This Week's Featured Animal! 5/24-5/30

This week's featured animal is a crocodilian species found in Asia, especially India. However, they are endangered. What is it? The gharial!

In the wild, these guys can live between 40 and 60 years. That is fairly long lived, no? They can be anywhere from 12.25 feet to 15.5 feet long! Not to mention they can weigh up to 2,200 pounds. 

The only crocodillian with such a narrow snout is the false gharial. How slender their snout is will depend on the individual, and their age. As they get older, their snouts will get thicker and shorter. Mature males have a bulbous growth on the tip of their snouts. Scientists think that it may have something to do with sound resonation or  a visual signal to females. Or it could be both! 

The reason why they have such narrow and long snouts is to make it easier to catch their favorite food. These guys prefer to eat fish, rather than the diets of other crocodile and alligator species. The only bigger animal in their family is the salt water crocodile, so these guys are pretty big. 

These guys can't walk on land very well either. When they are on land, they don't even move like other alligators or crocodiles. Instead, they move more like sea turtles in that they slide forward on their bellies, using their legs to push. But they make up for this by being especially agile in the water.

On average, they have between 106-110 teeth in that elongated snout of theirs. So they are well equipped to capture delicious fish.

Sources:

• http://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/reptilesamphibians/facts/factsheets/gharial.cfm
• http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/gavial.html

Patagonian Mara Cavy Alert!

Considering that she is now more or less out of quarentine, I can officially announce the newest addition to Education Department Family! And no, I'm not talking about our old intern who came back. Our newest animal is a Pantagonian Mara, or Cavy.

I will provide actual pictures of our actual animal in the next update of "Meet The Animals!" post. Along with her back story. Our new girl is named Paddy, and is an absolute sweetheart. She loves to suckle on your fingers, even though she is fully grown. She is very affectionate and gentle, loving any and all attention that she gets. She is also quite talkative in her quest for love.

The Pantagonian Mara is, unfortunately, listed as Near Threatened on the ICUN Red List. While this isn't super serious yet, it can be. Their population is declining as well, which isn't good. These guys are largely found in Argentina and a few countries around it. 

They are the second largest rodent in the world, with only the capybara being larger. Size wise, they are about the size of a small dog. By small dog, I mean Border Collie small. While they live together in mated pairs, with the male following the female and protecting her from other males. The female won't really turn away other males unless she isn't receptive at the moment, so all of the work is up to the male.

These guys will breed up to three times a year, with up to three offspring. The offspring are pretty well developed already when born, and are raised in a communal den. Only one parent at a time will come to this den to care for the young while the rest search for food. While there, the parent will only care for her young. 

After about 3 months of this, the young are weaned. After another three months, the young are mature and living on their own. They will make unique sounds and hop like a bunny or gallop like a horse depending on the situation. 

These guys are popular pets, though I'm not sure why. They are big for rodents, noisy, and chew on everything. They require space to exercise, and a varied diet. Overall, not a good pet people.

Sources:

• http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/6785/0
• http://www.lpzoo.org/animals/factsheet/patagonian-cavy

This Week's Featured Animal! 5/17-5/23

This week's featured animal is critically endangered. It is native to Asia, and used to roam much of it. But now, their population in the wild is down to just 57. Who is it? The Amur leopard!

These guys have thicker fur than most of the leopards that you are familiar with, which includes Indian and African Leopards. Their fur tends to be paler in color as well, with the rosettes (the spots) more widely placed and larger than other leopards as well.

Females first breed when they are usually around 3-4 years old, and they are pregnant for about 12 weeks. Litters can contain 1-4 cubs,with an average of 2. Cubs will stay with their mother for 2 years before leaving, to make sure that they learn all that they can about survival. Captive animals have shown that there is a peak breeding season, with most births occurring in late spring or early summer.

In the wild, these guys live about 10-15 years, but can live to be up to 20 in captivity. They can weigh between 70 lbs. and 110 lbs. For a short period of time, they can run up to 37 mph, and jump up to 20 feet high! 

They usually eat rodents and boar, but will also go after deer if the opportunity reveals itself. While there are about 300 specimens in captivity, there are only 57 left in the wild. This doesn't bode well for this species. However, there are plans underway to release some into the wild.

Most of their eyes are usually a light blue-green color, which in my opinion is gorgeous! Plus, up to 13 international organizations have joined together to try and save this species from extinction. Some of them include the WWF and ICUN Red List.

