Endangered Species | Wild Animals | Conservation | Worldwide Wildlife

Blue Whale

2012-10-03T00:52:00.000-07:00

A Blue whale is classified as an ocean mammal and not as a fish. The reason is that it is warm blooded, inhales air, has some amount of hair or fur and feeds their progeny with milk. As per a long-held belief, it is the largest animal to have existed on the earth's surface. (The discovery of Amphicoelias fragillimus dinosaur may update this belief.) The biological name of this ocean mammal is Balaenoptera musculus.

Physical Description
The Blue whale has a long, tapered and streamlined body. The head's length is 25 % of the body length. The upper part of the head is U shaped, flat and broad. The smooth body is almost free of parasites, though there are some barnacles on the tips of the flippers, dorsal fin and the edge of the fluke. From the submaxilla to the navel, there are 55-68 ventral grooves or pleats. The dorsal fin is curved and small. Its maximum length is 12 inches. The flippers are short and tapered. The flukes are shaped like a triangle and are broad.

Length and Weight
The length of a full grown is maximum 33 meters or 110 feet and the weight is 181 MT or 200 ton. Blue whales found in the Northern hemisphere are 75 to 80 feet long. Those in the Southern hemisphere can be 90 to 100 feet long. At any particular age, the female is larger than the male. The male usually weighs more 100 tons and the female approximately 150 tons.

Social Behavior
The Blue whale may be located alone or in small groups, but most frequently as a pair. Rarely, a large group of 50 to 60 such whales can be noticed. This mammal is a fast and strong swimmer. Generally, it moves at a speed of 12 mph. When it gets alarmed, it can accelerate up to 30 mph. The species can prosper all told oceans on the globe. During winter, they change their habitat from tropical waters to temperate ones. Here, they can reproduce and give birth to new Blue whale. Feeding is possible in temperate, tropical and polar waters.

Reproduction
When the male and female whale reaches the age bracket of six to ten years, they are generally are of 74 - 79 feet in length respectively. They then attain sexual maturity. The pregnancy period is of one year. Offspring can be born every 2 to 3 years. Just after birth, they weigh 3 tons and are 23-27 feet in length. They are breastfed for 7 to 8 months. In this span of time, the offspring drinks 379 liters of mother's milk per day. It's weight increases by 200 pounds and length 1.5 inches per day. When the length becomes 52 feet and weight about 23 tons, the nursing process is ceased.

Food
The primary food of the Blue whale is small and shrimp-like creatures. These are called Euphausiids or Krill. In summer, the whale satiates its hunger by eating just more 4 tons per day. The import is that 40 million krill are killed by one such whale per day. Initially, an enormous quantity of water and food is held in the mouth. Instead of teeth, Blue whale have baleen plates to process food, which is majorly krill, plankton, squid and small fish. While the mouth is being closed, water is thrown out of the baleen plates. There are approximately 320 pairs of black baleen plates that are 1 meter long, 53 centimeters wide and weighing 90 kg. The food gets locked near the tongue and is swallowed.

Special Facts
The size of the main arteries of a Blue whale can permit a small person to crawl through it. Although it feeds at a depth of less than 330 feet, it can dive up to 1640 feet. One dive lasts for 10 to 20 minutes. This whale can live a life of 110 years. While this mammal is as huge as a Boeing Jet, its heart is just like a small car in size. It's tongue can support fifty people. When this creature comes to the surface for air, the spout can reach up to 30 feet. The sound of a Blue whale may reach 188 decibels, making it louder than a jet, which is 140 decibels.

Blue whale are not harmed by any living species differently humans. 99 % of them were annihilated in course of the whaling efforts and the species became endangered in the 1950s. One must arrest the desire to hunt a Blue whale and enable this colossal mammal to prosper and regain its pristine glory.

Previous Post: Scarlet Macaw

Scarlet Macaw

2012-01-10T22:47:00.000-08:00

The Scarlet Macaw is found in the treetops from Mexico to southern Brazil. It is about 90 centimetres in length and is bright red with blue and yellow wings, blue and red tail which is a unique feature in the family and a white face with big, sickle shaped beaks. Its feet are able to grasp the limbs of a tree very firmly. When a Macaw is fully developed, the tail is more two feet long. Both the male and females look alike. It is the among the most well known among the species.

It feeds on the abundant fruits and nuts found in the tropical forests which is its habitat. It cracks open the nuts by using its extremely powerful beak and uses its blunt tongue to extract the nut meat. It also uses its beak to cut out pieces of fruit. Occasionally it eats insects and worms.

Macaw do not have feathers on its face and sometimes blushes when excited or angry. It usually travels in a large flock. It is easily tamed and its life span is about 50 to 60 years. It builds its nest in holes in trees or in crevices between rocks. The young hatch in about 3 weeks and are cared for by both the parents for 2 to 3 months.

Scarlet Macaws are famous for its ability in mimicking and imitating sounds made by the human voice as well as perform tricks.

