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I’m proud to announce that World of Animals will now be donating 10% of its profits to the fight against poaching. We’ve teamed up with the largest black rhino sanctuary in east Africa, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, and together we’re launching the Save Rhinos Now campaign. With the rhino population dangerously at the brink of extinction, it’s up to humanity to sit up and pay attention. Ol Pejeta has witnessed some of the most inhumane acts of animal cruelty, where rhinos’ horns are ripped from their heads and the creatures are left bleeding to death. This harrowing problem should be stopped, with your help, before it’s too late. Head to page 64 now, read the story, be inspired and get involved.
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Welcome to issue 7 06 Amazing animals
50 The bat family The biggest, smallest and deadliest of this flying mammalian species
12 Animals of the Amazon The unique species living in Earth’s wildest environment
52 Paradise Wildlife Park Take a look at the most hands-on zoo in all of Europe
22 Siberian tiger The fight to bring this big cat from the brink of extinction
56 Hippos From deep-sea swimmers to today’s clever creatures
24 Haast’s eagle How one of the world’s largest birds of prey met its end
26 Pacific bluefin tuna Follow this epic journey of a sturdy, impressive creature
58 Sociable weaver bird Learn how these little birds build such impressive nests
60 Giraffe weevil What this odd beetle does with its extremely long neck
28 All about elephants The amazing rituals habits of Earth’s largest land mammal
64 Saving the rhino The ongoing battle to save this most-endangered species
40 Seahorses An unconventional life cycle where the males give birth!
72 Jellyfish The strange and colourful secrets of an underwater phenomena revealed
42 Owls 20 little-known facts about these graceful birds
Uncover the sprawling world hidden away at the edge of the waves
Throughout World of Animals you will see symbols like the ones you see here. These are from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of animal species in the world. Here’s what they mean:
80 Red panda New discoveries about an elusive animal
44 Wildlife of rock pools
THE IUCN RED LIST
98 Assassin fly The gruesome but effective killing techniques of this insect
EXTINCT EXTINCT IN THE WILD CRITICALLY ENDANGERED ENDANGERED VULNERABLE NEAR THREATENED LEAST CONCERN
42 4
64
44
72
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ALL ABOUT
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88 Reader Q&A How many species of bear are there? How do snakes move? The answers are here
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94 Your amazing animal photos A selection of our readers’ wildlife photos – can you do better?
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The amazing world of animals
Probably not realising how much of a lucky escape it’s just had, this frog perches on a crocodile’s nose
© Rex Features
In a pool in Jakarta, Indonesia, this hungry crocodile was able to devour the first frog in his enclosure, but luckily for this little hopper he couldn’t seem to catch the second. The lucky little amphibian managed to settle on the crocodile’s head before making its way down to the very tip of the croc’s nose. Eventually the frog made a quick escape and managed to hop away.
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The amazing world of animals
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The amazing world of animals
These lion cubs stand on their hind legs, doing their best to avoid each other’s paws in a playful dance
© Rex Features
The two male youngsters - only five months old - tried, like youngsters do, to get their mother involved in their playful antics. Alas, she decided to sit this one out, deciding to sit close by and watch as her enthusiastic cubs tackled each other. Jumping up and rolling over the ground in a beautiful display of competitive play, the pair were inadvertently practising skills essential for later on in life.
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The amazing world of animals
A Galápagos sea lion finds himself in the middle of a school of black-striped salema fish
© © Copywright Rex Features goes here
A haven for wildlife, some of which aren’t found anywhere else in the world, the Galápagos Islands are famed for the breathtaking scenery and magnificent animals. However, this hungry seal lion has travelled to the waters around the island, off the coast of Ecuador, and is swimming through a tunnel of fish in the hope of catching just one or two.
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The amazing world of animals
© Rex Features
Lifting fruit ten times their body weight, these acrobatic ants work together and, amazingly, swing it through the air to safety
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Up this guava tree, these fire ants act like gymnasts on a trapeze. In an amazing example of teamwork, they get the fruit back to safety where they can devour their feast like victors. Around 60 ants participate in this huge endeavour, each playing a vital role in the success of their task and, ultimately, the team’s survival.
The amazing world of animals
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Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Take a trip into the world’s largest rainforest – home to some of the globe’s most unique wildlife Words David Crooks Covering nine countries and spanning some seven million square kilometres (2.7 million square miles), the Amazon basin is the most bio-diverse area in the world. It contains Earth’s largest rainforest, most of which is in Brazil and is home to around ten per cent of all the known animal species. This comes as no surprise when you consider that more than 100,000 insects and other invertebrate species, over 3,000 kinds of freshwater fish, 1,300 bird species, the majority of the world’s reptiles and more than 400 mammal species have been discovered there so far. They all live together among some 390 billion trees in a cacophony of roars, squawks and howls.
The river The Amazon river runs through the rainforest and is one of the largest in the world, flowing to the east into the Atlantic.
Across borders The Amazon rainforest spans nine countries in South America.
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Amazing Amazon Xxxxxxxxxxxxx creatures
Inia geoffrensis Class Mammalia
Territory Orinoco, Amazon and Araguaia/Tocantins rivers Diet Crustaceans, small turtles, catfish, piranha Lifespan 30 years Adult weight 98-185kg / 216-408lbs Conservation status
NEAR THREATENED
Swimming around in the freshwater rivers of the Amazon, these creatures have some remarkable traits Found in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins in their tens of thousands, the Amazon river dolphin is a sight to behold. Their pink colouring (sometimes blue or albino) and long snouts are highly distinctive, but it’s their flexibility that makes them stand out more than anything else. While most dolphin species can’t turn their necks, the Amazon variety can, moving them from side to side at 90-degree angles thanks to their unfused neck vertebrae.
They also have flippers that resemble paddles and the creatures can flap each one in a different direction, enabling them to turn quickly in a circular motion. This means they can twist and turn their way over flooded lands, avoiding trees in their way. Researchers recently discovered a new species of Amazon dolphin in the Araguaia and Tocantins rivers – this was thought to have formed around 2.08 million years ago.
© Kevin Schafer/Minden Pictures/FLPA
AMAZON DOLPHIN
The largest river dolphins in the world
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Amazing Amazon creatures
Poison dart frog toxin is used as a lethal weapon Just one of these deadly frogs is toxic enough to kill ten grown men
Poison dart frogs come in many varieties
Blue poison dart frog
Yellow-banded poison dart frog
Also known as Dendrobates tinctorius azureus, this blue variety has glands of poisonous alkaloids within the skin.
This variety tends to be found in Venezuela and it’s one of the species’ largest. It can also handle lower humidity levels than its cousins.
CRESTED OROPENDOLA Psarocolius decumanus Class Aves
Dyeing dart frog Producing pumiliotoxins – a weaker poison than that made by other dart frogs – this amphibian still causes pain, stiffness and terrible cramping in its victims.
Crested oropendolas are famed for unusual and innovative nests The homes these intuitive birds make are a strange spectacle of the Amazon
Territory South America Diet Insects, fruit and nectar Lifespan 10-15 years Adult weight 300g / 11oz Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
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If there’s a characteristic for which all crested oropendolas are proud, it’s their nest-building ability. The female of the species has shown itself to be adept at weaving long sleeves of grass that hang down from trees, almost like teardrops. These nests even feature an entrance on top and contain a handy pouch much lower down for the mother’s young, making it difficult for predators to enter. Crested oropendolas are non-migratory birds, choosing to make their homes among the rainforest’s treetops, in forest edges and clearings. They gorge on insects, fruit and nectar, foraging in small groups. At night they roost in flocks and have a distinctive song as well as a loud clack call.
Phantasmal poison frog Listed as Endangered, this variety lives in just seven locations in the wild. A chemical from its skin called epibatidine is used as a painkiller.
Anything with the word ‘poison’ in its name is bound to catch attention and sure enough these amphibians have more than enough venom in them to cause a painful death in even the hardiest animal. Oddly, their bodies are often vibrant in colour and their small size is enough to be classified as rather cute. However, those colours act as a warning, telling predators that they’re poisonous. Whether they feature various shades of lurid blues, striped yellows and blacks, or if they have bright-green patterns on their back, any one of the 170 species of poison dart frogs in the Amazon will cause severe problems. A predator doesn't have to take a large bite of the frog to become infected either, as the poison exists within its permeable skin. Poison dart frogs are at home in the rainforests because they POISON DART FROG love humid Dendrobatidae conditions. Class Amphibia They become so toxic by eating insects, Territory South America shooting out Diet Insects their long, Lifespan 1-4 years sticky tongues Adult weight 2-7g / 0.070.25oz to catch prey. Conservation status These insects have in turn already eaten NOT EVALUATED deadly plants.
The little ant with a massive sting With four bullet ant nests for every hectare of rainforest, this common ant is a scary-looking insect that packs a potent sting These ants may be tiny, at between 18 and 30 millimetres (0.7 and 1.2 inches), but their sting has gained a top ranking of 4+ on the Schmidt Sting Pain
Index. Feeling like a gunshot, the pain lasts for 24 hours, but the stings aren’t deadly. The ants have distinctive yellow hairs on the forelegs and two horns.
Amazing Amazon creatures
Jaguars: the largest of the big cats in South America With significant numbers roaming remote regions of South America, the Amazon rainforest is a natural home for the jaguar There is a reason why the name jaguar comes from the native Indian word yaguará, which means ‘beast that kills its prey with one bound’. Without doubt, it’s one of nature's most powerful and impressive killers, able to crunch through bone with ease as it spends its days hunting for enough food to sustain a body that can be as heavy as 160 kilograms (350 pounds). With the most powerful jaw structure of any cat, the jaguars – often mistaken for cheetahs – are perhaps the most feared of all animals in the Amazon basin. Unable to sprint, they need to be up close to their meal, so they are canny hunters, hiding away in concealed spots and catching their prey unaware. For this reason, they adore the density of the rainforest, which offers them a multitude of options to hide in, although they are equally at home near water and out in the open. Jaguars are mainly solitary animals, preferring a life of lonely hunting and eating prey, but this isn’t to say they avoid all contact. They come together to mate and mothers look after their young well, which is essential since cubs are born without sight and take around two years to learn how to hunt and survive. Although they’re fierce hunters and killers, jaguars play an important role in the Amazon, helping to keep other animal populations down. Since they leave foliage and grasses well alone, they also help maintain a balanced ecosystem, benefitting all life in the rainforest.
Meat-eaters Its large, fierce teeth are perfect for munching down prey. Jaguars are strict carnivores and will usually kill by biting into their victim’s skull.
JAGUAR Panthera onca Class Mammalia
Territory South America Diet Carnivore Lifespan 11 years Adult weight 36-160kg / 79-350lbs Conservation status
NEAR THREATENED
Black spots The jaguar's distinctive black spots and rings on a typically tanned body make these large, powerful cats easily recognisable in the wild.
“Jaguars are mainly solitary creatures, preferring a life of lonely hunting and eating prey”
Know your big-cat patterns There are subtle differences in the markings of the world’s killer felines
Cheetah
Panther
A jaguar's markings appear to be random. They have different rosettes – the name for the markings – and various spacings. Cheetahs, on the other hand, have solid spots that are evenly distributed across their bodies.
The jaguar belongs to the panther family, but there is no actual species called a panther. Black jaguars are typically referred to as panthers and, as you’d guess, are black in appearance.
Leopard A leopard’s markings are very distinctive. They have dark, ringlike rosettes that become solid spots on the face and limbs. Their tails feature the iconic rings shared by many of their big-cat cousins.
Puma A puma’s coat is a uniformly distributed yellowishbrown, with a much whiter belly. These cats tend to be extremely fast movers, meaning they’re also incredibly slender.
Keen swimmers While these strong cats are skilled climbers, they can also fish for food. They’re actually keen swimmers and enjoy being in water.
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Amazing Amazon creatures 5 weirdest insects It’s thought that up to 2.5 million species of insects live in the Amazon rainforest. Some are quite strange, while others are plain weird.
BLUE MORPHO BUTTERFLY Morpho pleides Class Insecta
Tree ants These bugs build traps using tree fibres and fungus. When an insect becomes trapped, the ants emerge, yanking their victim apart before taking the parts to their colony.
Titan beetle At up to 18 centimetres (seven inches) long, the world’s biggest beetle is much easier to spot than other insects. They are so large that they have to climb trees and jump off to fly.
Reduviidae These insects inject saliva into their prey that turns their insides into liquid, which can be sucked out. As well as targeting other insects, they also feed on the blood of mammals.
Territory Mexico, Central and South America Diet Rotting fruit, tree sap Lifespan 115 days Adult weight less than 3g / 0.1oz Conservation status
Blue morphos get colour from the Sun Reports of small, flashing, blue objects above the canopy of the rainforest are all down to this incredible butterfly In nature colours are usually created through pigments or dyes, but the blue morpho butterfly is different. The creature has nanosized patterns of microscopic holes that reflect blue light from the Sun, which is why the butterfly appears blue. The blue morpho is one of the rainforest’s largest butterflies, featuring a relatively huge
wingspan of up to 23 centimetres (eight inches). It can use these wings to quickly fly through the dense rainforest canopy. The butterfly can still hide itself, thanks to a brown underside with lots of eye spots. When put together in flight it can look as if the butterfly is constantly disappearing from view and then reappearing again.
Emperor tamarins have the most recognisable facial hair Said to resemble the German Emperor Wilhelm II, these primates are the most preyed-upon in the Amazon Puss caterpillar These critters’ larvae have long bristle-like structures on their backs that give the appearance of winding hair. These hairs cause irritation, which deters most predators.
Praying mantis So-called for their folded forelimbs, mantises are fast runners. 19 new species were recently discovered, with one of them being named aer former US vice-president, Al Gore.
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They look old and wise, but the emperor tamarin species of monkey has to use cunning to escape their many predators that want a piece of them. Their small form puts them in the path of dogs, snakes, cats and birds of prey, while they in turn munch on fruit, green plants and insects. EMPEROR TAMARIN The moustaches hang Saguinus imperator down to their shoulders Class Mammalia and they look a fine sight as they leap among the trees, remaining up high for most of their lives. It helps that Territory South America they have sharp, curved Diet Fruits, insects and tree sap claws that enable them Lifespan 20 years to cling to tree branches. Adult weight 500g / 18oz Good depth perception also Conservation status ensures they can always be alert. As social animals, they LEAST CONCERN live in groups of up to 15 and guard their territory fiercely.
NOT EVALUATED
From larva to butterfly Larva The larva is red-brown in colour with light green on the back.
Emerging Having wrapped itself in its chrysalis, the pupae is safe from harm.
Flight The butterfly emerges and its brilliant colour can be seen for the first time.
Boa constrictors don’t need poison to subdue their prey Able to live in the most varied of habitats, these snakes are fierce nocturnal hunters Although the boa constrictor is a non-poisonous snake, its killing technique is highly efficient, wrapping its long scaly body around its prey and squeezing. This pumps the air out of its victim until it suffocates and dies. Its prey is powerless to get away, no matter how much it struggles, since the snake holds it using tiny gripping teeth. The snake is able to swallow animals, even mediumsized ones, completely whole. The boa constrictor is, in general, a patterned browngrey-green creature and its colouring enables it to camouflage well, giving it the edge on prey. It has two functional lungs, unlike most other snakes which only have one, as well as heat sensors in the cells of its lips. Though it can swim, its inclination is to stay on dry land.
Piranha fish have huge teeth and even bigger appetites for meat These fish are notorious for their razor-sharp teeth Famous for having sharp teeth and a love of flesh, piranhas inhabit the rivers of South America. There are between 30 and 60 different types of the fish in the Amazon River and around five of those – in particular the red-bellied ones – are extremely dangerous, especially when they’re hungry and eager for flesh. Schools of ravenous piranhas can rip animals to pieces within minutes, clamping down jaws with a force that can be 30 times their body weight. In this sense, they almost act as if they are one big fish rather than many little ones (they are, on the whole, rather small). Piranhas are also indiscriminate eaters, even turning on one another for food if they are desperate enough, but they will quickly gobble up insects and invertebrates as well as many kinds of animals and fish. For all that, they are rather timid the majority of the time, but this reality wouldn’t come across as well in Hollywood movies.
Lovers of water, tapirs use their snouts as natural snorkels Endangered and vulnerable, these creatures are large and gentle, with hooves, trunk-like noses and an everdecreasing habitat There are two species of tapir living in the Tapirus terrestris Amazon: the mountain Class Mammalia tapir that lives in the cloud forests of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru is classed as Territory South America Diet Fruit, berries and leaves Endangered. Found Lifespan 25-30 years across Brazil, Paraguay, Adult weight 120-370kg / Columbia, Venezuela, 265-816lbs Conservation status Peru and Bolivia, the lowland tapir’s status is currently Vulnerable. VULNERABLE Each has a pig-like look to it, even though they are unrelated to pigs. Since tapirs have hooves with an odd number of toes on the rear feet, they’re classed as odd-toed ungulates, meaning their closest relatives are actually horses and rhinoceroses. Unlike those animals, tapirs have prehensile fleshy snouts used for grabbing leaves. Because they love swimming in the Amazonian waters, their snouts also come in handy as organic snorkels. In December 2013 scientists discovered a new species of tapir in Brazil and Columbia which, although one of the continent’s largest animals are actually the smallest living tapirs. Unfortunately they’re regularly hunted by the local Karitiana tribe. LOWLAND TAPIR
Tapirs by numbers
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2,500 mountain
months
tapirs
The tapir’s reproduction cycle is slower than most
Le in the wild due to loss of habitat and hunting
02 metres
48
KM/H
Up to one metre Tapirs can high, they can gather up some also grow to two speed if they metres long need to flee
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Amazing Amazon creatures Eyes You can tell the age of a scarlet macaw by its eyes. Young birds have dark eyes, while adult birds have lightyellow ones.
Voices With their beaks open, the bird’s squawks range from low to high pitches and they’re always very loud.
Size The scarlet macaw is around 81 centimetres (32 inches) long, making it one of the largest of all parrots.
One of the largest parrots on Earth, scarlet macaws are iconic to Brazil These birds can mimic human speech and are popular as pets, but in the wild they can more than look after themselves There are 17 species of macaws, but the scarlet variety is the most eye-catching. Their bold and bright appearance features mainly redcoloured feathers, with a blue tail, yellow tinges to the upper wing coverts and elements of green. They’re among nature's most colourful creatures, which actually helps them blend in with their environment high up in the evergreen forests of South America. As with most birds, scarlet macaws display a high level of intelligence. They can use tools, but their beaks are the most effective devices of all. These are so powerful, the birds can crack even the toughest of the world’s seeds and crunch through nutshells with barely a sweat. The range of food is wide for scarlet macaws and they can eat fruits that would be toxic to other animals (increasing the supply of available
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food). Experts say this is because the birds eat clay, which helps to neutralise any poisons. The parrots use their left feet to grab food and their right to support their bodies. Helping to keep grip and move along branches are two forward-pointing and two backward-pointing toes. The scarlet macaw will also share its food with its mates and grooming is a common ritual with them, as they mate for life. Each of the pair assumes a role during breeding season, with the father looking for food and the mother incubating the eggs for around five weeks. As well as being common in the Amazon, the colourful parrots are also popular in homes across the world and often taken in as pets by humans. They have shown themselves to be rather adept at mimicking words and sounds made by their owners.
