We often people who can run or swim further or faster than anyone else. The famous Jamaican athlete, Usain Bolt, s one of the fastest runners in the word. But in nature there are many animals that can best people every time. The biggest and fastest living things in the world are all animals.
Three of the biggest animals in the world live in Africa . They are the ostrich the elephant and the giraffe. The ostrich is the biggest bird. It can be as tall as 2.7 metres .But it is much smaller than the elephant. The elephant is the biggest land mammal. It can weigh 5.4 tonnes, but it is shorter than the giraffe. The giraffe can be 6 metres tall. However , all these animals are small compared to the blue whale. The blue whale can be more than 27 metres long and 150 tonnes
The fastest people can run at about 40 kilometres an hour .But compared to animals , we are very slow! The fastest fish is the sailfish. It can swim at more than 100 kilometres an hour. The is almost as fast land animal, the cheetah. The cheetah can run at almost 133 kilometres an hour. But the wold record for speed goes to bird. The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal in the world. It usually flies at about 95 kilometres an hour. But when it is hunting, can swoop at up 320 kilometres an hour. Now that’s fast!