5 snake superpOWers yOu WOn’t beLieve TM
garDening gOne WiLD
Geckoes tOrtOises seaGulls OceLOts bats
Get up close to the animals in your backyard
Which animal has the most heart? reasons to go wild in mauritius
SEABIRDS INCREDIBLE LIVES OF
eXtreMe snaiLs meet the biGGest, most poisonous and fastest Gastropods on earth
KoAlAS
Fighting Fish
How to better know a betta fighting fish
Meet the DOLphins
Get to know this playful marine species
LeaFcutter ants
Learn all about these tiny insect farmers
WiLDLiFe OF a cave
Uncover the creatures that thrive in the dark
australia’s sleepy icons ISSUE 46
PRINTED IN THE UK
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Welcome Did you know that the puffin’s famous bill only turns that bright orange colour to help it attract a mate, and that the northern gannet has evolved built-in airbags to help it dive and hunt? Turn to page 48 to find out all about what makes seabirds so incredible and how they have adapted to life above the oceans. Seabirds are not the only animals with unique bodies adapted to their environment. On page 12, meet Australia’s sleepiest icon, the koala. Eucalyptus can be seriously dangerous to humans, but the koala loves eating the stuff. Discover how this cuddly critter has adapted to life in the trees and how it manages to survive digesting the toxic leaves it munches on. Also in this issue, explore life inside a cave, journey to Mauritius to find out why it is fast becoming a wildlife haven, and get to know the animals that inhabit your garden. We’d love to see pictures of the wildlife in YOUR garden. Until next time!
Zara Gaspar Editor
Editor’s picks Return to the Sahara Here at WOA HQ we have been celebrating another conservation success story. Read all about the reintroduction of the scimitarhorned oryx to its former home on the edge of the Sahara Desert on page 58. Walking for wildlife Do you love animals, but don’t want to do a bungee jump or run a marathon? Find out on page 96 how something as simple as putting on a pair of walking shoes and joining together with others can raise thousands for wildlife charities.
© Thinkstock
Meet the team…
Lauren Debono-Elliot
Charlie Ginger
Tim Hunt
Designer
Production Editor
Picture Editor
Although they are notoriously bad tempered, I was blown away by the beautiful colours of Siamese fighting fish on page 32.
From bats to bullfrogs, many animals call caves home. Dare you venture into the dark and discover the creatures inside?
Seabirds come in all shapes and sizes, each one perfectly adapted to their habitat. We take a closer look at some unique species.
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Which snail is the speediest? Find out on page 20 Visit www.animalanswers.co.uk for Exclusive competitions Hilarious GIFs Upload your photos and win prizes!
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Welcome to Issue 46 06 Amazing animals 12 All about koalas
Discover the sleepy Australian icon that survives on toxic leaves
20 Extreme snails
Meet the biggest, most poisonous and fastest gastropods on Earth
26 Painted leopards
57 Bizarre: horned frog The cleverly disguised frog with a cannibalistic streak
58 Conserving the oryx
Returning this graceful antelope to its wild home
64 Explore the Earth: Mauritius
Journey to this island paradise to find out why it is becoming a wildlife haven
Everything you ever wanted to know about the ocelot
31 Which animal has the most heart? Strange facts about animal hearts
32 Fighting fish
How to better know a betta fighting fish
38 Gardening gone wild
Get up close to the animals in your backyard
46 Lost forever: sloth lemur
Why the slow–moving relative of modern lemurs couldn’t survive human destruction
48 Seabirds
The incredible birds adapted to life over the oceans
The IUCN red lIsT
Throughout World of Animals you will see symbols like the ones listed below. 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:
ExTINCT ExTINCT IN THE WILD CRITICALLy ENDANGERED ENDANGERED VULNERAbLE NEAR THREATENED LEAST CoNCERN
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20
72 Super serpents
Five snake superpowers that you won’t believe
74 Leaf-cutter ants Meet the farmers of the insect world
80 Meet the dolphins Get acquainted with these playful marine mammals
82 Wildlife of a cave
How animals have adapted to thrive in the dark
96 Walking for wildlife How to raise funds for conservation charities
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88 Behind the lens
Conservation photography with Luke Massey
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INCREDIBLE LIVES OF
90 Keeping in touch
SEABIRDS 94 Readers’ Q&A
12 74
64
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The amazing world of animals
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The amazing world of animals
Northern gannets are special high-speed divers, able to locate their prey from up to 45 metres (147.6 feet) in the sky. They hit the water like an arrow, with their bodies completely rigid and wings tucked back. They are opportunists, too, regularly following fishing trawlers in the hope of snatching some tasty scraps.
© NaturePL/The Big Picture
A group of northern gannets nose dive to feed on a shoal of discarded fish just off the coast of Scotland’s Shetland Islands
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The amazing world of animals
Every winter, monarch butterflies from North America embark on a mass migration in their millions to the warmer climates of southern California and central Mexico © Getty/Joel Sartore
Monarch butterflies are the only species of butterfly to travel huge distances every year. They do so in their millions, leaving behind the cold weather that would literally kill them within weeks, travelling up to 4,828 kilometres (3,000 miles) to return to the same trees as their ancestors.
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The amazing world of animals
During the breeding season, snowy owls rely on small rodents like lemmings for food. A snowy owl uses a ‘sit and wait’ style of hunting, pouncing on unsuspecting prey with its sharp talons extended, swallowing it whole. Unlike other species of owls, snowy owls hunt during both night and day.
© Getty/Arpad Radoczy/EyeEm
A young snowy owl nesting in the Arctic tundra waits patiently in its nest for its parents to return with some much needed food
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The amazing world of animals
© Getty/Juan Carlos Muoz
A spread-eagled polar bear plays around in the snow, scratching its back on some stray wood near Hudson Bay, Manitoba, Canada
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Life is tough for a polar bear, largely due to massive habitat loss, but that doesn’t stop them being among the most playful species of bear. They live solitary lives, but have been photographed playing together. Young males are known to play fight with each other, possibly imitating the serious battles that may lie ahead.
The amazing world of animals
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All about the koala
Koala Phascolarctos cinereus Class Mammalia
Territory Eastern and southeastern Australia Diet Herbivore lifespan 10-20 years adult weight 9-15kg (20-33lb) Conservation Status
VUlnerable
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All About
The koala
These sleepy Australian animals have survived on toxic leaves for centuries, but their habitat is disappearing and their future is looking increasingly uncertain © Shutterstock
Words Laura Mears
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All about the koala Koalas wedge themselves between branches to sleep
Stomachs of steel
Koalas eat a diet that’s toxic to most other animals For us, eucalyptus is dangerous. The oil causes a burning feeling in the mouth, followed by vomiting, dizziness, problems with coordination, balance and speech, and loss of consciousness. In children – who have smaller bodies – it can trigger seizures. Koalas, on the other hand, eat handfuls of the stuff every day. They’re picky about which leaves they eat, and prefer certain species, and certain types of soil; trees growing in fertile areas seem to be less toxic than those growing in infertile soil. Their stomachs produce excess acid, and their intestines are adapted to process the leaves without the nasty side effects. The major downside to their unusual diet is the lack of nutrients. The leaves don’t contain much in the way of calories, and koalas have a slow metabolic rate to compensate. They spend much of their time sitting or sleeping, and their digestive systems operate slowly to squeeze as much nutrition as possible from the leaves.
A koala’s life
Koalas might seem lazy, but when they’re not eating or sleeping, they get up to all kinds of mischief. A koala’s life is in fact rather busy...
alpha Male Being the boss is a constant struggle Koalas are generally solitary, but males like to take charge of nearby females. Rivals are warned off with loud bellowing noises, and if that fails, a wrestling match can settle disputes.
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MarKing TerriTory Dominant males spread their scent Male koalas have glands on their chests that secrete an oily substance. They rub it against trees, especially during the breeding season, to attract females and warn other males to stay away.
lone wanDerer young males travel between groups When males leave their mothers, they need to find a place of their own. They move between established groups, hanging out on the edges and hoping for an opportunity to set up a permanent home.
The koala
Life in the slow lane Koalas are slow and steady; they spend the vast majority of the day sleeping, and most of their waking hours eating. But they’re far from lazy. Even running on a diet of nutrient-poor leaves, they can still manage to travel over 100 metres (330 feet) per day. They can walk on land, and will cross vast areas of ground to reach new trees, but because their limbs are curved for climbing, they are bow-legged on the ground and their palms and soles don’t properly touch the floor. They are generally solitary animals, but don’t live far from their companions. Individual koalas occupy home territories, but they overlap at the edges with the territories of other koalas. They don’t share food, though, and only visit the overlapping trees during the breeding season. Should another koala violate that rule, conflict can often ensue. Koalas try to avoid head-to-head battles by using their voices to deter would-be aggressors; they have a powerful bellow that makes them sound much larger than they are. Coming to blows consumes a lot of valuable energy. Sometimes, however, a fight is inevitable. Angry koalas bite, scratch and wrestle, fighting in the trees and on the ground. This can be very dangerous, particularly if one koala loses their footing and falls, potentially to their death.
“Koalas try to avoid head-to-head battles by using their voices to deter aggressors”
Mothers talk quietly to their joeys Females and their offspring stay together for at least a year, forming a close bond. They communicate using clicks, murmurs, squeaks and hums. If they are annoyed, they grunt softly.
BalanCeD DieT The koala diet is hard to stomach Koalas are one of few animals able to digest eucalyptus. They tend to snack on the leaves from two or three local species, but supplement their diets with other plants, including tea trees.
UrBan aDvenTUreS Many koalas live near people Koala habitat is broken up by human settlements, and koalas aren’t afraid to venture into our towns and cities. They can get into trouble with dogs and cars, but if they’re hungry, it’s worth the trip.
© Alamy; Thinkstock
SeCreT CliCKS
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Digestive detox Eucalyptus leaves are toxic to most animals, but koala digestive systems are adapted to process this dangerous food.
Two of the fingers on the back feet are partially fused. These strange digits are used for personal grooming.
Sharp, curved claws and two opposable thumbs on the front paws help with grip. The back paws only have one thumb.
Paw adaptations
vertical pupils Most marsupials have horizontal pupils, but koala eyes have vertical slits. Their eyesight isn’t very good, with smell and hearing being much more important senses.
Jaw muscles
large skull Male koalas have broader heads than females, and both sexes have large skulls in comparison to their body size. This provides an anchor point for their enormous jaw muscles.
Koalas are adapted for an unusual life in the trees. They have strong legs, flexible paws and curved claws to grip to the branches, and an enlarged digestive system that allows them to digest the toxic leaves of eucalyptus plants
Inside the koala
Small brain Koalas have smaller brains than other marsupials in comparison to their body size, helping to save energy.
Oesophagus
Chubby cheeks The distinctive cheeks of a koala conceal powerful jaw muscles and cheek pouches. Their diet takes a lot of chewing, so their jaws are enlarged and their back teeth are sharp.
Tufty fur The fur of a koala is short and thick, providing some padding when they’re sitting in the trees. The mottled grey and white colouring helps to break up their outline.
Muscular limbs Thick, stocky limbs enable koalas to effortlessly grip to tree branches.
large ears Koalas have sensitive hearing. They communicate using low bellowing sounds, particularly during the breeding season, and their middle ear is enlarged to help transmit the vibrations.
in the pouch 0-22 weeks The joey is blind and has no ears, but manages to find its way to mum’s pouch.
© The Art Agency/Sandra Doyle; Nobu Tamura; JJ Harrison
a joey is born 0 days Like kangaroos, koala babies are known as joeys. They are just 2cm (0.8in) long at birth.
inFanCy
Cecum
pap feeding 22-30 weeks Feeding on its mother’s ‘pap’ (droppings) provides the joey with the bacteria it needs to digest eucalyptus later.
JUvenile weaning 30 weeks-1 year The joey ventures out of the pouch and starts to eat leaves, coming back for milk for up to a year.
independence 1-2 years The joey leaves as soon as its younger sibling is old enough to poke its head out of the pouch.
MaTUriTy Finding a home 2 years The first step is finding a territory. Females often choose somewhere close, while males move away.
Marsupial lion This unusual predator had teeth like a lion, a body like a wombat, and arms like a primate. It had a powerful grip and was able to climb trees, leaping out to take on prey as large as a kangaroo or diprotodon.
Mating 3-10 years Breeding between October and November, koalas have one joey every one to two years.
wombat The closest living relatives of the koala are the wombats. These stocky animals live underground in burrows that can extend tens of metres. Their teeth allow them to eat grass, which has helped them to survive to this day.
old age 10+ years Sadly, many koalas don’t make it this far. Road traffic can be a real problem.
Diprotodon This rhino-sized marsupial is the largest that ever lived. It was found across Australia during the Pleistocene (the Ice Age), more than 11,700 years ago, living in a variety of habitats, from damp woodlands to dry plains.
Most of the koala’s closest relatives are extinct
Closest family
Large intestine
Sexual maturity 2-3 years Males and females mature at the same age, but males don’t usually mate successfully until four or five.
“The koala’s large head provides an anchor for its huge jaw muscles”
pouch Like kangaroos, koalas raise their newborns inside a pouch. It opens at the bottom, and has muscles that tighten up to prevent the joey falling out.
Small intestine
Stomach
The koala
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All about the koala
Life in a gumtree There are two things that a koala looks for in a home – eucalyptus trees and other koalas Koalas are native to Australia, but they’re not found everywhere on the island. The population congregates along the eastern and southeastern coastline where the climate is wetter, the soil is more fertile, and there are plenty of eucalyptus trees. With food their top priority, koalas tend to cluster in areas with high numbers of their favourite plants. They like to munch on just a handful of the over 700 different eucalypt species found in Australia, and their top food sources include cabbage gum and ribbon gum. They’ll also snack on other eucalyptus trees when their favourites aren’t available, including bimble box, woollybutt and monkey gum. Eucalyptus forests also contain other tree species that the koalas use for shelter, including tall, strange-smelling turpentine trees and evergreens known locally as ‘brush box’. Koalas have thrived in Australia for thousands of years, but the eastern and southeastern coasts aren’t just ideal habitat for them – the fertile soils also attracted human settlers and now there’s intense competition for space. It’s estimated that 80 percent of their habitat has been destroyed since Europeans first arrived in Australia; some of it carved away to make space for developments, and some lost to droughts or fires. From an estimated 10 million animals in 1800, numbers have plummeted to fewer than 100,000. Loss of habitat continues to be the biggest threat, and according to the IUCN Red List, koalas are one of ten species most at risk of the effects of climate change. As the chance of droughts and wildfires increases, their future could become more and more uncertain. Habitat restoration programmes are underway to replace lost eucalyptus trees
Environmental factors
Life in the trees isn’t as simple as it seems
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Competition Humans and koalas share the same land, attracted to eastern Australia by the fertile soil. But this close proximity brings a battle for space, and at the moment humans are ‘winning’.
Roads With roads carving up the ground between koala strongholds, traffic accidents are a real problem. Males are particularly vulnerable when they go looking for a mate.
Wildfires Bushfires have shaped the Australian landscape for millennia, but if koala populations are penned in by human developments there’s nowhere to run when disaster strikes.
Predators Even though they’re high in the trees, koalas aren’t invulnerable to predators. Dingoes, owls, eagles and pythons all pose a threat, as do invasive species like cats and foxes.
The koala Pushed to the edge Koalas live on the eastern and southeastern edges of Australia, but their numbers have dropped dramatically over the past 200 years, and populations are now severely fragmented. Current population range
Nearest neighbours Koalas share their treetop homes with a host of weird and wonderful animals
Koalas are extinct in most of Australia Sugar glider These little marsupials hide in the hollows of trees during the day, and spend their nights out foraging for sap, nectar and insects. Like koalas, they depend on the trees for survival and are vulnerable to deforestation.
Short-beaked echidna Echidnas might look a bit like hedgehogs, but they aren’t closely related. They are monotremes (like the platypus), laying eggs despite being mammals. Like marsupials, they have a pouch.
A ‘bear’ down under Koalas sleep for 20 hours a day
Southern koalas have more fur than their northern counterparts Koalas get moisture from their food and rarely drink
Ringtail possum These cat-sized marsupials are skillful climbers, and use their tail as an extra limb when swinging in the trees. They have adapted well to life alongside humans, and can often be seen in suburban gardens.