This bird has become endangered due to the overwhelming demand for its colourful feathers in fashion in earlier centuries. Demand has not diminished yet as the young are taken from their nests for pets by poachers. This has led to a great decline to the Scarlet Macaw's population.

Law enforcement has been made in most of the countries where the Scarlet Macaw is found, but heavier penalties are yet to be enforced.

Previous Post : Komodo Dragon

Komodo Dragon

2011-12-22T05:17:00.000-08:00

The Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard. The largest verified specimen reached a length of 10.3 feet (3.13 m) and weighed 366 pounds (166 kg). This may have included a substantial amount of undigested food. More typical weights for the largest wild dragons are about 154 pounds (70 kg). Although the Komodo can run briefly at speeds up to 13 mph (20 kph), its hunting strategy is based on stealth and power. They can spend hours in one spot, waiting for a deer, boar, goat, or anything sizable and nutritious.

Monitors can see objects as far away as 985 feet (300 m), so vision does play a role in hunting, especially as their eyes are better at picking up movement than at discerning stationary objects. Their retinas possess only cones, so they may be able to distinguish color but have poor vision in dim light. They have a much smaller hearing range than humans. The result is an animal that can not hear such sounds as a low pitched voice or a high pitched scream.

Vision and hearing are useful, but the Komodo's olfaction is its primary food detector. The Komodo detects odors much like a snake does. It uses its long, yellow forked tongue to sample the air, after which the two tongue tips retreat to the palate, where they make contact with the Jacobson's organs. The chemical analyzers "smell" a deer by recognizing airborne molecules. If the concentration present on the left tongue tip is higher than that sampled from the right, it tells the Komodo that the deer is approaching from the left. This system, along with an undulatory walk in which the head swings from side to side, helps the dragon sense the existence and direction of odoriferous carrion from as far away as 2.5 miles (four km), when the wind is right.

When the Komodo is hunting and catches its prey, a deer for instance, it attacks the feet first, knocking the deer off balance. When dealing with smaller prey, it may lunge straight for the neck. The dragons basic strategy is simple : try to smash the quarry to the ground and tear it to pieces. Strong muscles driving powerful claws accomplish some of this, but the Komodo's teeth are its most dangerous weapon. They are large, curved, and serrated, and tear flesh efficiently. If the deer fails to escape immediately, the Komodo will continue to rip it apart. Once convinced that its prey is incapacitated, the dragon may break off its offensive for a brief rest. The deer is now badly injured and in shock. The dragon then launches the final blow, a belly attack. The deer quickly bleeds to death, and the Komodo begins to feed.

Previous Post : Jaguar

Jaguar

2011-12-05T05:32:00.000-08:00

The jaguar is the largest cat in the Americas. The jaguar has a compact body, a broad head and powerful jaws. Its coat is normally yellow and tan, but the color can vary from reddish brown to black. The spots on the coat are more solid and black on the head and neck and become larger rosette-shaped patterns along the side and back of the body.

Jaguars are known to eat deer, peccary, crocodiles, snakes, monkeys, deer, sloths, tapirs, turtles, eggs, frogs, fish and anything else it can catch.

The total number of jaguars throughout their range is unknown.

The jaguar can be found in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas and from Mexico all the way down to Patagonia. It is rare in the United States and is a federal endangered species.

The jaguar makes its home in a wide-variety of habitats including deciduous forests, rainforests, swamps, pampas grasslands and mountain scrub areas. They are solitary animals and live and hunt alone, except during mating season. The male's home range is between 19-53 square miles. The female's home range is between 10-37 square miles. A male jaguar may share his home range with several females. He will aggressively protect his home range from other males to ensure that any females in his territory mate only with him.

The jaguar hunts mostly on the ground, but it sometimes climbs a tree and pounces on its prey from above. It has very powerful jaws and sharp teeth and usually kills its prey with one crushing bite to the skull. Unlike most big cats, the jaguar loves the water. It often swims, bathes and plays in streams and pools. It will also hunt for fish in the water.

Previous Post : Killer Whale - Orca

Killer Whale - Orca

2011-09-05T02:34:00.000-07:00

Orcas have long, rounded bodies with large dorsal fins at the middle of their backs. Their full radiator are marked with white patches on the underside and near the eyes.

Orcas feed on fish, squid, birds, and marine mammals. Like dolphins, orcas use echolocation - bouncing sound off of objects to determine their location - to hunt and use a series of high pitched clicks to stun prey.

Orca pods often work together to catch a meal. Pods sometimes will force many fish into one area and take turns feeding or will beach (slide out of the water onto the shore) themselves to scare seals or penguins into the water where other whales are waiting to feed.

Orcas are highly social animals that travel in groups called pods. Pods usually consist of 5 to 30 whales, although some pods may combine to form a group of 100 or more. Orcas establish social hierarchies, and pods are lead by females. The animals are thought to have a complex form of communication with different dialects (slightly different language) from one pod to another.