SCARLET MACAW Ara macao Class Aves
Territory South America Diet Fruit, nuts, seeds, nectar, flowers Lifespan 40 to 50 years Adult weight 1kg / 2.2lbs Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
Colourful features The macaw is perfectly adapted to its environment Hollow bones Scarlet macaws have hollow bones that, together with a pair of strong and wide wings, enable them to fly at up to 56 kilometres (35 miles) per hour. This is ideal for escaping potential predators. Bright colours Their feathers are coloured red, blue, yellow and green. Far from making them stand out, these hues actually help them blend in with the leaves and fruits of the Amazon rainforest. Strong beaks Their beaks are extremely powerful and large, enabling the parrots to make light work of cracking seeds and nuts. This opens up a wide variety of food sources to the birds.
Amazing Amazon creatures 5 top predators We’ve seen how effective the black caiman, piranha and jaguar can be in chomping down on prey but here are some more top killers.
Green anaconda As the heaviest and secondlongest snake in the world, the green anaconda will eat anything it can handle. It constricts and suffocates its prey using strong muscles.
Caimans are the largest predators in the Amazon basin Huge and ferocious, these Amazonian crocodilians strike fear into any animal, as every last one is capable of being their prey With its dark-coloured body stretching as much as five metres (16 feet) in length, the black caiman is an impressive sight, navigating the slow-moving rivers and lakes of South America. It’s the Amazon's largest predator – a killing machine that preys on mammals, birds, reptiles and fish.
KINKAJOU Potos flavus Class Mammalia
Caimans are often mistaken for alligators, as the two bear a close resemblance. Caimans are prolific breeders, laying up to 65 eggs at a time, though for a spell they were almost hunted to extinction. Humans remain their main predator, but laws now protect them.
BLACK CAIMAN Melanosuchus niger Class Reptilia
Territory Amazon river Diet Small frogs, fish, snakes, turtles, birds Lifespan 50 to 80 years Adult weight 400kg / 882lbs Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
The kinkajou can rotate its feet a full 180 degrees They monkey around, but these racoons are cute, agile and almost magical movers
Territory South America Diet Mainly fruit and honey Lifespan 24 years Adult weight 1.4-4.6kg / 3-5lbs Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
Payara Having two long fangs on the lower jaw enables the payara to prang and eat prey up to half its own body size. As if to underline their fearless nature, they also like to eat piranhas.
While it has the outward appearance of a primate, the kinkajou is actually a member of the racoon family. They behave, to a degree, like primates, albeit with a cool party trick: they can turn their feet so that they can run forwards or backwards with ease. The kinkajou can also move high up in tropical forests, using its short-haired prehensile tail. These tails enable the animal to grasp or hold objects, becoming like a fifth limb. Spotting kinkajous in the Amazon isn’t always easy. They’re nocturnal animals and tend to be out and about in the five hours before midnight. To stay out of sunlight, they sleep in tree hollows. If there are bees around, they’ll surface eventually, using their tongues to gather honey.
Arapaima Another giant of the waters, the arapaima is the largest freshwater fish in South America, reaching over a massive 2.5 metres (8.2 feet), at their extreme.
Bull sharks These sharks have been known to swim up the freshwater Amazon river. Thought to be the most dangerous in the world, they can adapt to suit different salinity levels.
Harpy eagle Preying on mammals that reside in the trees of the rainforest, the harpy eagle swoops with its black-feathered wings, cutting down monkeys, squirrels, anteaters and snakes.
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Amazing Amazon creatures BRAZILIAN PORCUPINE Coendou prehensilis Class Mammalia
Quills The hair is keratin-toughened and takes on the appearance of needle-like spines with tiny barbs on the end. Only the nose, stomach and tail aren’t covered.
Territory South America Diet Tree bark, fruits, stems leaves, blossoms, bananas Lifespan 17 years Adult weight 2-5kg / 4.4-11lbs Conservation status
A porcupine’s short, thick spines offer great protection
LEAST CONCERN
These spiky characters are tame in nature but will always come off best in a fight
Under attack What the porcupine does when it’s threatened When under threat, the porcupine will curl up, showing its quills and providing a danger to the predator. At the same time this protects the porcupine’s belly, the most vulnerable part of the animal. Should it be attacked, the porcupine charges at the predator. The quills are released into the attacker’s skin and the more it tries to move, the further they dislodge and burrow deep, thanks to the barbs at the end of each spike.
Skin The skin colour varies in hue, ranging from yelloworange rust – which is rather smelly thanks to the wax-like substance from the sebaceous glands – to a brown-black tone.
The howler monkey packs one of the loudest cries in the animal kingdom © Getty, Thinkstock, Nature Picture Library, Corbis, Alamy, Adrian Pungstone, Brandon Oh
The noise they make can be deafening – hence their name – but thankfully for other animals it only goes on for nine hours a day Living in the canopy of the rainforest, high up in the trees, the howler monkey looks like most other primates. Before it opens its mouth, that is. Howler monkeys have extra-large hyoid bones and larynxes enabling them to make the loudest of noises that, at over 100 decibels, can even be louder than African elephants and lions. With their voices carrying for miles, these monkeys are able to send out a message that they’re around, while
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equally telling other animals to keep away. They’ll hang around in groups of up to 30 and you can only imagine the noise they make when they all howl. Their prehensile tails can grip trees, as well as pick fruit and nuts. With sensitive noses, they’re able to sniff out food that’s far away from their location, often up to two kilometres (1.2 miles) away. Heavy sleepers, while they remain active in the morning and evening, they spend 15 hours each day resting.
With quills that stick out of their bodies by as much as 6.5 centimetres (2.6 inches), the Brazilian porcupines are rodents to be feared – if only because any would-be attacker is likely to feel the wrath of spiny protection. Some may confuse porcupines with hedgehogs, but they are very different. For a start hedgehogs build nests beneath vegetation, they feature fewer and shorter quills that can’t detach and they also remain on the ground, none of which is true of porcupines. Living across the north of South America, the Brazilian porcupines love living among the trees, which they make their home. Only a tiny proportion of their lives – 15 per cent – are spent outside of the trees. With plenty of food and an ability to use their tails to hang from branches, they don’t just find more than enough to keep them alive, but they’re also able get around the difficult environment with ease. Porcupines tend to live alone or in small groups at most and, since they’re nocturnal, spend most of their days resting in the shade of the rainforest canopy or inside hollow trees, high up off the floor of the forest where they’d be vulnerable to prey. These creatures are also shy. Even the parents of young porcupines don’t stay close to their brood, certainly at night. From an early age, non-protective parents leave their young to avoid danger for themselves, which stands them in good stead in adulthood.
HOWLER MONKEY Alouatta caraya Class Mammalia
Territory Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay Diet Leaves, fruit and flowers Lifespan 20 years Adult weight 4-10kg / 8.822lbs Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
© KLEIN & HUBERT / WWF
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Snow leopards have survived in the Himalayas for thousands of years. But right now, there are as few as 300 left in Nepal. The harsh reality is that they’re being slaughtered by poachers for their bones and precious fur – and they urgently need your help if they are to live on.
What’s more, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you’re helping us to train and equip courageous anti-poaching rangers. And you’ll discover what it takes – and how it feels – to help save a species.
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ANG001084
Endangered
Siberian tiger SIBERIAN TIGER Panthera tigris altaica Class Mammalia
Territory Russia, China Diet Deer, wild boar, bears, elk, rabbits, hares Lifespan 20-35 years Adult weight 300kg / 660lbs Conservation status
ENDANGERED
Once one of the most numerous tiger on the planet, the magnificent Siberian tiger has been hunted by humans to the brink of extinction, reduced to less than 40 individuals at one point. Now, with protection in law, the population has recovered to around 500, but this is still under severe threat
“Poaching continues unabated in large parts of Russia and China, causing 80 per cent of known Siberian tiger deaths each year”
Threats to the species Poaching Despite being outlawed, poaching continues unabated in large parts of Russia and China, causing 80 per cent of known Siberian tiger deaths each year. The poachers keep hunting in order to sell the animal’s skin and organs, which both fetch high prices on the exotic animal black market.
Habitat loss Consistent logging – both legal and illegal – as well as unbridled human development and domestic animal grazing, has seen the Siberian tiger’s natural habitat segmented and destroyed. This has led to increased isolation of the species, with the reclusive animal driven further and further into what little wilderness remains.
Prey depletion One of the biggest causes of tiger population decline is the rapid depletion of its prey base, with humans both legally and illegally hunting its natural food sources. The two biggest losses are deer and wild boar, however everything from rabbit and hare to fish and elk are being consistently removed at unsustainable rates.
What you can do WWW.AMUR.ORG.UK
There are numerous charities currently working to safeguard the Siberian tiger and its natural habitat. The Amur Tiger and Leopard Conservation is one of the most notable, with its website listing lots of information about the species and ways to get involved in conservation efforts.
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Siberian tiger Decreasing numbers Once prolific across the far east of Russia, Siberian tiger numbers are now measly
Jo Cook, Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance The co-ordinator for this vital conservation organisation explains how you can get involved in protecting these vulnerable big cats
Russia
China
1850
Estimated number of animals left in this country:
Estimated number of animals left in this country:
Estimated total animal population in the mid-19th century:
380
20
1,000
Could you explain your role at ALTA? I am the ALTA co-ordinator, so I’m responsible for generating funds from members of the public, businesses and zoos to send to our projects in the Russian far east and China. I liaise with our implementing agencies, which are Phoenix Fund, Zoological Society of London (ZSL), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Wildlife Vets International (WVI), ensuring that they submit appropriate project proposals to us and that the projects we fund are making a real difference to Amur tiger and leopard conservation. I also keep our Facebook, Twitter pages and our website up-to-date so people know what’s happening. Essentially I do everything that needs to be done to keep ALTA running! Could you provide an example of an Amur tiger conservation project ALTA is currently involved with? Many of the projects ALTA funds involve an element of anti-poaching work. This includes training in specialist soware… and collecting data from anti-poaching patrols. [This data could include] distances covered by foot, 4x4 and snowmobile, where the patrol was conducted and if any violations were uncovered. [Other data collected would include the number of] poachers apprehended, activity spotted, snares collected and so on. This information can then help determine how future patrols should be carried out, which areas should be targeted and at what times. Since these mechanisms have been in place, more poaching violations have been recorded and more poachers have been caught. The anti-poaching work can also be more low-key, by providing appropriate clothing for the guards, fuel and spare parts for the vehicles, or simply employing more people to carry out the patrols.
Territory in 1800 Territory in 2014
Historically the Siberian tiger could be found throughout the entire Russian far east, the Korean peninsula and large swathes of north-east China, with perhaps more than 1,000 individuals maintaining a healthy population. Today this traditional range has been reduced to just small fragmented groups in the Russian Sikhote-Alin mountain range and miniscule pockets of China. Rumour has it that some tigers may now exist in Korea, however this has never been independently verified.
For more on ALTA’s activities and ways you can donate, please visit the organisation’s website at: www.altaconservation.org
© Corbis
The decreasing habitat
How can our readers best get involved in protecting Amur tigers? The best way to get involved in Amur tiger conservation is to raise awareness of their situation and inspire others to help. If possible, raise funds for projects protecting them in the wild and donate them to an organisation such as ALTA (information can be found on our website on how to donate). Also, never purchase something that may be derived from tigers, such as traditional Chinese medicine, tiger bone wine and tigerskin rugs.
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This formidable predator of the sky fearlessly plucked prey from the mountains and struck fear into the hearts of locals
Small stretch A relatively small wingspan for their size was a help, not a hindrance. An approximate length of around 2.6 metres (8.5 feet) meant easier hunting in dense scrubland.
Big flier Their sheer size (about 1.4 metres or 4.6 feet long) was a response to the size of its main prey – even larger flightless birds.
“The fearless antics of this air-bound predator struck fear into people”
Hefty tail The tail was long and broad to compensate for smaller wings and provide additional li.
Death from above With an attack speed of up to 80 kilometres (50 miles) per hour, Haast’s eagle would seize its prey with one talon and kill with a blow to the neck with the other.
The largest eagle ever, Haast’s eagle was a ferocious beast that patrolled the skies of New Zealand. The fearless antics of this air-bound predator struck fear into the Maori people. According to legend, the birds (referred to as pouakai) would kill humans and tales of them swooping small children from the mountains added to their fierce reputation. Most estimates place females (the larger of the species) in the range of 10 to 15 kilograms (22 to 33 pounds) and males at around 9 to 12 kilograms (20 to 26 pounds). Their total length was around 1.4 metres (4.6 feet). The eagle’s wingspan was small in comparison with its size and grown females typically spread up to 2.6
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metres (8.5 feet). Their wings were broad and powerful – perfect for hunting in the dense plantation of New Zealand. With strong, long talons, Haast’s eagle would scoop prey, hooking its victim with one foot and striking a fatal blow with the other. The front-left talon’s length was about five centimetres (two inches), while the hallux-claw was even longer. An apex predator, this majestic creature preyed on flightless birds larger than even itself. This mainly included various species of moa, but both became locked in an evolutionary size-off over millions of years. The moa was eventually hunted so much (mainly by man) that very soon the end was nigh for Haast’s eagle as well.
Last seen… Date: 1400 Location: South Island, New Zealand When early human settlers hunted the eagle’s primary food source, moa, into extinction, sightings became rarer. Trusted and noted explorer Charles Edward Douglas claimed he shot and ate two of them at the Landsborough River Valley in 1870, but rumours of their continued existence were soon put to bed when the identification of the birds conflicted with local Maori beliefs. They insisted the bird died out long before Douglas’ expedition and were backed up by fossil specimens confirming the birds were extinct long before the explorer’s claims.
© Alan Batley Illustration; freevectormaps.com
South Island, New Zealand
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The incredible journey of
Pacific bluefin tuna A fish built to break records, the Pacific bluefin is robust and equipped to take on all the ocean’s perils. Their beautifully streamlined bodies and 07 Calmer waters fantastically high-powered muscle system The fish return home to the same western-Pacific waters where they makes the species one of the fastest were born. Once they reach adulthood, they stay in the western Pacific for the fish in the Pacific Ocean rest of their lives. PACIFIC BLUEFIN TUNA Thunnus orientalis Class Actinopterygii
Territory Pacific waters, coasts of Japan and North America Diet Squid, herring, mackerel Lifespan 15-30 years Adult weight Up to 450kg / 1,000lbs Conservation status
01 Three main spawning grounds Pacific bluefin tuna start off their lives from one of only three spawning grounds located off the coasts of Japan. These are found in the East China Sea, the Sea of Japan and in the Pacific waters just off the island of Shikoku. Japan Pacific Ocean
LEAST CONCERN
Highly prized tuna In addition to being the largest, bluefin are the most highly prized tuna on the Japanese sashimi market. Populations of Atlantic and southern bluefin are now down to less than a quarter of what they used to be in years previous.
China
02 Migration begins The tuna begin a gigantic cross-oceanic migration when they’re just one or two years old. At this point they weigh only 2 to 4.5 kilograms (four to ten pounds), yet these juvenile fish embark on an amazing journey across the globe.
Australia
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03 Dangers of the journey At every stage of their epic 10,000-kilometre (6,000-mile) journey, bluefin tuna are pursued by fishermen. In some parts of the world they’re caught one at a time by local fishermen, but in the vast, open oceans entire schools are scooped up by industrial purse seine nets.
Venturing further afield While historical records indicate that coastal communities in both Japan and western Canada were landing bluefin as early as 3000 BCE, some fish venture further afield to southern waters off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand.
Pacific bluefin tuna RIGHT Sardines and many other smaller fish are oen found on the Pacific bluefin tuna’s menu
The tuna family There are three species of tuna in each of the Pacific, Atlantic and Southern Oceans. Bluefin tuna are the largest, reaching upwards of 680 kilograms (1,500 pounds). They’re known not only for their size, but their impressive migrations, routinely crossing huge ocean basins.
USA
06 Return trip
05 Foraging off the Mexican coast Next the tuna spend two to four years foraging off the Mexican coast. With a broad thermal range, they can adjust to temperatures from the warmth of the Gulf of Mexico to far chillier climates elsewhere.
Around five to seven years after setting off from their hatching sites, the fish begin the long trip back across the Pacific Ocean.
Built to migrate The Pacific bluefin tuna has a streamlined body and a highpowered muscle system that makes it one of the fastest fish in the Pacific Ocean.
Mexico
04 Eastern Pacific
Survival stats ABOVE While near the coastlines of their migration route, the tuna are vulnerable to longline fishermen
97 680 £1 km/h
Kilograms
The impressive speed bluefin tuna can reach
Bluefin tuna can grow to truly huge sizes
Million
Paid for a single 222kg tuna in 2013
© Getty, Aredea, Thinkstock, Corbis
The industrious fish stop at the Baja California coast and search for food in the productive waters of the eastern Pacific. Seeking out schools of fish like herring, mackerel and even eels, bluefin tuna are epic predators. They can use their keen eyesight, the sharpest vision of any bony fish on Earth, to hunt so well.
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All about African elephants
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All About
African elephants The largest living land animal is a gentle giant. With tight social bonds, unbelievably these creatures even share similar emotional attributes to humans Words Laura Mears
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All about African elephants
Anatomy of an African elephant As the largest living land animal, with a weight rivalling that of a family car, the elephant relies on several key adaptations to help it survive on the African plains AFRICAN BUSH ELEPHANT Loxodonta africana Class Mammalia
Territory Sub-Saharan Africa Diet Herbivore Lifespan 70 years Adult weight 2,200-6,350kg / 4,850-14,000lbs Conservation status
VULNERABLE
Skull Elephants consume their entire body weight every 20 days, so their skulls are very large to cope with the huge amount of chewing.
Heart
Trunk
Lungs
This has no bones and contains upwards of 100,000 muscle fascicles. Two projections enable the animal to grasp objects.
The lungs of an elephant are actually attached to the rib cage and diaphragm by a fibrous membrane.
Air holes
Weight-bearing bones
Stomach
The limb bones have no marrow cavity, so instead are solid and positioned almost vertically beneath the elephant, providing maximum load-bearing ability.
Small intestine Liver
Tooth Tusk
Lamellae The teeth are worn away by constant chewing and are replaced five times during the elephant’s lifetime. New sections of tooth, known as lamellae, push forwards from the back of the jaw.
JUVENILE
INFANCY Birth 0 months At 120 kilograms (265 pounds), a newborn African elephant already weighs more than an adult man.
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First steps 30 minutes Aer 22 months curled up in the womb, the calf’s legs are oen bent, but they quickly straighten out to the right shape.