Joeys cling tightly to their mothers for about a year Male koalas bite, scratch and fight for dominance Koalas use their sharp claws to shimmy up and down trees Koalas eat up to 0.5kg (1.1Ib) of leaves every day Male koalas threaten rivals by bellowing
Little red flying fox These bats can climb as well as fly, and spend their lives in the trees. They eat fruit and nectar, and like bees, they transfer pollen from flower to flower when they feed. They have a particular fondness for eucalyptus.
© freevectormaps.com; Thinkstock; Suzi Eszterhas/Minden Pictures/FLPA
Koalas don’t usually visit each other unless it’s breeding season
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ExtrEmE
SNAILS Famous for their slow speed and fragile shells, these molluscs possess secret powers that are almost beyond belief Words Amy Grisdale An estimated 80,000 snail species exist on Earth, surviving in arid deserts and abyssal ocean depths. Most are marine species, while around 40 per cent live on land. All of these species share common traits as members of the Gastropod class. This name literally translates as ‘stomach foot’, as the insides of a snail are twisted in such a way that the digestive organs lie directly above the fleshy ‘foot’. Their protective shell is made from tough calcium carbonate; a substance that can withstand high pressure and temperature and acts as armour.
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Most terrestrial species are herbivorous, but a great number that live in the ocean are meat-eaters, and some have developed extreme adaptations to take down animals that are larger and faster than themselves. Those that live on shores face exposure to predators and battle the elements on a daily basis, while some invade fresh water despite breathing air. Snails make up 80 per cent of all living molluscs and are an incredibly successful group of animals that emerged around 250 million years before the first dinosaurs, and survive across the planet to this day.
Extreme snails Strongest
Limpet tongues are tougher than titanium A common sight at the seaside, these hardy snails are miniature scouring pads that scrape every scrap of food from bare rock The life of a limpet may look almost nonexistent to the casual observer. Their shells stick to rocks and appear to stay still while waiting for the tide to cover them back up, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Beneath the conical shell is the radula, which is a ribbon-shaped organ similar to a human tongue. The big difference is that the radula is covered with tooth-like daggers made of the strongest material known to humans. These ‘teeth’ are compressed fibres and can be 100-times thinner than a human hair. Despite being microscopic, they are designed to scrape back and forth across rocks for hours on end without eroding throughout the limpet’s life, which can be up to 20 years. Each tooth has equal strength regardless of its size, and lifts particles of algae from the rocks that can then be eaten by the limpet. The animal is always on the move, and footage of foraging limpets can be sped up to reveal how far they travel each day. Once all the food has been prised free from the rock the snail moves on to find more, though some species return to their original place at the end of each day. This is known as the ‘home scar’, and they follow their own trail of chemicals to find it. On top of this, limpets compete with one another for space. More than 300 snails can live within a single square metre (10.7 square feet) and have even been known to shove one another off rocks. This long tongue can grow to double the length of the shell and the teeth are stronger than any substance known to humankind. Radula
“An estimated 80,000 species exist, most of which are marine” 21
Extreme snails ve Most protecti
Apple snail eggs destroy the central nervous system As if living underwater while needing to breathe air isn’t enough, these snails go the extra mile to protect their progeny from predators This tropical freshwater species takes child safety seriously. Females risk their lives by leaving the water to find an aerial surface for their eggs to develop in peace. In some apple snail species the preferred location is a stone or log at the surface, but most seek out high-up plant stems that tower above the water. Their eggs are bright pink to warn off egg hunters – those that do eat them meet a grisly end. The toxin inside is a unique combination of proteins that remains active even when it has passed through a predator’s entire digestive system. Of all their natural predators, only tropical fire ants are able to survive eating these eggs.
Apple snails are able to lay so many of these protected eggs that the species has colonised new environments and even become a pest
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Extreme snails
Kindest
Queen conches give vulnerable ocean animals a home Prized as a decoration above the waves, this giant snail goes through life helping others, asking for nothing in return Sometimes animals form mutual relationships where both species rake in benefits. But that’s not what happens with the queen conch. Interactions with this peaceful vegetarian are known as commensal because they don’t benefit the host in any way. Measuring up to 30 centimetres (12 inches), its large shell provides a surface for animals to bind to, such as barnacles, who can’t feed
unless they’re stuck down. Small fish and crabs even make their way inside the spacious shell to hide from predators, and the conch tolerates these invasions. This snail is even a breeder of bacteria that is at the bottom of the ocean food chain. Microbes feed on scraps the conch can’t finish and provide the ocean with life-giving bacteria that in turn feeds plankton.
Friends of the queen These are just some of the animals that the queen conch allows to share its shell
Slipper limpet
Porcelain crab
Cardinal fish
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Extreme snails
Deadliest
Cone snails pump prey with poison Even humans fear this predator, which is known by scuba divers as an animal to avoid at all costs The problem this species faces is simple – it’s a slow-moving snail that eats fast-swimming fish and needs to be able to catch prey without expending too much energy. A high-speed chase is out of the question, but thankfully for this snail it has a lethal trick in its shell. During its evolution it developed a weapon that allows it to kill anything that gets too close.
Tucked beneath its speckled shell is a harpoon filled with venom for which there is no antidote. The fluid inside is so toxic that fish are paralysed instantly, allowing the cone snail to eat a meal without having to move. In fact, it’s potent enough to take down an adult human, and this snail alone is responsible for more than 30 fatalities to date.
This is not only the world’s deadliest snail; it’s one of the most venomous animals alive. Researchers are working to pick apart the hundreds of chemicals that make up its venom and have found proteins that are 10,000 times more effective than morphine as a painkiller. It also contains a form of insulin that causes the blood sugar of prey to drop to a fatal level.
Cone snails can modify their venom to create different lethal cocktails to stun a variety of prey
How it hunts
This static sharpshooter sits and waits for prey
Proboscis
Toxic harpoon The waiting game With an arsenal of deadly poison ready to fire, the cone snail stays in the same place waiting for prey to cross its path. It even waves its long proboscis to lure fish into the danger zone.
Harpoon action Once prey is in range the snail throws out a hollow, modified tooth that contains the fatal cocktail. The fish will become motionless in less than a second, saving the snail from having to pursue its meal.
Down in one Stretching its mouthparts wide, the snail swallows the fish whole; the venom has no effect on the snail. It can wolf down animals that are equal in size to it, and only the prey’s bones are excreted.
Cleverest
Violet sea snails sail the oceans While it’s impossible to determine how intelligent a snail is, this specimen definitely tops the charts for being the most enterprising
Violet sea snails are pelagic (Greek for ‘open sea’), meaning they drift along on the ocean surface
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This snail forms a buoyant raft at the entrance of its shell by inflating bubbles of mucus. It’s the pirate of the snail world and spends its entire life floating at the ocean’s surface feeding on venomous animals like the Portuguese man of war jellyfish. Interestingly, all violet sea snails are born male and mature into females as they age. Male snails release a case of sperm into the water, which drifts towards a female who can then use it to fertilise her eggs.
Everything in this animal’s life is precarious, from the raft that prevents it sinking to certain death to predators seeking a meal. Its purple colouration helps the shell stay hidden using a type of camouflage called countershading. The dark base faces upwards and blends in with the sea when viewed from above, while the tip of the shell that hangs upside down is light in colour, making it hard to distinguish from the sky if seen from below.
Extreme snails
Fastest
Garden snails are secret speedsters The world’s speediest snail uses special tactics to get around ‘quickly’ with only a few parts of their ‘feet’, thereby conserving as much of their vital mucus as possible. This is known as loping, and snails also do this when trying to evade a predator. When retreating a snail can either hide in its shell or burrow underground. Sticky mucus helps it seal itself inside its spiral chamber or stick the whole of its shell to the ground. When under soil, it uses a sheet of solidified mucus to barricade itself in, and can shut down its body to stay dormant for lengthy periods. These hardy snails can even survive temperatures of minus ten degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit). © Alamy/Paul R. Sterry; NaturePL/Joris van Alphen; Alex Mustard; Georgette Douwma; Thinkstock
Archie the garden snail holds a Guinness™ World Record for speed, having completed a 33-centimetre (13-inch) course in two minutes. When the numbers are crunched, that boils down to 0.01 kilometres (0.006 miles) per hour, which sounds extremely slow. In reality, it is slow, but this snail species uses techniques to navigate its environment better than any other. The two types of movement in land snails are crawling and loping. Garden snails crawl across flat surfaces secreting a characteristic trail of lubricating mucus as they go. In times of dry weather, to prevent water loss, snails will touch the ground The Latin name for the common garden snail is Cornu aspersum
Biggest
African land snails decimate the landscape This mollusc is very good at doing two things: eating everything in its path and popping out baby snails Being big is a great way to avoid predators, and in order to be big this snail needs to eat a lot. It’s a herbivore that feasts on plant matter, and uses its keen sense of smell to sniff out crops. Growing snails prefer soft, decaying fruit, but lose their fussiness with age. Digestion begins outside the mouth as the toothed radula works the vegetation into a pulp before it’s swallowed.
Very few predators seek out the giant land snail, but rodents, terrestrial crabs and even smaller carnivorous snails have been known to hunt it. This snail is a survivor and farmers often find that their crops have been shredded by these mammoth molluscs. Even in death these snails have a tremendous impact, as their calcium shell rots, changing the pH of soil and altering its potential for future plant growth.
“Few predators will seek out the giant land snail”
ACTUAL SIZE 25
PAINTED LEOPARDS A life spent prowling the rainforests of Central and South America has produced a formidable and uniquely adapted hunter in the form of the striking little ocelot Words Hannah Westlake Standing at only 71 to 89 centimetres (28 to 35 inches), the ocelot is one of the most breathtaking small wild cats found in the rainforests and thickets of Central and South America. The pattern of each individual cat’s fur is unique and hard to describe, consisting of open and closed black bands and stripes on tawny fur, as well as smatterings of spots and smudges that look ‘painted on’, hence the name painted leopard. These markings help the ocelot stay camouflaged in the dappled shade of a forest and blend in during the twilight hours. Accomplished climbers and swimmers, ocelots have a varied diet, from birds and insects to small mammals and even fish. They have been observed stalking
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prey and tracking by scent, but they will also sometimes lie still and partially hidden, waiting for prey to pass by their hiding spot. Like most carnivores the ocelot has sharp teeth meant for tearing meat rather than chewing, and it is also known as a fussy eater, skinning or plucking its prey before tucking into a meal. Unfortunately, the species faces many threats to its survival. Ocelots are no longer legally hunted for their pelts, but the fur trade had a devastating effect on the population, leading to the ocelot being classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN from 1982 to 1996. However, with proper conservation efforts, it is possible that the species may start thriving once again.
Painted leopards OcelOt Leopardus pardalis class Mammalia
territory Central & South America, with a small population in Texas, US Diet Small mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and insects lifespan Up to 20 years Adult weight 10.9-15kg (24–35lb) conservation status
Least ConCern
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Painted leopards
Hunters of the night Keen senses make the ocelot an extremely successful hunter The ocelot is typically nocturnal, though it can also be observed being crepuscular, meaning that it is active in the twilight hours preceding dawn and following dusk. Even in the day, it can get quite dark in the shade of thick forests, so the ocelot needs to have the keenest senses to search for prey. Ocelots have very sensitive hearing and they also have a strong sense of smell, having been observed in the wild tracking prey on the ground by following odour. Whiskers also give the ocelot an extra edge when it comes to hunting; they help the cat sense the world around them. But by far the biggest evolutionary advantage is the ocelot’s incredible night vision. Cats – the species as a whole – tend to have good night vision, and the ocelot is no different. Their eyes have more rod cells than a human’s, and these rods are more sensitive to low light. Feline eyes also have a tapetum, which is a layer of tissue that reflects light back to the retina, helping gather more light as well. It’s also responsible for that reflective shine in their eyes.
DiD you know? Ocelots are also known as dwarf leopards because of their markings and their small stature. However, they are only distantly related to leopards. Leopards are members of the Panthera genus, whereas ocelots are in the Leopardus genus.
“At this time, the biggest threat to the survival of ocelots is habitat loss and fragmentation” 28
Ocelots are preyed upon by eagles, jaguars and anacondas
Painted leopards The water inside a rainforest is full of the ocelots’ prey
Aquatic adaptations Ocelots are one of the few strong feline swimmers Ocelots hunt a variety of prey, and their diet is not just limited to small land-dwelling mammals, insects, and the small birds they manage to catch. This wild cat will also hunt aquatic and semiaquatic prey throughout the seasons, such as fish and amphibians, if the prey is available in their habitat. Most cats can swim, but swimming well and swimming willingly are other matters entirely. Tigers and jaguars, which live in lush tropical jungles with wide rivers, are strong swimmers because their
Life for the painted leopard Females raise their kittens alone Male ocelots aren’t involved in the raising of their kittens. Kittens are around three months old when they begin to hunt alongside their mother, and may stay in close proximity to her for another year before venturing out alone. Some ocelots still live in the US Only 50 ocelots are now left in two small separate populations in the state of Texas, US. A decade ago, there were over 100. This decline is largely due to the number one cause of ocelot deaths in the area: vehicle collisions on the roads. Ocelots can get very vocal Ocelots make a variety of vocalisations when body language and scent marking do not get their point across. They make a chuckling sound when excited and yowl at each other during courtship in breeding season.
environment calls for it, and being large, they have the muscles and strength to fight the currents. It might be surprising, then, to learn that ocelots, which are only twice the size of a typical housecat, are strong and confident swimmers. Their fur is short and smooth, which means it does not hold water and weigh the cat down too much. The pattern of stripes and spots helps to camouflage the cat as it waits for prey, and their sharp claws hold fast to wriggling fish and bring the prey back up to the shoreline for eating.
Round ears Unlike the rest of their body, ocelot’s small, round ears are marked by a bright white spot, contrasting with the black background.
Rough tongue The ocelot’s rough and rasping tongue is perfect for stripping off the last morsels of meat from the bone and careful self-grooming.
Sharp teeth Ocelot’s mouths are adapted for eating meat. Their piercing fangs deliver the killing bite and their sharp back teeth tear the meat into edible chunks.
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Painted leopards
South America
Current territory range
Hunted almost to extinction
© Thinkstock; Dreamstime; freevectormaps.com; Gerard Lacz/FLPA; ZSSD/Minden Pictures/FLPA; Alamy/Terry Whittaker/Linda Kennedy
Thousands of ocelots have been killed for their fur Though ocelots are an adaptable species and can sometimes be found in the vicinity of villages and other human settlements (or even highways and convenience stores in the case of the last few ocelots living in Texas), there are some threats that are insurmountable. At this time, the biggest threat to the survival of ocelots is habitat loss and fragmentation. Home ranges for males can be anywhere between two square kilometres (0.8 square miles) and 43 square kilometres (16.6 square miles), possibly even over 50 square kilometres (19.3 square miles). A loss of this space can result in a lack of available prey in hunting grounds and make it harder for mature ocelots to find mates and raise the next generation. In the past, ocelots have been assessed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List, and were only re-assessed as Least Concern approximately nine years ago (having been first listed as Least Concern back in 1996). But despite this, the population is still decreasing. The threat began with the fur trade, when thousands of ocelots were slaughtered by hunters for their beautifully patterned fur. This led to a severe decrease in population, and although the fur trade was made illegal decades ago, illegal hunting still persists today.
Cats of the Americas
The ferocious felines that share the ocelot’s home
Jaguar The jaguar is the largest cat in the Americas. An adept climber and swimmer, its recognisable coat is covered in rosettes, which are good camouflage in dappled light.
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cougar Also known as the mountain lion or puma, the cougar has an incredibly large habitat range, from the Canadian Yukon to the Andes of South America.
Margay Slightly smaller than the ocelot, the margay is solitary and nocturnal, spending almost its entire life in the treetops of tropical and cloud forests. These carnivorous cats also eat fruit.
Jaguarundi More closely related to the cougar, the jaguarundi has short legs and a long body and prefers to hunt on the ground despite being a good climber. They are also able swimmers.
Oncilla Resembling the ocelot and margay but with a more slender and lighter build is the oncilla. They are generally a nocturnal hunter, preying on small mammals and birds.