Orca gestation is 13 to 16 months. A calf is born in autumn weighing almost 400 pounds and measuring up to 7 feet in length. A calf will remain with its mother for at least two years.

Previous Post : Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl

2011-08-10T23:51:00.000-07:00

Scientifically known as the Bubo scandiacus, the snowy owl is often referred to as the Arctic Owl or the Great White Owl. These are the fleshy of owls in North America and multiply on the Arctic tundra. These divine snowy owls can be found in Greenland, Iceland, Canada and the Northern parts of USA. This large bird has a rounded head with yellow eyes and a black bill. The overall plumage is speckled with thin and high bar or spots. The male snowy owls plumage is practically purely white where as the adult female have approx four to six tail circles. These owls are about 53-65 cms in length and have a wingspread of around 125-150 cms. The young snowy owls are smoothly brown. They also have dispersed tips of white.

The snowy owl does perch in trees but is known to live in hollowed out holes. This bird very seldom journeys into the forest regions. They principally are spotted in open grasslands, along lakesides, marshlands and marine coastlines. Many snowy owls migrate to the Great Plains of Canada around November and leave this area around March.

The voice of the snowy owls diverges. During the non-breeding season, they are comparatively silent. The male snowy owl has a typical call, which is very rough and sounds like a bark. The female snowy owl has a eminent pitched call. When it time for the pairing season, the male snowy owls have a loud and roaring sound. These are also known to clap their beaks when irritated. Young ones are known to chirp for at least the first 2 weeks.

The diet of the snowy owl comprises of lemmings and rodents. These owls are known to sit and hold back for their prey. They can catch the prey on ground, in the air or they are known to grab them even on top of the water bodies. Snowy owls use their beaks or their talons to sabotage the prey.

Previous Post : Asiatic Lion

Asiatic Lion

2011-07-18T00:58:00.000-07:00

Common Name - Asiatic lion

Scientific Name - Panthera leo persica

Geographic habitat - Gir Forest National Park, Gujarat

Height - Approx 90cm

Length - 200-280cm

Weight - 200-275kg

Population - Around 300 (359)

The Asiatic Lion is only slightly smaller than the tiger and averages two metres in length (excluding its long tail) and about one metre at shoulder height. Males can vary between reddish-yellow and dark brown, while females are designed to blend in with savannah grasses and are, therefore, a sandy, light brown or beige colour. Their tales have a black tuft on the end. They differ from African Lions in several ways – they have a shorter mane, are generally fluffier and have much longer strands of hair on their elbows and the tips of their tails.

Asiatic Lions live in prides of up to approximately 15 animals. This is unique behaviour amongst the big cats of the wild, as the rest tend to be very territorial, preferring to inhabit their area alone. These lion prides comprise approximately three males, a number of females and their offspring. The males are seen as dominant, despite the females’ doing all the work. She will hunt for food, bring her catch back to the pride and then wait with her young while the males enjoy the takings. Once they are replete, the females and cubs are able to enjoy the leftovers. Still, each lion and lioness within the pride is closely bonded to the others, enjoying cooperation and unity within the wild. The females are particularly loyal to their pride, while the males are evicted at three years of age. Because hunting and stalking prey is generally done as a group, a single lion does not fare well on his own in the wild. Therefore, he does well to find another pride to join as soon as possible.

Indian Lions are carnivorous and depend upon hunting for food. Their prey mainly comprises of Deer, Antelope, Wild Boar and Wild Buffalo. At times, lions have also been observed attacking young hippopotamus and elephants.

These males then reach sexual maturity at about five years old (while females reach this stage at around four). After mating, she will incubate her cubs for between 100 and 120 days and she will give live birth to about three to five cubs.

Previous Post : Asian Elephants

Asian Elephants

2011-07-05T00:03:00.000-07:00

Common Name: Asian elephant

Scientific Name: Elephas maximus

Location: Asia

Weight: 11,000 pounds (5,000kg)

Height: 3, 5 m (11 feet)

Asiatic elephants have accommodated to their surroundings as it changed over vast periods of time. Today they still interact with and form their surroundings. Their foraging natural actions assist to maintain the areas in which they live. by pulling down trees to eat leaves , branches, and roots they make clearings in which new immature trees and other flora grow to provide future nourishment for elephants and other organisms. Elephant tracks through the brush are routes that other creatures can use. White ants eat elephant fecal matters and often start out structure of termite heaps under piles of fecal matters! .

The Asian elephants' forest habitations are being devastated today because of commercial demand for forest educed productions such as coffee , tea, rubber , and hardwoods. Crop cultivation, excavation for iron ore, and flooding by hydroelectric undertakings have as well acted to diminish the large pieces of land of land commanded by elephants for adequate food provisions. Only about 35,000-40 ,000 Asian elephants make it today throughout a discontinuous range in southeast Asia.