Suckling 0-3 years Male calves suckle more oen than females and the size difference becomes evident within the first couple of years.
Mastering the trunk 1-5 years The trunk is a complex organ, with thousands of muscles and no bones.
MATURITY Weaning 3-5 years Calves continue to suckle until a younger sibling is born. At this point there may be some sibling rivalry.
Sexual maturity 12-14 years Male and female elephants reach sexual maturity in their early teens, but don’t oen mate until their twenties.
African elephants Caecum Kidney
The contents of the intestine are fermented in a bacteria breakdown of tough plant matter, releasing waste products for reabsorption.
Bladder
Thermal exchange Elephants do not sweat, but instead a fine network of capillaries in the ear carries hot blood close to the surface of the skin.
Structural support The spine of an African elephant curves like a suspension bridge to support the weight of its internal organs. The movement of the vertebrae is limited, favouring greater strength over increased flexibility.
Prehensile nose The trunk is sensitive, mobile and well adapted to grasping, this extra appendage enables elephants to breathe, feed and communicate.
Standing on tiptoe The bones of the foot are angled upwards and the elephant walks on five toes.
Heel pad
Ankle
A small fatty pad beneath the heel acts as both a shockabsorber and a light spring.
Intestines The total length of an elephant’s intestines, large and small, can be up to 35 metres (115 feet). The process of digestion takes around 12 hours.
Leaving the herd 12-14 years Male calves don’t remain with their families once they reach adulthood, so instead leave the herd to live alone or in bachelor groups.
Reproduction 20-50 years A female elephant produces a calf every five or six years during her adult life. The bull plays no role in the upbringing.
Toenail
Closest family Closely related to the African bush elephant are…
Ageing 50 + years Elephants can live for up to 70 years in the wild, but females stop bearing calves at around the age of 50, taking on the role of grandmother.
Asian elephant The Asian elephant is smaller than its African cousin and generally weigh about a ton less. Despite their smaller size, the tusks are still highly sought aer, resulting in illegal poaching. This has drastically reduced their numbers.
Woolly mammoth Just like the African elephant, the woolly mammoth was a keystone species. When they died out at the end of the last ice age, the grasslands they inhabited were quickly overrun by vast birch forests, leading to huge, lethal forest fires.
Hyrax These small mammals are some of the closest living relatives of the elephant. Both are descended from a common ancestor – some of whom took to the water, while others stayed on land, resulting in the modern-day hyrax.
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All about African elephants
Life in the herd Elephants develop unbreakable bonds within family groups, baby-sitting one another’s young and passing down life-learned rituals
Solitary male When male elephants mature, they leave their family herd and travel between groups of females in order to maximise their chances of fathering a calf.
A leafy diet Eating almost any vegetation in their path, 100 per cent of an elephant’s diet consists of many plant species. An average male eats 150 kilograms (330 pounds) per day.
The matriarch Elephant society revolves around a single dominant female. As the eldest female in the group, the matriarch is a skilled mother who can have over 50 years of experience of the local environment. Her knowledge of water sources, migration routes and feeding grounds is vital to the survival of the herd, passed down through the generations.
Young calf Calves remain close to their mothers for protection. If the pair becomes separated from the rest of the group, they remain in constant contact using low-frequency rumbles.
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African elephants Lions look for calves While the African elephant has no natural predators, some desperate big cats may try their hand at taking a stray elephant calf. Some lion prides will prey on juveniles during the drought months.
Shared responsibility Aunts, sisters and grandmothers all care for the calves. They often cluster around at the birth of a newborn and work together to shield their vulnerable young from threats.
Social bonds Female elephants remain with their family for life and develop strong bonds with their mother, sisters, aunts and nieces. They gather around to share important moments, such as the birth of a calf, and remain in regular communication with low-frequency sound. After even short periods of separation, elephants greet one another affectionately by touching trunks.
Living alongside others The watering hole doesn’t just attract the elephant herd, as other animals take advantage of the site. They do so with extra caution, as the area is a hot spot for predators lying in wait.
“The matriarch is a skilled mother who can have over 50 years of experience of the local environment” 33
All about African elephants
Inside the minds of giants The intricate social structure of an elephant herd is made up of strong emotional attachments that continue even after death
BELOW Dust baths help elephants to keep their skin free from parasites
African elephants are intelligent, social animals, living in close family units of related females and their young. Each herd is led by a matriarch – the oldest and most experienced member of the group. Female elephants remain with their families for their entire lives and over time the knowledge of the matriarch is passed to the younger members of the group. This kind of cultural learning has enabled migration routes to be remembered for generations. Compacted tracks of one to two metres (three to six feet) wide, and tens of kilometres long, scar the African landscape. Social bonding is extremely important within herds of elephants and, even when separated, families remain in constant contact with one another using a series of low-frequency rumbling sounds. Some are audible to the human ear, but the farthestreaching are infrasonic and can travel distances of up to five kilometres (3.1 miles). Elephants also have a keen sense of smell, raising their trunks to identify scents travelling on the wind. When reunited after a period of separation, elephants use their trunks to gently touch and smell one another. African elephants aren’t territorial and families travel great distances to find food and water, with a home
range of between 15 and 1,500 square kilometres (six to 580 square miles). The ranges of different herds often overlap and separate groups will form social attachments, occasionally travelling together. These groups are even able to recognise one another after long periods apart. Occasionally very large herds of 500 to 1,000 individuals come together, particularly during migration. The top priority of an elephant herd is water – an elephant must drink 200 litres (44 gallons) of water every day. They also have fantastic memories and in times of drought the matriarch of the herd can lead her family to remote watering holes that they haven’t visited in years. Elephants are most active in the cooler hours around dawn and dusk, spending most of their time eating. They’re also hugely destructive and a herd can rapidly decimate vast areas of vegetation, making visible alterations to the landscape; a 45-centimetre (18-inch) tree trunk can be felled with just a gentle push. During the hottest part of the day, African elephants will often seek shade, standing motionless with their eyes closed to prevent overheating. They also wallow in water, dust and mud, using their trunks to spray their bodies and allowing evaporation to cool their skin. The coating of dried mud left behind provides some protection from sunburn and can be used as an exfoliator to dislodge parasites from the skin. They don’t sleep until the early hours of the morning and spend just four hours resting, either standing, or lying on their sides. This is to avoid crushing their lungs under their huge weight.
“The matriarch can lead her family to remote watering holes that they haven’t visited in years”
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African elephants
He who wins, mates How courtship rituals and a group mentality ensure the survival of this giant mammal When male calves mature, at around the age of 12, they leave the family group. Some become solitary, while others join bachelor males, banding together for security. Males establish a hierarchy within these groups,
lightly sparring with their tusks and grunting to display their dominance. Once a year a male elephant’s testosterone levels rise, making him excitable and aggressive. Sparring may escalate to fighting during this time and although serious fights are uncommon, the sharp tusks can inflict fatal damage. Males mate more during this period, but will search for females throughout the year, moving through different family groups. Female African elephants enter their fertile period once every four months, but are only receptive to mating for a few days, so
Anything (vegetation) goes African elephants will eat almost any vegetation in their path An average male African elephant eats 150kg
/ 330lbs of
food per day
That’s a huge
it’s down to the male to be able to identify the short window of fertility. Females use a special call to alert nearby males, while the bulls themselves respond to chemical signals. Elephant calves can be conceived all year, but the peak time is just after the rains. Unlike many animals, female elephants don’t retreat to the safety of a nest to give birth. Instead, the herd gathers around to protect and assist, helping to free the calf and lift it to its feet. This co-operation continues as the calf grows up and if the infant is threatened, the rest of the herd will step in, protecting it with their legs, or lifting it to safety.
Mourning the dead The reaction of elephants to the bones of their own species is unique in the animal kingdom We may think that burial rituals and rites separate us humans from the rest of the Animal Kingdom, but it seems elephants also mourn their dead. Not only do they pause to quietly examine the bones of other elephants, but when a family member dies, elephants appear to be agitated and often stand guard over the body. This can sometimes go on for several days at a time, suggesting a grieving period.
3% of its body weight.
100% of their diet consists of many species of plant – elephants are not fussy.
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All about African elephants
The first few weeks on the plains An elephant calf’s initial tiny steps are vital to its later development Elephant herds are constantly on the move, trekking back and forth between feeding grounds and water sources. When a calf is born, it’s vital that it’s able to keep up with the herd. Elephant young spend nearly two years in the womb and by the end of pregnancy they’re heavier than an adult man. As a result, during the last few months before birth, they have little room to stretch out and are often born with bent legs. With a little help from their mothers, aunts and older siblings, calves are quickly able to find their feet and most are up and walking within the first half an hour following the birth.
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African elephants
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All about African elephants
Surviving the savannah Elephants once roamed across the entire continent of Africa, but the species is now restricted to around 35 states south of the Sahara desert. As a species, they’re surprisingly adaptable and can be found in a variety of habitats, from the rich grasslands of the Okavango Delta, to the arid deserts of Namibia. In the 1930s there were an estimated three million elephants in Africa, but excessive hunting for tusks, meat and skins resulted in a huge decline in numbers. By 1985, 1,000 tons of ivory were being exported from Africa each year, so in an effort to preserve the elephant the international ivory trade was banned in 1989. In spite of this, illegal poaching still continues and an estimated eight per cent of the elephant population is killed every year. Most ivory is exported to Asia, ending up as ornaments or jewellery sold to international tourists. The conservation of the African elephant is of huge importance to the biosphere, as it’s a keystone species, shaping the environment and making changes vital to the survival of other life in the area. During times of drought they use their
tusks to dig into the ground, exposing water hidden below the surface. Their enormous appetites clear swathes of trees and shrubs from the savannah, making space for grasses that feed grazing animals such as gazelle. African elephants ingest huge quantities of vegetation, eating seeds and travelling for several kilometres before depositing them on the ground. 90 species of tree in Africa are known to rely on elephants for propagation. With the creatures’ bodies weighing more than a car, even just walking across the ground has an affect on the ecosystem, disturbing insects and providing an easy meal for waiting birds.
Environmental factors The African elephant is a vulnerable species
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The ivory trade There has been a global ban on international ivory sales for decades, but there’s still a high demand for elephant tusks. Illegal poaching is still a huge threat to their survival.
Human conflict Expansion of settlements across Africa has brought elephants into contact with humans. They can cause damage to property and have been known to kill or injure people.
Habitat loss An estimated two thirds of African elephant’s habitat disappeared between 1979 and 2007, restricting their range and exposing previously protected areas to poachers.
Climate change Africa is vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The average temperature has risen by almost a degree over the last century and is expected to rise even further.
Retracing footsteps Elephants are known to revisit the exact same places year on year, cutting vast pathways across the African plains.
The African elephant and humans The majority of African elephant habitats are unprotected, so migration routes have been fragmented by farmland and infrastructure. Wild elephants living in protected areas pose little threat, but when these gentle giants come into contact with human settlements they can cause significant damage. Elephants can be hugely destructive, uprooting trees and trampling buildings. The impact that this has on small villages, particularly during periods of famine or drought, can be significant, so
despite their status as a vulnerable species, problem elephants are often shot and killed. In Kenya alone, 50 to 120 elephants are lost every year to human conflict. Conservation measures are being introduced in an effort to limit trouble between humans and elephants. In some countries farmers are encouraged to leave safe wildlife corridors, allowing elephants to travel without crossing onto humaninhabited land. In other places natural elephant deterrents, such as chilli and tobacco, keep the animals away.
Nearest neighbours The African elephant is one of the big five most challenging game, prized by trophy-hunters
Black rhinoceros Black rhinos are prized for their horns, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine and to make handles for ceremonial daggers. The species is Critically Endangered as a result of widespread hunting.
Follow the lead The herd are totally reliant on the matriarch and will follow her to find water.
Cape buffalo Weighing over 700 kilograms (1,500 pounds) and with huge curved horns, this buffalo is large and unpredictable. It’s arguably the most dangerous of the big five, thought to kill around 200 people every year.
Elephants inspire some of our best-loved characters Dumbo In the 1941 Disney film of the same name, Dumbo is an elephant calf who is mocked by the rest of the circus animals for his uncharacteristically large ears.
“Illegal poaching still continues and an estimated eight per cent of the elephant population is killed every year”
Horton In Horton Hears a Who! by Dr. Seuss, Horton the elephant discovers a microscopic world on a single speck of dust floating through the air. This turns out to be Whoville. Ganesha Ganesha is a widely worshipped deity across Jains, Buddhists, and beyond India. As the god of beginnings, he’s the patron of arts and sciences as well as the deva of intellect and wisdom.
African leopard The smallest of the big cats is elusive and highly adaptable. However, a combination of habitat loss, persecution by humans and trophyhunting is taking its toll on the species and numbers are declining.
© Alamy, Corbis, Thinkstock, Trarcaycy O, N A Nazeer, Getty, Peter Scott/ The Art Agency
In our culture
African lion The lion is the second-largest of the big cats aer the tiger and is one of Africa’s most powerful predators. A team of lionesses can tackle prey as large as an adult buffalo, taking it down with deadly efficiency.
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Life cycle of…
Seahorses COMMON SEAHORSE Hippocampus kuda Class Actinopterygll
Territory Shallow tropical waters and coral reefs Diet Tiny fish, brine shrimp, plankton Lifespan 2-6 years Adult weight 4-10g / 0.140.35oz Conservation status
VULNERABLE
Monogamous and majestic, seahorses share a unique relationship where the male is the one to get pregnant. They perform unbelievable courtship rituals, changing colour and entwining their tails with their prospective mate. Once paired, the two remain together for life Adult 6-14 weeks Male seahorses can mate again only hours after they give birth, becoming pregnant at nearly any time during the breeding season.
Juvenile 4-6 weeks Young undergo only small changes after birth – body proportions change and some emerge with a small fin.
Courtship The courting ritual of seahorses is spectacular, lasting several days. It involves dancing, entwining tails and changing colour. Sometimes males compete for the attention of a female, or vice versa.
Newborn Males produce around 100 to 200 young, each measuring around seven millimetres (0.28 inches). They’ll oen grasp floating or static objects.
Greeks and Romans believed the seahorse was a symbol of strength and power
© Sarah Doyle; The Art Agency, Thinkstock
Birth Giving birth can be a long process for the male, with contractions lasting up to 12 hours. When the brood leaves the pouch, it returns to its normal size.
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Egg transfer The breeding pair face each other belly-to-belly so the female can deposit her eggs into the male’s pouch, where he can fertilise them. They are then embedded in his pouch wall where a spongy tissue surrounds and protects them.
Pregnancy 20-28 days Although the male carries the eggs, the female provides the starting nutrients for the pregnancy conditions.
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20 Amazing facts Owls
The elf owl is the smallest in the world, weighing just over 30 grams (an ounce) and is 12.7 centimetres (five inches) high.
With their stupefying sight and terrifying talons, owls are top predators. Discover more about these feathered wonders in this owl fact-fest They have a killer grip The great horned owl is thought to have a stronger grip than a gymnast on the rings, enabling it to squeeze prey to death.
Various owl species make different sounds so they can all tell one another apart for mating. The great grey owl can hear a beetle running through grass from 30 metres (100 feet) away and can hear a mouse squeak from 0.8 kilometres (half a mile) away. An owl’s foot has two toes facing forwards and two facing backwards. It’s designed to hold prey and is described as zygodactyl.
They can stop their own blood circulation In order to bend their neck so far, owls have blood-pooling systems that can cut off circulation. Some have alternative blood vessel routing and cushioned vessels to prevent them from breaking during extreme movements.
An owl bobs its head to sharpen its senses. The movement helps the owl to bring its surroundings into focus. 42
xxxxxxxxxxx Owls Their eyeballs are actually tube-shaped
Special fringing on an owl’s feathers make them virtually silent in flight, enabling the bird to swoop in on unsuspecting prey.
Like most predatory animals, owls’ eyes are on the front of their faces rather than either side. Shaped more like tubes than balls, they’re so big that they almost touch each other inside the creature’s head. Because owls operate in low light, the cornea is incredibly large in proportion to the size of the eye, helping to let more light in.
Owls have three sets of eyelids: one for blinking, one for sleeping and one for cleaning and protecting the eyes. They can turn their heads 270 degrees Owls can turn their heads this far thanks to 14 neck vertebrae, ensuring they can hunt for prey in a greater range without moving their body, so they make less noise.
Owls have good hearing and can even hear their prey moving under the ground. The barn owl has stiff facial disc feathers around its eyes to funnel sound to the ears.
An owl’s stomach can’t digest bones and skin, so the pieces go into the gizzard to be regurgitated and spat out as pellets once a day. Owl ears are often asymmetrical to increase the accuracy of their hearing.
They may look like little wobbly balls of fluff, but these creatures have a dark side. An owl’s eggs hatch over a period of days, so some are born a while before others. This means that if the larger ones get peckish, they will simply eat the younger, weaker ones as a little snack. A non-carnivore In a freak occurrence among owls, which are carnivorous, the burrowing owl actually adds fruits and seed parts to its diet.
From above, barn owls are speckled brown to look like the ground and from below they’re pale in order to blur in with the sky. An owl’s beak curves downwards, which helps maintain a clear line of sight.
There are 200 different species
© Thinkstock, Nature Picture Library, Corbis
Thin, hairlike feathers on their feet and around their beaks act like feelers.
Owls can be cannibals
The hundreds of owl species can be broken down into two main types: barn owls and true owls, with the former often being darker on the back than the front.