What’s at the heart of the animal kingdom? From self-repairing tissue to record-breaking speed, each heart in the animal kingdom is unique and imperative for survival, be it during fight or flight Cephalopods (aka tentacular marine animals) such as the octopus, squid and cuttlefish have three hearts. One is a systematic muscle, while two branchial hearts force blood to the gills
BEATS PER SECOND
Hummingbirds beat their wings approximately 15 times per second, so their hearts have to keep up. The blue-throated hummingbird’s heart beats around 21 times each second
The resting heart rate of an elephant is only 30 bpm – that’s nearly half of that compared to a human
A blue whale’s heart is the size of a small car, weighing approximately 180kg (396Ib). It is the largest heart in the animal kingdom
The zebrafish can regrow its heart if it’s damaged. In 2002, scientists discovered that 20 per cent of the muscle could be regrown in two months
While humans have four chambers in their hearts, cockroaches have approximately 13 chambers in their unusual, tube-shaped hearts
Starfish do not technically have hearts. Instead, these creatures have millions of hair like structures called cilia that constantly pump seawater (not blood) through their system A bear’s heart rate is approximately 40 bpm when it is active, but during hibernation that rate drops to as little as 8 bpm
After a large meal, a python’s heart can grow up to 40 per cent larger to provide the necessary oxygenated blood to their other expanding organs as it digests
A giraffe’s heart weighs about the same as 12 litre bottles of water, and has to fight gravity to pump blood up their long necks to the head
If you compare a dog’s body weight to its heart size you will find that it has the largest heart to body mass ratio of all mammals
The fairy fly, a type of wasp, has the smallest animal heart. Its body measures about 0.2mm (0.07in), so you will need a microscope to see its heart
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Fighting Fish Discover fascinating facts about one of the world’s most irritable, feisty and colourful fish from the streams of Southeast Asia Words Amy Best
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Fighting fish
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Fighting fish That’s not my name The fighting fish are known by many different names, but are most commonly known as Siamese fighting fish, due to their origins in Southeast Asia. Some of their other names include Japanese fighting fish and Betta splendens, which is their scientific classification.
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Fighting fish I can see a rainbow The fighting fish can be found in virtually any colour, ranging even into marble and metallic tones. These colours are caused by the presence of guanine crystals that are found on layers of the fish’s scales. It is through selective breeding that the fish become so colourful, as wild fighting fish are usually a dull green colour.
Temper, temper Siamese fighting fish are most famously known for their aggressive temperaments. Without it, their name would be obsolete. They typically become defensive around other males of their kind, but can also become feisty towards any creature that they deem a threat. Females can typically live together in harmony.
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Fighting fish
I choose you The mating process of the fighting fish could easily be mistaken for a dance. They spiral around one another with eggs being released and then fertilised with each encounter. The female is then chased away, leaving the male to care for the fertilised eggs in a bubble nest until their birth.
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Fighting fish Belle of the ball
© Getty/Jaturapat Pattanacheewin/EyeEm
Due to their colourful and attractive fins and small size, the fighting fish are sought after by many creatures. Cats, salamanders and larger fish prey on the Siamese fighting fish, while humans catch them to display in fish tanks. They are popular pets.
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G N I N E D R GA ILD
W E N GO
Fancy turning your garden into a thriving nature reserve? Follow these biodiversity-boosting tips to spot captivating creatures in your own backyard Words Matt Ayres
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Gardening gone wild
Insects provide food for larger animals and protect your plants from pests brilliant at controlling aphid populations, which can be a scourge on all kinds of foliage. Ladybirds can be attracted by plants such as dill and dandelions. Other beneficial insects include ground beetles (which eat slugs) and dragonflies (which eat mosquitoes). And while they’re not technically insects, spiders are a fantastic first line of defence against flies and earwigs.
© Thinkstock;Gary K Smith /Alamy Stock Photo
While you may not spot them as easily as birds and other larger animals, an abundance of insects are likely to live in your garden. These mini beasts form an important part of the food chain, supplying numerous animals with the nutrition they need to survive. What’s more, several insect species can serve as a natural defence against more destructive pests, protecting your favourite plants from the likes of slugs and aphids. Ladybirds are some of the most familiar garden insects and should be welcomed. These charming red and black beetles are
Ladybirds specialise in feeding on plantdestroying pests such as aphids
How to attract insects It’s well worth putting in a little effort in order to build a bug haven in your back garden Build a bug hotel Include a pond in your garden Leave some long grass and weeds Avoid pesticides and insecticides Choose insect-friendly plants
Don’t fear the weaver
Despite their portrayal as the stuff of nightmares, spiders are useful guests
Before you brush away the next cobweb you find, stop for a moment to consider the many advantages of having these eight-legged hunters in your garden. Along with other garden critters, spiders are considered beneficial predators due to the nature of their prey. While some actively hunt the likes of woodlice on the ground, others spin a web and await the arrival of pests such as flies and moths.
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Gardening gone wild
Hedgehogs help to keep your garden slug-free Hedgehogs are familiar icons of the countryside in the UK, and their presence in our gardens is a welcome sight. These snuffling critters are a worthy ally for gardeners, gobbling up pests like slugs and beetles in order to fatten themselves up in time for their winter hibernation. Unfortunately, gardeners don’t always return the favour by looking out for hedgehogs. Many of our everyday activities can be harmful to these spiny mammals. From mowing the lawn to lighting bonfires and leaving out slug pellets, seemingly harmless outdoor chores can lead to fatal consequences for the hedgehogs that inhabit our gardens. Sadly, this means that hedgehog populations are declining rapidly, with recent reports showing that their numbers have declined by more than 30 per cent in the last decade or so. Fortunately, there are lots of ways to help hedgehogs in their fight for survival. One step is to assess your garden for hedgehog hazards. Slug pellets and pesticides should be avoided wherever possible; bonfires should be checked thoroughly before being set alight; and bricks should be placed on the inner edges of ponds to provide hedgehogs with a safe way out. Leaving out a pile of logs will also help hedgehogs, attracting a range of insects for them to eat and providing a shady place for them to hide during the day.
Hedgehogs are nocturnal, so rarely seen during the day
Hedgehog hazards
Bonfires Hedgehogs seek refuge in woodpiles, not realising the risk they face when the bonfire is lit. Always check your bonfire thoroughly before lighting it.
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Ponds Although hedgehogs can swim, they sometimes become trapped in steepsided ponds. Bricks can be used to create steps for the soggy critters to climb out.
Slug pellets Slug pellets can be fatal if ingested by hedgehogs. Sprinkle ground shells around your plants instead for a nontoxic pest prevention method.
Gardening gone wild Five rather helpful insects
Ladybird These famous aphid-eaters are beautiful to look at and an excellent ally for gardeners who want to keep their plants free of the leaf-piercing pests that ravage gardens.
Damsel bug They aren’t much to look at, but damsel bugs are surprisingly useful pest controllers, curbing populations of plant-devouring insects such as mites, aphids and caterpillars.
Dragonfly You’ll find these elegant insects buzzing over ponds and other bodies of water. They’re incredibly efficient hunters, preying on flies, termites, mosquitoes and other pesky bugs.
How to help hedgehogs
Ground beetle While some beetles are considered pests, ground beetles are very useful to gardeners as they eat slugs and insect larvae that might otherwise cause damage to plants.
Cut hedgehog holes in your fences Create a cosy woodpile for hibernating hogs Provide pet food and water (but not milk!) Cover over holes and swimming pools Remove sports netting when not in use
Hoverfly Although they look like wasps, hoverflies are a species of fly. They dart around eating aphids, thrips and caterpillars, making them one of the most useful garden insects.
© Alamy/FLPA; Thinkstock
Five top tips for supporting these rare critters
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Gardening gone wild
Bees pollinate our plants and provide honey Bees are one of the most familiar and iconic insect families, yet they need our help more than ever. With vast areas of the countryside set aside for environmentally damaging industrial agriculture, bees have lost much of the varied rural habitat that they previously relied upon. As a result, many of the UK’s bee species are now extinct, and a host of other species are now endangered. Wildlife-friendly gardens serve as an important refuge for bees, providing them with the diversity
of plants and natural shelters that they need if they are to survive. The bees in our gardens can be broadly categorised into three groups: honeybees, bumblebees and solitary bees. All are important pollinators, and can be attracted by planting flowers such as crocuses, alliums, geraniums, lavender, sunflowers and wisteria. Trees are also a vital food source for bees – just five established trees can provide the same amount of pollen as an acre (0.4 hectares) of meadow.
Gathering nectar is the bumblebee’s favourite daytime activity
How to attract bees Beckon these buzzing little workers and watch your garden flourish Invest in an insect house Keep weeds like dandelions and clover Avoid pesticides and insecticides Plant bee-friendly flowers and trees Leave out water droplets on pebbles or marbles
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Gardening gone wild
Butterflies showcase biodiversity and pollinate flowers Butterflies are undeniably beautiful, and also serve an important role as pollinators in our countryside. Sadly, these impressive winged insects are in decline, with some four species having gone extinct in the last decade and more looking as though they will follow suite unless we take responsibility for their conservation. There are six different families of butterflies, and you can find many of them in your garden. You can increase your likelihood of seeing these fluttering beauties by investing in the right types of plant. Many butterflies favour a particular type of flower or herb, so including a variety in your outdoor area can maximise your chances of spotting different species. Choosing the sunniest spots of your garden for flowers will not only help your foliage to flourish; it will also give butterflies a place to bask in the sunshine, charging up their cold-blooded bodies with the heat and energy they need to fly. The buddleia, or butterfly bush, is a favourite plant of these winged insects
How to attract butterflies These delicate fliers are always a welcome sight. Here’s how to make a butterfly paradise Create sunny spaces in your garden Plant butterfly-favoured flowers and herbs Avoid pesticides and insecticides Provide tall grass and rocks for shelter Leave a puddling area for thirsty butterflies
Painted lady One of the UK’s most recognisable butterflies, the painted lady loves buddleia for the high levels of glucose, sucrose and fructose in its nectar. Common blues, red admirals and peacock butterflies also adore it.
Holly blue As its name implies, the holly blue is attracted to holly bushes, which provide an important source of food for its caterpillars. Ivy, gorse bushes and brambles are also popular with these little blue beauties.
Meadow brown The meadow brown is particularly attracted to fragrant herbs such as marjoram. Other species that you may find fluttering around your herb patch include the common blue and speckled wood butterflies.
Clouded yellow A migratory butterfly that visits the UK from North Africa and southern Europe, the clouded yellow is often seen perched upon patches of clover, which is the preferred food plant for its hungry caterpillars.
Orange-tip Wild and cultivated crucifers such as garlic mustard and lady’s smock are popular with the orange-tip, an aptly named butterfly seen during spring and early summer. The females of this species lack the orange tips.
Comma Named for the commashaped white marking on its underside, the comma is one of many butterfly species attracted by Verbena bonariensis. This plant is popular with honeybees as well as butterflies.
© NaturePL/Stephen Dalton; Alamy/Richard Becker; Thinkstock
The best plants for butterflies
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Gardening gone wild Five birds in your garden
Blackbird The most widely seen garden bird, blackbirds eat a wide variety of food. Look out for them pecking earthworms out of the ground or singing from the treetops.
Birds control insect populations and give your garden life Keen twitchers may organise exotic trips around the world to spot rare and unique birds, but you needn’t go to such lengths to witness the wonders of the avian world. A variety of birds enjoy visiting gardens up and down the country; you can invite them into yours by equipping your outdoor space with a few simple provisions. All birds need food, so a bird feeder is a good place to start if you want to encourage feathered friends into your garden. A simple mix of seeds, nut granules and flaked maize will be enough to attract sparrows, finches, dunnocks, doves and blackbirds. Robins,
blue tits and wagtails prefer live food such as mealworms. If you can stomach them, these squirming bugs will bring greater diversity to your garden. As well as food, birds require water. While heavy stone birdbaths are aesthetically pleasing, an upturned dustbin lid half buried in soil will do the same job for a fraction of the cost. Remember to clean and refill your birdbath regularly to prevent dangerous bacteria from building up, threatening the health of visiting birds. For shelter, place nest boxes around your garden to provide birds with a cosy place to hunker down.
“You can invite birds into your garden by equipping it with a few simple provisions” Green woodpecker These vibrant birds are particularly attracted to gardens with large trees, which provide the cover they need. Woodpeckers eat peanuts and suetbased foods alongside insects.
Goldfinch The goldfinch has a thin beak that’s perfect for picking out the spiny seedheads of teasel plants. Try planting some to attract these handsome birds.
Jay Jays are members of the crow family. They are often seen during autumn, when they bury acorns to retrieve during winter. Scatter nuts around your garden for them to eat.
Sparrowhawk Sparrowhawks are one of the most common birds of prey in the UK, targeting small birds. Listen out for the alarm calls of starlings and thrushes to spot these predators.
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Bird feeders can attract a variety of species, including blue tits and great tits
Gardening gone wild How to attract birds Build it and you can be sure that avian visitors will come Hang bird feeders in open spaces Provide a birdbath Place nest boxes around your garden Leave out nesting materials like wool or pet hair Plant trees with fruits or berries
Nest box size guide The size of the entrance hole in your nest box will determine the birds able to use it. To attract a variety of bird species, use this size guide.
© NaturePL/Stephen Dalton
25mm: blue tits, coal tits, marsh tits 28mm: great tits, tree sparrows, pied flycatchers 32mm: sparrows, nuthatches 45mm: starlings
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L Sloth lemur ost fore v er
This slow-moving relative of modern lemurs couldn’t survive after humans arrived in Madagascar and set fire to its forests
Big-boned Skeletal remains suggest that their bodies were much larger than those of any extant lemur.
Lemur claws Their claws were short and flat, not curved like those of sloths.
Hangers-on Their limbs might have been better suited to hanging rather than swinging from branches.
Madagascar
Vegetarian diet Their teeth suggest they ate a diet of leaves, fruit and nuts picked from the trees. What the sloth lemur is believed to have looked like
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The long limbs of the smaller sloth lemurs would have been ideally suited to a life spent in the trees, but even these species are thought to have been slow-moving. That would have made them easy targets when humans began colonising Madagascar from around 1,800 to 1,500 years ago. Some of the oldest evidence of human presence on the island includes a sloth lemur bone that has signs of damage from what could have been a primitive cutting tool. Why sloth lemurs went extinct is not known for sure. Anecdotal evidence suggests that they were solitary, which might have meant they had a slow reproductive rate. In combination with hunting by humans, the burning of the forests by settlers and the effects of climate change, this behaviour may have led to a slow decline in sloth lemur numbers until eventually there were not enough individuals to sustain the population. The fate of these gentle giants was then sealed.
Last seen… Date: 1658 Location: Madagascar
One of the last records of a sloth lemur could have been made by Étienne de Flacourt, France’s governor of Madagascar in the mid-17th century. In his book, L’Histoire de le Grande Île de Madagascar, published in 1658, he described a creature called the ‘tretretretre’ that had long, monkey-like hands and feet, a flat face and was the size of a two-year-old calf. If Flacourt’s account is of a sloth lemur, it means some were still alive 360 years ago.
“Why sloth lemurs went extinct is not fully known”
© freevectormaps.com; Alan Batley
Considering the fate of the flightless dodo, it may seem advantageous to be a species that lives entirely off the ground when it comes to evading humans. Unfortunately, that does not appear to have been true for Madagascar’s sloth lemurs. Biologists believe that most of the species in this group lived in trees, yet they were probably all extinct by the middle of the 17th century, partly because of encounters with people. Four genera of sloth lemur have been identified from subfossil skeletal remains found in caves and pits, including one that might have been terrestrial. These bones have features that suggest they belonged to mammals that were like sloths. Analysis of DNA has confirmed, however, that sloth lemurs evolved from a common ancestor of extant lemurs. Even so, all sloth lemur species appear to have been much larger than any modern lemurs and the biggest one possibly resembled a prehistoric ground sloth.
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THE INCREDIBLE LIVES
SEABIRDS of
Despite being a huge family that spans the globe, these nautical navigators are now endangered thanks to humans Words Darran Jones From the smallest storm petrel to the largest albatross, seabirds come in a range of different shapes and sizes and are able to survive in some of the harshest conditions imaginable. They are masters of adaptation, typically form large groups (called colonies) for protection and many are excellent flyers, able to travel enormous distances around the globe in search of both food and a potential mate. Seabirds typically live far longer than their landbased relatives and breed at much later ages than other birds do. Some species, like albatrosses and shearwaters, tend to mate for life, while others, such as penguins, have evolved massively, losing the power of flight completely. The vast seabird family includes gannets, pelicans, frigatebirds, fulmars, petrels, cormorants and tropicbirds, and they can be found
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throughout the world occupying a variety of important niches on the food chain. Some seabirds spend so much time at sea that very little is known about them, while others are incredibly well documented, which gives great insight into their fascinating lives. Seabirds are now some of the most threatened birds on the planet, and it is humans who are driving certain members of this expansive group to the brink of extinction. Here, we’ll not only be highlighting some of the most common and interesting seabirds around the world, but we’ll also explain how they’ve evolved to face a life at sea and the many steps that are now being taken by conservationists in a bid to save them from going the way of the dodo.