Sources:

• http://www.altaconservation.org/amur-leopard/amur-leopard-factfile/
• http://www.auduboninstitute.org/animals/asian-domain/amur-leopard-1951

2015 Mother's Day Special

Since today is Mother's Day, I will go ahead and tell you some interesting facts about different species and how they raise their young.


The first species today will be the Emu, a large flightless bird from Australia.

As you can see in the image, Emu eggs are fairly large and a dark green color. But did you know that they start out light in coloration? They actually get darker as they incubate. Another interesting fact is that the females don't have anything to do with the young. They lay the eggs in a nest built by the male, then leave to do their own thing. It is actually the males who incubate and raise the young!

http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/emu

The next animal is a chicken! Yes, you read that right. 

Chickens are very dedicated mothers. And as is known to even take on another species' young entirely!

Have you ever heard that eggshells are pure calcium? You would be correct! The hen needs to eat a lot of calcium-rich food to keep it up. Did you know that if she doesn't eat enough, her body will actually dissolve her own bones to produce the shells? Talk about dedication!

The next animal is fairly well known. The cuckoo!

These birds usually don't even take care of their young at all! The female will go about, laying her eggs in other birds' nests. This leaves her with time to feed herself and not worry about young.

There are some pretty unique moms out there!

This Week's Featured Animal! 5/10 - 5/16

This week's featured animal was a little hard to choose. But I finally settled for one. The cheetah. After all, Wildlife Safari is getting a lot of publicity and excitement after their newest addition, Pancake, was born about 8 weeks ago.

An image of Pancake

Photo ©2015 Peggy A. Rowe-Snyder

Cheetahs are carnivores, and are healthiest in captivity when fed a diet of raw carcasses. They aren't very big compared to some of the better known large cats. They are smaller than cougars! They can purr, chirp, and meow. But they are incapable of roaring, due to a difference in their throats from a lion or tiger. Unlike the lion or tiger, they are capable of purring while breathing in and out, like a domestic housecat.

These guys can live 10-12 years in the wild, and are about 77 - 143 pounds. They are considered Vulnerable on the ICUN Red List. These guys, at top speed, can go about 60 mph. They can go from 0 to that speed in less than three seconds, but they can't keep that speed for very long. Otherwise, they get overheated.

Cheetahs are most active during the day, and have excellent eyesight for daytime hunting. HOwever, their vision is not the best at night. They are also at risk of being killed by larger predators such as lions or hyenas if they are active at night. They also usually eat their kills very fast, so that there isn't as much for other predators to steal. Their kills are stolen very often by scavengers or even other predators. Only about half of their hunts are successful, and last 20-60 seconds.

Cheetahs only really need to drink once every 3-4 days, compared to the many times we humans have to drink. Litters consist generally of 2-3 cubs, and will stay with their mother for up to 2 and 1/2 years! Almost all of that time is spent learning, with the 1st year also having lots of playtime. After leaving their mother, male cheetahs will often live in groups with their littermates until they are older and more confident. Pregnancy will generally last about 3 months.

In 1900, there were over 100000 cheetahs living in the range that they used to live. Now, there are about 9000-12000 cheetahs in the wild. There is a small population of 200 cheetahs, in small groups, scattered throughout Iran.  

Sources:

• http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/cheetah/
• http://www.defenders.org/cheetah/basic-facts

This Week's Featured Animal! 5/3 - 5/9

I thought that this time I would feature an animal that is a little closer to home. This week's featured animal is the cockatiel!

These tiny birds are about twice the size of the budgie, or the parakeet that you buy from stores. These guys come from Australia, by the way. 

They are the smallest in the cockatoo family too. One of the biggest bits of proof of that are their mobile crests. They generally live 12-20 years, and are considered to be fairly good pets overall for adults. 

They aren't really considered to be very noisy, only really making noise when excited. The males have bright orange spots on their cheeks, while females and juveniles will have duller orange spots. Females and juveniles also have barring on their tail feathers.

Males are generally better at imitation than females, and also tend to be louder. Females tend to be a bit more aggressive than males, and lose interest in mirrors faster. If you have only one cockatiel, it will bond better with you. But if you are often away from home, it is better to have a pair. Whether or not it is one of each gender or same sex pair is up to you, both versions will get along just fine.

They are considered to be of least concern on the ICUN red list.

Sources:

• http://www.cockatiel.com/
• http://beautyofbirds.com/cockatielinfo.htm