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Wildlife of the rock pool
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Wildlife of the rock pool Pools of water, left in the crevices and cavities of rocks, are teeming with wildlife capable of adapting to one of the harshest environments Words Alicea Francis
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Wildlife of the rock pool Think of a rock pool and you’ll probably think jelly shoes, fishing nets and grazed knees. These little pools of water, left in the crevices and cavities of rocks when the tide draws back, are a favourite among young naturalists, and for good reason. Though the calm and often sunny shores may seem like perfect havens for marine wildlife, these coastline ecosystems are extremely complex. The constant changes in temperature and salinity, as well as a lack of oxygen, can make them very harsh environments indeed. Pools higher up are prone to drying out, while lower ones may remain totally submerged for long periods of time. So, while the crabs and minnows in those colourful plastic buckets may not seem all that exciting compared with the beasts of the savannah or the birds of the rainforest, these creatures have had to adapt in many weird and wonderful ways in order to survive. Take the sea anemone. These jelly-like creatures are extraordinarily well adapted to surviving in varying conditions. When exposed to air at low tide, the brightly coloured polyps retain moisture by closing their mouths and tucking in their tentacles. If conditions become too extreme or they’re attacked by predators, they can slide along the rocks in order to find safer ground, even completely detaching themselves and inflating their bodies to float away with the current. There’s another more-unusual tactic that sea anemones have developed for getting around, as young individuals will attach themselves to the shells of hermit crabs and the two will become partners for life. Hermit crabs are unique in that they shop around for shells rather than grow their own and when they outgrow one they will often take the anemone with them. Some anemone will even grow large enough to cover the crab’s entire shell, so that they never have to move to a new home. You may be wondering why the hermit crab and anemone would ever agree to this unique arrangement. In fact, it’s a type of symbiotic relationship, in which both the
animals benefit equally from each other. Though they may look harmless, sea anemones’ tentacles contain venom strong enough to give a nasty sting to humans and paralyse small prey. These are triggered by even the slightest touch and fire a harpoonlike filament into their victim, injecting a neurotoxin. So, by carrying an anemone on its back, the hermit crab gains protection from predators and in return the sluggish anemone gets to eat the crab’s leftovers. Hermit crabs aren’t the only crustaceans that have found a home among the rocks. You might not have thought it, but those knobbly barnacles that cover rock faces are actually related to crabs and lobsters. Often the guilty party in scrapes and scratches, these shelled animals permanently attach themselves to hard surfaces, either by
ABOVE Mudskippers are unique by being happy in and out of water, filling their large gills with water to survive low tide RIGHT Jewel anemones come in a variety of vibrant colours, with each individual featuring around 100 tentacles, the tips of which are also a vivid tone
“These creatures have had to adapt in many weird and wonderful ways” Rock pools at risk These delicate underwater havens face a number of man-made threats The most common dangers to rock pool ecosystems are humans. They are popular tourist attractions, but with so many holidaymakers keen to explore them, organisms are oen disturbed, stepped on and even removed from their watery habitats. Pollution is also a major threat to the intertidal zone. Chemicals and particles from industrial, agricultural and residential waste can end up in the ocean. When these tiny particles are taken in by plankton and concentrated upwards through the ocean food chain, the contamination can destroy flora and fauna, resulting in a drastic reduction in marine wildlife. Oil spills are particularly devastating, as when the black tar-like substance is washed up on the shore, it can destroy anything in its path.
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Five amazing animals from the rock pool Unlikely carnivore Whelk These marine snails eat crustaceans, molluscs, worms and even other whelks by drilling holes through shells with their radula.
Most adapted Mudskipper
BELOW The beadlet anemone’s tentacles contain a potent venom
Mudskippers are amphibious fish and can survive out of water by filling their over-sized gill chambers with water, creating a makeshi oxygen tank.
BELOW Cuttlefish are experts at blending in with their surroundings
Strongest bill Turnstone These chunky birds have strong necks and bills, which they use to turn over stones on the beach in search of a meal.
Multiple homeowner Hermit crab
growing their shells directly onto them or via stalks. They are protected by several calcareous plates that form a volcano-like cover. When the tide comes in, the barnacles open up the top two plates to reveal feathery feeding legs, which they then use to direct plankton into their mouths. When the tide goes back out, they can close these plates to retain water until the next high tide. Barnacles regularly have to compete with limpets – a type of marine gastropod – for space on the rocks. The larger limpets will either bulldoze the barnacles off with their shells, or push them off with their tentacles. By multiplying rapidly and swamping the rock surfaces, barnacles stand a much better chance of survival. They can also grow quickly, enabling them to reach much higher levels of the water column than their competitors and making them more able to hold their ground. The common blenny fish has also developed a clever method for dealing with the trying conditions on the
shoreline. Otherwise known as sea frogs, these fish have a thick layer of slime rather than scales. If caught out of water between tides, this slime helps to keep the fish’s skin moist, meaning that it can continue to breathe as usual. Common blenny will even voluntarily expose themselves to air and can often be found basking on the rocks at low tide. They will then jump back into the water if disturbed, just like a frog. These fish can also change the colour of their skin to match their environment, helping them to successfully hide from predators.
See it for yourself
WWW.WEMBURYMARINECENTRE.ORG
Unlike most crustaceans, these crabs have very so shells, so protect themselves from predators by grabbing empty shells belonging to other sea creatures.
Most resilient Starfish Starfish can regenerate their limbs and in some cases their entire bodies. This is because most or all of their vital organs are in their arms.
The rocky shores of Wembury in Devon, UK, are a magnet for marine wildlife. Wembury Marine Centre’s Rockpool Rambling tours run from April to September each year and give visitors an insight into the world beneath the waves. You can spot crabs, starfish, anemones and more.
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Wildlife of the rock pool
Life on the shoreline From the opportunistic birds that hobble over the rocks in search of easy pickings, to the secretive creatures that bury themselves deep beneath the sand, the rock pools of the world are rippling with all manner of strange and beautiful life
Cuttlefish
Jellyfish Among over 3,000 species of jellyfish, only a handful feature in rock pools.
Too close for comfort Barnacles, limpets and mussels all compete for space on the precious rock face of the pools. Limpets will push barnacles off with their strong limbs, while barnacles tend to use a swamping technique, multiplying rapidly and growing quickly in order to resist being displaced by their rivals.
Mussels Kelp
Goby
Ragworm Sea slater These marine woodlice keep our shores tidy by eating dead plant and animal matter.
Plaice The colour and markings of this flat fish help to camouflage it against the seabed.
Mudskipper These amphibious fish can breathe through their skin, so can survive out of water as long as they stay moist, which is why they’re only found in more-humid climates. They can use their pectoral fins to walk about on land.
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Velvet swimming crab
Acorn barnacle
Skate egg case
Turnstone These birds use their powerful bills to search for food among the rocks.
Wildlife of the rock pool Fish out of water Higher rock pools are prone to drying out , so the creatures living within them must be well adapted to survive both in and out of the water.
Limpet
Oystercatcher These birds smash or pry open molluscs to get to the fleshy creatures inside.
Ocean drifters +LLKăÈCIIVȯăPF Jellyfish are boneless, heartless and brainless, so it’s not surprising that these mesmerising creatures put very little effort into getting from A to B. Instead, they float along with the current, staying near the surface in order to ensnare prey below.
Beadlet anemone
Oyster
Common blenny fish
Rock gunnel These eel-like fish hide among the algae to protect themselves from stalking predators.
Hermit crab
Sea urchin
Sea cucumber
Cuttlefish bone
Scallop Brown crab
The burrowers Have you ever noticed piled coils of sand on the beach at low tide? These are tell-tale signs that a marine worm has been busy burrowing away. Lugworms are among of the most common and survive beneath the sand by creating waves of contractions along their body, driving a current of water through their burrow.
Blue mussel
Starfish These creatures have the unique ability to regenerate entirely just from one of their five limbs, which contain many of their key organs.
When the tide comes in, the common mussel will open its shell slightly to allow plankton-filled water to flood in. When the tide goes back out, they avoid dehydration by closing tightly shut. If it’s ever left exposed to air, the mussel will pass water over its gills in order to breathe.
Chameleons of the sea "RQQICȯăPF Cuttlefish are sly predators and can sneak up on their prey almost unnoticed. This is thanks to their remarkable ability to adapt the colour, pattern and even texture of their skin to match their environment. The tentacled fish have pigment cells covering their body, which are surrounded by bands of muscles like spokes on a wheel. By contracting or relaxing these muscles, cuttlefish can expose or conceal different colour layers, enabling them to blend in seamlessly with the rock, sand and silt.
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© DK Images, Rex features, Thinkstock, Derek Harper
Painted topshell
Meet the family
Bats The only mammal capable of true flight, bat species vary from the scary and ugly, to the cute and just plain strange
Hammer-headed bat Also known as the big-lipped bat Probably the strangest-looking bat, Hypsignathus monstrosus, gets its common name from a long head and fat, blunt muzzle, making it look more like that giant South American rodent the capybara. This is peculiar to the male of the species, who use this head size to make resonant, honking calls to females. The females have much more fox-like features typical of this suborder, but as megabats both sexes can also reach large proportions. This species of fruit bat prefers to chew its meals until all the juice has been drained, before spitting the pulp out. Because fruit tends to be low in protein, the hammer-headed bat has a fast metabolism that enables it to consume a large amount of food in just a single sitting.
GIANT LEAF-NOSED BAT Hipposideros gigas Class Mammalia
Territory Western Africa Diet Beetles and other insects Lifespan 12+ years Adult weight 40-180g / 1.4-6.3oz Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
HAMMER-HEADED BAT Hypsignathus monstrosus Class Mammalia
Territory Central and western Africa Diet Figs, bananas, mangoes Lifespan 30 years Adult weight up to 450g / 15.9oz Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
Giant leafnosed bat Eye-catching, for all the wrong reasons The giant leaf-nosed bat is one of the largest species in a group of bats that possesses a leaf-shaped nose – a group that the common vampire bat belongs to, incidentally. They use a high-frequency, low-intensity echolocation to track flying beetles up to 20 metres (66 feet) away through the canopy of their treetop habitat to the ground, where the most choice insects can be found. These bats may fall foul to certain birds of prey and, while roosting, to snakes and other mammals. Otherwise they have very few natural predators and face their biggest threat from man, typically through hunting and destruction of habitat.
COMMON VAMPIRE BAT Desmodus rotundus
© Alamy; Thinkstock
Class Mammalia
Nasal apparatus This bat, like other leaf-nosed creatures, emits ultrasonic pulses with its nostrils, rather than through its mouth.
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Big nose Enlarged vocal chords and lips within the huge head enable the male to boom at females.
Territory Mexico, Central and South America Diet Blood Lifespan up to 12 years Adult weight 57g / 2oz Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
Common vampire bat The most infamous bat in the world For such tiny creatures, these bats have a near-legendary reputation. Sometimes congregating in colonies of thousands of individuals, they’re broadly altruistic among their own kind, spreading the burden of feeding young and parenting across the colony. Vampire bats have relatively good eyesight as Heat sensor well as excellent senses The nose contains of smell and hearing, a heat sensor that enables it to locate which they use to locate its prey’s veins. livestock as well as large wild mammals. A colony of around 100 vampire bats can drain the equivalent of 25 cows’ worth of blood in a year.
Bats
Greater bulldog bat
GREATER BULLDOG BAT Noctilio Leporinus Class Mammalia
This large bat has a remarkable wingspan for its size, which is over two and a half times the length of its head and body, with a third digit that makes up nearly two-thirds of that span. Roosting for most of the day, it tends to come out during twilight and late afternoon in the coastal, estuarine and riverbank locations where it hunts. While fishing as a means of feeding isn’t exclusive to this species of bat, there are few that are as adept at it as the greater bulldog bat. It flies high in the air and targets its prey with echolocations, swooping down on fish, crustaceans and other aquatic creatures. It will also rake its feet across the surface of the water where fish are jumping.
11 Territory Mexico, central and South America, the Caribbean Diet Fish, insects Lifespan Over 11 years Adult weight 50-90g / 1.83.2oz Conservation status
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EASTERN TUBE-NOSED FRUIT BAT Nyctimene robinsoni
Class Mammalia This Australian native belongs to a suborder of bats known as Megachiroptera – or megabats. While this large species measures up to 135 millimetres (around five inches) from head to Territory Eastern Australia tail, members of the fellow megabat suborder Diet Figs, guava, soursop can achieve the weight and size normally Lifespan 30 years associated with much larger mammals. Adult weight 30-50g / 1-1.8oz Conservation status Nyctimene robinsoni tends to roost solo, but will gather in large numbers to feed on their favourite foods high in the trees of eastern LEAST CONCERN Australia’s rainforests. They’re capable of opening and closing their nostrils individually to scan their surroundings with their strong sense of smell.
KITTI’S HOG-NOSED BAT Craseonycteris thonglongyai Class Mammalia
Territory Small regions of Thailand and Burma Diet Insects and arachnids Lifespan 5-10 years Adult weight 2g / 0.07oz Conservation status
VULNERABLE
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LEAST CONCERN
Eastern tube-nosed fruit bat
Strong legs Strong legs, powerful claws and tendons that can lock-out mean this bat can hang upsidedown for long periods.
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Short wings A short wing-to-body ratio enables them to hover for several seconds at a time.
Kitti’s hognosed bat Blink and you’ll miss this tiny creature This small species, which also goes by the name of the bumblebee bat, has a delicate body not much bigger than your thumbnail and an adult wingspan of just over half the span of your outstretched hand. Like other bats they’re nocturnal and prefer to roost in caves, venturing out into the forest at twilight to forage for the insects and bugs they prey upon. Their range is comparatively so limited and they’re so small that this bat wasn’t even discovered until the early 1970s.
1. Deadliest Common vampire bat
3. Largest Megachiroptera bats
These bloody creatures can carry infectious diseases, such as rabies, that are transmitted to the animals they bite.
These megabats can achieve huge wingspans, with adults reaching lengths of 1.7 metres (5.6 feet) or more.
2. Ugliest Giant leaf-nosed bat
4. Smallest Kitti’s hog-nosed bat
While many bats can’t be considered very pretty creatures to look at, the giant leaf-nosed bat’s appendage gives it a truly grim appearance.
Not only is this ugly hog-nosed creature the smallest of the all the known bat species, incredibly it’s also the tiniest mammal alive in the world today.
Yes, it really is a bat Flying fox Pteropus vampyrus The flying fox, or fruit bat, is actually a member of the aptly named megabat suborder (Megachiroptera). It’s the biggest type of bat in the world, with species such as the large flying fox having a wingspan of 1.5 metres (nearly five feet) and more. Given their size and distinctly vulpine heads relative to other bats, you can understand the origin of its common name.
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© Ardea, Corbis, Science Photo Library, Getty, FLPA
A big mammalian flier
The giant of the family
Leg pouch A flap of skin forms a kind of pouch between the greater bulldog bat’s legs, enabling it to scoop up prey. It can also use its wings to swim.
Zoos of the world
Paradise Wildlife Park Get a closer look at one of the most hands-on zoos in Europe
Gibbons If you love monkeys, you can join the Primate Team to care for the two species of the critters living at Paradise.
See it for yourself WWW.PWPARK.COM Location
Paradise Wildlife Park
Hertfordshire, UK
Admission Adults from £13 Children from £8 Concessions from £8
Big cats Check out the beautiful white lions, Siberian tigers, white tiger, cheetahs, ocelot, leopards and more!
How to get there Paradise Wildlife Park is situated 32 kilometres (20 miles) north of London, just off the A10 near to junction 25 of the M25.
ABOVE Park keeper Aaron Whitnall tells us about the family business
Paradise Wildlife Park in Hertfordshire, England, is brimming with beautiful animals, a huge array of educational talks and hands-on encounters. All the staff are passionate about the animals they care for and fiercely dedicated to preserving the longevity of the species in captivity. “We’re a very dedicated, family-run wildlife park,” explains Aaron Whitnall, keeper and member of Paradise’s marketing and media team. “We have an immense passion for our wildlife and we just love to educate as many people as we possibly can.” One of Paradise’s main aims is to get the word out about the animals its team cares for and this is done in one of the most exciting ways possible: real-life and interactive animal encounters. “We started off doing things like Meet the Cubs and that kind of thing,” Whitnall tells us. “This soon grew into what is now the widest range of experiences that any zoo offers in the whole of Europe. We needed to find something that would make a difference, as we have so many other major, amazing zoos around us.” As the most interactive zoo in Europe, alongside these animal encounters there are other countless ways to learn, discover and really get a feel for the animals that Paradise cares for. “We offer a free outreach program to all schools
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Farmyard At the farmyard you can see chickens, goats, pigs and sheep. You can even grab a bag of feed to give the animals some grub.
Paradise Wildlife Park
“We have an immense passion for our wildlife and just love to educate” Wolves The majestic wolf pack of Paradise Wildlife Park are the stars of the Meet the Wolves experience, where visitors can feed them by hand and experience some hairy hands-on interactions.
Penguins African penguins are a cheeky bunch! For an extraspecial penguin encounter, Paradise offers a Feed The Penguins experience, where visitors can prepare tasty treats and give the penguins their dinner.
Woodland On the Woodland Walk you can see all kinds of animals that are from habitats closer to home, such as red foxes, owls and deer.
Meerkat Paradise Park’s number of ever-popular meerkats recently shot up, with the arrival of sextuplets! The six bouncing young were born to proud meerkat mum Twig.
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Zoos of the world Stars of Paradise Wildlife Park Tiger Hand-reared by the zoo’s founder, Peter Sampson, Rocky shares a special bond with his keepers and the Sampson family. He was brought to the zoo as a cub from a private collector and visitors can even feed him his breakfast on one of the zoo’s Big Cat experiences.
Anaconda Optimus Prime makes her home at Paradise and is the largest anaconda on display to the public in the UK. She’s a huge 0.8 metres (2.5 feet) in girth and reaches over five metres (16.5 feet). The snakes coil their bodies around their prey before eating them whole.
within an hour away from us,” Whitnall tells us. “There is an animal talk every 15 minutes. On top of that we have seven daily shows that we deliver, which in their own way really go into the educational side of things. By being so hands-on with the animals, people are also learning about them. Through these experiences and the shows, we are also able to raise money for conservation.” Fundraising events at the zoo are always on the go and the calendar is full to the brim of events that are guaranteed to be a fun day out for visitors, but also to raise some much-needed cash for conservation efforts and zoo breeding programs. Paradise’s own registered charity, the Friends of Paradise Wildlife Park, governs much of the fundraising efforts and donates the proceeds to various worldwide conservation charities in order to further its work. These have also blossomed into partnerships: “The best example is our partnership with UWEC (Uganda Wildlife Education Centre),” Whitnall explains. “A couple of years ago we sent two lionesses out there as part of an educational conservation project. It’s a zoo in Uganda that’s home to rescue animals from the black market. They had a male [lion] but no females, so my granddad [zoo founder Peter Sampson] went over to Africa and agreed to give them some lionesses (that we fund). They use them as part of their educational program as ambassador animals. Who knows, maybe one day their cubs can actually go back out into the Ugandan wildlife, which would be amazing!” With regards to Paradise’s other conservation efforts, it’s the breeding programs that stand out. Alongside their sister site, the Wildlife Heritage Foundation in Kent, both parks have had wonderful new arrivals for species that are critically endangered in the wild. “The biggest success story is without doubt the Amur leopards, simply because of how endangered they are, with less than 50 in the wild,” Whitnall says. “It’s also an exciting time for us because we’ve got Amur tigers, cheetahs, snow leopards BELOW Visitors can get upclose and personal with the park’s lions with one of its Big Cat experiences
White tiger Baikal is one of Paradise’s beautiful white tigers and is an ambassador animal for his kind. His stunning white coat is a captive-bred phenomenon and isn’t thought to occur naturally in the wild. At Paradise Baikal enjoys his enclosure with white tiger buddy Narnia.