The incredible lives of seabirds Evolution of the seabird
Learn how seabirds have evolved in order to deal with their challenging lifestyles and the threats they face The sea is one of the harshest and most unpredictable environments on Earth, so it should come as no surprise to learn that many birds have evolved in numerous ways to live and thrive in such a dangerous, inhospitable place. One of the most obvious indications of this distinctive evolution is the webbed feet that virtually all seabirds have; another is their ability to deal with any salt they consume with the help of salt glands. With the exception of cormorants and several terns, all seabirds have waterproof plumage and typically have far more feathers than other birds, allowing for greater protection in harsh conditions. The wings of many seabirds have also evolved, depending on where they live, with species like the albatross having gigantic wingspans that allow them to effortlessly glide in search of food. Birds like gannets and boobies have binocular-like vision, designed to help them easily locate their next meal, while the Procellariiformes order, which includes albatrosses, shearwaters and various petrels, have a highly adapted sense of smell. Perhaps the most evolved group, however, are penguins, which have developed into such adept fish hunters that they have become completely flightless, using their short, stubby wings to cut through the water in order to chase after their prey.
“Species like the albatross can glide through the sky effortlessly thanks to their gigantic wingspans”
Webbed feet Virtually all seabirds have webbed feet to some degree. They not only allow many seabirds to swim at fast speeds, but also act as useful propellers when they take flight.
Salt glands Seabirds have extremely specialised nasal glands that act as useful desalinators. They effectively allow the bird to drink saltwater or eat salty foods without suffering side effects.
© NaturePL/Andy Rouse
Plumage colouration Many seabirds are quite drab to look at and are typically dark on top with lighter undersides. Some scientists believe this is to counter predators and to make sure they are not seen by potential prey.
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Arctic tern This diminutive flier is a master of migration Despite weighing 90120g (3.2-4.2oz) this bird flies from the Arctic to the Antarctic every year and back. Some cover up to 90,000km (55,923m) in a year!
Brown pelican
Wandering albatross This bird travels huge distances and mates for life This seabird is a master of travelling thanks to its gigantic wingspan, which can reach over 3.5m (11.5ft). All albatrosses are threatened to some extent and this species is no exception, listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN.
Magnificent frigatebird The bully of the high seas While frigatebirds will happily catch fish on the wing, they’re equally adept at stealing it from others. All species of frigatebirds are masters of kleptoparasitism, meaning they will harry other seabirds until they drop their catch.
Emperor penguin A bird that’s perfectly adapted for a life at sea This penguin is perhaps the most famous, thanks to its focus in numerous nature documentaries, as well as wide-reaching films like Happy Feet. It’s the only penguin that breeds during the Antarctic winter.
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Gannet
Herring gull This highly adaptable scavenger is one of nature’s best opportunists Although herring gulls fare well in most parts of the world, they’ve become endangered in the UK in recent years, with less than half the country’s breeding population confined to fewer than ten sites. Northern fulmar
Atlantic puffin Nature’s colourful clown is currently fighting for survival This tiny auk is arguably one of the most delightful seabirds, thanks to its bright bill and equally colourful character. Sadly, it’s become extremely threatened in recent years.
Great cormorant This large seabird is moving inland in increasing numbers
The range of the seabirds Meet some of the most interesting members of the vast seabird family, present all over the world High adaptability and the ability to fly has allowed seabirds to spread to every corner of the planet. Some have taken to forming gigantic colonies for protection, while others have adapted to plundering booty from other smaller seafaring birds. Each and every one has evolved to fill an incredibly important niche.
© Abi Daker
The great cormorant, like the herring gull, is highly adaptable. While it can still be found on coastlines in great numbers, it’s equally at home on large stretches of water inland, and can be found at many lakes and reservoirs.
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The incredible lives of seabirds
This large-billed bird is actually the world’s smallest pelican Once listed as an endangered species, the brown pelican has bounced back and is now a common sight throughout the Americas. Although it’s one of the largest seabirds we’re covering, the brown pelican is actually the smallest of the eight pelicans. However, it maintains the typical characteristics of the species, particularly its large, unmistakable bill, which is perfect for capturing its primary food – fish. An accomplished hunter, this bulky
seabird likes to catch its prey by diving into the water to catch any stunned fish, although it will also take small invertebrates when it gets the chance. Extremely gregarious, the brown pelican is typical of many seabirds in that it likes to breed in large colonies, which helps to protect it from predators. It typically lays two to four eggs and has one brood a year. In addition to being the national bird of St Kitts, it’s also the state bird of Louisiana.
BroWn Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis class Aves
Territory North and South America Diet Small fish and invertebrates lifespan On average 10-20 years adult weight 2-5kg (4.4-11Ib) conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
“This bulky seabird likes to catch its prey by diving into the water to catch any stunned fish”
Disturb the fulmar and you’ll receive a very nasty surprise indeed The northern fulmar is a true seabird in the sense that it only comes to land in order to breed a single, white egg. Like many other members of its family, the northern fulmar has prominent looking nostrils that can
norThern fulmar Fulmarus glacialis
discrete a stomach oil to repel predators or provide a nourishing food source (handy, considering how long the bird spends at sea). Its actual name derives from Old Norse, with fÚll meaning ‘foul’ and már meaning ‘gull’.
Role reversal plays an important part in this penguin’s upbringing These iconic birds are endemic to Antarctica, and they do things differently to many other animals when it comes to parenting. Young emperor penguin eggs are incubated by the male while the female searches for food. They are expert divers, able to stay underwater for up to 20 minutes in search of food, while their barbed tongue stops a caught meal from escaping.
class Aves
emPeror Penguin Aptenodytes forsteri class Aves Territory North America, Greenland, Iceland, northern Europe, northern Asia Diet Fish, plankton, squid, jellyfish, shrimp, carrion and refuse lifespan 32 years on average adult weight 450-1000g (15.9-35.3oz) conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
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Territory Antarctica Diet Fish, cephalopods and crustaceans lifespan 15-20 years adult weight 22-45kg (48-99lb) conservation status
NEAR THREATENED
The incredible lives of seabirds
This lovable little auk is also known as the sea parrot
A breeding pair of puffins will work together to dig a burrow in which the female will normally lay one egg
The huge, seemingly oversized bill of the Atlantic puffin may make it look like a clown, but there’s nothing comical about its current life-threatening status. Numerous conservation projects have been set up to save it over the years, including Project Puffin and SOS Puffin, but the bird’s population is still declining in many regions. While hunting and pollution have caused problems for the puffin in the past, climate change is now thought to be one of the main reasons for the bird’s most recent decline. It is thought that fish populations are being displaced, stopping the puffin from acquiring its staple food, leading to emaciated adults and starving chicks. Interestingly, the puffin’s famous brightlycoloured bill, which is perfect for stockpiling fish, only develops its vivid colours during breeding season. It’s otherwise far duller, but is rarely seen due to the bird spending the winter at sea.
“Climate change is thought to be one of the main reasons for the puffin’s most recent decline” aTlanTic Puffin Fratercula arctica class Aves
Territory Northern Europe, Greenland and North America Diet Fish, crustaceans and molluscs lifespan 20-30 years adult weight 500g (17.5oz) conservation status
© Alamy; Thinkstock
VULNERABLE
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The incredible lives of seabirds
norThern ganneT Morus bassanus class Aves
Territory North America, Greenland, Europe and North Africa Diet Fish and squid lifespan Up to 21 years on average adult weight 2.2-3.6kg (4.9-7.9lb) conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
A spectacular diver with a built-in airbag The northern gannet is a marvellous looking bird that’s a master of both air and sea. Years of evolution have turned it into an effective hunter, and it is able to pull off heart-stopping dives that reach speeds of up to 100 kilometres per hour (62 miles per hour). The sheer impact and velocity from a
gannet’s dive allows them to travel up to 16 metres (52.5 feet) under the water’s surface, where they chase after prey. To help with this, gannets have evolved over the years so that parts of their body – particularly the airbags in their neck and throat – help protect them from the initial impact.
This large seabird was originally encountered by Christopher Columbus The most notable aspect of the magnificent frigatebird is its scarlet throat pouch, which is inflated during breeding season and used to attract a mate. It’s the largest of the five frigatebirds in existence, and, along with the great and lesser frigatebird, the least threatened. The females are typically larger than the males.
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This huge bird is one of the world’s greatest fliers Wandering albatrosses use a technique known as dynamic soaring to fly for huge distances of up to 16,093 kilometres (10,000 miles) without needing to land. They have the largest known wingspan of any albatross and are believed to be declining in numbers due to the continual use of longline fishing. LEFT Wandering albatrosses can mate for life and have an elaborate courtship display
The incredible lives of seabirds
A superb hunter known by many different names The worldwide reach of this excellent fisher also means it’s known by many names, including black cormorant, black shag and large cormorant. It’s had a difficult relationship with humans over the years due to its love of fish, and some fisheries in the UK now have licences for culling a set number of these birds in order to protect their stock. But sometimes humans and cormorants work together. Cormorant fishing is still popular in some parts of the world, with fisherman sending them out to catch fish. The birds’ throats are tied with string to prevent them swallowing their catches. Unlike many other seabirds, great cormorants don’t have waterproof feathers, and can be seen drying their wings. They can dive to considerable depths and can stay underwater for up to 30 seconds at a time.
greaT cormoranT Phalacrocorax carbo
© Alamy/Keirsebilck Patrick; Thinkstock; NaturePL/The Big Picture
class Aves
Territory North America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia Diet Fish lifespan 15 years on average adult weight 1.3-5.3kg (3.3-12lb) conservation status
LEAST CONCERN BELow Once they’ve finished eating, cormorants regurgitate pellets of fish bone and animal parts they can’t digest
This legendary migration expert sees two summers every year Also known as sea swallows, Arctic terns are masterful fliers and migrate over vast distances during the course of a year. Due to their long lives, the average arctic tern migrates an astonishing 1.5 million miles over the course of a lifetime; enough to fly to the moon and back three times! LEFT Arctic terns are extremely aggressive during breeding season and will attack nearby humans
A bird that’s equally at home on land or out at sea Few seabirds in our list are as opportunistic as the herring gull. It’s thrived in the presence of humans in some respects, feeding on the refuse we leave behind in town centres, dumps and landfill sites. It will take all sorts of food and has been seen to catch earthworms by shuffling back and forth to simulate the falling of rain. Pesticides, oil pollution and new fishing practices threaten some populations.
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The incredible lives of seabirds Seabird protector Seabirds are some of the most threatened birds in the world, and many conservationists now work tirelessly to protect them from a range of dangers
longline fisheries A single longline boat sets up to 2,500 hooks at a time. Birds get caught in these hooks, causing 160,000 seabird deaths each year.
Berry Mulligan is a conservationist working for Birdlife International and is currently involved with the Albatross Task Force, which is doing everything it can to protect this majestic species What dangers are seabirds currently facing? Seabirds have the dubious honour of being one of the most threatened groups of animals on the planet – almost half of all seabird species are in decline and under threat. They face dangers on land at their breeding colonies, where they fall prey to invasive alien predators such as rats and cats, or suffer from human disturbance and habitat destruction. At sea, it is fisheries – competing for prey or accidentally catching birds – and pollution that are the major issues driving declines. Albatrosses and other enigmatic seabirds such as penguins are in serious trouble globally, with some species teetering dangerously towards the brink.
© Bird Life; Rachel Hudson/butterflytrack.co.uk; Jack Barton; Helen Mulligan
So what is Birdlife International doing to combat this? We are tackling accidental bycatch, identifying special sites for seabirds and the threats to them, and ridding seabird islands of any invasive species of animals. Solving the bycatch crisis requires working directly with fishermen to develop simple and inexpensive measures to prevent the unintentional deaths of seabirds on hooks and in nets. To achieve this, BirdLife established the groundbreaking Albatross Task Force, an international team of bycatch mitigation instructors working in southern Africa and South America. Using this collaborative approach, albatross bycatch has been reduced by 99 per cent in the South African hake trawl fisheries and seven of ten fisheries we have targeted now have seabird conservation regulations.
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Trawl fisheries Trawl boats work individually or in tandem. Deaths occur at warp cables at the back of the boat, or in nets during setting and trawling.
Pollution Plastic represents around 90 per cent of the floating marine debris. Ingesting plastic is deadly for marine life and damages seabird populations.
climate change Climate change disrupts the oceanographic cycles governing marine ecosystems. Seabirds are increasingly affected by it.
gillnet fisheries Gillnets are set at many different depths. Birds get entangled in them and drown. This causes over 400,000 seabird deaths each year.
human disturbance All animals can be threatened by close contact from humans, and seabirds are no exception. Loud noises and unwanted disturbances near colonies can cause havoc.
invasive species The arrival and/or spread of an invasive alien species (IAS) can threaten the native biological diversity. When the likes of rats reach islands they impact massively on local seabirds.
“Albatross bycatch has reduced by 99 per cent in the South African hake trawl fisheries” What are invasive species and how do they effect seabirds? Invasive alien species are animals and plants that are introduced accidently or deliberately into a natural environment where they are not normally found, often wreaking havoc on the species already there. The problem is particularly acute on islands as the species present tend to lack adequate defences against introduced predators, like rats. While they present a huge conservation challenge, when the invasive species are removed, nature bounces back. Invasive species have been successfully eradicated from small seabird islands in the tropics to large subantarctic islands, and many sites around the UK. The number of breeding pairs of the rare Manx shearwater are fast increasing on Ramsey Island in Pembrokeshire, for example, following the removal of introduced brown rats. Why are the numbers of birds like puffins dropping so rapidly? Warming seas affecting puffins’ food sources are thought to be one of the main issues. While fisheries may exacerbate the negative impact of climate change on puffin prey, the evidence
is pointing towards sea warming causing broad disruption to the entire food web in the North Atlantic, from plankton through to small shoaling fish, puffins, kittiwakes and other species of seabirds. Puffins provide a good example of the multiple pressures placed on our seabird populations. They are also impacted by bycatch in some fisheries, invasive species, and even being hunted for food. Joined-up and collaborative approaches are therefore required to tackle the dangers to seabird survival at sea and at nesting sites. What can our readers do to help? Use your consumer power. If you eat fish, look for the blue Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) label and pick species ranked one or two on the Good Fish Guide. Support organisations that stand up for seabirds, from local groups protecting specific colonies to global partnerships such as BirdLife International. Visit a nesting colony, too! The oceans and their magnificent seabirds might feel distant from our daily lives but the UK holds some amazing seabird sites. Breeding colonies are inspiring places, bursting with noise and colour.
Bizarre! The cleverly disguised frog with a cannibalistic streak
Despite being masters of disguise and ferocious predators, Bornean horned frogs have a somewhat surprising enemy – others of the same species
They will even eat Often mistakenly their relatives called a toad Horned frogs are ambush predators; lying in wait for prey to come past before lunging out to catch it. They will eat almost anything they can catch, including spiders, scorpions, rodents, lizards and other frogs. They have even been known to eat their own young, and females sometimes eat their mates once they have served their purpose.
Tadpoles have funnel-shaped mouths
Female horned frogs lay their eggs either partially or totally submerged in water. These capsules are quite large and few in number. They hatch within ten to 12 days, and the emerging tadpoles have huge funnel-shaped mouths, which they hold at the surface of the water. They suck tiny microorganisms into their mouths, which are then filtered out through the gills before being swallowed.
The Bornean horned frog has several other common names, such as the large horned frog, the long-nosed horned frog and the Malayan leaf frog. It is also often called the horned toad, even though it doesn’t have either of the two features that usually define toads – warty skin and parotoid glands (external skin glands that secrete toxins).
Males are small but noisy
Adult male Bornean horned frogs are much smaller than the females; generally less than half the size. What they lack in size they make up for in noise, though, emitting a loud croak at night. Females are not known to make any vocalisations at all, and spend most of their time hiding in the leaf litter waiting for unsuspecting prey to come past.
Leaf-shaped horns help them hide
True to their name, Bornean horned frogs have pointy, horn-like structures above their eyes. As these frogs are a mottled brown and grey colour, these structures look a little like leaves and help them to blend in perfectly with the forest floor. This disguise is useful for evading their predators and also allows them to be very effective ambush hunters.
