1. Monterey Aquarium

Great selection of webcams to watch sea otters, kelp forest, penguins and the prized great white shark

Watch: outer bay cam

2. San Diego Zoo panda cam

Live cameras at the Giant Panda research station

Watch: Pandacam

3. National Geographic Wildcam Africa webcam

24-hour live broadcasting from Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana

Watch: Africa Wildcam

4. New England Aquarium, Giant Ocean Tank

Watch divers feeding the sharks and fish live

Watch: Giant Ocean Tank cam

5. Smithsonian National Zoological Park Animal Cams

A multitude of animals from clouded leopards to orang-utans

Watch: Animal Cams

6. Bonaire National Marine Park Underwater Webcam

Megapixel camera at a depth of 15 metres at a coral reef drop-off

Watch: underwater webcam

7. RSPB Abernethy Forest

Red squirrels, crested tits and other Scottish woodland birds at this feeder camera

Watch: Aberneth Forest cam

8. Greenpeace Expedition cam

Follow the ship Esperanza in the Antarctic and maybe catch a glimpse of whale

Watch: Expedition cam

9. Andrew Cooper’s Wildlink

UK site with webcams featuring badgers and fledgling birds in season. Only active at dusk

Watch: Wildlink cam

10. Loch Ness livecams

Two webcams to help monster researcher Mikko Takala search for Nessie

Watch: Nessie livecams

11. Natural History Museum, London

Close-up views of flesh-eating beetles, leafcutter ants and honey bees at work

Watch: bugcams

12. Shamu cam

Watch the killer whale in its tank at SeaWorld, Orlando

Watch: Shamu cam

13. BBC Wildlife webcams

Raptors in Ireland, barn owls in Liverpool and Cumbrian osprey

Watch: BBC webcams

14. Africam

Brilliant site featuring leopards, elephants, eagles

Watch: Africam

15. South African National Parks

Webcam situated at a watering hole in Kruger National Park

Watch: Kruger watering hole cam

15. Vancouver Aquarium Sea Otters

Live sea otters and information about behaviours to look out for

Watch: Sea Otters

16. Munich Zoo

Watch feeding time in the jungle enclosure and elephant house

Watch: Munich Zoo webcam

17. Grizzly bears at Riverbanks Zoo

The best time to view the bears is early morning but remember the time difference

Watch: grizzly bears

18. International Wolf Center

Wolves can be elusive, even in captivity, but patience is rewarded with glimpses of the pack

Watch: wolves

19. Manatees at Dallas World Aquarium

Underwater action in the large freshwater river exhibit

Watch: manatees

20. Remote control Rhino cam

One of the best webcams with an interactive camera that lets you follow the animals around

Watch: rhino

And some of the worst wildlife webcams…

1. Musselcam

Watch a mussel grow very, very slowly live. Why?

Watch: musselcam

2. London Aquarium Pacific Tank

Watching sharks. Brilliant in theory. In practice a small blurry square.

Watch: Pacific tank sharks

3. USC Roach Camera

Giant Madagascan hissing cockroaches. Lots of them.

Watch: cockroaches

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