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ABOVE There are a range of owl varieties making their home in Paradise
and jaguars here and we’re looking to breed all of them.” This strategy is helping to secure the future of endangered species and is Paradise’s contribution to the European Endangered species Programme (EEP). “Unfortunately we haven’t been able to get into the reintroduction side of things yet,” Whitnall explains. “It’s something that we are looking at doing in the next few years, particularly with our site down in Kent, where we have had major success breeding everything from Amur leopards to servals.” When raising funds, Paradise isn’t just limited to charitable donations either – it raises money to fund its own breeding initiatives, as Whitnall describes: “Later on this year a few of the keepers and myself are doing some fundraising – things like Tough Mudder – to raise cash. We want to build a Chinese alligator-breeding centre here,” he explains. “We want to attempt to be the only zoo in the UK to breed the world’s rarest crocodilian species.” It’s this ambition and drive to further the existence of vulnerable species that is the very life force of Paradise
Paradise Wildlife Park Inheriting a passion for wildlife
BELOW A Feed The Penguins experience enables visitors to do just that – give the hungry birds their meal
For the Sampsons, Paradise Wildlife Park is more than just a family business, it’s a home “My favourite part of the zoo is my back garden!” exclaims keeper Aaron Whitnall. “When you’re out in the garden the lions are watching you and when you get a BBQ going the lions will be roaring and the wolves will be howling! I’m very lucky and I’m very different from most people in that sense. “I’ve lived here my whole life, so I don’t tend to see this place as other people see it, it’s just home,” Whitnall adds. When asked if there’s any animal that has a special place in the family’s heart, there’s one clear winner. “My favourite animal is Rocky the tiger, just because I’ve grown up with him!” Whitnall tells us. “He was hand-reared by my grandfather and he’s just an incredibly friendly cat!”
“Ambition and drive to further the existence of vulnerable species is the life force of Paradise Wildlife Park” ever touched grass – a real emotional day for everyone involved, including the goats that live next-door to him!” After that first triumph, Whitnall goes on to explain how the Sampson family began to feel more confident in their animal endeavours: “We got denied a zoo licence the first time around, but then Woburn [Safari Park] started being a little bit nosey and wanted to come and see what changes we had made. The park was so impressed with what we had done for Bobby that it gave us two lionesses to go with our single male lion and that just changed everything for us. All of a sudden everyone was going: ‘I wonder what’s going on in Broxbourne.’” The rest, as they say, is history. Paradise Wildlife Park has come a long way from one man making a spontaneous decision. The Sampson family has grown and with it so has the zoo, which is now a thriving centre of excellence for animal education and conservation.
BELOW The Woodland Walk area houses animals much closer to home, including deer, foxes and owls
© Paradise Wildlife Park, Natasha Jefferies, Alex Smale
Wildlife Park, along with such a strong conservation message. What makes it an even more remarkable place is the fact that the zoo has been nurtured and developed by the same family for the last 30 years. “It’s our family business,” Whitnall laughs. “As you can imagine, no one ever thinks that when they’re older they are going to own a zoo; it was a real change of career for my granddad! When he bought the place he owned one of the largest coach companies in the UK and was looking for a place to put all of his coaches on one site. He bought it for £100,000 on April Fool’s day, 1984.” Back then, the site was known as Broxbourne Zoo and was generally regarded as one of the worst zoos in the country. “The site was mainly being used as a local dumping ground,” Whitnall elaborates. “It still had the likes of lions, tigers and chimpanzees [living there]. The conditions were terrible – the chimps were even given cigarettes to smoke. It was really run down.” So, how do you suddenly decide to dedicate your life to exotic animal husbandry and conservation? “My granddad told me that it only took him 20 minutes on the drive to work once to decide that he was going to scrap the coach business and redevelop the zoo,” Whitnall goes on. “Because of how bad it was, no one wanted to visit the place. The council told him to forget about it. He told them: ‘Give me 18 months. When it reopens it will be one of the best zoos in the UK.’ Everyone laughed at him. It took him over a year just to get rid of the rubbish and get things right on-site before he could really rebuild any of the animal enclosures. “He started building an enclosure for the only big cat that survived the 18-month period. We built Bobby the lion a brand-new enclosure and when we moved him into it, at fifteen years old, it was the first time that the creature had
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Evolution of the
Hippopotamus Adapted perfectly for life both under the water and on land, hippos have evolved to reap the best of both worlds. They have impeccable features like selfsecreting suntan lotion and superbly adapted feet that enable graceful movement in and out of the water Reasons for evolution Under water and on land Evolving from a completely underwater creature to one that can happily live on land, hippos still spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in rivers and lakes to keep cool. They’re graceful in the water but are quick on land too.
Eyes and nostrils Their eyes and nostrils are high on their heads, enabling them to see and breathe while mostly under the water.
Adapting to heat A little suntan lotion was needed to adapt to the African heat. Special subdermal glands secrete a strange reddish liquid that protects against overheating, UV radiation and even infections. It could even help wounds heal.
Strong lungs Hippos can hold their breath under water for up to five minutes, helping them to hide from danger when needed.
Toes Having developed four toes on each leg, the hippo is an even-toed ungulate, adapting to movement comfortably on land as well as in water. The hippo’s toes enlarge the foot’s surface and help the creature through swamps. Every toe is ended with a tiny hoof and each digit is connected by short webs.
40 teeth A hippo’s incisors are the most visible, but they can open their mouths 180 degrees to show off the full set of 40 teeth.
“After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippo is the third-largest type of land mammal”
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Rodhocetus kasrani 50 million years ago One of the earliest common ancestors of both whales and hippos, species in the Rodhocetus family were unlike any modern mammals. Their anatomy suggests adaptability to both life on land and in the oceans, with developed hind limbs ideal for either walking or swimming.
Maiacetus inuus 47 million years ago Thought to represent an intermediate position in the evolution of both whales and even-toed ungulates, recently discovered fossils of this creature indicate it gave birth on the land, but was likely ill-equipped to travel too far out of the ocean.
Anthracotherium magnum 34 million years ago Known as the coal beast because of where its fossils were found, these creatures are among the most common-known examples of the Anthracotheriidae family, with huge jaws containing 44 teeth.
Kenyapotamus 16-8 million years ago While the lineage of this creature is still debated, the Kenyapotamus’ ancestral links to the hippo today is largely based on dental fossils and research. Its name reflects that its fossils were first found in modern-day Kenya.
2.5 metres
2.6 metres
2 metres
2.8 metres
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Hippopotamus HIPPOPOTAMUS Hippopotamus amphibius Class Mammalia
Territory Sub-Saharan Africa Diet Herbivore Lifespan 40-55 years Adult weight 1,300 to 4,500kg / 2,866 to 9,921lbs Conservation status
VULNERABLE
7 MILLION Hippopotamus 7 million years ago The hippopotamus as we know it today is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa. Aer the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippo is the third-largest type of land mammal.
3.5 metres
What is the evidence?
Strong legs When threatened on land, hippos will run for the water, more than matching a human’s speed over short distances.
Until 1909 hippos were grouped with pigs, but new evidence revealed an exciting new breakthrough and the link to whales, dolphins and porpoises was confirmed Hippos had happily been grouped with pigs, based largely on molar evidence, but in the early 1900s several lines of evidence changed everything. This groundbreaking research included studies around blood proteins, fossil evidence and DNA. Molecular systematics (a branch of phylogeny studying hereditary molecular differences in DNA sequences) also helped bring to light the link that hippos have to
cetaceans – including whales, dolphins and porpoises. The two modern genera, Hippopotamus and Choeropsis (sometimes Hexaprotodon), may have diverged as far back as eight million years. Fossil records of hippos are still not fully understood and taxonomists disagree whether or not the modern-day pygmy hippopotamus is a member of Hexaprotodon or not.
© Getty
Self-made moisturiser Hippos secrete an oily red substance, which acts as a skinmoistener and sunblock. It could also protect from germs.
Layer of fat A thick layer of fat under the skin helps obstruct injuries during fights.
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Animal architects
Sociable weaver bird nests With the largest nests built by any bird on Earth, the social weaver bird builds massive palaces in the tallest of structures. Known for the sheer volume of chambers inside, their nests are fit for hundreds of birds over several generations
Safe hatching Eggs are hatched within some of the nest’s chambers. Cape cobras are notorious nest-hunters, so social weavers try to deter them by laying sharp sticks at chamber entrances.
LEFT The sociable weaver bird is capable of building the most intricate of nests
How they build it… Small but industrious, here’s how these tiny birds create massive homes
Finding the right tree Adapting to the environment around them, weavers have found electricity pylons are ideal nesting sites in areas where trees are scarce and shelter from dense heat is needed. Tree or pylon, the structure should be as high as possible to discourage slithering snakes, and have surplus branches or wires to build room upon room.
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Gathering materials Sociable weaver birds use several materials for various purposes. Large twigs are great for the roof, while dry grasses create perfect inner walls, separating the hundreds of rooms inside. Meanwhile, sharp spikes of straw act as another deterrent from would-be predators and so are used to guard the entrances of tunnels.
Nest maintenance Chambers are lined with soer plant material to provide comfort and insulation. Weavers will use anything they can find, usually so matter such as fur, fluff and cotton. The nests need constant care because of the perishable materials used, so weavers continually add new material to keep their nests intact.
Big neighbourhood Social weaver bird colonies can grow to immense sizes, with up to 500 individuals all nesting within a vast network of rooms.
Quick access The nest is entered through a number of galleries that lead to breeding chambers. These tunnels are around 25 centimetres (ten inches) long and seven centimetres (three inches) wide, while breeding chambers are oen 15 centimetres (six inches) in diameter.
Sociable weaver bird No trees, no problem In areas where there aren’t many trees to offer shelter, weaver birds build nests around telephone poles, causing short-circuits in the rainy season or catching fire in the dry season.
SOCIABLE WEAVER BIRD Philetairus socius Class Aves
Territory Southern Africa Diet Insects, seeds, plants Lifespan Up to 16 years Adult weight 30g / 1.06oz Conservation status
Central heating Chambers in the centre of the nest retain the most heat. Outer rooms provide daytime shade, while the weather around hits up to 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
LEAST CONCERN
Nest network Nests like these oen have hundreds of separate chambers, active across several generations over hundreds of years. Like a large haystack in a tree, when seen from below there are numerous entrances, giving a honey-comb appearance.
A perfect hiding spot The birds use chambers to breed in as well as sleep. Hidden from the sight of common dangers outside, the birds enter from beneath the nest.
Five facts about sociable weaver birds Weaver bird nests can often be generations old and have been built upon, expanded and maintained over hundreds of years. Sociable weaver birds rarely breed before the age of two. Younger birds help raise siblings and unrelated chicks.
Booming numbers The population of social weaver birds has increased in several areas. This could be a result of increased availability of manmade nesting structures. LEFT The birds combine multiple materials to create such large and complex nests
An insectivorous species, the sociable weaver’s diet comprises of 80 per cent insects. Living in the dry desert, the birds have adapted to obtaining water from insects and plants.
Community bonds Living up to their name, when raising chicks sociable weaver bird pairs are almost always assisted by helpers. Siblings oen help in the care of their younger brothers and sisters and even unrelated hatchlings.
Social weavers often allow other guests to breed and roost in their nest. African pygmy falcons, pied barbets and several eagle species can benefit from these massive nests.
© The Art Agency/Dan cole, Getty, Rex features; Arnstein Rønning
Each chamber in the bird’s nest is usually made for two individuals, but even more if they are nesting.
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Bizarre! The giraffe weevil doesn’t use its neck to reach food… it uses it to fight A bizarre invertebrate native to Madagascar, the giraffe weevil’s most distinctive feature is its elongated neck. Unlike the long-necked mammal it’s named after, the beetle doesn’t use its long neck to reach food, it uses it in aggressive courtship displays GIRAFFE WEEVIL Trachelophorus giraffa Class Insecta
Territory Madagascar Diet Giraffe beetle bush Lifespan Unknown Adult weight Unknown Conservation status
NOT EVALUATED
They roll leaves to lay an egg in The resourceful weevil also uses its elongated neck and dexterous legs to roll a leaf into a cigar shape. They deposit a single egg into this tube where it’ll be protected and which, after one to two weeks, will turn from an egg to larva.
The length of the beetle’s neck is used primarily for nest-building, as well as fighting with other male giraffe weevils. In the males, this can be around two thirds of the beetle’s entire length.
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Males try to impress females with neck fights In a display of macho-ness, male giraffe weevils will attempt to impress females by defeating other males. This fighting occurs mainly during mating season, and males will push and wrestle one another with their long necks until one of them eventually backs down.
You’ll only ever find this species in Madagascar Directly south-east from the eastern African coast, Madagascar is an island in the Indian Ocean. A biodiversity hot-spot, it’s home to a plethora of unique animals and invertebrates that have evolved a range of strange and wonderful traits and features. The giraffe weevil is one of them and is endemic to the island – effectively meaning that it can only be found in this one place.
© Corbis
The necks of the males are three times as long as the females’
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A crisis of cruelty
Warning This feature contains imagery that you may find upsetting
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A CRISIS OF
CRUELTY As rhinos are mercilessly slaughtered to the brink of extinction, only a handful of certain species remain and the war on poaching is growing critical Words David Crookes
1,004 rhinos were slaughtered in South Africa in 2013. A record number and more than 50 per cent higher than the previous year’s total, it represented the epic problem these creatures face. For more than a century the rhino population – in particular the black rhino – has declined at an alarming rate. It matters little to poachers that these animals originated in the Eocene period around 50 million years ago, or that they are among the largest creatures to roam the world today. Getting hold of rhino horn to satiate evergrowing demand for the supposed miracle properties they contain is their prime aim and the plentiful riches on offer is their motivation. Since 1970 the world rhino population has declined by 90 per cent, but the problem started decades earlier. Human population growth and efficient hunting methods caused rapid decline among the rhino population across the world in the 1800s. European settlers hunted rhinos for food, and cleared them off land needed for plantations. In years to come, humans began to see profit in their death. At the heart of this human-rhino war is an ancient belief that has long been found to be a myth in the Western world, but is one that’s become deeply ingrained and perpetuated in far-eastern societies. Like an old wives’ tale, it tells the story of miracle medical turnarounds – cancers that have been stopped in their tracks and temperatures lowered with immediate effect, but none of it is true. Some medical experts have suggested that if you take powdered rhino horn and mix it with herbs,
it can help in a very small way to keep control of a fever. However, given that so many modern drugs such as aspirin can be far more effective, the slaughter of rhinos is nothing if not sheer folly, but this doesn’t stop the killing. Poachers will target both white and black rhinos, as both prove to be just as profitable – not that there’s much difference between the two. As a related species, colour isn’t actually a defining factor despite the names: both white and black rhinos are the same varying yellowishbrown to dark-grey. The difference actually comes down to their lips and size. Black rhinos aren’t as large as white rhinos and they have a prehensile upper lip that they use to grasp at branches, shoots and leaves. White rhinos, by comparison, have squared lips. Black rhinos also live a largely solitary life in the forests of Kenya or the desert of south-western Africa, although they can congregate in groups (or crashes). White rhinos are also naturally more social and are frequently seen huddled together. Both white and black rhinos have two horns. The anterior horn, the one at the front of a rhino’s nose, is always longer than the posterior horn that sits behind it. A male horn will be thicker than the longer horn of the female, and the anterior tends to be an average of 0.5 metres (1.6 feet) in length. These are hard and will even regrow if lost in a fight but despite this the poachers, who could barely care less for the animals they kill, don’t even give them that opportunity. Nowhere is this cruelty more obvious than in Vietnam, where in 2011 the Javan rhinoceros, the rarest large mammal in the world, was declared extinct. The WWF
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A crisis of cruelty BLACK RHINOCEROS Diceros bicornis Class Mammalia
Territory Eastern, southern and central Africa Diet Herbivore Lifespan 40-50 years Adult weight 800-1,400kg / 1,764-3,086lbs Conservation status
CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
and the International Rhino Foundation said poachers had most likely killed the last Javan, found with its horn cut off and a gaping, festering wound in its place. Fewer than 50 Javan rhinos are believed to exist elsewhere and, without protection, they’re very likely to meet the same fate. The west-African black rhino, was once heavily populated the west-African savannahs, were reduced to a handful in Cameroon. Following a search for evidence of them in 2006, they were declared extinct, meaning there are now three recognised subspecies of black rhino left. Yet, to look at the stature of a rhino, you would imagine poachers would be rather afraid of them. In the wild these animals are imposing, heaving bulks of muscle and thick-layered skin that protect against sharp grasses and thorns. Their size and strength keep predators at bay and their horns are an effective weapon should an animal try to attack it at close range. Only the weak and young will fall prey to another creature, leaving the rest at the mercy of stinging insects and the Sun, against which they plaster their bodies with wads of mud. If it weren’t for humans, they would more than be able to handle themselves. Both white and black rhinos have poor eyesight, which makes them jumpy, but their sense of smell and hearing is impeccable. Not only does this mean they have to place physical markers of their territory – they spray their land with urine and defecate to create a boundary of sorts – but they can also mount a ferocious attack (they’re quite nimble on the turn) or make a swift getaway if needs be. It was interesting to hear the advice given by an experienced ranger to a cameraman filming a National Geographic documentary. When asked what action he should take if the rhinos charged and there were nowhere for him to hide, the ranger told him matter-of-factly: “You run like hell.” As advice goes, it was smart, for a rhino only needs to catch a suspicious smell or hear the cracking of
“The rhino was found with its horn cut off and a gaping, festering wound in its place”
Left for dead Poachers kill rhinos using semiautomatic weapons, sending numerous bullets into the animal’s stricken body. They then hack away at the horn, tearing deep into the flesh of the rhino’s face before leaving the bodies to rot. The horns are sent off for shipment to Asia. More-sophisticated methods, such as helicopters, night-vision goggles and chainsaws, are frequently deployed as the battle between poachers and conservationists becomes bloodier. BELOW A white rhino killed by poachers for its horn
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BELOW The mutilated corpse of a three-month-pregnant black rhino with its horns removed is le to decay on a hillside in northern Kenya
ABOVE An orphaned baby being fed by a ranger aer mother was killed by poachers
a branch nearby to put it on edge. It’s why poachers tend to use semi-automatic weapons to callously slay their prey before hacking at a rhino’s face for their bounty. To get too close would mean almost certain death, especially if faced by black rhinos, which are particularly aggressive. Left alone, rhinos prove to be adaptable, able to live in such diverse landscapes as the forests of Kenya or the deserts of south-western Africa, remaining happy as long as there is vegetation to hand. Black rhinos are browsers, eating from bushes or trees that are higher off the ground, so they have weaker neck muscles than white rhino grazers. It’s lucky that a black rhino’s diet is varied and plentiful – they’re happy to munch on as many as 220 different species of plant – and it’s even more fortunate
Rhinos
On the brink of extinction A once-healthy rhino population has been depleted by 98 per cent, the species is now in dire need of our attention
Worth more than its weight in gold
In the twentieth century the black rhino population wasn’t only great in number, it also covered a large area of Africa, enjoying its grassland and open savanna. They occupied a vast band of land in central Africa and roamed freely. As the century wore on, rhinos came under greater threat and the black rhino population fell by 97.6 per cent from 1960. Black rhino numbers have fallen to such an extent that, far from being widely distributed across Africa, around 40 per cent of the total wild population now exist in South Africa.
