A wildlife education app, and where its facts come from

What is actually in it

Figures are counts from the live database, not rounded marketing numbers. They move as the catalogue grows.

Where the content comes from

This is the part that matters for teaching, so it is worth being precise about it.

• Species names go through GBIF

  A name a contributor types is resolved against the GBIF taxonomic backbone before it becomes a card, so the binomial on the card is an accepted name rather than whatever was submitted.

• Conservation status comes from the IUCN Red List

  Every card carries a Red List category. A species classed Vulnerable or Endangered says so on the card itself, next to the photograph.

• Facts are written from sources and checked back against them

  Card text is written from encyclopedic sources rather than from a model's memory, and each claim is checked against the source sentence that carries it. Text that cannot be supported is rewritten or dropped instead of published.

• Quiz answers are verified the same way

  The question bank was audited against sources: answers that the source contradicted were corrected, questions where more than one option was defensible were removed, and questions no source could settle were replaced.

• Photographs are credited and licensed

  Each image names its photographer and its licence. Most come from wildlife photographers who submitted their own work; the rest are Wikimedia Commons images under a licence that permits reuse.

Using it with a class

• Kids mode

  Simplified facts and questions, and the social surface switched off: no comments, no chat, no direct messages, no ads and no links out of the app. A tap cannot land on the open web.

• No install needed

  It runs in a browser at app.feravox.app, so it works on a classroom projector or a school laptop without going through device management.

• Ten question formats

  Multiple choice, true or false, sounds, habitat, group names, baby names, size, lifespan, closest relative and odd one out. The Daily 5 gives a class the same five questions on the same day.

• Head to head

  Duel puts two players on the same five questions with a twelve second clock, which works as a pair activity.

• Offline for field trips

  Premium members can download the catalogue and hundreds of photographs to the device, for places with no signal.

• English and French

  Interface, species names and questions in both. 4,369 species carry a French name.

What it is not

Feravox is a reference and revision tool, not a curriculum. It is not aligned to any national syllabus, it does not issue assessments or track a class, and it is not a field identification key: it will not tell you what you are looking at from a photograph you took.

On cost, the free tier covers the species feed, the Daily 5, animal sounds and the conservation stories, with no sign-up needed to start. Outside Kids mode the free tier is ad supported. Premium removes ads, unlocks the full game library and adds offline access. Kids mode carries no ads at all.

Questions we get asked

• Is it suitable for a primary classroom?

  Kids mode is the setting for that: simpler facts, no ads and no social surface. It is a parent or teacher setting, switched on in Settings, and it stays on.

• Can students use it without an account?

  Yes. Browsing species, the Daily 5 and the sounds all work without signing up. An account is only needed to save favourites, log species and keep a streak.

• Can I show a species on a projector?

  Yes, through the browser version. Each species also has its own web page under /animals, which is a plain page you can open directly.

• How current is the conservation data?

  Categories follow the IUCN Red List. The conservation stories carry the date they were last checked, so you can see how old the news on a card is.

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