The elephant's ivory tusks are incisors used for excavation, rooting out trees and displaying. The dominant elephant in the herd is a female , the matriarch. She is frequently the oldest, largest or most experienced elephant in the herd of related females and their young . Elephants can utilize low frequency sound waves for communication between fellow members of the herd and individuals outside the herd. These sounds may transport for distances of up to 10 miles.

Asian elephants are one of the largest herbivores (plant eaters) preferring grasses, leaves, trees, and even shrubs. Their diet varies from acacia trees to wild mangos.

Sometimes called the Indian elephant, this beast is likewise found in the dense forests and grassy plains of Sri Lanka, Burma , Thailand , Malaya, and Sumatra.

Previous Post : Amur Leopard -- A Solitary Hunter

Amur Leopard -- A Solitary Hunter

2011-06-23T01:01:00.000-07:00

Scientific Name: Panthera pardus orientalis

Habitat: temperate forests

Location: Russian Far East and Northern China

Population: Fewer than 40 individuals

The Amur or Far Eastern leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) is a subspecies of leopard and rates one of the world's most endangered big cats, with merely 2540 individuals making it in the eastmost regions of Russia. In the 19th century, the reach of the Amur leopard covered from southeast Russia, through Northeast China, and into the Korean peninsula. But after decades of home ground demolition, poaching, and hunting of its prey , the Amur leopard has been restricted to a small sherd of its previous range .

The Amur Panthera pardus is an rarity among leopard species . Unlike its relatives who populate the warm savannahs of Africa, the Amur leopard is well accommodated to the cold mountain home grounds of Russia's Far East. The Amur leopard has long limbs that enable it to walk through deep snow. When the seasons turn cold, the Amur leopard casts off its shorter, gold coloured coating in favor of a longer, lighter coloured coating which provides it with supplied insulant and camouflage .

The Amur leopard lives in the forests of the Sihote Alin Mountain Range where practically of the year it takes on deep snow and coarse moods. It relies on roe deer, sika deer, wild boar, musk deer, and little mammals such as rabbits and badgers for its solid food provision.

Female Amur leopards maintain home ranges that range in size from 15 to 38 square miles, while males can have territories as large as 155 square miles. They hunt mainly roe and sika deer, hares, badgers, mice, and other small animals.

Previous Post : Penguins -- Birds that can't fly

Penguins -- Birds that can't fly

2011-06-15T01:04:00.000-07:00

Population: 2.5 million pairs

Location: Antarctic region

Size: About 30 inches tall

Weight: 11 pounds

Diet: Fish, krill, & other small crustaceans

Nests: Circle mounds of small stones

When one thinks of Antarctic wildlife, penguins are often the first animals that come to mind. Indeed these graceful, yet amusing ; hardy yet elegant animals are considered by many to be the signature species of the polar south. That is why we adjudicated to create a separate subdivision dedicated to the many penguin species and their enchanting characteristics .

Early Antarctic explorers really called up penguins were fish and sorted them accordingly. In fact, as birds, they are marvellously designed for their job , fleeing underwater with great skill . Their compact bodies have a breastbone that causes an excellent keel and they have massive paddle muscles to propel them at speeds up to 25 miles per hour. Their heads retract to create a complete hydrodynamic form. When locomoting speedily, penguins will jump clear of the water every few feet -- an activity called 'porpoising.' This enables them to take a breath, and lessens their chances of being taken by a predator . South polar penguins have besides developed the ability to leap out of the water to a significant height on land, enabling them to promptly reach the base hit of lifted ice edges or stone shelfs. Penguin legs are positioned far down on their bodies , so they walk with a really erect posture . Ashore they are often awkward, toddling and skipping over stones ; on snow they sometimes push themselves along on their stomaches.

Penguins are straight flightless birds. Some species drop equally much as 75 % of their lives at sea, however they all breed on land or sea-ice attached to land. To hold out the harsh conditions of the Antarctic, their bodies are insulated by a thick layer of fatness and a dense network of waterproofed plumage . Penguins' bones are solid and heavy, which help them to stay underwater and cut down the energy required for pursuance diving .

Previous Post : Orangutans

Orangutans

2011-06-08T00:35:00.000-07:00

Orangutans are lonesome creatures . Adult males inhabit mainly alone and only come together with females to mate . Adult females live with their young. From time to time, adults will live with other grownups for short time periods in small temporary groups . Orangutans spend most of their lives in a "home range" of 0.4 to 3.7 square miles. Females have a smaller home range than males. Sometimes the home ranges of individual orangutans overlap.

Females are able to give birth after age seven, but in wild they generally do not mate until age 12. They give birth to one immature at a time, which clings to its mothers belly until it is about a year old . When an Pongo pygmaeus passes on adolescence at about four or five years , it gets more independent but may look for protective covering from its mother until it passes on seven to eight years .

Orangutans feed chiefly on fruits , specially wild figs. They besides eat other kinds of vegetation , insects, little vertebrates and birds eggs.