An alarming appetite for rhino horn inflates its value 24 carat gold = £24,801 per kilo
1 horn = 2.5 kg
100 years ago
Black rhino horn = £35,750 per kilo
Today Estimated number of animals left
Estimated number of animals left
5,055
100,000
ABOVE Paul K.Mbugua (4th L), spokesperson of Kenya Wildlife Service, stands in front of the ammunition seized from poachers in Nairobi, Kenya
that they’re able to go five days without water. Yet, even though rhinos can gallop at up to 55 kilometres (34 miles) per hour and live for up to 50 years, they can’t outrun a desperate poacher determined to cut their lives short. Technology has, unfortunately, made it even easier for poachers to carry out their butchery with efficient brutality. They hunt at night using night-vision goggles, fitting silencers on guns and flying in military-grade helicopters. Conservationists, on the other hand, have their own weapons: electric fences, SAS-trained manpower in some cases and intelligence networks to prevent rhinos from being killed. However, it seems the sniffer dogs, increased patrols and unmanned drones that fly above the land, monitoring the health and wellbeing of rhinos, aren’t enough to deter and catch the criminals. Something has to be done to tackle the actual trade in rhino horn, but it’s not going to be easy. Vietnam still allows legal rhino horn from South Africa and its moneyed elite commonly drink it in a powered form as a sign of status. Ignorance like this will take a great deal of education. To make matters worse, poachers don’t always operate undercover. In 1968 South Africa legalised the hunting of rhino, justifying it by claiming it raises money to help fund conservation. However, there are tales of Vietnamese travellers paying good money for the right to hunt, so that they can take the head home as a trophy and hack off its horn for a tidy profit. Reports suggest that just 15 of the recent 200 rhino hunts in South Africa are legitimate.
The rise of poaching South Africa 2010-2014 QRecorded number poached QRecorded number of arrests
1004
1000 900 800 668
700 600 448
500 400
343
333
300 200
232
294
267
165 93
100 0 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014 (as of 17 Apr)
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A crisis of cruelty For rhinos to be so hunted is heart-breaking, especially for the conservationists who dedicate their lives to their protection, but even though the poachers seem to be stepping up efforts and killing in even greater numbers, no-one is giving up the defence. Reserves exist across Africa to fence off these animals from outside dangers, while trying to afford them as much freedom and land on which to graze. Both black and white rhinos are gathered together in such a way and it has worked well in ensuring the creatures haven’t yet been wiped out entirely. In the twentieth century white rhinos were close to extinction, down in number to around 30 and barely surviving in what is now the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in South Africa. With careful management and protection, numbers have thankfully increased to more than 20,000 and white rhinos have become the most common of the species on the planet. The same level of care is now being afforded to the black rhino population, which is the most at-risk group of the two today. One of the key aims of conservationists is the implementation of successful breeding programs. Black rhinos will breed throughout the year and have a gestation period between 419 and 478 days. It’s a slow process, mainly because they leave between 2.5 and 3.5 years between calves and females don’t have their first calves until they are around 6.5 years old. Making the process even more complicated, males will only claim a territory and a female mate between the ages of 10 and 12. Should there be deaths in the midst of this, the efforts of the conservationists are often severely hampered. This means
ABOVE Phila the black rhino explores her new home, the Johannesburg Zoo. Phila has been shot by poachers at least nine times. Her horn had been removed to protect her, but she was still hunted for the little stump remaining
LEFT Rhino horns in Hong Kong’s Customs and Excise Department offices. As well as horns, ivory chopsticks and bracelets are also seized
BELOW A park ranger of Save the Rhino Fund holds fragments of ivory aer conservationists sawed off the horn of a tranquillised black rhino
the only real way to call a halt to poaching is through intricate political means. The reputation of the rhino horn goes before it and its value today exceeds that of gold. Bans on poaching have actually driven up the price of rhino horn in the face of persistent demand and scarce supply, so greed is an unwelcome factor in its rise. There have also been calls by scientists to legalise the trade in rhino horn so that it can be regulated, lowering prices, meeting demand and helping to save rhinos from uncontrolled slaying. The idea is that horns would be humanely shaved from live rhinos and those that die of natural causes, but discussions continue and there’s much opposition. One of the more-recent methods of dealing with the issue has been to move up to 100 rhinos from South Africa across the border to Botswana in a move that’s costing as much as £4.82 million ($8 million). Each rhino is being tagged and micro-chipped, then monitored. Since South Africa has more rhinos than anywhere else in the world – more than 80 per cent of them – and given that more than 60 per cent of all poaching in the country exists in the Kruger National Park, moving some rhinos to another country is a measure of desperation and need. Such is the growing crisis that, in February 2014, a global summit in London met to discuss the issue. They agreed that a turning point had been reached and there is genuine fear that, if left unchecked, rhinos could be effectively wiped out within years, especially as rising
Other threats to rhinos Rhinos face more than just the bullets of poachers
RIGHT Fitting a radio transmitter on a black rhinoceros horn
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Competing species According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), competition for food with other animals, such as elephants, oen cuts rhino numbers dramatically.
Economy and social environment Crippling levels of poverty can oen drive people towards poaching, with the lure of a lucrative reward. This is oen compounded by corrupt governments.
Increased demand for more land As human populations rise, so too does the need for developed land. Forests are felled, rhinos lose their habitat and food becomes scarcer for these herbivores.
Rhinos
Rhino species worldwide
Medical myths
There are five main types of rhino species across the globe
The horn is used to carve ornaments and dagger handles, as well as to produce bowls and cups. Its greatest consumption is in traditional medicine, with Vietnam proving to be the fastestgrowing market. Claimed to cure cancers and hangovers, help reduce temperatures, control haemorrhaging, treat high fevers and convulsions, as well as cleanse the blood of toxins, it’s highly sought-aer by healthconscious patients.
Why is rhino horn in demand?
Greater one-horned rhino White rhino
3,000
20,405
Vietnam
O
Javan rhino Sumatran rhino
200 Black rhino
5,055 South Africa
O
ns or fh o te rou Trade
“Conservation efforts are being severely dented by the actions of poachers” BELOW Wardens prepare a 30-year-old female black rhino for transportation at Nairobi’s National Park
INSET Ranger sawing off a black rhinoceros’ horn, Lake Chivero National Park, Zimbabwe
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What does science say? Breaking the horn down into its actual ingredient, keratin, reveals the exact same substance that comprises hair and fingernails. If rhino horn can have positive benefits on the human body, then so could grinding human fingernails. Lixin Huang, president of the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, is among many scientists to show there’s no link between rhino horn and cancer cures, and it has no diuretic or analgesic properties.
poverty is leading to desperate measures. Not only is a lack of money pushing some people to become poachers, but a clamour for land in countries such as Zimbabwe has caused the destruction of privately owned conservancies. This, according to WWF, is another major issue that needs some thought and attention. Poaching is a problem World of Animals magazine takes seriously. Here we have wonderful creatures that are remarkable in their make-up and behaviour, but conservation efforts are being severely dented by the actions of poachers and by the unstable nature of some parts of Africa, including Somalia and Sudan. The black rhino population is already down to 5,055 and so much attention is being given to this particular species, but witnesses tell of having seen rhinos of all types falling prey to poachers, stumbling, their faces hacked off, their eyes pierced, their moans evident and the blood plentiful. Wracked with pain, frightened and powerless, the rhinos’ deaths can be drawn out and torturous. Should the world lose the rhino, it would be a shameful example of how humanity has dragged a creature, in an angry, unnecessary, unethical and devastatingly cruel way, to extinction – a gaping void in our ecosystem. It’s not too late, though. Poaching has become such an issue in the last century that extraordinary efforts were made to call a halt to the killing. We now have double the number of black rhinos today than some ten years ago, when the population shockingly fell to an all-time low of 2,410. That progress, despite the growth of poaching, is encouraging. A fight-back has ensued, with worldwide media now on the case.
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A crisis of cruelty
Save Rhinos Now Ten per cent of World of Animals’ profits help fight poaching, so here’s how you can get involved with the Save Rhinos Now campaign Ol Pejeta is east Africa’s largest black rhino sanctuary, dedicated to securing habitats for the purpose of wildlife conservation. The not-for-profit organisation looks after over 100 rhinos today, with the capacity and breeding programs for more. More than 400 people are employed to oversee both Ol Pejeta’s wildlife and cattle operations and it aims to get more. World of Animals is working together with Ol Pejeta to help bring awareness to a
massive problem that should be stopped, and will dedicate ten per cent of profits to the Ol Pejeta conservancy. You can follow this vital campaign at www.animalanswers.co.uk to get the latest news and information straight from the Conservancy. Here you’ll also find a Donate page, where your funds will go towards the fight against poaching, before it’s too late and these animals are lost forever.
Follow the campaign and help save rhinos now at animalanswers.co.uk 70
Rhinos
An interview with Ol Pejeta Name: Richard Vigne Role: Chief executive officer Organisation: Ol Pejeta Conservancy Website: olpejetaconservancy.org
southern white rhinos – a small population of 22 – and obviously we’d like to grow that as quickly as we can. Ol Pejeta Conservancy is home to the last four remaining potentially reproductively active northern white rhinos in the world.
Where’s the threat to rhinos coming from? Poaching is the greatest threat and that’s because of strong demand from the Far East, in particular places such as Vietnam, to a lesser extent China and parts of the Middle East as well.
How do you encourage breeding? It starts when a rhino is three years old. We provide them with a specific identity – as rhinos get older, they become increasingly difficult to differentiate between one another. We aim to see each individual rhino at least once every three days at a minimum. There’s an enormous amount of patrolling that goes into finding each rhino, at the same time covering the ground to make sure any people trying to gain access to the Conservancy are detected. We have used transmitters embedded into the horns. The problem is they give you a signal to tell you that the rhino is alive but they don’t tell you what state the animal is in.
How is that affecting numbers? From a Kenyan perspective, if we’re talking about black rhinos, which is kind of the signature rhino species in Kenya, the eastern black rhino probably stands at around 600 to 620 individuals. That’s an increase from 250 around 20 years ago. Over the past two or three years the population has remained entirely stagnant, if not reducing somewhat as a result of poaching, so the gains of the past 20 years are now being slowly reversed. How does Ol Pejeta help protect rhinos? What I suppose is most difficult for poachers is,
once a rhino has been shot, [they have] to find the rhino quickly, get the horn off and get out without anybody catching them. However, given the size of the area the chances of getting away are pretty large. [As well as] people on the ground, we depend on an intelligence system and network – we get to hear about people intending to come and kill rhinos before they come here. How large is your ground? Our estimated capacity for black rhinos is around about 140 over 360 square kilometres. We have rhinos all over the whole property and they need that kind of space to be able to exist. We also have
“Do we really want our children to inherit a planet bereft of amazing species such as rhinos and elephants?”
What are your current projects? Our current capacity is around about 140 and judging from past experience we will reach that in the next four to five years. Right now we are looking at a neighbouring property with a view to converting 20,000 acres [8,094 hectares] into a secured area for rhinos, which will require an investment of about $4 million [£2.4 million]. What happens if the situation is le as it is? Rhino populations are beginning to decrease in Kenya. If we stopped poaching now, that would be rectified and they would grow again. If nobody did anything, rhinos would disappear across Africa in the space of ten years. I think people will be horrified to realise that the extinction of major mammalian species isn’t a phenomenon consigned to history. It’s happening today, across the world – witness the fact that OPC is now home to the last remaining four northern white rhinos le in the world. Some may see this as inconsequential in the greater scheme of things, but in response I would ask two questions: What will be the fate of this planet if humans continue to ignore the damage we are causing to our environment, with the extinction of major species being just a small symptom of this damage? Do we really want our children to inherit a planet bere of amazing species such as rhinos and elephants? How can people help? In the face of high demands for rhino horn, the cost of preventing poaching has increased dramatically in recent years. We need the funds to create, equip and operate armed response teams, informer networks and intelligence-gathering systems… Money is very useful because of the costs of looking aer rhinos nowadays… There’s an increasing amount of interest among Western governments with regards to elephants and rhinos. Conferences are well attended by heads of state from around the world. I think the more pressure people can put on their government, or through advocacy groups, to put pressure on fareastern states to [oppose] rhino and ivory trading, the more money will go towards conservation. www.justgiving.com/olpejeta
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© FreeVectorMaps.com; Getty; Corbis; Thinkstock
Are there many rhino sanctuaries in Africa? Keeping rhinos has become an enormously expensive business meaning that, particularly in the private sector, people who were previously happy to hold rhinos on their land on behalf of the state, or as privately owned animals in the case of South Africa, are now no longer willing to do so. This means that increasingly rhino sanctuaries, particularly in eastern Africa, are closing down, so there’s a lack of properly secured habitat in which rhino populations can be held and into which expanding populations can move.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx Incredible lives of jellyfish
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Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
INCREDIBLE LIVES OF The underwater phenomena with a species list so diverse it ranges from the harmless floating creatures of the ocean to life-threatening killing machines Words Laura Mears
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Incredible lives of jellyfish As the afternoon Sun draws across the remote island of Eil Malk in the Pacific Ocean, the green waters of Jellyfish Lake begin to stir. For 12,000 years this saltwater habitat has been isolated from the main body of the Pacific Ocean and although tidal water tracks in and out through channels in the surrounding limestone, most marine animals are unable to enter or leave. Much of the lake is uninhabitable and at depths of below 15 metres (49 feet) the oxygen content of the water decreases to zero. The water below this point is crystal clear, but thick blooms of purple sulphur bacteria hang at the transition zone, harvesting all available sunlight for energy and casting a dark shadow over the depths. In the open ocean, soft, boneless bodies make jellyfish an easy target for predators such as fish, sea turtles and sharks, but in the safety of the isolated Jellyfish Lake they have few natural enemies. However, even here life isn’t free of complications. At the eastern shore, predatory sea anemones lie in wait. Each attached to the floor by a sticky foot, these stationary polyps also have stinging tentacles and quickly paralyse passing jellies. Evading these living snares is no easy task, but the golden jellyfish have developed a remarkable strategy to avoid predation. Sea anemones dislike bright light and every day millions of golden jellyfish swim back and forth across the lake, following the glow of the Sun. This astonishing behaviour is co-ordinated not by a brain, but by a primitive network of nerve cells. The transparent, bell-shaped bodies of the jellyfish contain muscle fibres that contract, producing a vortex in
ABOVE Known for their variety of vibrant colours, here a purple ocean jellyfish is spotted in the Red Sea, just off the coast of the Ras Banas peninsula
“Soft, boneless bodies make jellyfish an easy target for predators such as fish, sea turtles and sharks” Jellyfish anatomy A look at these creatures’ odd structures Bell Digestive pouch
Gonads
Mouth
Oral arms
Tentacles
Stinging nematocysts
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ABOVE A cross section showing the internal structure of jellyfish
the water and generating a pulse of forward thrust. Tiny crystals of calcium sulphate, contained inside structures called statocysts, enable the jellyfish to distinguish up from down. As the creature moves, the heavy crystals brush against small sensory hairs, enabling it to remain close to the surface. Although jellyfish don’t have true eyes, some have spots of light-sensitive pigments, known as ocelli. These spots don’t have a lens and can’t produce an image, but when directed at the sky, they enable the golden jellyfish to detect shadows and the Sun’s movement. These jellyfish have a unique relationship with another species – their transparent bodies are packed with hundreds of thousands of microscopic symbiodinium. These single-celled algae live inside the tissues of the golden jellyfish. Each has a single chloroplast capable of generating organic molecules using energy from the Sun. By hitching a ride inside the jellyfish, the algae gain maximum light exposure for minimum effort. In exchange, they provide the jellyfish with a source of energy and organic material. Jellyfish Lake is also home to the large, translucent moon jellyfish. Although vastly outnumbered by golden jellyfish here, moon jellies are the most numerous species of jellyfish on the planet and can be found in most of the world’s oceans. These spherical creatures are almost entirely transparent, save for four distinctive horseshoeshaped reproductive organs. Like the golden variety, jellyfish living out in the open ocean are able to tell up from down and can contract their bells to adjust their position in the water, but outside of the protection of a secluded lake, their flimsy bodies aren’t powerful enough to compete with tides and currents. Despite measuring around 30 centimetres (12 inches) across at their widest point, moon jellies are unable to swim against the water flow, so drift through the ocean, accumulating into swarms where the currents converge. Without proper eyesight, or the means to direct themselves, the hunting strategy of the jellyfish is mostly passive. They don’t pursue their prey, so instead use long trailing tentacles as a kind of net. Each one of these protrusions is covered in thousands of structures known as nematocysts, containing spring-loaded poison darts. When activated by pressure, or chemical cues, venomous threads are deployed within 700 nanoseconds, delivering a paralysing neurotoxin.
Jellyfish
The weird and wonderful There are thousands of jellyfish varieties in the world’s oceans, each one more bizarre, beautiful and baffling than the last, so here’s a pick of the most impressive
Flower hat jellyfish
Upside-down jellyfish
Moon jellyfish
Olindias formosa Often found floating off the coasts of the southern Japanese islands, this variety gets its name from the unique shape of its main body.
Cassiopea The eight species of jellyfish that make up the genus Cassiopea live upside-down on the floor of warm, coastal waters.
Aurelia aurita Also known as the common jellyfish, this species can be identified by its four horseshoeshaped reproductive organs.
Freshwater jellyfish
Fried-egg jellyfish
White-spotted jellyfish
Craspedacusta sowerbyi These measure just a few millimetres across, but have between 50 and 500 tentacles, four of which provide stability when swimming.
Phacellophora camtschatica This large jellyfish is found in cold waters and has such a weak sting that young crabs aren’t afraid to catch a ride, or even steal its food.
Phyllorhiza punctata Measuring around half a metre in diameter, white-spotted jellyfish are almost spherical. Their bodies are covered in crystalline spots.
Portuguese man o’ war
Crystal jellyfish
Crossota
Physalia physalis Often mistaken for a jellyfish, the deadly man o’ war isn’t one organism, but a colony made up of four different types of polyps.
Aequorea victoria This colourless jellyfish has a bioluminescent ring around its bell, where two proteins work together to produce blue-green light.
Crossota These red jellyfish live deep in the ocean, inhabiting depths of below a kilometre (0.6 miles), where the pressure is immense.
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Incredible lives of jellyfish NOMURA’S JELLYFISH Nemopilema nomurai Class Scyphozoa
Territory East China Sea Diet Carnivore Lifespan 1 year Adult weight 200kg / 440lbs Conservation status
NOT EVALUATED
The largest jellyfish on Earth Nomura’s jellyfish The giant Nomura’s jellyfish is the strongest contender for the largest species of jelly. With a bell size of up to two metres (6.6 feet) in diameter, these giant jellyfish are much larger than a human. However, they aren’t the largest ever recorded – that title goes to the lion’s mane jellyfish. Usually smaller than Nomura’s jellyfish, an unusual specimen discovered on the shore of Massachusetts Bay in 1870 reportedly had tentacles measuring 37 metres (120 feet in length) – that’s longer than a blue whale.