Bornean horned frog Megophrys nasuta Class Amphibia
Territory Widespread across Southeast Asia, including Borneo, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia Diet Spiders, crabs, scorpions, nestling birds, lizards and other frogs Lifespan Over 5 years Adult weight Unknown Conservation Status
© FLPA
LEAST CONCERN
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Conserving the scimitar-horned oryx
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Conserving scimitar-horned oryx THE
What are the options when an animal is classified as Extinct in the Wild? A reintroduction scheme proved a lifeline for these African grassland natives with elaborate horns and a resilient spirit…
The scimitar-horned oryx cuts an impressive silhouette. With long, lean legs and a lithe, athletic body, it’s a graceful beast that now roams almost exclusively across grassland plains in central Chad. The oryx’s defining feature are its almighty horns. Curving dramatically away from its skull, adorned with delicate ridges and tapering to a fine point, it’s very clear to see how this animal got its name. The scimitar, a long, curved blade originating from the Ottoman Empire, is an impressive weapon, and these graceful animals are kitted out to wield two of these ‘swords’ simultaneously, albeit in horn form. The scimitar-horned oryx species is one of four members of the oryx genus along with the Arabian, east African and gemsbok. The scimitar-horned variety was once widespread across the Sahelian grassland system – a narrow strip of land that stretches from the Atlantic in the west of Africa to the Nile. However, thanks to numerous factors, they are now classified as Extinct in the Wild. This classification is defined by the IUCN as a species where the only living members are kept in captivity or as a population living outside the perimeters of its historic range. To combat this, dedicated reintroduction programmes are now in effect, with captive-bred oryx being released into protected reserves. Schemes like this ensure that, with a bit of luck, there will still be wild oryx roaming the Sahel in years to come. The Oryx Reintroduction Programme in Chad does precisely what it says on the tin. It’s a dedicated initiative to return these amazing antelope to live freely in their home range where they belong, but have been absent for nearly 50 years. Jointly run by the Government of Chad and the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (with the on-the-ground implementation of the project carried out by the Sahara Conservation Fund), the reintroduction
© Dreamstime
Words Ella Carter
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The open plains beckon! The first oryx make their way out of the enclosure to start life in the wild
programme has also involved the work of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). “At the moment I spend a lot of my time out in the field in Chad as part of the team monitoring the recently reintroduced oryx,” says ZSL wildlife biologist Tim Wacher, who has worked with oryx of varying species since 1985. ZSL played a key role in the habitat surveys for the selection of the reintroduction site. “The Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Reserve is a very large grassland and desert reserve of 80,000 square kilometres (30,888 square miles),” Wacher tells us. “It isn’t a national park; it’s used by livestock grazers, so the range is shared with lots of camels and other types of livestock.” This safe haven isn’t just for the antelope, however; there are also some other critically endangered neighbours, too. “The area supports one of the world’s only remaining
populations of the critically endangered and very beautiful dama gazelle, as well as the world’s biggest population of wild dorcas gazelle, important numbers of three large bustard species, and breeding vulture populations,” Wacher explains. There are also plenty of migrating birds that pass through, making this reserve a very important part of Chad’s biodiversity. So what’s special about the scimitar-horned oryx and why is it essential that we save them? Wacher says: “Scimitar oryx are the largest wild herbivore of the Sahelian grassland system. The species once existed throughout this area, and according to local tradition abundant oryx were linked to prosperity, as both oryx and livestock need the same good pasture conditions. “Historically, the large wild predators of the oryx were cheetahs and hunting dogs, both of which vanished from this area of Chad not long before the oryx. They are brave antelopes who will defend themselves vigorously. Today, the only large predators they may encounter are striped hyenas and perhaps jackals, which may be a risk to small calves, but healthy adult oryx will chase both away.” Strong, brave and resilient are just three features boasted by these amazing antelope species, which are perfectly adapted to the sweltering heat of their semiarid home. Conserving water is the aim of the game and the oryx has specialised kidneys and guts to ensure that maximum moisture is retained. Grazing at night
Desert living The scimitar-horned oryx has perfectly developed adaptations to cope with their arid desert home
Horns The imposing horns are for deterring predators like hyenas. Should one approach, the oryx will adopt a sideways stance to look larger. Males also use their horns for fighting, so they are prone to breakages.
Body temperature To deal with the extreme heat of the desert, oryx’s bodies work hard to preserve moisture. This involves elevating the internal body temperature to minimise water loss through sweating.
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Skin Oryx have black skin to prevent sunburn in the blistering heat – the tips of their tongues are also black for the same reason. Light-coloured hair covers the skin to reflect heat away.
Hooves In the wild these oryx would roam over large home ranges. Their hooves are broad and flat, ideal adaptations to prevent them sinking into the sand and to conserve energy while walking.
Scimitar-horned oryx also minimises heat stress, and the oryx may also lick dew off each other’s coats Oryx dammah class Mammalia at night as a means of consuming additional fluid. “Oryx are preferentially grazers,” Wacher says, “but are adaptable and territory Previously found across the Sahara and Sahel can browse on selected diet Grasses, shrubs and roots plants when conditions Lifespan 15-20 years become tough in the long adult weight 200kg (440.9lb) conservation Status dry season, which lasts from October to the end of May.” Getting most of EXTINCT IN THE WILD their moisture from their food can be hard during the dry seasons, but incredibly these animals can survive for weeks at a time without drinking! The scimitar-horned oryx was classified as Extinct in the Wild in 2000 after a long struggle with habitat loss. “The major factor impacting the oryx across their original range was probably the invasion of their living space by livestock,” Wacher explains. Rapidly evolving technology to bring water to dry lands was also part of the issue. “For example,” Wacher continues, “water tanker lorries and giant plastic bladder reservoirs all enabled livestock to stay longer on dry land that they previously had to leave early for lack of surface water, so they continue to chew down on, and ultimately kill, the naturally drying vegetation.” This combination of factors resulted in the oryx being pushed to the brink of extinction. “The last significant oryx populations were in Chad, where they still existed in large numbers of up to tens of thousands at the beginning of the 1970s,” says Wacher. “However, a period of civil unrest in the area, in which the frontline lay across the heart of the oryx range, ultimately drove the last remaining scimitar-horned oryx population to die out.” But despite this sad story, all is not lost. Indeed the oryx was driven to extinction in the wild, but thanks to the fact that these antelope are incredibly hardy and adaptable animals, they now have a second chance. “The founder group of oryx now represented in the world’s zoos and more widely in private collections mainly derive from a group of 40 individuals from the wild from the late 1960s,” Wacher elaborates when asked about the origins of the oryx now living in the Ouadi Rime-Ouadi Achime reserve. Scimitar-Horned oryx
Scimitar-horned oryx on the map
Historic range The introduced population living in the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Reserve
© Alamy; Dreamstime; freevectormaps; ZSL
These antelope are the buffalo of North Africa. Once ranging widely across the whole Sahara and Sahel region, they are now limited to small pockets of protected land.
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Conserving the scimitar-horned oryx “In order to provide the best individuals for reintroduction to the wild, the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi worked to assemble a ‘world herd’.” This involved cooperation with organisations across the world to select the best possible oryx in captivity to make a genetically diverse herd to release into the reserve. There are some animals that need special treatment to prepare them for life in the wild, but the scimitar-horned oryx is a hardy beast and its resourceful nature means it needs little coaxing to begin a new life out on the plains. “There has been a relatively long history of transporting scimitar-horned oryx from lush European pastures to thorny North African steppes in Tunisia and Morocco, starting in 1985,” Wacher says. “These exercises showed that even naïve and inexperienced young animals, born in a meadow in the UK, nevertheless undertook a pragmatic and sensible approach to strange potential food plants, some poisonous, many very thorny. They proved very good at identifying the palatable grasses that are typical food of all oryx species.” So the oryx make a great candidate for these types of schemes. Wacher goes on to take us through the release process. “The main way individuals are prepared for their release is through a protected ‘pre-release’ stage at the release location. Animals are given time to acclimatise in a large pen at the release site,
where they learn to orientate themselves to the new surroundings and gain a sense of place. For ungulates, it is also an important period to transition gradually from their captive diet to the new natural diet through slow reduction of artificial feed. Food and water is available at the release site if the animals want to take it. “Watching the oryx leave the pre-release pen is always a happy experience,” reflects Wacher on the moment the oryx leave their travelling crates and venture into the reserve. “The reaction of the oryx themselves varies immensely depending on the individual. One group, released in the wet season, took a whole day to decide to approach the open gate, and another before they decided to step through it. They then travelled off and none came close to the release site for six months.” Wacher also tells us of another group that was released in the cooler dry season. These oryx ventured through the gate within ten minutes and went off on a nine-kilometre (5.6mile) trip! They returned later in the day to take advantage of the plentiful food and drink left out for them. “This group will move off with the first rains,” anticipates Wacher.
“One group took a whole day to leave their crates, while another took just ten minutes”
Oryx in numbers 37 4 WILD 8.5 1.2 calves metres
© ZSL
Their horns can reach up to 1.2m (3.9ft) in length – that’s over 50 per cent of their body length!
Four oryx calves have now been born to reintroduced mothers in the reserve – great news for the herd.
The oryx are released from their crates, getting their first taste of the Chad sunshine at the reserve
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There are currently 37 wild-ranging individuals in the reserve, with more joining soon.
To ensure that the oryx are doing well, each animal is kitted out with a tracking collar that collects GPS data. This allows scientists to track the oryx’s movements as well as look at their behaviour. The tracking data has revealed that, six months into the project, the oryx are doing well. “The first four calves have been born!” Wacher says, “And movement patterns and social groups are beginning to break out from the combinations in which they were released, with patterns typical of other oryx species emerging.” This is a great sign that the oryx are settling into their ancestral home. So, what’s next for this species? Wacher tells us of the plan for the oryx’s future. “The goal is to build up a population of at least 500 oryx in the reserve through a combination of reintroduction plus on-site breeding over the next five years.” If you want to see the majestic scimitarhorned oryx with your own eyes, there’s an amazing herd at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo and some members of this group have been selected for the world herd. If you would like to learn more, visit the ZSL or Abu Dhabi Environment Agency websites at www.ZSL.org and www.ead.ae.
MONTHS
The approximate number of months a female oryx is pregnant before giving birth to a calf.
1000s 14 WEEKS The number of weeks a calf spends with its mother before becoming independent.
Before their extinction in the wild, oryx would gather into huge herds numbering in the thousands to prepare for their migration.
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Degrees Celsius (116 degrees Fahrenheit) that an oryx can raise its body temperature to.
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Explore the Earth
A wIL dlIfE PaRaDISE Mauritius may be best known as the final resting place of the dodo, but this tropical island is starting to get a new reputation as one of the leading lights of conservation Words Adam Millward
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A wildlife paradise Travel expert Dr Vikash Tatayah is the conservation director of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF). He manages a number of programmes that have helped wildlife to recover Mauritius is among the most isolated islands in the world. Plants and animals arrived naturally from the Afro-Malagasy region, Australasia and Asia, with a high proportion becoming endemic. Despite high levels of extinction following the arrival of man to an uninhabited Mauritius, the island is home to an amazing endemic fauna and flora with a dozen different native forest types. One can see Round Island bottle palms, ebonies and various hardwoods, Mauritius kestrels, pink pigeons, echo parakeets, Mauritius fodies, olive white-eyes, cuckoo-shrikes, Telfair’s skinks and surrogate giant tortoises by visiting Ile aux Aigrettes, Ferney Valley and the Black River Gorges National Park. Mauritius has led the rescue of plants and animals that would have joined the dodo, with a number of species brought back from the verge of extinction. For more information, visit www.mauritian-wildlife.org.
Map key 1 Black River Gorges National Park 2 Bambous Mountains 3 Ile aux Aigrettes 4 Tamarin Bay 5 Black River Gorges National Park 6 Trou-aux-Biches
Clownfish Find Nemo, Dory and a whole lot more when you descend beneath the waves in a submarine, the only such leisure sub in the entire Indian Ocean.
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Spinner dolphin
Mauritius kestrel
You can get up close to these marine acrobats in their natural environment and also go whale watching off the west coast of the island.
Pink pigeon It might seem counterintuitive travelling halfway around the world to see a pigeon, but this isn’t your average urban cooer. In 1986, there were just 12 wild individuals left, but they refused to go the way of their unlucky relative the dodo and continue to recover.
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Fruit bat
Travel guide
The only mammals native to the Mascarene Islands (consisting of Mauritius, Rodrigues and Réunion) are these charismatic flying foxes.
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Another resident that has made a remarkable recovery is the island’s only remaining bird of prey. Once classified as the rarest bird in the world, this raptor is on many a birdwatcher’s bucket list.
Aldabra tortoise Although Mauritius’ own native giant tortoises were driven to extinction in the 19th century, a successful rewilding programme with these Seychelles natives has seen great success in recent years.
When to go When it’s winter in the UK, it’s summer in Mauritius. The off-peak cooler months (July to September) are more comfortable for exploring the island.
How to get there Limited direct flights are available from the UK to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, from where you can take a taxi on to your hotel.
What the weather will do Mauritius has a tropical climate year-round, so expect sun and intense rain showers, especially in the summer. January to February is peak period for cyclones.
What to take In addition to your bathing suit, you’ll want to take light clothing. Pack something smart for the evenings as many hotels and restaurants request formal wear.
What you’ll see Mauritius is a lot more than sandy beaches and turquoise seas. Make time to visit its wild forests, unusual geological sites and bustling capital, Port Louis.
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Watch the bats rise as the Sun sets Even in a tiny country famed for its biodiversity and high number of endemic animals, the Mauritian fruit bat stands out. It’s the sole surviving native mammal found on the island. These mega bats, also known as flying foxes, have wingspans of up to 0.8 metres (2.6 feet) and their ginger-coloured furry heads lend them their fox-like appearance. Fruit bats play a vital role in pollinating and dispersing the seeds of some of Mauritius’ most endangered plants. Although they can be spotted in forested areas all
See Darwin’s plan in action Sadly, just like the dodo, the many native tortoises that once called Mauritius home were wiped out by the arrival of European settlers. This was not just a loss for chelonian-kind. It also left a huge gap in the regional ecology, as the turtles were the principal grazers, keeping wild plants in check and spreading seeds, like those of the ebony tree. It was history’s most famous naturalist, Charles Darwin, who suggested that a similar species might be introduced to take their place. Enter the Aldabra giant tortoise, the last of their kind in the Indian Ocean. In 2000, the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MWF) released 20 of these gentle giants – originally from the Seychelles – on the Ile aux Aigrettes nature reserve off the southeastern coast. The focus of a long-term conservation project, this 26-hectare (64-acre) islet contains the only remnants of Mauritius’ once prolific dry coastal forest, providing a refuge for many animals long since driven off the mainland. The initiative has proven so successful that over 100 tortoises have now been translocated to another island to build up a second population. The MWF leads walking tours on Ile aux Aigrettes, so as well as meeting the shelled stars, you’ll also have an expert at hand to explain exactly how rewilding works.
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over the island in the evenings, one of the most impressive displays takes place at sundown in Black River Gorges National Park. You can easily spend a day hiking in the country’s only national park, and it’s a hot spot for many of Mauritius’ rarest birds, including pink pigeons, olive whiteeyes and echo parakeets. As the light begins to fade, thousands of bats fly up en masse from the caves and ravines where they rest during the day. Be sure to keep a close eye on the time, though, as the gates shut in the evenings – or you might want to consider stopping the night at the campsite next to the Black River Visitor’s Centre.
A wildlife paradise Beyond the beach
Explore Port Louis
Set around a busy harbour, the Mauritian capital is a melting pot of cultures. You’ll find colourful temples, markets and museums, and don’t miss the Pamplemousse Gardens.
Get active
Mauritius offers many outdoor activities, from kayaking to caving. But top of the list must be abseiling down a 95m (312ft) cliff beside Chamarel Falls, Mauritius’ highest waterfall.
Listen to some sega
Typically sung in Créole (the native tongue), sega is one of the most popular musical genres in Mauritius. Variants of it include seggae – a cross between sega and reggae.
Climb Le Morne
If you’re feeling energetic, why not tackle the 556m (1,824ft) Le Morne Brabant? This UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to several rare plants and offers amazing views.
Enjoy a very sweet history lesson
Discover the huge role sugar has played in shaping Mauritius at the Beau Plan sugar mill. You can buy some souvenirs produced from the local sugarcane, including Mauritian rum!
