeds, bugs and juicy plants.

    4. My long ears are so sharp that I can hear an owl's wings coming closer.

    5. I look like a tiny mouse, but I bounce in zigzags on long back legs, like a kangaroo.

    Show me
    Jerboa, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Jerboa facts for kids

  14. Riddle 14

    1. I live in a small herd in a hot, dry land of sand and stones.

    2. I can go for weeks without drinking, because I get water from plants and dew.

    3. I can tell when rain falls far away, and I walk a long way toward the clouds.

    4. I was born sandy brown, and my coat only turned white as I grew up.

    5. I'm a white antelope, and from the side my two long straight horns look like one.

    Show me
    Oryx, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Oryx facts for kids

  15. Riddle 15

    1. I live in a big family, in a nest deep under the hot sand.

    2. I go out to find food at noon, when hungry lizards hide in the shade.

    3. My very long legs hold my body high above the burning sand.

    4. I count my steps, so after zigzagging around I can run straight back home.

    5. I'm the fastest ant in the world, and tiny hairs make me shine like a mirror.

    Show me
    Saharan silver ant, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Saharan silver ant facts for kids

  16. Riddle 16

    1. I live in a hot, dry desert and spend the day resting in a burrow.

    2. I can live without ever drinking water, because my food gives me all the water I need.

    3. Thick fur grows under my toes, so the hot ground never burns my feet.

    4. My big, low ears hear little animals rustling underground, and then I dig them out.

    5. I look like a tiny house cat with a kitten face my whole life, but I'm wild.

    Show me
    Sand cat, a cartoon from Thought Zoo
    Sand cat facts for kids

Now let Sammy pick one of these animals.

In Thought Zoo, Sammy hides one of these animals and you find it by asking her yes-or-no questions, out loud. Turn the riddles around: now you ask the questions.

Play the Desert

Coming to iPad, iPhone and Android on 12 January 2027

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