Shelley Vassall

Unicorn plush are popular soft toys for children. With the 'mysterious' history that surrounds them, children are simply fascinated by them. Unicorn, the word, comes from the Latin meaning "one-horned." It's an imaginary animal that has appeared in many a legend – from Chinese to Indian to European. The unicorn has been portrayed since medieval times as a horse that has a single horn that grows from its forehead.

Like the real thing, the lion stuffed animal is a very regal looking plush toy. Male lion stuffed animals are particularly stunning given their head is surrounded with a thick, plush mane. According to a number of scientists who studied some 300 lions in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park, the lions mane is a whole lot more than just a bunch of fur framing a face.

The great thing about gorilla stuffed animals is that they're big, bulky, and very huggable, just as plush toys should be. In her undergraduate work Dian Fossey studied as a veterinarian student, but went on to spend seven years in a Louisville, Kentucky hospital as the director of occupational therapy. She developed an interest in mountain gorillas and was very interested in seeing them in their natural habitat. In 1963, she went on a week long safari to the Congo in Africa.

Plush jungle toys are made up of some of the best stuffed animals money can buy; from elephants to giraffes to tigers, to gorillas and lions, there are so many to choose from, it's hard to pick just one. The Amazon Jungle, or, as the Brazilians call it, "Amazonia," is spread over 8 countries – Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname - covering 40 percent of the South America continent. It covers a total of 2,700,000 square miles.

While the zebra stuffed toy looks very much like a horse, it shouldn't be mistaken for one, because it's a zebra! Like the 'famed' wildebeest who make their annual migration across Africa's Serengeti, plains zebra also migrate so they can find fresh land to graze on and water to drink. The Great Migration, as it is called, is essentially about how available grazing is, which in turn relies on how much rainfall there is.

While some people are not all that fond of bulldogs simply because of the snorting and heavy breathing they do thanks to their their pushed-in snout, still others can't get enough of this adorable breed. The early history of the English bulldog wasn't a pleasant one - the breed was originally used for dog fighting and bull baiting. It's believed the bulldog originated in the British Isles and because of the kind of 'work' it did, it was quite aggressive and not considered a companion animal.

Like the real thing, shark stuffed animals are a little frightening. Okay. A lot frightening! But that's what makes them so interesting and different from ever other soft toy on the market. Diving to see the great white shark in its natural habitat is the thrill of a lifetime for those brave enough to go into the water with these formidable creatures. In South Africa, where many great whites can be found, cage diving is a fairly new adventure sport.

For anyone interested in collecting soft toys, going with a theme makes it easier when choosing which ones to buy. With forest stuffed toys, the animal collection can consist of everything from plush moose to plush raccoons and bunnies, to the wolf stuffed animal. For many years, the wolf was on the endangered species list in the United States thanks to ranchers killing them off so as to protect their livestock from becoming their main source of food.

What can one say about plush teddy bears that hasn't already been said? Everyone knows they are the most popular soft toy ever created. We also know that it's been loved by both children and adults for more than 100 years. Tie-ins to the toy industry became a matter of importance in the 1950s and as a result, one of the British teddy bear manufacturers – Merrythought - realized the future significance it was going to have.

If you are at all familiar with stuffed animals, you know that the plush hippo ranks high on the adorable scale. With its roly poly and oh, so squishable body, the plush hippo is a must have soft toy for anyone fond of these loveable creatures. The closest living relative to the hippo is under dispute. Research that was published in 2007, states that hippos are most closely related to living pigs.