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Explore the Earth
Go island-hopping to see rare reptiles In relation to land area, the Mascarene island group once claimed more endemic reptiles than anywhere else on Earth. Although some of these have now been lost for ever, others managed to cling on in isolated communities on offshore islets. These mini ecosystems – the last remaining pockets of a precolonisation era – formed the foundation for a longterm project to restore Mauritius’ reptiles. After decades of groundwork, replanting native plants and trying to manage invasive species like shrews and land snails, small groups of endangered lizards have been moved to neighbouring islands to increase their range and odds of survival. Some of these island nature reserves are closed to the public to avoid jeopardising the rewilding process, but others are accessible. The aforementioned Ile aux Aigrettes is home to new populations of Telfair’s skinks and Guenther’s geckos – one of the world’s biggest gecko species – as well as the colourful ornate day gecko. Ile aux Fouquets now supports a healthy community of Ilot Vacoas skinks, while Gabriel Island has a small number of orange-tailed skinks, but you will need permission before you can visit the island.
Meet the ultimate comeback kid It’s terrifying to think how close the Mauritius kestrel came to extinction. A deadly cocktail of forest destruction, introduced species raiding their nests and harmful pesticides used in agriculture reduced the population to just two mating pairs by the 1970s. A huge conservation initiative, including monitoring of wild birds, captive breeding and the installation of pest-proof nest boxes, has reversed their fortunes. Although they are no longer Critically Endangered, with an estimated 400-500 kestrels island-wide, these rare raptors are not completely out of the woods yet; there have been worrying declines in some areas in recent years. To see Mauritius’ last endemic birds of prey, your best bet is to spend some time hiking in the Bambous Mountains nature park on the southeast coast of the island. There are sometimes feeding sessions at a visitors’ centre in the Vallée de Ferney, where a few wild kestrels have learned that they can pick up a free lunch!
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A wildlife paradise
Learn about the dodo’s demise...
More Mauritian avifauna
Today, dodos have acquired almost legendary status. But what was this flightless bird really like? And just how did this Mauritian native – now synonymous with extinction – meet its maker? You can find the answers to these questions and more at the Mauritius Institute (aka the Dodo Museum) in Port Louis, where an exhibit including skeletons, models and artist impressions will help shine a light on this ill-fated fowl.
Mauritius fody
Distinguished by the males’ bright red head during the breeding season, these charismatic little birds have staged an impressive comeback.
Olive white-eye
Following the same recovery programme that has seen great results with the fody, it’s hoped that this critically endangered green songbird with its distinctive white ‘spectacles’ can also be brought back from the brink.
...then meet the dodo’s closest living relative In the 1980s, pink pigeons came very close to extinction. Luckily for them, their fate was not to be the same as their doomed dodo relations. Thanks to a huge conservation drive, the perilously low population of 12 birds in 1986 is now estimated to have grown to almost 500. One of the best places to see them is the Macchabee Trail, which starts at the Pétrin Visitors’ Centre in the Black River Gorges National Park.
Red-tailed tropicbird
Easily recognised by their long, red tail feathers and crimson bills, tropicbirds are being translocated from larger populations to new areas of Mauritius to encourage the development of new seabird colonies.
Explore a reef without getting wet Diving and snorkelling aren’t for everyone, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on all the amazing marine life Mauritius has to offer. Near Grand Baie in the north, you can book a place on a submarine or even hire your very own ‘subscooter’ to go on an underwater adventure. The larger ten-seater sub passes through several coral banks and also tours the Star Hope, a shipwreck that has become a haven for marine life since it sank in 1988. Indian Ocean residents you might encounter on your marine odyssey include clownfish, trevally, rays, eels, crabs, lionfish, swordfish and even turtles.
Mauritius bulbul
Mauritius also boasts its very own species of bulbul, a songbird similar in size to blackbirds. Their plumage is fairly dull (mainly brown and grey), so you’re most likely to spot the bright orange-pink beak and legs first.
Mauritius cuckoo-shrike
Cuckoo-shrikes are another endemic species that has benefitted from an intensive push to preserve native forests. They are often easy to hear – listen out for short whistles followed by a string of sharper staccato notes.
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Explore the Earth
Dive with dolphins Off the west coast lies Tamarin Bay, where it’s possible to see both spinner dolphins – famed for their playful, acrobatic displays – and their larger bottlenose cousins. Take pictures from the boat or, for an even more memorable experience, take the plunge to become an honorary member of the pod for a short while. There are also trips that head further out in search of larger cetaceans. Sperm whales are found in Mauritian waters year-round, while humpbacks pass through between July and September during their migration.
Listen out for echoes Once dubbed the world’s rarest parrot, echo parakeets are another shining example of what can be achieved when governments and conservationists work together. The population has multiplied approximately 30-fold since the 1980s, when numbers in the wild had dwindled to around 20. That said, they are still endangered and only found in one place: Black River Gorges National Park. Their green plumage can make the parakeets tricky to spot in the forest, so be sure to spend some time at one of the parrot-friendly feeding stations set up by the MWF.
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A wildlife paradise
Top tips
win
Gone but not forgotten While enjoying the wide variety of fauna on Ile aux Aigrettes, keep an eye out for the bronze statues that pay tribute to Mascarene species no longer around today. It’ll make you appreciate the animals that do remain even more.
a Hammamas! visit www.animal answers.co.uk to enter tHe draw
Visit mini Mauritius About an hour’s flight east of Mauritius is the small volcanic island of Rodrigues. Part of the Mascarene archipelago, it too boasts creatures found nowhere else on the planet, including its very own species of warbler, fruit bat and fody.
Learn the lingo Mauritius is a multilingual society, with Mauritian Créole being the main language spoken by the locals. However, English and French are also widely used, particularly in tourist areas, so it’s worth brushing up on your Français before you go.
Merrell Kahuna III sandals For adventurers looking for something more durable than a pair of basic flipflops, the Kahuna III sandals are ideal. The thick rubber soles and padded suede uppers make for a winning combination of comfort and ruggedness. £85 merrell.com
HERO5 Black GoPro’s HERO5 allows you to capture nature on the go like never before. It can be used while snorkelling to a depth of ten metres (32.8 feet) without a case. Out of the water, it includes a voice-command feature, so you don’t even have to hit a button to take a photo! £399.99 gopro.com
Clash spearmint, azure and orange Colourful Hammamas are the next generation of beach towel. Light, compact and quick to dry, a Hammama works just as well as a picnic blanket, tablecloth, casual beachwear or even as a makeshift bag. £25 hammamas.com
Bushnell Equinox
WakaWaka Base 10
A lot of Mauritian wildlife is on the small side and well camouflaged, so it makes sense to take along some optical assistance. Bushnell’s Equinox works in all light conditions, so is as suited to viewing dolphins in the day as it is fruit bats during the night. £259.95 manfrotto.co.uk
Mauritius is blessed with eight-plus hours of bright sunshine most days, and you can take advantage of that with the WakaWaka Base 10. Fully charged, this solar power kit has enough juice to replenish four smartphones and also includes two LED torches. £139.99 amazon.co.uk
© freevectormaps.com; Alamy; NaturePL; Thinkstock; Dreamstime
Key kit
Who to travel with Budget Mauritian Wildlife Foundation mauritian-wildlife.org
Ile aux Aigrettes ecotour Two-hour tours offer the chance to see many of the country’s rarest animals and plants for less than £20 per adult.
Beach retreat Steppes Travel
Safari combo Rainbow Tours
steppestravel.co.uk
rainbowtours.co.uk
This ten-day trip includes seven nights halfboard at the 20 Degrees Sud boutique hotel on the north coast, just a short drive from the departure point for the reef tours. From £2,295 per person, with all flights and transfers.
Kenya Safari & Mauritius Escape This 13-day trip starts in Kenya’s Maasai Mara viewing traditional game before heading to Mauritius. From £3,240 per person; includes flights, transfers and accommodation.
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SUpEr serpents Snakes are some of the most fascinating animals alive. Here are just five of their amazing, and sometimes utterly terrifying, superpowers
Words Ella Carter
Skin shedding Snake skin doesn’t stretch with growth like human skin, so to grow and to remove parasites the snake has to loosen its old skin, wriggle out of it and grow a new one.
Some snake species don’t need males to reproduce
When male snakes are scarce, the North American copperhead snake can still keep the species going by undergoing parthenogenesis – a ‘virgin birth’. First witnessed in captivity, experts have recently found that wild snakes are also capable of this phenomenon. Other species are also able to reproduce without male fertilisation. In 2012, a female reticulated python (the world’s longest-growing snake) called Thelma produced a brood of eggs with no male parent in Louisville Zoo in the US.
Snake chemical weaponry About 20 per cent of all snakes are venomous, to varying degrees. Venom is delivered through the fangs from venom sacs, and some can even spit their venom at prey.
Forked tongues aid stereo smells Having two tips to their tongues means that snakes can take chemical information from the air around them from two separate points – handy for accurately following a prey trail!
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Super serpents It jumps from a branch in a J position.
It lowers its head to gain speed.
With a flattened body it makes a slithering motion in mid-air for more efficient gliding.
Tree snake species have evolved to glide in mid-air In Southeast Asia’s jungles, five species of ‘flying’ tree snake have evolved an ingenious way to get from tree to tree without touching the forest floor. After an initial jump into the air from the edge of a branch, the snake flattens its body to twice the normal width, expanding its surface area to allow it to glide. It can then undulate its body to wriggle in mid-air, which helps to keep the flight going and also provide steering.
To flatten its body the snake spreads its ribs. The internal organs are flattened with the body.
On landing after a successful dive the snake can adjust its body to the normal nearcylindrical shape.
Snakes can ‘see’ infrared
Snakes hear with their jaws Believe it or not, despite it being widely reported that they don’t have ears, a snake’s hearing is actually very good. Instead of using external ears like many other mammals, vibrations (from the ground and also from low-frequency airborne noises) travel through the snake’s body to the quadrate bone, which is the connection between the lower jaw and skull. From here the vibrations are passed to the snake’s inner ear where nerves link to the brain.
Elastic ligaments allow the bottom jaw to expand to swallow large prey. The quadrate bone attaches the ‘floating’ jaw to the skull, allowing the jaw to move independently.
When swallowing prey, the snake uses large, sharp teeth for leverage to ‘walk’ its jaw over the prey.
© Thinkstock; Alamy
Vipers, pythons and boas have pit organs on their faces that can detect infrared radiation from warm bodies close by, allowing them to sense prey by ‘seeing’ body heat.
Some snakes can swallow super-sized meals For snakes, the laborious act of eating a massive meal has the benefit of not needing to hunt for a long while afterwards – it’s hard work to digest, but less work than hunting. These snakes can fit colossal animals relative to their size into their bodies thanks to highly elastic skin and specialized jaws that can expand to let in the largest of prey.
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Leaf-cutter ants FARMERS OF THE INSECT WORLD With super strength, unrivalled teamwork and incredible foraging abilities, these tiny critters are expert cultivators of the rainforest Words Amelia Jones
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Leaf-cutter ants
While many animals are often praised for their hunting and food gathering abilities, it is easy to overlook the millions of ants foraging on the forest floor for food to ensure the survival of their colony. Among these tiny critters is a particular tribe that is highly adapted for foraging: leaf-cutter ants. Native only to Central and South America, living among the tropical rainforests, the Attini tribe, otherwise known as leaf-cutter or fungus-growing ants, features two genera: Atta and Acromyrmex. These closely related genera are easily distinguished; Acromyrmex have four pairs of spines on their back and a rough exoskeleton, while Atta have three pairs and a smooth exoskeleton. But both possess the amazing ability to cut and carry leaves 50 times their body weight, making them one
of the strongest creatures on Earth in terms of their power to weight ratio. Leaf-cutter ants are rusty in colour and between two and 22 millimetres (0.07 and 0.8 inches) in length, with their size determining their role within the colony. They have compound eyes and fairly poor vision, instead using their extendable and retractable antennae to investigate any objects they come across. While small in size, a leaf-cutter ant’s brain is highly complex and allows these tiny critters to adapt and react to their surroundings. They have an exceptional memory and can remember the smell of their colony, its location and where they have placed objects. A gland in their head also produces alarm chemicals, which alert nearby ants to danger and sends them into battle mode,
Strong scent trails left by ants returning to the colony from a good foraging site attract other ants to the plant
“Carrying leaves 50 times their body weight, they are one of the strongest creatures on Earth in terms of power to weight ratio”
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Leaf-cutter ants Leaf-cutter ant Atta cephalotes class Insecta
territory Central and South America Diet Fungus Lifespan 1-2 years (worker ant); 10-15 years (queen) adult weight 1-5mg conservation status
NOT CLASSIFIED
Below Highly in tune with the fungus they cultivate, leaf-cutter ants will stop collecting a certain plant species if the fungus releases toxic chemical signals
triggering a chain reaction that spreads rapidly through the colony. But a leaf-cutter ant’s most prized tool are its powerful jaws and incredible strength. As their name suggests, leafcutter ants use their jaws and mandibles to cut through leaves, and most of their head is filled with the muscles that close the jaws, but this is not for the purpose of eating. A common misconception is that these ants eat the leaves they cut. In fact, the ants cut the leaves and, using the spines on the back of their thorax, carry them home. Here, the leaf segments are cut into smaller pieces and allowed to decompose. It is this fungus that the ants feast on, making leaf-cutter ants the only creatures on Earth, aside from humans, that grow and farm other creatures. But with approximately 8 million ants in a colony, that requires the decomposition of a lot of leaves, and a single colony can strip a tree bare in just one day. Similar to human societies, leaf-cutter ant colonies are highly complex and intricate structures. Their underground nests can be up to nine metres (29.5 feet) deep and cover an area one acre (0.4 hectares) in size, with some sub-entrances found 80 metres (262.4 feet) away. The central mound can be 30 metres (98.4 feet) wide and features complex tunnels and ventilation chambers. These are carefully positioned to remove poisonous carbon dioxide produced by the fungus garden and to allow fresh air inside the nest. With millions of inhabitants to keep in line, colonies are ordered into castes, with each
ant having a crucial role within the nest. The three main castes are mostly based on size and consist of the queen, workers and soldiers, which are all female. The males are purely there to breed with the queen. Larger worker ants go out foraging, harvesting the leaves with their strong jaws and carrying them back to the nest. But they are often working in tandem with tiny hitchhikers. The smallest leaf-cutter ants, known as minims, will climb onto the leaves as they are being carried and decontaminate them before they reach the fungus garden, as well as feeding on the leaf sap. The minims also protect the larger worker ants, often sitting on their backs to ward off parasites such as phorid flies, which lay their eggs in the crevices of the worker ants’ heads. Medium-sized worker ants tend to the fungus garden, care for the larvae and excavate tunnels within the colony, while a special caste of worker ants is responsible for waste management alone, shuffling the waste around to help with decomposition. Sadly, these ‘rubbish’ ants are exiled from the colony as they are often riddled with disease and have shorter lifespans, and if they try to leave the rubbish dump, other ants will force them back or even kill them, showing how the success of a colony is in each ant knowing its place within the workforce – an ability they are born with. As each ant is so dedicated to its job within the colony, leaf-cutter ants display the ultimate form of teamwork; they are able to feed each other through a second ‘social’ stomach, where they store undigested food in a process known as trophallaxis.
“Similar to human societies, leaf-cutter ant colonies are highly complex and intricate structures” Ant anatomy Leaf-cutter ants are highly adapted for foraging on a colossal scale Wings A small selection of female and male leaf-cutter ants will develop wings during the mating season to allow the nuptial flight, or revoada, to take place. Size variation These ants range in size from the 2mm (0.07in) length of the minim ants to the 22mm (0.8in) length of the queen of the colony. Their size determines their role and function within the colony. chemical signals The ants leave pheromone trails to good sources of vegetation for other worker ants to follow. They also let off chemical signals when faced with danger, signalling for other ants to defend the colony.
Super strength Leaf-cutter ants have phenomenal strength and are able to cut, manoeuvre and carry leaf segments that are extremely heavy in relation to their size.
Strong jaws Leaf-cutter ants have extremely strong jaws for cutting through vegetation, which vibrate at 1,000 times per second. The muscles that close the jaws are much stronger than the muscles that open them. antennae Extendable and retractable antennae are used for identifying objects and finding suitable vegetation for cutting, as the eyesight of leaf-cutter ants is fairly poor.
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Leaf transportation Using their jaws and the spines on their back to manoeuvre the leaf segments, the ants begin carrying the leaves back to their nest. They are incredibly strong and can carry a segment in their jaws that is 50 times their own body weight.