The tentacles are delicate, but the stunned animal is unable to struggle and the jellyfish can gather its paralysed prey using special oral arms positioned around its mouth. Smaller jellies, like the moon jellyfish feed mostly on other zooplankton and algae, but larger jellyfish eat larger prey, including fish and crustaceans. All true jellyfish have nematocysts, but only a small number have a sting powerful enough to be toxic to humans. In fact, the most dangerous jellyfish isn’t a true jellyfish. Off the coast of northern Australia, you can find some of the most deadly marine creatures on the planet – the box jellyfish. Up to fifteen tentacles extend from each corner of its body, stretching three metres (ten feet). Each has 5,000 stinging nematocysts containing a potent neurotoxin capable of stopping the human heart.
“The hunting strategy of the jellyfish is mostly passive. They don’t pursue their prey, so instead use long trailing tentacles as a kind of net”
LEFT Many varieties of deep-sea jellyfish illuminate the pitch-black depths with numerous lightproducing proteins
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Their umbrella-shaped bells are much better adapted for swimming than the bodies of most true jellyfish and their nerves are arranged into rings, producing co-ordinated pulsing movements. Using a flap on the underside of the bell to boost propulsion, box jellyfish (or sea wasps) are able to travel at speeds of around four knots. In tropical mangrove swamps, box jellyfish living under the canopy of the trees use their eyes to remain close to the surface, where copepods are abundant. Each of their four upper-lens eyes contains a heavy gypsum crystal, which is pulled towards the ground by gravity, keeping the eyes permanently pointing towards the sky. The water distorts the image of the trees overhead, but the lens of each eye is under-focused. This prevents the jellyfish from seeing a clear view of its immediate surroundings, but enables the overhanging mangroves to come into view. With transparent bodies, the box jellyfish are barely visible and although as they swim they pull their tentacles up into short, fat tubes, measuring just 15 centimetres (six inches) in length, but when they are hunting they can extend three metres (ten feet) into the water. The hunting strategy of jellyfish has proved effective and since they first appeared over 500 million years ago they have managed to colonise every ocean on the planet. Jellyfish inhabit some of the most challenging aquatic regions, but the Baltic Sea is home to seven of the ten largest marine dead zones in the world. Over-fishing has devastated the local ecosystem, while phosphorous and nitrogen from untreated waste feeds enormous blooms of algae. These algae drain the water of oxygen, choking most sea life, but the jellyfish here have been able to thrive. Undeterred by pollution, jellyfish can dissolve oxygen in their tissues, enabling them to venture into areas where other marine organisms would suffocate. Algae and plankton provide ample food, so jellyfish have come to dominate these desolate marine wastelands.
Jellyfish
Deadly jellies From lethal killers to the downright painful, jellyfish often come packing a ferocious sting
The sea wasp
ABOVE The Pelagia noctiluca variety of jelly can light up the ocean with its bizarre ability to glow
Despite not technically being a true jellyfish, the box jellyfish, Chironex fleckeri, is the most deadly on the planet. It produces a toxin capable of stopping the human heart.
Deadly
Jellyfish have a complicated life cycle and the free-swimming, tentacled medusa shape we see is just one of four possible forms they take. Once they reach their adult size, well-fed jellyfish spawn daily. Their simple bodies don’t have a complex reproductive system and instead the males and females of most species release their germ cells into the water for fertilisation. Some females store fertilised eggs in brood sacs in their mouths or on their oral arms. Rather than going on to form adult jellyfish, the fertilised eggs instead produce an intermediate life form known as a polyp. Jellyfish polyps are small, barely a few millimetres across, and their bodies consist of just a tube, with a mouth at the top surrounded by stinging tentacles. Most jellyfish polyps don’t live freely in the water and instead attach to a solid object, or directly to the floor of the ocean. Man-made submarine sprawl extending beneath the surface of the Baltic Sea provides ample space for polyps to attach and grow, while the metal surfaces of drilling platforms, docks and even the hulls of boats become coated in gelatinous tubes. The polyps feed constantly and eventually contract to form stacks, which bud off to produce small jellyfish known as ephyra. Warmer weather accelerates polyp development and in areas of high pollution, where abundant algae triggers the adults to spawn, blooms can appear rapidly, filling the water with vast mats of jellyfish. Several weird and wonderful species of jellyfish inhabit the depths of the ocean. Below 200 metres (656 feet), very little light penetrates through the water, while at depths beyond a kilometre (0.6 miles), there’s no sunlight at all. However, the deep ocean isn’t entirely devoid of light and is punctuated by flashes of blue and green, as bioluminescent creatures trigger chemical reactions that
Irukandji jellyfish Measuring just a centimetre (0.4 inches) in diameter, this is the smallest jellyfish. Its venom is potent and it has stingers on its bell as well as its many tentacles.
Lion’s mane BELOW Medusa, or true jellyfish, is the name given to fully grown adult jellies
One of the largest species of jellyfish in the world, the bodies of these jellyfish can be bigger than a grown man. Their sting is incredibly painful but has so far not proved to be enough to kill.
Sea nettle During the summer, blooms of sea nettles off the coasts of North America pose a threat to bathers. Their long tentacles – over 1.8 metres (six feet) – can leave a painful rash.
Golden jellyfish
Harmless
These jellies are isolated to saltwater lakes on the islands of Palau in the Pacific Ocean. Their stings are barely noticed by human divers, who often swim with them.
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Incredible lives of jellyfish
BELOW Cassiopea are also known as upside-down jellyfish and are found in warm coastal waters
release photons. In among these flashes are the deepsea jellyfish. Their flexible, gelatinous bodies are able to withstand the great pressures of the deep water, while their low density helps them stay afloat in the blackness. In the absence of sunlight, these unusual jellyfish have evolved a strange array of adaptations. Jellyfish inhabiting the water near the surface of the ocean take advantage of their transparent bodies to remain hidden from predators and prey, but for jellyfish living in the dark of the deep ocean, a different tactic proves more effective. Deep in the freezing Arctic Ocean, blood-red Crossota jellyfish live at depths exceeding 2,600 metres (8,530 feet). They rely on camouflage to remain hidden in the dark water and like many creatures found in the deeper parts of the ocean, these jellyfish contain light-absorbing
pigments to mask their outline. Red light has the longest, and lowest-energy of the wavelengths that make up visible light, meaning it doesn’t penetrate far through the water. As jellyfish move deeper into the ocean, the red light from the surface disappears and the pigments absorb the rest, effectively rendering the jellyfish invisible. These pigments also serve a second purpose. Much of the marine life that inhabits the darkest waters of the ocean is bioluminescent and some of the prey hunted by jellyfish emit a visible green-blue glow. Red pigments, either in the bell or just surrounding the digestive cavity, help to hide the light generated by a freshly caught meal, avoiding the attention of nearby hungry predators.
“Jellyfish are one of the most ancient multi-organ life forms on the planet and have colonised all the world’s oceans” Ten things you didn’t know about jellyfish
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A box jellyfish sting Some jellyfish can can kill a person in live forever under five minutes This small jellyfish is the
Jellyfish proteins were used to make fluorescent kittens
The largest species of box jellyfish, Chironex fleckeri, has one of the deadliest known venoms, disrupting signals in the body and causing heart failure.
Crystal jellyfish are bioluminescent and produce green fluorescent protein. Injecting the gene for this protein into the eggs of female cats produced glowing kittens.
only known being to be able to revert back into a juvenile. When stressed, the medusa turns back into a polyp, forming a new colony that goes on to produce young jellyfish.
Jellyfish have been around for nearly 500 million years Peeing on a jellyfish sting doesn’t cure it
Jellyfish
How do jellyfish work? Jellyfish are simple organisms with a complex mechanics How jellyfish hunt Jellyfish are zooplankton and tend to dri with the ocean currents. Their outstretched tentacles are covered in stinging nematocysts, stunning and immobilising anything that comes within reach. Once their prey is subdued, jellyfish use their tentacles and oral arms to guide the stunned animal into their digestive pouch.
Pumping the toxin When the nematocyst is activated, it rapidly builds pressure until the barb shoots out.
A single jellyfish stung 100 people in a single day Jellyfish are made up of 95% water
Primed nematocyst Jellyfish tentacles are covered in these cells, all of which are ready to shoot out the sharp barb and inject venom.
How jellyfish eat Jellyfish have simple digestive systems consisting of a central cavity. Food enters and exits through a single orifice. The nutrients are distributed either by diffusion, or along a series of channels in the bell.
How jellyfish mate The life cycle of jellyfish is a complex process and they will reproduce using a combination of sexual and asexual methods. Mature jellyfish spawn daily, releasing sperm or eggs into the surrounding water.
How jellyfish move Jellyfish have no skeleton and instead their bodies are supported by a gelatinous layer known as mesoglea. This layer contains muscle tissue, which contracts to produce a vortex behind the travelling jellyfish.
successful. These watery organisms have no brain and yet in many areas of the world are surviving where other life perishes. The incredible adaptability of the jellyfish, as evident in their total domination of Jellyfish Lake, enables them to outlast other species as the marine environment changes. This means it’s even possible that Jellyfish Lake could one day become known as Jellyfish Ocean.
Jellyfish can break a nuclear power plant
They inspired a robot flying machine
Jellies have been sent to space
Nuclear power plants draw water from seas and oceans to cool their reactors and turbines. Several nuclear reactors have had to close their reactors after jellyfish blooms clogged the pipes.
Scientists striving to make the simplest flying machine looked to the shape of a jellyfish. The frame of the robot is based on a similar principle and is domed in shape, with four wings that open and close.
Jellyfish can be used as models to investigate the effects of space travel on humans. NASA fired jellyfish polyps into space in order to study the effect of zero gravity on their ability to tell up from down.
© Getty, Thinkstock, Corbis, Alamy
Some jellyfish produce bioluminescence of their own. In the salt waters of the Puget Sound, on the west coast of North America, bright flashes of blue-green light penetrate the gloom. The colourless, transparent bodies of the source of these pulses are barely visible in the water. Aequorea victoria, or the crystal jelly, has cells containing two light-producing photoproteins, aequorin and green fluorescent protein. When the jellyfish is startled, calcium ions trigger the release of first blue and then green light. The gene for the protein that makes the green light, green fluorescent protein (GFP), was isolated from these jellyfish in the 1990s and is now a valuable scientific tool. It can be inserted into cells from other species, including humans, and is used as a biological label to fluorescently tag and track cell behaviour. Jellyfish are one of the most ancient multi-organ life forms on the planet and have colonised all the world’s oceans. Their remarkable capacity to resist the damaging effects of pollution has enabled them to dominate some of the most desolate submarine wastes. As fish stocks fall and large marine mammals become threatened, in many places jellyfish are thriving. Over-fishing has removed competition for zooplankton, and algal blooms fuelled by contaminated water provide a plentiful food supply, ensuring that adults continue to spawn. Jellyfish blooms are becoming increasingly frequent and in the year 2000 a mass of sea tomato jellyfish stretched for over 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles) off the coast of Australia – even being visible from space. Jellyfish are living proof that, in evolutionary terms, more-complex organisms aren’t always the most
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Enter the world of one of Asia’s most elusive creatures surviving within the harsh environment of the Himalayas Words Ella Carter Sutton To really get to know the secretive and enigmatic red panda, you need to make the journey to the atmospheric foothills of the Himalayas. Venture into the thick, temperate forests that spread across the expansive mountain range and turn your gaze far up into the treetops. The chances are, unfortunately, even then you’re still unlikely to spot one. These little critters are known to be very shy and their numbers are dwindling thanks to various pressures on their habitat. However, if you are lucky enough to spot a flash of fur in the forest, you’ll definitely know a red panda when you see it. A rusty-red coat, cute-as-a-button face with pointy ears and a stripy, fluffy tail
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Red panda
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Mysteries of the red panda are the characteristics that this species boasts. It also cuts a charismatic silhouette as it shimmies up and down trees – acting more at home high up in the forest canopy than even most monkeys. Also known affectionately as the fire fox, or lesser panda, the red panda was actually the first panda species described by Western scientists. Although discovered in 1821 by Englishman Major-General Thomas Hardwicke, it was Frédéric Cuvier, brother of famed French biologist Georges Cuvier, who had the privilege of bestowing the red panda its scientific moniker. He claimed it was the most beautiful animal he had ever seen and so called it Ailurus fulgens, which when translated actually means shining or fire-coloured cat. The word ‘panda’ is thought to derive from the Nepalese name for these animals, ‘nigalya ponya’, which may have translated as ‘bamboo-footed’. Due to the popularity of the beloved giant panda that enjoys the same dinner fodder of bamboo, many people make the assumption that the black-and-white bear was the first panda and the lesser version came afterwards, but this isn’t the case. The giant panda was actually described to science almost 50 years after the original and was sonamed because of its similarity to the red variety. Another misconception about these animals is that they’re related, however this is another panda myth. The taxonomic classification of the red panda is something that has had scientists debating for years and is still controversial.
Five secrets of the red panda The stealthy adaptations that have kept this creature hidden from view
They can rotate their ankles to walk down trees
Unusual vocalisations The noise of a red panda can be rather birdlike! These little guys vocalise with chirps and tweeting sounds, but they also produce a range of other noises to communicate, such as one that sounds like a quack-snort.
Masters of disguise
Spending their lives up in the trees, they’ve developed an amazing way to scoot down trunks head-first. They can rotate their ankles outwards to give the claws a better grip for swift descents.
As a nocturnal creature, the red panda has evolved an amazing type of camouflage. The fur on its belly is often dark, so when the panda is in the treetops, this blends perfectly with the night sky if a predator looks up from below.
RED PANDA Ailurus fulgens
Stealthy creeper
Class Mammalia
The soles of a newborn red panda’s feet are bare, but adults develop thick furry soles. This helps them to grip and climb on wet, slippery ground, as well as move about effortlessly on snow and ice-covered rocks high up.
Territory Himalayan forests Diet Bamboo, fruit, nuts Lifespan 8-10 years Adult weight 3-6kg / 6.6-13lbs Conservation status
VULNERABLE
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Nighttime stalker This species is nearly only ever spotted at night and in the gloaming hours, when there is less chance of being seen by predators, including humans.
Red panda
Panda ancestors Fossils of ancient red panda relatives are found globally
Madrid, Spain, 2008 A fossil of another member of the Ailuridae, the puma-sized Simocyon batalleri. This Miocene specimen featured a false thumb, which is unique to the red panda.
Washington, USA, 1977 A tooth discovered in the Pliocene Ringold Formation in Washington, was thought to belong to the extinct red panda relative Parailurus. This was identical to the European examples, showing how this species arrived from Asia.
Tennessee, USA, 2004 Anther tooth is thought to belong to an Ailurid panda species from 4.5 to 7 million years ago. This species, Pristinailurus bristoli, shows that another line of red panda ancestors inhabited North America during the Miocene epoch.
Vceláre, Slovakia, 2008 A European example of Parailurus, this is another new species that differs from the previously discovered species of P. anglicus and P. hungaricus.
Nagaoka, Japan, 2003 From the same period as the European and NorthAmerican fossils, scientists found molar evidence of the extinct red panda species Parailurus. This is the first record of the animal in Asia.
“The red panda is the only species of its kind and is the only surviving member of the family Ailuridae” Before DNA testing was common, scientists had to rely on other factors to classify animals into groups along with their relatives. The red panda produced somewhat of a conundrum, as it bears striking similarities to both racoons (from the family Procyonidae) and giant pandas (members of the true bear family, Ursidae). Red pandas have previously been classed in both of these families, but really they belong to neither of these categories. The red pandas that we know today are the only members of their own family called the Ailuridae and there are two subspecies in this family that look virtually the same. Ailurus fulgens fulgens lives in north-eastern India, Nepal, Bhutan and parts of China, while Ailurus fulgens styani is only found in China and northern Burma. Although they share a portion of habitats in China, the two species of panda (red and giant) are only very distantly related, sharing a common ancestor from around 30 to 50 million years ago. So why do they behave so similarly? Both red and giant pandas eat bamboo, have specialised teeth and paws for the job, have similar digestive qualities to stomach the greenery and their reproductive traits are also alike. In essence, it’s the most beautiful example of coincidence and the characteristics these animals share are a striking result of convergent evolution. This is where different species that aren’t closely related evolve similar traits independently. Molecular analysis has now revealed that red pandas are better related to weasels (Mustelidae) and skunks (Mephitidae). The most distinctive thing about a red panda, aside from its adorable kitten-like face, is undoubtedly its crop of crimson fur. This is complemented with a dark belly and white facial stripes with tear marks, all of which work together to blend in with the red mosses and white
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Mysteries of the red panda
“Red pandas are nocturnal, so much of their days are spent slumbering” lichens growing on the trees that it calls home. Also contributing to the camouflage (all the better for hiding from predators such as snow leopards) is the banded tail. This can almost equal the length of the panda’s body. This provides balance for clambering in the treetops, is a handy pillow for sleeping on and provides insulation against the Himalayan winters. Sleeping in the treetops is a lazy affair in summer, where red pandas are known to lie stomachdown on a branch with legs dangling. In winter, pandas curl up and use the plump of their tails to keep their noses toasty. Red pandas are nocturnal, so much of their days are spent slumbering. If they happen to get a little chilly under the leaves, they’ll often creep higher above the treetops and bask in the Sun. As primarily solitary animals, red pandas spend most of their time alone outside of the mating season. Male pandas will mark out their territory using urine and a scent from a gland at the base of their tail, but this gland has another use too. Although usually mild-mannered, when they’re threatened these little animals can let off a hefty stink. This instantly helps the attackers to think twice about having panda for supper. Much of a red panda’s day-to-day energy is spent foraging for food, which is primarily, but not limited to, bamboo shoots. The red panda is fondly termed a ‘vegetarian carnivore’, as analysis of their droppings has also revealed that they supplement their diet with nuts, seeds, flowers, insects, eggs (expertly thieved from certain birds’ nests) and occasionally even small creatures such as lizards, rodents and birds.
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The ecosystem inhabited by the red panda is the damp, high-altitude, mixed-deciduous, hardwood forests of the Himalayan foothills. Most pandas are found between 1,500 and 4,800 metres (4,921 and 15,748 feet) above sea level, near a water source, complete with a dense understory of delicious bamboo. A super-tough food to eat, bamboo is highly fibrous and covered in blades of silica, making an uncomfortable meal for most other mammals. Handily, this gives red pandas the pick of the crop when it comes to munching some shoots. While the giant panda species
Biggest threats Wild red panda populations in the mountains face numerous threats to their survival Habitat loss The intense pressure from agriculture, deforestation and grazing threatens the mountainous forests that make up the red panda’s home. Areas of forest are cut to make room for agriculture Fur trade Red panda fur is prized in areas of China and Burma, so despite the creature being a protected species, its rusty red pelt oen makes it a victim of poachers. As an example, hats with red panda tails attached are still considered traditional dress. Traps Traps laid by hunters to snare other animals, such as wild pigs, pose a threat to red pandas. Due to their small population size and fragile reproduction cycle, these can affect the breeding population.
