Monday 29 May 2006 Red panda - Not a miniature version of the Giant panda

The origin of the name "Panda" is the Nepalese word "Nigalya ponya", which has the meaning of "eater of bamboo". And this explains the similarity of the names of the Red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and the Giant panda: Both species are specialized on eating bamboo but are not as closely related as their names might indicate. The Red panda's dependency on bamboo isn't as distinct as in the Giant panda, which feeds exclusively on bamboo. Red pandas also consume roots, acorns, berries, lichens and sometimes eggs and young birds. The small bears are too slow to carry off faster animals. Anyway is their way of life marked by a certain kind of portliness. They spend much time resting on high branches, curled up or stretched, depending on outside temperature. Thus Red pandas are saving energy since bamboo is very low on energy content. Up in the trees they are quite safe from their predators like the Snow leopard; down on the ground Red pandas wouldn't have any chance against them. (more)

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Thursday 25 May 2006 Aye aye - harbinger of death

The Aye aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is the world's largest nocturnal primate. It lives in the east coast forests of Madagascar, tapping the trees for grubs (beetle larvae), then gnawling a hole to stick its elongated (sometimes three times longer than the other fingers) middle finger in it to catch the grub. They grow up to 37 cms long, with a tail of 53 cms and can weigh about 2,5 kilograms. Not only is the Aye aye threatened by habitat destruction, it also is very much threatened by superstition of the local villagers. Native people believe it is a harbinger of death, and when it points its middle finger at you, you are doomed. Therefore it is killed on sight.

photo taken by Ancheta Wis, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

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Friday 19 May 2006 Honey badger - most fearless animal in the world

The honey badger (Mellivora capensis), or Ratel in Afrikaans, is the "most fearless animal in the world' according to the 2002 edition of the Guinness Book of Records. Watching National Geographic, I fell in love with these creatures. They do not fear anything! They plunder bee hives, kill snakes, etc. This video is an excerpt of the film "Snake killers: Honey badgers of the Kalahari" on National Geographic. A honey badger chases down a snake in a tree and eats it.

Click here to see the video

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Thursday 18 May 2006 Peacock - Beautiful and loud

The Peacock (Pavo cristatus), which is also known as the Indian peafowl, has been part of the livestock of parks and gardens around the world for a long time. The large males are among the most beautiful gallinaceans, due to their shimmering blue plummage, their feather crowns and their about 150 long tail feathers with lots of eye marks, which they put up fanlike when performing their courtship display. The Peacock often is regarded as a domestic animal, whose feather fan is an artificial product of selective breeding. Surely there are a lot of Peacocks, which have been kept in parks and gardens for numerous generations, already showing signs of domestication, but most of them are not very different compared with their wild living relatives, which have got the same magnificent plummage. In the wild Peacocks inhabit lowlands and foothills in India and on Sri Lanka. They prefer park-like landscapes with a lot of bushes, which they use as refuges when in danger. Even a male Peacock with its magnificent plummage is able to fly up very quickly and hide in bushes or on a tree. (more)

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Wednesday 17 May 2006 Gray Whale - oldest species of mammals on earth

The Gray Whale (Eschrichtius robustus) can reach 15 meters in length, weighing about 36 tons and can become 60 years of age and has been estimated to being on earth for 30 million years, making it the oldest species of mammals! There are two populations of Gray Whales in the world, the third, the North Atlantic population was hunted to extinction in the 18th century. It is believed it was hunted In the remote past by Megalodon, a giant shark, which had jaws over 2 meter wide...

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Friday 12 May 2006 Okapi - can lick its own ears

The Okapi (Okapia johnstoni), is a relative of the giraffe and because of the stripes on its leg bears some resemblance to a zebra. This was the reason for some people to believe it was a cross-breed, but it really isn't. It lives in the forest in the Democratic republic of Congo, where it is threatened by deforestation and and poaching. The "zebra markings" are believed to function as a beacon for the young to follow their mother in the dense forests. Did you know that the okapi is one of the few mammals that can lick its own ears?