Waste management A special caste of worker ants lives in the rubbish dump and constantly removes waste from the colony. These ants are exiled from the rest of the colony, as they often carry bacteria and disease.
Decontamination As the leaves are being transported, smaller worker ants known as minims hitch a ride on the leaf, decontaminating it of any parasites or bacteria. They may also ride on the backs of larger worker ants to protect them from parasites, such as phorid flies.
fungus garden The leaf segments are deposited underground in the fungus garden. Here, the leaves are left to decompose into the fungus the ants feed on. If a leaf is seen to be toxic to the fungus it will no longer be collected.
© Ed Crooks
The colony is protected by larger soldier ants, who respond to chemical alarm signals and defend the colony from threats, while the queen ant is much larger again – up to 22 millimetres (0.8 inches) long – and can live for up to 15 years, compared to the one- or two-year lifespan of the workers and soldiers. The queen is the only ant that is able to produce eggs and spends her life deep underground, laying up to 1,000 eggs per day in order to build her colony. Alongside sterile worker and soldier ants, she also lays a small number of winged queens and males who will one day form new colonies. At the beginning of the rainy season, winged fertile females and males take part in a nuptial flight, known as revoada, after which the males will die. The females mate with multiple males, lose their wings and search for a suitable underground location to set up their colony. Sadly, only 2.5 per cent of females will be successful in establishing a long-lived colony and 90 per cent will die before their eggs hatch. But for those queens that are successful, they begin cutting the first few leaves themselves and cultivate their fungus garden while their larvae develop. Most of these larvae will become foraging workers, while a small number will develop into new queens and males, and the entire process starts again as the fungus garden thrives. Leaf cutting is a vital aspect of fungus cultivation, and once a worker has located a good source of vegetation, they will lay down a scent as they return to the colony, helping to guide other workers to the plant. The more ants that visit the plant, the stronger the scent trail becomes. Leaf-cutter ants have adapted to change food sources constantly, preserving the habitat they live in and preventing the colony from stripping all the surrounding plants bare. These tiny insects have a large influence on their environment and leaf-cutter ants from the Atta genus are estimated to be responsible for the decomposition of 20 per cent of leaves in South America. However, they are skilled farmers and expert cultivators.
Leaf cutting Working in teams, the medium-sized worker ants will leave the nest and find a suitable plant species. Here, they will begin cutting the leaves into segments with their strong jaws and mandibles.
“The smallest worker ants, known as minims, catch a ride on the cut sections of leaf to decontaminate them before they reach the nest”
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Leaf-cutter ants
“These ants are often seen as major agricultural pests. They cost the crop industry around $1 billion each year”
In order to carry an equivalent weight to the leaves these ants transport, a human would need to lift a medium-sized van
In numbers 1 1,000 50 8 million 30 47 metres species dAy Width that the central mound of a leaf-cutter ant’s nest can reach up to.
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The genera Atta and Acromyrmex contain a total of 47 species between them.
The number of days it takes a single colony of leaf-cutter ants to strip a tree bare.
The number of times a leaf-cutter ant’s strong jaws vibrate every second.
Leaf-cutter ants are able to carry leaves up to 50 times their own body weight in their jaws.
Average number of leaf-cutter ants in a colony. Colonies of 10 million have been found.
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YEARS
The number of years a successful queen leaf-cutter ant can live up to.
20
The Atta genus is responsible for the decomposition of 20 per cent of the leaves in South America.
Leaf-cutter ants
Through their leaf cutting, they trim and maintain the rainforest, allowing light to reach the forest floor and more plants to grow. They also have a strong influence on the species that grow here by selectively bringing seeds into their underground chambers of various depths, helping the rainforest floor to flourish. Like termites and ambrosia beetles, leaf-cutter ant societies are based on a mutualistic relationship between the ants and the fungus they cultivate and feed on. Different species of leaf-cutter ants feed on different species of fungi; however, all of the fungi they eat is from the genus Leucocoprinus. As the growth of the fungus is so crucial to their survival, the ants have adapted to react to the chemical signals the fungus emits and will stop collecting certain plant species that are deemed to be toxic. As such, they rely on each other to stay alive; the ants grow the fungus to feed their colony and the fungus relies on the ants bringing fresh foliage underground to sustain its growth. However, due to the vast amount of leaves the ants need to sustain a colony of millions, these tiny critters are often seen as a major agricultural pest. This is because a single colony can strip a tree bare in just 24 hours and leafcutter ants are responsible for destroying more vegetation than any other animal, costing the crop industry over $1 billion (£803.9 million) each year. But they are a crucial and influential part of the ecosystem and are often very selective about the leaves they cut to ensure the survival of the plants they so heavily rely on. It is because of this that these ants, while small in size but prolific in number, should be seen not as pests, but as intelligent and skilled farmers who have a close and intimate relationship with the habitat they live in. Carefully cutting plants, farming fungi and growing their colossal colonies, leaf-cutter ants display the ultimate form of teamwork, making them the best sustainable farmers in the insect world.
The vice-like jaws of a leaf-cutter ant vibrate 1,000 times per second, allowing them to easily cut leaves. In fact, large worker ants can even cut through leather with their mandibles.
Once the male leafcutter ants have mated with the fertile females in their nuptial flight, they will die, leaving the female to establish the colony.
Leaf-cutter ants are aggressively territorial insects, willing to fight to the death to defend their colony. Although they don’t seek out a battle, even members of the same species will be killed if they stray into a colony that is not their own.
© Alamy; Amazon-Images; Alex Hyde/NaturePL/Thinkstock
Below Although not native to the region, leaf-cutter ant populations have been found in southern US states and Mexico
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Meet the family
Dolphins
After making their way back into the water 50 million years ago, over 40 species of dolphin roam oceans and rivers all over the world today
Orca
The deadliest relative This is one of the most successful predators on the planet, killing around 95 per cent of the prey it sets out to catch. That’s immensely impressive compared to a lion’s measly 17 per cent success rate. Orcas charge at prey at 65 kilometres (40.4 miles) per hour before biting with their 40 to 50 teeth, which can reach ten centimetres (four inches) in length. But their physical attributes aren’t the most dangerous thing about the aptly named killer whale. Orcas have intelligence almost beyond belief, and this stems from their close social bonds. Calves never leave their family pod and are cared for by their parents, siblings and grandparents. Young orcas are taught by their parents and given the chance to finish off prey weakened by the adults. Teams co-ordinate and communicate to hunt animals on ice, land or in the water by any means necessary.
orCa Orcinus orca Class Mammalia
Territory Global diet Fish and marine mammals lifespan 80 years adult weight 5,400kg (11,905lb) Conservation status
DATA DEFICIENT
The dorsal fin on the back contains no bones – it’s pure cartilage. Captive fins are prone to collapse after giving into gravity because the orcas spend an inordinate amount of time floating at the surface of their shallow tanks.
Spinner dolphin The family acrobat
Aptly named, these dolphins can leap three metres (9.8 feet) clear of the water and perform seven 360 degree twists before spinner dolpHin landing. The rotation begins Stenella longirostris Class Mammalia underwater and once the animal breaches the surface it can twirl faster without the sea’s resistance. There are lots of Territory Tropical oceans theories to explain this spinning diet Fish and squid but there isn’t a single accepted lifespan 30 years explanation. They may be adult weight 59-82kg (130-180lb) attempting to dislodge remoras, Conservation status which are fish that attach to the bodies of other sea creatures to hitch a free ride. These dizzying DATA DEFICIENT displays may also attract mates or display dominance. Alternatively, the loud splashes could communicate the position of dolphin groups to others, or maybe it’s just for fun. This species visits shallow waters to rest and socialise on a regular basis, especially in the summer when the calves arrive. The pectoral fins contain five long ‘finger’ bones and help the spinner dolphin get lift when attempting a jump.
Hourglass dolpHin Lagenorhynchus cruciger Class Mammalia
Territory Southern Atlantic diet Small fish and squid lifespan Unknown adult weight 94kg (207lb) Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
The black and white colouration confuses predators. It makes it difficult to tell where one animal ends and the next begins or even which direction the group is travelling.
Hourglass dolphin The sub-zero hunter
These rare animals are found in small groups in the freezing waters of the Antarctic, following fluctuating cold currents. Like most other species in the family, hourglass dolphins use echolocation to search for food, beaming out sounds into the water and listening out for the echo. These animals produce such high-pitched sounds that they are able to travel twice as far as those produced by other dolphins. This is probably the result of their ability to dive to depths of at least 1,500 metres (4,921 feet), far too deep for sunlight to penetrate, meaning the dolphins have to rely on their hearing rather than their eyesight.
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Dolphins
Common dolphin
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The family’s social butterfly
As the name suggests, these dolphins are found throughout the Earth’s oceans. Pods of common dolphins often contain members of other species, like the acrobatic striped dolphin. Not only do these two animals mix, but they breed to produce hybrid calves. Nobody knows if these young dolphins are fertile, but evidence suggests they survive into adulthood. Common dolphins form super pods numbering upwards of 1,000 individuals and use these great armies to hunt in packs. They are extremely social animals and get to know one another on a personal basis. Their fondness for other species extends beyond dolphins, with one individual forming a long-term partnership with a harbour porpoise. The pair even travel as far as 65 kilometres (40.4 miles) inland into sea lochs, which is highly unusual behaviour for the common dolphin.
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sHorT-Beaked Common dolpHin Delphinus delphis Class Mammalia
There are two subspecies of common dolphins: the long-beaked and the short-beaked.
Territory Temperate oceans diet Fish and squid lifespan 35-40 years adult weight 100-140kg (220-309lb) Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
The rostrum, or beak, contains approximately 100 thin, razorsharp teeth, which are used to grip or slice prey before it is then swallowed.
norTHern rigHT wHale dolpHin Lissodelphis borealis Class Mammalia
Northern right whale dolphin The family’s black sheep
Territory North Pacific diet Fish and Squid lifespan 42 years adult weight 115kg (253lb) Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
Very little is known about these bizarre animals. They swim in groups of roughly 150 in the cold waters of the north Pacific Ocean. Here, they feed on squid, which they chase at top speeds of 40 kilometres (25 miles) per hour. The missing dorsal fin on the back makes these dolphins streamlined, and pods swim in four distinct formations to maximise their forward force. Groups can be densely packed, with uniform spaces between each member or in small clusters. They can also form straight lines or swim in a V shape, much like flying geese trying to reduce wind resistance.
4 3
1. Rarest Baiji
3. Slowest Pilot whale
Classified as ‘functionally extinct’, this river dolphin may have already disappeared. If any remain, there aren’t enough to save the species.
While incredibly fast when diving, this member of the dolphin family swims slowly at the surface – unless threatened – to allow calves to keep up.
2. Smallest Maui dolphin
4. Shyest Sotalia
At only 50kg (100Ib), these are the smallest dolphins. Native to New Zealand, recent surveys estimate that there are only 60 left in the wild.
Found in the waters of South America (as well as Atlantic and Caribbean coasts), the two species of sotalia are very fearful of humans.
Not a dolphin Porpoises are in another family to the dolphins, and harbour porpoises have several crucial differences. The dorsal fin is triangular rather than curved and the iconic long beak is missing. Porpoise teeth are flat unlike spiky dolphin teeth, and these animals don’t usually leap out of the water or approach humans.
The bottlenose’s ‘smile’ is simply the shape of its mouth, and in no way means the animal is happy.
BoTTlenose dolpHin Tursiops truncatus Class Mammalia
Territory Global diet Fish, squid and crustaceans lifespan 20-40 years adult weight 136-499kg (300-1,100lb) Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
Bottlenose dolphin
The family’s poster animal Doubtlessly the most famous face in the dolphin world, these animals are held in aquariums because of their intelligence and relatively long lifespan. Captive life does not reflect what these animals do in the wild, and bottlenoses can become aggressive and even depressed without the freedom of the open ocean. Wild bottlenoses can swim upwards of 120 kilometres (74.5 miles) each day and interact with hundreds of new friends, even developing ‘social networks’, where dolphins know one another through mutual friends. These dolphins develop regional accents and are extremely fast learners, with groups around the world developing new hunting techniques that are passed down to future generations.
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The wildlife of a cave Meet the curious creatures that are specially adapted for a life underground in some of Earth’s deepest and darkest natural wonders
© Michael Durham/Minden Pictures/FLPA
Words Jo Stass
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It’s difficult to imagine any form of life thriving in a cold, damp and pitch-black cave, but there are many creatures that do just that. The name given to these animals that spend their entire life underground is troglobite, and they often feature some very clever adaptations to help them live in such extreme environments.
However, perhaps the most recognisable cave dweller, the bat, doesn’t fall into this category. It is actually known as a trogloxene, or cave visitor, as it only uses caves to roost. Nevertheless, these visitors are still an important part of the cave food chain. Without them, many of their underground neighbours could not survive.
The wildlife of a cave How do caves form? Discover the processes that create solution caves over thousands of years
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Going underground Groundwater seeps through cracks or fractures in the earth to reach the limestone rock beneath.
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Creating cavities The slightly acidic water slowly dissolves the limestone rock to create a system of small caves.
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Joining together As more water enters, the caves get bigger and eventually join together, becoming one large cavern.
1. Hard rock The upper layers of rock are harder and so dissolve more slowly than the soft limestone.
2. Acidic water Groundwater mixes with carbon dioxide in the air and soil to create weak carbonic acid.
3. Underwater caves Caves situated below the water table are always flooded with water.
4. Collapsing cracks Cracks in the upper layers of rock gradually become bigger, collapsing into sink holes.
5. Rock chemistry Minerals inside the rock can also make the groundwater more acidic as it passes through.
“A troglobite will spend its entire life inside a cold, damp, pitch-black cave” 83
The wildlife of a cave
The creatures of Mammoth Cave
Cave cricket The long-legged, jumping cave cricket is a keystone species of the Mammoth Cave. By feeding on the surface and transferring the nutrients to the subsurface in the form of guano, eggs and bodies, it subsidises three separate communities of rare or endemic cave-dwelling invertebrates.
With over 650 kilometres (403.9 miles) of passageways and caverns, the world’s longest cave system, located in Kentucky, United States is home to more than 130 species of flora and fauna, 14 of which don’t exist anywhere else on the planet.
Animals of the shadows Troglobites Troglobites are animals that have adapted to spend their entire life cycle within a cave and could not survive outside of one. They typically have poorly developed or absent eyes, little pigmentation and are able to go a long time without food. Examples include cavefish, crayfish and shrimps.
Fox
Troglophiles A troglophile is an animal that can survive outside of a cave, but prefers to live inside one. They will typically only leave the cave in search of food, but could live their entire life either inside or outside of one. Examples include beetles, worms, frogs, salamanders and crickets.
Opossum
Bullfrog Northern cavefish Specially adapted to the lightless, low-energy environment of freshwater cave streams, this species of fish has ceased to develop unnecessary eyes and pigmentation. It navigates by feeling its surroundings using sensory organs on its body, and can live for up to two years without food due to its low metabolic rate.
Trogloxenes Trogloxenes are animals that regularly visit caves for specific parts of their life cycle, such as hibernation, nesting or giving birth. They will never spend an entire life cycle within a cave and have no special adaptations for the environment. Examples include bats, bears, skunks and raccoons.
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Cave crayfish
The wildlife of a cave
Gray bat Bats have inhabited Mammoth Cave for millions of years, and only 150 years ago, the gray bat was one of its most prominent species. However, today they are listed as Near Threatened due to cave disturbance and are under threat from a deadly fungal disease called white-nose syndrome.
Screech owl
Kentucky cave shrimp This tiny crustacean is endemic to the Mammoth Cave National Park, where it inhabits large, base-level, slow-flowing cave streams. It grows to just 30mm (1.2in) in length, has no eyes and a translucent body and is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Mussels The Green River that runs through the Mammoth Cave National Park contains the most diverse population of freshwater mussels in North America, and one of the most diverse populations in the world. Over 50 species of mussels can be found in the river, several of which feature on the endangered list.
© The Art Agency/Peter Scott
Snapping turtle
Cave salamander The rocky limestone caves are the ideal habitat for the spotted-tail cave salamander. A dull yelloworange coloured amphibian with black spots, it can reach between 10-20cm in length (3.9-7.9in). It feeds on insects, earthworms and mites, which it catches with its long tongue, and lays its eggs in cave streams or pools.