Orangutans are arboreal creatures , which means they spend most of their lives slowly walking, swinging and climbing through dense rain forests.

Species

Bornean Orangutan

Common Name: Bornean orangutan; Orangoutan de Borneo(Fr); Orangután de Borneo(Sp)

Scientific Name: Pongo pygmaeus

Habitat: Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

Location: Borneo

Population: Central Bornean = 38,000; NW Bornean = 3,000

The Bornean orangutan is now recognised as a different species from its Sumatra relative. Three subspecieses are recognised : Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus, P.p. morio, and P. p. wurmbii, the most common Bornean subspecies. Although extensive , the latter's habitat is progressively fragmentized in the remaining drench and lowland dipterocarp forests of Central and West Kalimantan.

It is approximated that about one third of Borneo's orangutan populations were lost during the 1997 98 forest fires. On the Indonesian side of Borneo, populations of this subspecieses are not getting along substantially either.

Although some populations inhabit inside protected surface areas, illegal logging stock still takes place within these area and therefore continues a major threat to the survival of this species .

Sumatran Orangutan

Common Name: Sumatran orangutan;Orangoutan de Sumatra (Fr);Orangután de Sumatra (Sp)

Scientific Name: Pongo abelii

Habitat: Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

Location: Northern Sumatra

Population: Approximately 7,500 individuals in the wild

The Sumatran orangutan is the most critically endangered of the two orangutan species, and differs from its Borneo relative to upto some extents in physical appearance and behavioural language. Found only in the northern and western provinces of Sumatra, Indonesia, the species is losing fast its natural habitat to agriculture and human settlements.

Previous Post : Green Turtle

World Environment Day 2011: Come celebrate nature

2011-06-04T22:09:00.000-07:00

The World Environment Day is observed every year on the 5th of June. As such, it will be held on the same date in 2011. This day is special because it is the occasion when the United Nations (United Nations) creates a world wide consciousness of keeping the environment . Withal, it is not a public holiday.

World Environment Day is the day for worldwide activity and resoluteness toward continuing the environment goodly for one and all. The United Nations Environment Programme focuses on creating a cleaner and greener surround. Under this opening, activities are carried out throughout the class. Nonetheless, World Environment Day is the juncture when the natural processes pass on the climax. The United Nations has been taking exceptional openings and noticing this Clarence Day since 1972.

The World Environment Day 2011 idea is Forests : Nature at Your Service. The purpose of this melodic theme is to find out that extra importance is given to timberlands by different areas. In fact, this is the reason why the United Nations has declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests.

Under the United Nations Environment Programme, India has been declared the emcee of 2011 World Environment Day. The intent is to let India and other areas endeavor heavily through the process of modernizing a fleeceable saving. Holding this in mind, the World Environment Day 2011 musical theme has been declared as one which should assist peoples cosmopolitan understand why timberlands are important. This will assist them indulge in actions to conserve the timberlands and ascertain a gullible surroundings.

The locales for the ceremonial of World Environment Day 2011 in India are the cities, Delhi and Mumbai. A number of activities will be held in these locales just to create peoples aware of the positive aspects of a fleeceable surroundings.

World Environment Day is feted oecumenical amidst parades and progressions, concerts and hunting expeditions. You may ascertain similar kind of festivities on this extra day in 2011. Tree-planting and clean-up causes may be contracted to make sure the intact world creates an endeavour to maintain a fleeceable and clear surroundings. There are several areas which create utilisation of the consequences on the World Environment Day in order to look for political attention toward amending the surroundings. You may find out the same thing occurring this class as well.

The World Environment Day 2011 will hopefully reestablish the fact that the environment calls for to be written. This is important, as other than the present and future generations cant hold a healthy living out front.

Previous Post : Green Turtle

Green Turtle

2011-06-03T05:07:00.000-07:00

Common Name: Green turtle; Tortue comestible, tortue franche, tortue verte (Fr); Tortuga blanca, tortuga verde (Sp)

Scientific Name: Chelonia mydas

Population: Approx. 203,000 nesting females

This big, thoroughly aquatic turtle seldom comes to land except to bask and sleep and to lay eggs . Males have slimly longer, narrower shells than females and enlarged curved claws on the front flippers for grappling the female when mating . Green turtles are mainly herbivorous creatures and have serrated jaw surfaces, considerably suited to feeding on sea grasses and seaweed ; some crustaceans and jellyfish may also be eaten .