Picture by Raul654 on January 16, 2005, licensed under GDFL

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Thursday 11 May 2006 Pangolins - large-tongued tanks

Digging for ants and termites with their strong claws and large tongue, the pangolins have little to fear, except humans. They can curl up into a ball and their razor sharp provide extra defense. "There is a story of a villager that knocked a pangolin out and brought it back to the village with it around his neck. But the pangolin regained conscience and quickly tried to curl up into a ball. Unfortunately the villager's neck was caught in the middle and he was found strangled to death with the pangolin still wrapped around him." (source) Another defense mechanism is their ability to spray acid like a skunk when threatened. They can be found in parts of africa and asia. Once placed with the Xenarthra, the edentates, because of their ability to curl, like the armadillo and the use of their tongue, like the anteater, but now the seven species of pangolin have an order of their own, the Pholidota.

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Wednesday 10 May 2006 Marbled cat - seldom seen

About the same size as the domestic cat, the Marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) has a longer and furrier tale than the domestic cat. Living in trees, this longer tail help for balancing. Its population is unknown as it is seldomly seen in the dense forests from north-east India to Indonesia. Another factor of their obscure status is that it is believed to be nocturnal. They are also known to hunt more on the ground than in trees in parts of Indonesia. They are very vulnerable to loss of their habitat as they benefit from large dense forest canopies.

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Tuesday 09 May 2006 Agoutis (Genus Dasyprocta) - Masters of the Brazil nut

With a little imagination you can guess the Agoutis' kinship: These rodents are relatives of the well-known Guinea pigs. But they are larger, more long-legged and more slender. Several species are known. They don't differ much in size and physique, but in fur colour. The best-known species are the Central American agouti (Dasyprocta punctata), the Black agouti (Dasyprocta fuliginosa) and the Golden agouti (Dasyprocta leporina). Agoutis are up to 50 cm long and weigh about 3,5 kg. There's something special about their physique; while the front part of their body is quite slender, the rear part is more bulky. This kind of physique is an adaptation to living among the undergrowth and reveals that Agoutis are inhabitants of forests. Many smaller mammals inhabiting forests are of such a physique, e.g. some small ungulates like Duikers (Cephalophinae) and Mouse deer (Tragulidae). (more)

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Monday 08 May 2006 Llama

The Llama (Lama glama) is a large camelid, part of South American branch of the family Camelidae, which contains the vicuña, alpaca, and guanaco. The family Camelidae also contains the Dromedary and the Bactrian camel, which live in Africa and Asia. Through history they were kept as a beast of burden and also used for their flesh, hides, and wool. They are now only know in their domesticated state. The llama is famous for its spitting technique, which it uses as a defensive mechanism, although it often prefers to run away to avoid threats.

Picture by user Jcwf, licenced under GNU FDL

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Sunday 07 May 2006 Marabou stork - Beauty is not everything

Marabou storks (Leptoptilos crumeniferus) really don't meet our ideal of beauty. Their large massive beaks, their naked necks and hardly feathered heads as well as their inflatable throats are all but attractive to us. Their appearance gave them a rather bad image, but human ideals fortunately are not the standard of nature. So Marabou storks are very successfully occupying an important role within their ecosystem. (more)

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Wednesday 03 May 2006 Pocket Gophers

Pocket gophers (family Geomyidae) live in North and Central America. They get their name from their large cheek pouches and they can be turned inside out. They are heavily built, small burrowing animals. A few can reach the weigh of one kilogram. They use their cheeks to bring food back to their burrows. Some squirrels are also refferred to as 'gophers', but Pocket gophers are the 'true gophers'.

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Monday 01 May 2006 Aardwolf

The Aardwolf (Proteles cristatus) looks like a small striped hyeana. It's name in Afrikaans means "earth wolf", because it lives in underground burrows. It feeds on larvae and termites and dead animals. It is called an insectivore, because carnivores that eat primarily (or only) insects are called insectivores. When compared to its much larger cousin, the hyena, the Aardwolf is shy and small. They are solitary compared to group behavior in hyenas. The Aardwolf has big ears to hear termites underground when it is hunting and also has a good sense of smell.

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