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The wildlife of a cave
The cave ecosystem How do animals survive in the constant darkness of a cave environment? The deepest part of a cave is known as the dark zone, and this is where troglobites live. As light cannot reach this region, plant life cannot grow, and so the animal inhabitants have had to find other sources of sustenance. One way they get access to food is through weather, as rain washes leaves, twigs and other plant matter into the cave. Alternatively, non-permanent cave dwellers – trogloxenes and troglophiles – can bring the food in for them, or of course, become the food themselves. Bats are an important part of many cave food chains, as their guano is full of organic matter. As their droppings pile up, bacteria and fungi break it down into basic nutrients for others to feed on. These microscopic organisms also become food for larger creatures, and so the chain progresses until you reach the larger mammals at the top. These delicate cave ecosystems can be found throughout the world, but they differ slightly depending on the size, location and conditions of each cave. For example, glacier caves, which have been carved out of solid ice, create an environment that only a select few creatures can live in, while certain solution caves are home to a rich and diverse selection of wildlife. The olm is well-adapted to cave life but is currently under threat from the pollution of its underwater habitat
Cave types The many varieties of caves that can be found around the world
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Solution
Lava
Groundwater containing natural acid seeps through the earth to dissolve the soluble rocks – such as limestone, chalk and dolomite – beneath.
As lava flows downhill, its surface cools and solidifies, but hot lava will continue to flow underneath, leaving a hollow cave behind.
Sea Also known as littoral caves, these are formed when waves slowly erode zones of weakness in sea cliffs, carving out caves.
Glacier Water running through or underneath a glacier gradually melts the ice around it. Eventually, a cave is formed as a result.
The Arachnocampa luminosa glowworm is endemic to New Zealand and can be found in many of the country’s caves
Cave wildlife from around the world The species that have adapted to life in different types of cave
Tardigrades These microscopic organisms are able to survive in freezing glacier caves, withstand temperatures below freezing and even cope in outer space!
Glowworms Glowworms use their bioluminescent tails to attract prey, which then gets stuck in their sticky feeding lines. Damp, dark caves are therefore the perfect habitat.
Olms These blind aquatic salamanders have lived in Croatia and Slovenia for over 20 million years. They have heightened smell and hearing and can detect electric and magnetic fields.
Springtails This wingless insect has no eyes and largely lives off a diet of fungi. It’s the deepest land animal ever found, living at depths of 1,980 metres (6,500 feet) below the surface.
“The deepest part of a cave is known as the dark zone. It’s home to troglobites”
Fracture
Talus
Eolian
Layers of more soluble minerals located between layers of less soluble rock are dissolved by acidic groundwater, leaving behind deep fractures.
The openings that form between large boulders that have fallen into a heap at the base of cliffs are known as talus caves.
Common in deserts, these caves are formed by winds blowing fine sand against a rock face, eroding the surface.
While fossils of some bear, lion and leopard species suggest they once inhabited caves for long periods, today, large mammals mainly use caves as a temporary shelter.
Ostracods These tiny crustaceans can live in caves flooded with freshwater or saltwater They have adapted to dark, oxygen-depleted environments by swimming slowly to preserve energy.
© Alamy/Moritz Wolf; Nature Picture Library/Alamy
Large mammals
Anchialine Typically found along coastlines, these flooded caves contain a mixture of both fresh water and salt water.
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behind lens THE
Luke Massey
Pro photographer Luke Massey invites us inside the wonderful world of animal conservation photography Through my work I try to showcase species that are under threat or in need of attention. In the case of proboscis monkeys they’re disappearing in front of us – it is feasible that they could go extinct in the next 20 to 30 years due to habitat destruction. I hoped with my work that I could get this story out there; I want people to look at my photos and fall in love with these monkeys. I headed to Tarakan [Indonesia] where the city had engulfed the mangroves, leaving only a tiny patch remaining where just a few proboscis monkeys survived. With almost all my work I put a lot of effort into researching beforehand and try to build contacts on the ground. Here I worked alongside a Czech primatologist who has been working with proboscis monkeys for decades, Dr Stan Lhota. I’d spend all day with the monkeys; there was actually a boardwalk so that I could follow them through the mangroves on foot. There were two troops in the mangroves; in the true wild with acre upon acre of mangrove to roam there’d be no reason for two troops to meet, but if they did there’d be little conflict. However, in Tarakan there was; they’d fight at least once a day when they met, mainly due to the lack of food available. When I took this shot it was late in the day and the troop was beginning to prepare for roost. Most
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of them were lounging about or grooming high in the canopy; it was only these three who didn’t think it was time for bed just yet! As the boardwalk had a few gaping holes, I had to concentrate on where I placed mine and my tripod’s feet. On top of this, the monkeys are a lot more nimble than me, and there were tall mangroves for them to shoot through. I wanted the main action to take centre stage, hence using a longer focal length. I just waited for the action to kick off again. I shot this with a Canon EOS 1D X and a 500mm lens with a 1.4x converter. This kit is pretty heavy so I was using a Benro tripod to keep everything steady. In the mangroves light can be pretty low, so luckily the 1D X is capable of shooting in low light with very little noise, which is the grain created when you put your ISO up.
luke Massey
www.lmasseyimages.com
An award-winning wildlife photographer, Luke has a passion for storytelling through his imagery, aiming to educate and inspire by showing people species close to home and further afield. Location: Borneo, Indonesia Camera used: Canon EOS 1D X
Behind the lens Getting your message across Luke Massey’s top tricks for making your shots more expressive
Give it some context I try to show the context of where the animal is in my images so I tend to shoot a little wider. This can work for both good and bad situations, from an animal caught up in the illegal wildlife trade to these black kites, who each morning would swoop down to be thrown morsels of meat in Old Delhi [India].
Use the eyes Eye contact connects the person looking at the image to the subject. The eyes can show so many different emotions in countless species and make the image stronger immediately.
© Luke Massey
Work with light Light is an incredibly important tool; it can change an image. From exposing just the lighter sections and throwing all the darker images in to shadow you can make an image so much more dramatic.
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Keeping in touch This month we asked World of Animals readers what their favourite animal noise is. Here are some of our favourites:
Trumpets from elephants. They are my favourite animals. Just like our little girl.
@MummyBear123456
This month we take a look at the real-life work that Halo’s handler Cat Labrada has been involved in, and what it’s like to be the human half of a superpower search-and-rescue duo
Disaster: Hurricane Katrina Year: 2005 Location: New Orleans & Gulf Coast Storm category: Category 5 hurricane Casualties: 1,836 Search dog: Fancy
Disaster: Haiti earthquake Year: 2010 Location: Haiti Storm category: Magnitude 7.0 on the Richter scale Casualties: 100,000 Search dog: Bella
“With Katrina it was different because the damage was caused by water. The majority of the lives that were lost were due to drowning. That meant that when the floodwater receded, nobody was to be found from searching because everybody had either been evacuated or had drowned.”
“Haiti was the most devastation. The majority of the housing is shanty towns, so walking across the roofs on steep hillsides is definitely what we train for in terms of mass casualty and mass entrapment experience, but it was a Third World country. We were there for nine days and we had no maps. It was very difficult because it wasn’t very safe so they didn’t let us search at night.”
Cat Labrada started training search and rescue dogs in 2000. Since then she has worked with her loyal canine counterparts to find survivors in some of the world’s worst disaster zones
@BeckiSarahSmith
My little boy and I love the sound of an elephant... He often pretends to be one!
@PumpkinBunnyBea
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@WorldAnimalsMag worldofanimalsmag
Superpower dogs update
Disaster zones
O wow! I would love to win a copy for my son Harry. Our favourite animal noise is a monkey.
Contact us at…
“I was working at a vet clinic and a woman walked in with a search and rescue shirt on,” Cat tells us. “So I enquired, as at that time I had an eight month-old puppy, so I started taking her out to training!” That puppy was Fancy, a yellow Labrador. Cat and Fancy worked on all kinds of deployments together, the first one being hurricane Charley in 2004. “We worked on hurricane Charley, Frances, Jeanne, Ivan and Katrina together before Fancy retired. You get activated, and then you just await instructions,” Cat explains. “You pack your bags, have a meeting and a general check up before getting deployed. “There’s a lot that goes through your mind in terms of emotions; it’s the unknown. The extent of the devastation depends on the disaster. Was it a bomb, hurricane, tornado? It all depends on what’s there and what the recon is going to find to send you out to.” Luckily, the dogs are ready for everything. “That’s why we try to travel as much as we can during training, so they’re used to getting off a plane, out of a bus or a car to get straight to work”.
Animal antics this month
Wildlife journeys Reader Rob Curtis from the Vale of Glamorgan shares some stunning images from his trip to Antarctica Last winter [2016] (or summer in the Southern Hemisphere) I had the wonderful opportunity of working in the Antarctic for the British Antarctic Survey, helping to move their Antarctic Survey station Halley across a large crack that had developed on the ice shelf. Although the hours of work were long and hard we still found time to travel down to the coast on our Sundays off and enjoy the stunning wildlife that make Antarctica their home. We even saw emperor penguins! I was lucky to see the remains of the emperor colony as the sea ice had blown out and they had lost all their eggs and chicks, yet another indicator of global warming. The remaining emperors were easy to snap as they came to us, but timing their ‘flight’ from the sea onto the ice was difficult.
Our favourite animal news and stories. Let us know yours at
[email protected]
New nature app launched A new app that provides nature documentaries on demand has launched in the UK. LOVE NATURE by Blue Ant Media and Smithsonian Networks, is a subscription video streaming service available from the Apple App Store.
Tell us about one of your wildlife holidays by emailing your story and photos to animals@ animalanswers .co.uk
Reader photos Pelicans waiting to steal fish from cormorants
‘Fake’ fur not fake A pair of high-heeled shoes at Misguided had to be taken off sale after it was discovered they contained cat fur. The discovery was made by the Humane Society International. Misguided have stated they have a strict no-fur policy and were unaware the fur was real, but they are not the only store with ‘faux fur’ products that contain fur.
I found this redshouldered hawk on a powerline
Eating dogs banned Taiwan has become the first Asian country to ban the sale and consumption of dog and cat meat. Purchasing or eating the meat now carries a fine of up to £6,500; anyone who kills these animals could face prison.
A great egret flying overhead near a lake
We love hearing from readers, whether it’s receiving letters, emails, photos, drawings or even feedback. Get in touch and you could be a lucky winner, too!
© Thinkstock
Thanks to Johnny Walker for this stunning selection of bird images sent in to World of Animals!
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Animal answers
Send your animal questions to us at:
[email protected] How do kangaroos pause pregnancy? Kangaroo mums can keep a joey in reserve; while one baby is growing in the pouch, a second one waits in the uterus ready to take its place. And it’s all down to a feedback loop in their hormones. If there’s already a joey in the pouch, the action of it suckling triggers the release of a hormone called prolactin, which halts the development of the embryo. The fertilised kangaroo egg can divide until it reaches a ball of 100 cells, but after that it stops until there is room. When the bigger joey is old enough to leave its mother’s pouch, the hormone balance changes and the embryo can continue developing. This clever adaptation means that the female kangaroo will always have room for her new arrival, but she won’t need to wait until her older joey has left to find a mate, maximising the number of little kangaroos she can successfully raise. There’s only room for one joey in the pouch at a time
What’s the difference between venomous, poisonous and toxic? These terms can be confusing, but there’s a simple way to remember the difference. If something bites or stings you, causing you harm, it’s venomous. If you eat something and it damages you, it’s poisonous. A toxin is a substance that causes harm when it enters the body through inhalation, ingestion, injection or absorption. Poisons can be inhaled, ingested or absorbed, while venoms are injected via an animal’s teeth, sting or barbs.
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Poison dart frogs are poisonous because they secrete batrachotoxin. Gathered from the beetles they eat, it disrupts nerve and muscle cells, resulting in heart failure. Pit vipers, on the other hand, inject their toxins with a bite. They make several kinds of molecules called metalloproteinases. These are enzymes - biological catalysts that break down other molecules inside the victim’s body. Many cause bleeding, while others directly kill cells.
@WorldAnimalsMag
worldofanimalsmag
Animals answers Can it really rain frogs? Surprisingly, yes. Frogs, fish and other small animals can be carried into the atmosphere by tornadoes before plummeting down again when the storm subsides. In 2000, the BBC reported fish raining down in Norfolk after a minitornado travelled in from the sea. These swirling winds form over land, and if they travel over water they can create a waterspout with an area of low pressure in the centre. This pressure difference draws liquid and other objects upwards into the air, occasionally carrying aquatic animals away from their homes. As the winds start to drop, the heaviest objects fall first, followed later by the lighter ones.
It really has been known to rain frogs
Haemoglobin
Hemerythrin
Chlorocruorin
Why do crabs and spiders have blue blood, and does blood come in any other colours? We are used to blood being red, but the animal kingdom has come up with a rainbow of other options. Our own blood contains the oxygen-carrying molecule haemoglobin. It is made from four units of haem, each of which contains an atom of iron. The molecule absorbs certain wavelengths of light, giving it its distinctive red colour. When oxygen is bound, it appears bright, but without oxygen it’s a deeper hue. Crabs, lobsters, spiders, squid and octopuses have blue blood because they use a copper-based system to carry gas to their tissues. The molecule is known as haemocyanin and, without oxygen, it is colourless. When the gas binds, the colour changes. Some marine worms have iron-based systems with even wilder colours. Green blood is the result of a molecule called chlorocruorin, while a slightly different iron-containing molecule called hemerythrin is purple. And, some animals don’t have any oxygen-carrying pigments at all. In very cold water, there’s so much dissolved oxygen that colourful pigments aren’t necessary, so some deep sea creatures have completely transparent blood.
© Thinkstock
Haemocyanin
Crabs have copper in their blood
Q.Why are March hares mad? Find out at…
animalanswers.co.uk
Interview with a…
wildlife fundraiser
Walk 4 Wildlife is a great example of how much we can do to help animals just by putting on our walking shoes and joining together In 2015, colleagues Mark Oliver and Mike Matthews wanted to get a few people together for a sponsored relay walk to raise funds for their favourite wildlife charities. But as word got out and more people became interested, the idea turned into something much bigger. Now they are holding several fundraising events with the aim of raising £1million this summer. What is Walk 4 Wildlife? Walk 4 Wildlife events are sponsored walks that bring together like-minded people; people with an empathy for animals and a determination to go the extra mile to help protect wildlife. We have five very different events this summer, each one a challenge. The season starts in the Sussex South Downs with our ‘3-Distance Challenge’ and ends with a 20-mile [32.2-kilometre] night safari walk in the New Forest. On 19 May, a unique event will be taking place across the UK. Hundreds of thousands of primary school children will be taking part in a mass sponsored walk, in an attempt to break a Guinness™ World Record. On the day, primary schools around the country will be joining together to try and break the world record for the most people walking in an organised event. The current record is 231,635 people all walking at the same time! How was it founded? In 2015, we came up with an idea to do a sponsored relay walk to raise money for five carefully chosen wildlife charities. Originally, just a handful of people were each going to be walking a section of the route for their chosen cause. However, as the word spread and more people wanted to join the walk, it quickly became apparent that we needed to expand our ideas, and so we put together a Land’s End to John o’Groats 50-day relay walk. We
wanted to make this first Walk 4 Wildlife a walk for some of the world’s most iconic and endangered species and so we came up with our own ‘Big 5’. Having chosen cheetahs, elephants, lions, rhinos and tigers, we then selected five separate charities to benefit from the proceeds of each walk. Although a lot of people wanted to join the walk, for many the route was either too far away or was coming through their area on a day that just wasn’t convenient. So we set about organising other walks up and down the UK, so that many more people could join in. With very little publicity and relying only on word-of-mouth, another eight walks were held over the summer of 2016, raising over £25,000 for our five charities. This year, we are hoping to create something really special for wildlife. Why should people get involved? There is no other event like this where people can come together to raise money for wildlife. From the majestic lion to the humble hedgehog, the critically endangered black rhino to the mountain gorilla, animals around the world need our help. If you have a compassion for animals and are thinking about doing something for charity this year; if you want to support your local wildlife charity, or help protect endangered species, why not get involved? Who can take part? The Big 5 events have been carefully created so that everyone can take part. From a gentle stroll along the Sussex South Downs, to some harsh hill walking over the Yorkshire Three Peaks, our five sponsored walks should appeal to everyone. The Guinness™ World Record attempt on 19 May is aimed primarily at schools. Anyone wanting to take part should contact us at
[email protected] and we can put them in touch with their local schools. How can people sign up? Visit www.walk4wildlife.uk, or email
[email protected] for more information and to get signed up.
“Hundreds of thousands of primary school children across the country will take part in a mass sponsored walk” 96
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