Scope of Green TurtleThe best feeding lands, where there are immense submerged pastures of plants , are often far away from the best nesting beaches, and green turtles have evolved astounding migratory habits . At nesting time they locomote hundreds of sea miles to the beach of their birth to lay eggs, and as a result, there tend to be a limited number of significant nesting sites , to which hundreds of turtles go. One such site is Ascension Island in the mid atlantic . Every second or third year, green turtles travel to their nesting site and mate . The female heaves herself up the beach well away from the tidal area . With her foreflippers she sweeps away sand to create a hollow to lie in, her shell flush with the beach. She then utilizes her hind flippers to dig a hole about 40 cm (16 in) deep , immediately beneath her tail. She deposits her eggs into the hole, covers the area with sand and returns to the sea. The average grip contains about 106 eggs. Sometimes a female lays several clutches in a season at 2-week intervals. After a 2 - to 3-month incubation period, the young turtles hatch and dig their way through the sand to the surface. Having oriented themselves, they rush for the sea, past a horde of eager predators. Deathrate is high, and those which do reach the sea will have to face so far more predators.

The green turtle is now an endangered species, and the population has been eliminated in some areas , although it is still reasonable in others. The turtles have been overexploited for their meat, hides and eggs, and the predictability of their nesting habits has created them easy dupes. Exploitation is now strictly mastered, and imports are banned in many countries. The closely related flatback turtle, C. depressa, is a little smaller than the green turtle and inhabits off the sea coast of Northern Australia.

Previous Post : Polar Bear

Polar Bear

2011-05-31T00:31:00.000-07:00

Common Name: Polar bear Ours blanc; ours polaire (Fr); Oso polar (Sp)

Scientific Name: Ursus maritimus

Habitat: Arctic

Location: Arctic (northern hemisphere)

Biogeographic realm: Nearctic and Palearctic

Ecological region: Alaskan North Slope Coastal Tundra, Canadian Low Arctic Tundra, Taimyr and Siberian Coastal Tundra, Chukote Coastal Tundra, Bering-Beaufort-Chukchi Seas, Barents - Kara Seas, Grand Banks, Canada

The polar bear has many unique adaptations inorder to deal with the Arctic cold. The polar bear's skin is black in actual, which allows it to soak up as much heat as possible from the sun. They are great swimmers and will swim from one ice floe to othe ice floe. They have been seen swimming at a distance of 50 miles away from any ice or land.

Range: Polar bears spend their entire life associated with pack ice. Females usually prefer ice along the shoreline while others prefer moving sea ice at the floe edge -usually within 180 miles of shore.

Diet: Polar bears eat mostly ringed and bearded seals. They occasionally eat other mammals, eggs, vegetation and beach-cast carrion. They don't drink water. They get all the liquids that they need from the animals that they consume.

Polar bears have fur that is basically made up of "hollow guard hairs". The ones that are kept in zoo's that are in warmer climate, can have algae growind inside hollow guard hairs of fur. This makes them have a greenish tint to their fur. These hollow hairs also keep their hair from matting down when they swim in water.

Polar bears have a technique for catching the seals present in the freezing water under the ice floor. They find a seal air hole and sneak up on it slowly and sit there until a seal comes up to breathe and then they scoop him right out of the hole.

Previous Post : Vaquita -- Smallest Porpoise in the world

Vaquita -- Smallest Porpoise in the world

2011-05-23T03:14:00.000-07:00

Common Name: Vaquita, cochito, Gulf of California porpoise, gulf porpoise ; Cochito, marsouin du Golfe de Californie, vaquita (Fr); Cochito, vaquita(Sp)

Scientific Name: Phocoena sinus

Habitat: Tropical upwelling

Location: Upper Gulf of California, Mexico

Population: Estimated around 245 individuals

The vaquita is the smallest living cetacean, weighing up to 55 kg (120 lb). It resembles the common porpoise. The main body color is gray, darker above than below and also around the eyes and mouth. There is a dark stripe from the chin to the base of the flipper. The vaquita lives in shallow lagoons along the shoreline where there is strong tidal mixing and high productivity of the aquatic plant and animal communities.

The vaquita appears to be a non-selective feeder on small bottom-dwelling fish and squid. It swims and feeds in a leisurely manner, but it is elusive and will avoid boats of any kind. High-frequency clicks are used for echolocation. The vaquita occurs singly or in small groups, usually from 1 - 3 individuals but as many as 8 - 10.

The vaquita may have formerly occurred in Mexico throughout the Gulf of California. It was considered abundant in the early 20th century. As of the early 1980's, the only recent records of its occurrence were from the northern part of the Gulf of California. Currently it has the most limited distribution of any marine cetacean. It is restricted to the northwestern corner of the Gulf of California.

The vaquita declined in conjunction with the intensification and modernization of commercial fisheries, starting in the 1940's. Currently, the fisheries aimed at a variety of species are intensive in the upper Gulf of California, and the incidental trapping and drowning of vaquitas, particularly in gill and trawl nets, is their principal threat. In addition, the vaquita's habitat has been drastically altered by damming of the Colorado River in the USA. Long-term changes due to the reduced freshwater input are matters of concern. However, the immediate priority is to eliminate the bycatch of vaquitas in fishing gear.

Diet: All of the 17 fish species that have been found in vaquita stomachs can be classified as demersal and/or benthic species inhabiting relatively shallow water in the upper Gulf of California. The vaquita is a rather non-selective feeder on small fish and squid. Squid remains were also found in several stomach samples.