Red panda
Living in a league of its own In the past, the red panda has been classed as both a racoon and a panda, but which is it? The truth is, it’s neither a cousin of the giant panda, nor a brother to the raccoon! The red panda is classified as the only extant species in the family Ailuridae. However, its uncanny similarities to giant panda bears and raccoons had scientists stumped for years. Facial features Red pandas have similar markings on their faces as racoons, including pointy ears, beady eyes and white striped markings.
Claws Both red pandas and raccoons use their claws for leaping up trees and making their homes among the branches.
Ringed tail The panda’s rusty-red ringed tail is very similar to the raccoon’s signature black-and-white version. Both are fluff y and provide balance and warmth. Diet Giant pandas and red pandas both munch almost exclusively on bamboo and have digestive systems similarly adapted for the foodstuff.
eats all of the bamboo plant (apart from the roots), red pandas are much more discerning bamboo connoisseurs, choosing to nibble only the tenderest, most delicate shoots and leaves. However, alongside their giant namesake, red pandas have a specialised wrist bone that acts as a pseudo thumb and aids bamboo-gripping. Although their specialised teeth are ideal for grinding up the tough plant, a red panda’s gut isn’t all that efficient when it comes to digestion. This means that only around a quarter of the nutrients are absorbed and the panda has to guzzle as much bamboo as it can get its paws on. To conserve some much-needed energy, red pandas consequently have very slow metabolic rates. Bamboo is one of the world’s fastest-growing plants, but in order to bring about a bamboo-boom, conditions must be right. As ever-increasing deforestation for agriculture, animal grazing and timber encroaches on the panda’s realm, this also alters the soil profile of the forest and means that less water is retained, allowing less bamboo to thrive. Red panda populations are entirely governed by their food supply and this has meant that communities can be cut off from the rest of the population, which can have devastating consequences. As red panda populations continue to shrink, the genetic diversity of the community declines too. If the swathes of bamboo in the forest under-canopy are limited to certain patches, surrounded by deforested land, the red pandas that live there are effectively cut off from the rest of the breeding population. This is when inbreeding can occur. The strength of the population can be damaged by the
ABOVE The pandas have many cat-like habits, such as grooming and cleaning themselves aer waking up
Teeth Both pandas have well-developed jaws full of molars that are excellent for grinding up tough bamboo.
Thumbs Both types of panda have special wrist bones that can be used as a thumb, which helps when eating the tough bamboo.
creation of a genetic bottleneck, providing issues with genetic diseases and other complications. The breeding season is in the winter and is when much of the red panda’s yearly quota of social interaction takes place – meaning it’s party time for the fire foxes. The animals come together in groups and there’s plenty of fun to be had, with both cubs and elders partaking in a bit of good-old-fashioned wrestling, lunging and biting. It’s not fully understood how these solitary creatures find one another to breed, but one theory is that the scent trails that a panda uses to mark its territory may play a part as sniff-‘n’-follow guides.
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Mysteries of the red panda
Quick questions with an expert Name: Terrance Fleming, Red Panda Network Organisation: Red Panda Network Website: www.redpandanetwork.org
Why do you think it’s so important that we preserve the longevity of the red panda population? The red panda is the only species of its kind and is the only surviving member of the family Ailuridae. It’s both an indicator and umbrella species of the eastern Himalayan broadleaf and conifer forest, which is widely considered to be an ecological hot spot. What are organisations such as the Red Panda Network doing to save this vulnerable species? The Red Panda Network (RPN) uses a holistic, community-based approach to red panda conservation and our programs have been strategically developed over time to directly respond to insufficient population data, threats to the red pandas and their habitat, as well as opportunities for sustainable community development.
How can people get involved? Many people have never heard of the red panda and worldwide awareness of this animal and its concerning status needs to be raised. Participating in International Red Panda Day (IRPD) on Saturday 20 September 2014 is a wonderful way to build awareness. [This] is a worldwide effort to raise awareness about red pandas. One of the main focuses of IRPD is to get children involved in our Red Panda Ranger program. A Red Panda Ranger is a special title given to a child who has completed all five levels and all accompanying educational and outreach tasks of the Ranger program and is ready to spread the word about the importance of red panda conservation. On IRPD, zoos, schools and businesses will host red panda-themed games from our IRPD Activity Booklet. These are fun, educational, and award the children with Ranger badges and eventually a certificate of completion. Another great way for people to get involved in red panda conservation is by becoming a member of Red Panda Network, which they can do simply by donating, adopting a wild red panda in our project area and sponsoring one of our expert Forest Guardians – a professional forest steward. Why is the red panda so special? Red pandas are elusive, biologically unique and their existence is so important to our planet’s natural heritage and global biodiversity.
Female pandas give birth in the spring or summer to usually one or two cubs, after a long gestation period of up to 135 days. The panda mother builds cosy, nest-like cubbyholes in hollow trees or even caves to raise her babies, which stay in the nest for around 90 days. Males rarely play any part in bringing up the offspring. The mischievous panda cubs can eat gargantuan amounts of bamboo, but grow very slowly and don’t leave their mother until adulthood, at around 12 months, when the next mating season begins. Listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List, it’s thought that there are less
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than 10,000 adult red pandas left in the wild, with a continuing decline of more than ten per cent over the next three generations. This is worrying stuff for the pandas, but thankfully all is not lost. A protected species in all range areas, there are now many conservation charities dedicated to preserving this animal. As well as protecting their natural habitats, red pandas have had much success from captive breeding programs at zoos and sanctuaries. These cute little critters can draw a big crowd to their enclosures and every visitor that learns about the pandas can help towards spreading the word and preserving their species. These creatures are ambassadors for their remarkable habitat, which as well as the pandas supports thousands of other species and communities of people in the geographic range. The sight of a red panda in the wild should bring reassurance that the ecosystem is healthy, thriving and safe.
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Bristol Zoo Gardens houses Jasmina, the resident red panda. Like many of her species, Jasmina can oen be found napping high in the treetops.
© Corbis, NPL, Rex Features, Terence Fleming
The Red Panda Network (RPN) promotes research and conservation of the red panda. The organisation also supports local communities and helps educate them about the plight of their furry neighbours. RPN aims to protect and survey over 40 per cent of the red panda range within Nepal by the end of 2015, with an aim of better understanding and protecting the vulnerable species.
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Animal answers
ABOVE Astonishingly Cuvier’s beaked whales can hold their breath for well over two hours
Send your animal questions to us at:
[email protected] Do gentoo penguins mate for life? James Kirkwood Yes! When a male penguin finds his perfect female, he sets out on a search to find the best pebble to present to her, in the same way humans get down on one knee for their love. You’d think the size of the pebble would be crucial in this instance – this doesn’t seem to matter to the female penguin, but the males fight for the best-looking ones. During mating season the female sits on a nest, while the males sift through pebbles looking for the smoothest stone to present to their lucky female. Once a pebble has been selected, the male penguins present it and if she takes it to place on her nest, she has accepted him. The fear of rejection is the only concern that males face, while other males within the group can suffer from pebble-envy. These jealous birds will attempt to steal the most handsome pebbles from other nests to take to their own lovely females.
Which whale can hold its breath for the longest? Eileen Kelly The most extreme breath-holding whale is the Cuvier’s beaked whale. A recent study attached satellite tags to the whales and recorded a dive to nearly three kilometres (1.9 miles) below the ocean’s surface and one particular Cuvier’s beaked whale held its breath for 137 minutes! This surpasses the previous marine mammal dive record held by the southern elephant seal. Comparatively, the sperm whale can only hold its breath for up to 90 minutes. The Cuvier’s beaked whale’s deep-diving capabilities are due to the high levels of myoglobin protein in their muscles, which increase their oxygen stores. They also have reduced air spaces within their bodies, stopping them being crushed and suffering from decompression sickness.
137 minutes
How are animal fossils formed? Rachel Jordan Animal fossils are the preserved body parts of creatures that once lived on Earth. The fossilisation of an animal can occur in a variety of ways, depending on climate and ground conditions. In general fossilisation occurs when a recently deceased animal is rapidly buried by fine sediment. This becomes compressed as the remains are buried deeper over time, preserving the harder parts of the creature in its original form. Sometimes remains dissolve, leaving casts or impressions of the animal, while others are preserved in amber.
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Cuvier’s beaked whale
Sperm whale
90 minutes
BELOW Whales can hold their breath for extended periods of time
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Animals answers
How does animal imprinting work?
RIGHT Imprinting is vital to the survival of young animals, as key methods for survival are passed on
Alexis Greenwood In the early stages of a bird or mammal’s life, it will naturally imprint on its mother, observing and learning from her so that it can survive. Konrad Lorenz, a behavioural theorist, was the first to experiment with imprinting and discovered that the process begins as the young hears its mother while still in its egg. Then, within the critical first few hours or days aer hatching, the young imprints on the first moving object it sees – its mother. This process enables the young to identify its mother among other adults in the species, to find its original or similar habitat later in life and to identify potential mates, without inbreeding. Altrical species are completely dependent on their mothers from birth, so imprinting happens much later. Precocial species are slightly more advanced aer birth and consequently imprinting happens early, so despite their advanced nature they stay safe. Animal mothers can also be substituted for a human in captive breeding, which is key for conserving endangered species. Recent research suggests that imprinting can even be reversed and there is no sensitive period in which the process has to take place.
How do rats communicate?
Can butterflies taste with their feet? Louise Peters Butterflies can in fact taste with their feet, as they have receptors that act like taste buds. These receptors help to locate food on the butterflies’ host plant, which is the specific species of plant that they can lay their eggs on. Female butterflies land on different plants than the males, drumming the leaves with their feet
to make the plant release its juices. Spines on the backs of their legs have chemoreceptors that detect the right match of plant chemicals, making sure caterpillars can eat it in order to identify the right plant to lay eggs on. A butterfly will also step on its food, using organs that sense dissolved sugars to taste food sources, such as fermenting fruit.
Ryan Quinn Rats have numerous ways of communicating with one another, the most common being with their body language. Rats become socially mature at around five months old, when the males may behave more aggressively towards one another. This physical behaviour is the natural way for rats to communicate to establish their place in the community. Rats have also been known to interact by grinding their teeth when feeling contentment or any comfort.
Q.Why are lions the only big-cat pack hunters?
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Animal answers
[email protected] What’s the best-camouflaged invertebrate? Nathan Redman The award for Best-Camouflaged Invertebrate must go to the common octopus. These masters of disguise have the ability to change their skin colour and texture to mimic the tone and pattern of their environment in a matter of seconds. This is even more impressive as octopuses can only see in
black and white! Not only do they have the fantastic ability to change their physical appearance, they can also stop breathing for short periods of time to avoid detection. Another invertebrate with amazing camouflage abilities is the stick insect, with twig-like bodies that naturally blend in with their environment.
Why do snails leave trails? Elizabeth Rose Producing the trail enables the snail to move across any type of ground without injuring its body. If they didn’t lubricate the surface they move along, they’d simply scrape and hurt themselves along the way. Snails leave behind a trail of slime because it’s excreted from their bodies as they slide and move along. Snail mucus is a defence mechanism to stop any injuries being caused, as they need moisture to survive. BELOW We may find it disgusting, but a snail’s trail is essential to its survival as it travels
How do squirrels help repopulate their habitats? Amanda Wirral-Jones When a squirrel finds an acorn, it’ll want to bury it and return later, but sometimes they forget where the food is buried, resulting in the acorn actually growing into a tree. By being buried, the acorns are placed in moisture, which in time splits them open and they sprout. Once the seed has sprouted, if the squirrel is lucky enough to find it, they’ll have a lovely feast. If they decide to venture off somewhere else, the acorn will grow into a tree.
BELOW While acorns are oen stored as tasty treats for later, careless squirrels will oen forget where the seeds are stored
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Animals answers RIGHT While they may have many similarities, wolves and coyotes are actually very different creatures
ABOVE Flying squirrels use a delicate membrane called patagium to glide smoothly through the air
How do coyotes and wolves differ? Liam McCarthy For a start, wolves and coyotes look and act in different ways. Sometimes coyotes are referred to as barking dogs and belong to the dog family, whereas wolves are seen as the much larger, stronger and the dangerous creature of the two. Wolves also hunt in packs, while coyotes hunt primarily in pairs. Red wolves are the variety most similar to coyotes, as they’re smaller and more dog-looking than other wolf species, but most wolves have grey, black or white fur. Unlike a wolf, coyotes have thick, bushy tails, which sit low to the ground. The legs of a coyote are also much thinner than those of a wolf, resulting in a much smaller frame. Also, wolves howl to speak with one another, while coyotes bark in a much higher pitch.
Why are hummingbirds such fast fliers? Rufio demarco Hummingbirds are tiny and can flap their wings so fast that they can hover. Not only that, they can also fly up, down, sideways, backwards, and even upside down. They perform such exceptional flight patterns by rotating their wings in a circle, creating power on the upstroke as well as the downstroke. The wings are flexible at the shoulder but not at the wrist, helping the bird beat without bending them.
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Did dinosaurs really have feathers? Lynne Price Dinosaur fossils have been found with preserved impressions of feathers. Over 20 genera of dinosaurs are thought to have had feathers and most of these have been identified as being from the Theropod group including Tyrannosaurs and Velociraptors who were all likely feathered! Most, if not all Coelurosaurs (a subgroup of theropods) were feathered and it’s this group that’s most closely related to birds.
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Animal answers
[email protected] How many species of bear are there? Liam Carter There are eight species of bear in the world. Brown bears are the most widely spread species, with a distinctive shoulder hump. Black bears are found in forests of North America and are the most abundant species. Asiatic black bears have a distinctive white crescent shape on their chest, while polar bears are the largest species, residing in and around the Arctic. Sloth bears are unique-looking with long, shaggy black fur and protruding muzzles. Giant panda bears are the rarest bear species, found in China. Among the smallest of all the bear species, and also one of the rarest, is the Sun bear, while the spectacled bear is the only species living in South America. These creatures have distinctive light-coloured rings around their eyes, hence their common name.
RIGHT The giant panda bear is still among the most endangered creatures in the world
“Among the smallest of all the bear species, and also one of the rarest, is the Sun bear” Why do Dalmatians have spots? Amy Prosser Dalmatians have pigmented spots on their white fur coats because of a genetic trait inherited from their parents. The interaction of three genes – the S (spotting) loci, T (ticking) loci and F (flecking) loci – creates the spotting pattern that’s completely unique to the breed. A dalmatian puppy is born completely white and the spots develop as they mature, with the first ones appearing within three weeks and more developing throughout their lives at a slower rate. The spots are usually black or brown, varying in size and number. Dalmatians even have spots inside their mouths!
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How do snakes move? Without legs, snakes must use their muscles and scales to move around. They extend and contract their muscles to redistribute their weight (they don’t stay flat on the ground) and grip with their rough, overlapping scales. They can also propel off rocks, branches and uneven ground. Snakes have four distinct ways of moving: serpentine (S-shaped) is the most common; side-winding is perfect for moving on slippery surfaces such as the desert; concertina is useful in tight spaces and to climb horizontally; rectilinear (caterpillar) is a far slower and stealthier method. Primitive snakes, such as boas and pythons, have pelvic spurs, which are barely visible remains of legs. These limbs aren’t used to help with movement, but for mating and fighting instead, however most other snakes have evolved without them.
ABOVE Flying squirrels use a delicate membrane called patagium to glide smoothly through the air
LEFT Certain snake species, such as Boa constrictors and pythons, still feature the primitive evolutionary remains of undeveloped legs. These are known as pelvic spurs, but aren’t found on most snake varieties
How do homing pigeons know where to fly? Kailen Igbedion The navigational abilities of homing pigeons are renowned. They were used as messengers by early Egyptians and morerecently in the First World War. Homing pigeons are bred to fly over long distances in unknown places and use many methods to find their way home. They can use the Sun for navigation, but on overcast days this is less reliable, so they use the Earth’s magnetic field. The birds have iron particles aligned to north in the ends of their beaks – their very own built-in compass! Homing pigeons can also use their sense of smell and low-frequency sound waves as maps to work alongside their organic compass. LEFT Homing pigeons have a natural ability to navigate vast distances, making them highly useful for carrying messages
Why do sea otters hold hands? Amber Marshall Sea otters hold hands when they sleep so they don’t dri away from one another. Normally they float in groups, known as ras, not only when they sleep but also when they eat and rest. A ra can range from two to several hundred otters oen holding hands to stay together.
Sea otters also use various sea plants that grow from the ocean bed, which they wrap themselves in so as to avoid driing away. These marine animals are found in the northern Pacific Ocean and they’re the only known species to hold hands to stay together – it’s the classic natural instinct of safety in numbers.
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WINNER! Ketu the leopard Adam Wood The goal of this photograph was to capture the true nature of a wild animal even while on display in captivity.
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Yagna the pelican Adam Wood A brown pelican in New Orleans, Louisiana. The brown pelican is the Louisiana state bird and a symbol of pride and sacrifice. Pelicans appear to be one of the more awkward birds while on land, but very few animals match their grace in flight.
Ribbon snake at the Twin Canals Brandon Keck South of New Orleans, Louisiana in the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve this western ribbon snake assesses the potential danger I present as I crouch between the debris on a small ridge through the swamp.
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Your animals
Head to head James Dawes In Calke Abbey last year, in the rutting season, two stags go head to head on top of a bank. I had to run down a hill to get in position for this shot but what a result.
The Splash David Ashley The coast of Dunsborough, Western Australia, is a favourite of mine for whalewatching. Stunning coastline and turquoise waters provide a beautiful backdrop for breaching humpbacks.
The hovering hover fly James Dawes In July last year, the Sun was shining on a clear, still Saturday morning. I spotted the hover fly flying around our garden while planting a few new plants and I knew it would make a great macro shot if I could capture it.
Serenity David Ashley Baldivis Wetlands, Western Australia is a truly beautiful spot. On many an occasion, I head there at the crack of dawn hoping to shoot a memorable sunrise.
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The creatures surviving in Endangered sea turtles, these frozen forests sea lions and more
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HOW HYENAS HUNT
On the prowl with Africa’s most successful predator
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“Powerfully built, their strong legs enable them to catch prey in midair, swooping down on unsuspecting victims”
Aggressive antics of an assassin fly
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Modus Operandi The fly attacks its prey by stabbing it with its short, strong proboscis, injecting the victim with saliva containing neurotoxic and protein-destroying enzymes that work to quickly paralyse its prey. The fly then sucks liquefied material through its proboscis to feed. Powerfully built, their strong legs enable them to catch prey in mid-air, swooping down on the unsuspecting victims and paralysing them with poison.
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Commonly known as the assassin or robber fly, the Asilidae family is notorious for its aggressively predatory habits, ambushing prey mid-flight and injecting them with paralysing venom. Assassin flies aren’t scared of any insect and will attack wasps, bees, dragonflies, grasshoppers, or even other species of fly and spiders.
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