Behavior: The vaquita appears to swim and feed in a leisurely manner, but it is elusive and will avoid boats of any kind. It rises to breathe with a slow, forward-rolling movement that barely disturbs the surface of the water, and then disappears quickly, often for a long time. The vaquita uses high-frequency clicks for echolocation. Vaquita's are generally solitary animals unless accompanied by a calf.

Social Organization: The vaquita occurs singly or in small groups. One report indicated that in 58 sightings, 91 % comprised from one to three individuals, with a mean group size of 1.9 and a range of 1 - 7. Loose aggregations of vaquitas, in which they were dispersed as single individuals or as small subgroups (from two to four members, greatest number eight to ten) throughout several hundred sq m (several thousand sq ft) were also reported.

Size and weight: Length: Females - up to 1.5 m (5'); males - up to 1.4 m (4.6'). Weight: up to 55 kg (120 lb).

Age to Maturity: Females may become sexually mature at a length of approximately 1.3 m (4.4').

Gestation Period & Birth Season/Rate: The gestation period is probably 10 - 11 months. Births are thought to occur generally around late March or early April. Female vaquita's produces 1 calf annually.

Development: A vaquita calf is weaned after two to three months. The maximum observed age is 21 years.

Population status: The most recent population census calculated there are only 150 animals remaining. The mortality rate for the vaquita is estimated at 30 animals a year killed by drowning in fishing nets. If this trend continues the species will become extinct by the year 2015. There are no vaquita's in captivity to promote captive breeding to increase the population.

Previous Post : Giant Panda

Giant Panda

2011-05-19T03:23:00.000-07:00

The giant panda is the rarest member of the bear family and among the world’s most threatened animals. It is universally loved, and has a special significance for WWF as it has been the organization's logo since 1961, the year WWF was founded.

Today, the giant panda's future remains uncertain. As China's economy continues rapidly developing, this bamboo-eating member of the bear family faces a number of threats. Its forest habitat, in the mountainous areas of southwest China, is increasingly fragmented by roads and railroads. Habitat loss continues to occur outside of protected areas, while poaching remains an ever-present threat.

Common Name: Giant panda
Scientific Name: Ailuropoda melanoleuca
Location: Southwest China (Gansu, Shaanxi, and Sichuan Provinces) to the east of the Tibetan plateau.
Population: Less than 2,500 mature in the wild

Great strides have been made in recent years to conserve the giant pandas. By 2005, the Chinese government had established over 50 panda reserves, protecting more than 2.5 million acres - over 45 percent of remaining giant panda habitat – protecting more than 60 percent of the population.

Giant pandas are solitary. They have a highly developed sense of smell that males use to avoid each other and to find females for mating in the spring. After a five-month pregnancy, females give birth to a cub or two, though they cannot care for both twins. The blind infants weigh only 5 ounces (142 grams) at birth and cannot crawl until they reach three months of age. They are born white, and develop their much loved coloring later.

There are only about 1,000 giant pandas left in the wild. Perhaps 100 pandas live in zoos, where they are always among the most popular attractions. Much of what we know about pandas comes from study of these zoo animals, because their wild cousins are so rare and elusive.

The panda’s habitat in the Yangtze Basin ecoregion is shared by both pandas and millions of people who use the region's natural resources. This ecoregion is the geographic and economic heart of China. It is also critical for biodiversity conservation. Its diverse habitats contain many rare, endemic and endangered flora and fauna, the best known being the giant panda.

Economic benefits derived from the Yangtze Basin include tourism, subsistence fisheries and agriculture, transport, hydropower and water resources. The survival of the panda and the protection of its habitat will ensure that people living in the region continue to reap ecosystem benefits for many generations.

Previous Post : Rhinoceros--Very few of them survive outside

Rhinoceros--Very few of them survive outside

2011-05-14T04:24:00.000-07:00

One more species, that is very rare in the world now, is a huge weighted, giant beast -- Rhinoceros

Rhinos once roamed Europe, Asia and Africa and were known by early Europeans who depicted them in cave paintings. In historical times, rhinos were still widespread in the African savannas and the tropical forests of Asia.

Today, very few rhinos survive outside national parks and reserves. Rhinos are threatened by poaching due to the demand for their horns, and habitat loss, a result of human populations encroaching on the land and the destruction of forests. WWF works to strengthen protected areas in Africa and Asia and stop illegal trade of rhino horns.

The southern white rhino, once thought to be extinct, and the Indian rhino are thriving in well-protected sanctuaries and their numbers are increasing. Black rhino populations have increased too, but total numbers are still a fraction of what they were fifty years ago.

Rhinoceroses are universally recognized because of their massive bodies, short legs and one or two horns. In some rhino species the horn is small and not easily visible. Rhinos have poor eyesight, but their sense of smell and hearing are well developed.

Five species of rhinos

Black Rhinoceros
Scientific Name: Diceros bicornis
Habitat: tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas and deserts
Location: East, Central, West and South Africa
Population: approximately 3,725 individuals

Sumatran Rhinoceros
Scientific Name: Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni
Habitat: lowland swamps and forests with thick vegetation
Location: northern Borneo. Borneo is the third largest island in the world, located north of Australia. The island is made up of the countries of Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
Population: Fewer than 25

Indian Rhinoceros
Common Name: Indian rhino, greater one-horned rhinoceros; Rhinocéros unicorne de l'Inde (Fr); Rinoceronte unicornio índico (Sp)
Scientific Name: Rhinoceros unicornis
Habitat: Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands
Location: Southern Asia, northern margin of the Indian subcontinent adjacent to the southern slope of the Himalayas
Population: Around 2,400 individuals

Javan Rhinoceros
Common Name: Javan rhinoceros, lesser one-horned rhino
Scientific Name: Rhinoceros sondaicus
Habitat: Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Location: Western Indonesia, Eastern Indochina
Population: 40-60 in Ujung Kulon National Park, Java, Indonesia; no more than 8 in Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam

Previous Post : Tiger-Somewhat back from 'low' now

Tiger - The Endangered Species

2011-05-11T02:52:00.000-07:00

Let me start with the national animal of my country, which is critically endangered, even after being the national animal -- TIGER

As few as 1706

Wild tiger numbers are at an all-time low. The largest of all the Asian big cats may be on top of the food chain and one of the most culturally important and best-loved animals, but they are also vulnerable to extinction. Tigers are forced to compete for space with dense human populations, face unrelenting pressure from poaching, retaliatory killings and habitat loss across their range.

There is still hope

We can save wild tigers. WWF has set a bold but achievable goal of Tx2: doubling the number of tigers in the wild by 2022, when the next Year of the Tiger is celebrated. We are concentrating our efforts on protecting key landscapes where the big cats have the best chance of surviving and increasing over the long-term. Five decades of conservation experience has shown us that given enough space, prey and protection, tigers can recover.

By saving tigers, we also save the biologically rich and diverse landscapes where they still roam — Asia’s last great rain forests, jungles and wild lands. These forests are home to thousands of other species, people and the food, freshwater and flood protection that local communities need to survive.

Subspecies

Amur (Siberian) Tiger

Scientific name: Panthera tigris altaica

IUCN Listing: Endangered

Habitat: Coniferous, scrub oak and birch woodlands

Location: Primarily eastern Russia, with a few found in northeastern China

Interesting Fact: In the 1940s the Amur tiger was on the brink of extinction, with no more than 40 tigers remaining in the wild. Thanks to vigorous anti-poaching and other conservation efforts by the Russians with support from many partners, including WWF, the Amur tiger population recovered and has remained stable throughout the last decade.

Bengal (Indian) Tiger

Scientific name: Panthera tigris tigris

IUCN Listing: Endangered

Habitat: Dry and wet deciduous forests, grassland and temperate forests, mangrove forests

Location: Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar and Nepal. India is home to the largest population.

Interesting Fact: Some Bengal tigers are cream or white in color instead of orange, due to a recessive gene for this coloration. These "white" tigers are rarely found in the wild.

Indochinese Tiger

Scientific name: Panthera tigris corbetti

IUCN Listing: Endangered

Habitat: Remote forests in hilly to mountainous terrain, much of which lies along the borders between countries

Location: Widely dispersed throughout six countries: Thailand, Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

Interesting Fact: Access to the areas where Indochinese tigers live is often restricted, and biologists have only recently been granted limited permits for field surveys. As a result, relatively little is known about the status of these tigers in the wild.

Malayan Tiger

Scientific name: Panthera tigris jacksoni

IUCN Listing: Endangered

Habitat: Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

Location: Southern tip of Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia

Interesting Fact: The Malayan tiger was only identified as being a separate subspecies from the Indochinese tiger in 2004. It is very similar to the Indochinese tiger, but is smaller in size.

South China Tiger

Scientific name: Panthera tigris amoyensis

IUCN Listing: Critically Endangered

Habitat: Montane sub-tropical evergreen forest

Location: Central and eastern China

Interesting Fact: It is estimated that the South China tiger is functionally extinct. Currently 47 South China tigers live in 18 zoos, all in China. If there are any South China tigers in the wild, these few individuals would be found in southeast China, close to provincial borders.

Sumatran Tiger

Scientific name: Panthera tigris sumatrae

IUCN Listing: Critically Endangered

Habitat: Montane forests, the remaining blocks of the island's lowland forest, peat swamps, and freshwater swamp forests

Location: Exclusively on the Indonesian island of Sumatra

Interesting Fact: Sumatran tigers are protected by law in Indonesia, with tough provisions for jail time and steep fines. Despite increased efforts in tiger conservation, including law enforcement and anti-poaching capacity, a substantial market remains in Sumatra for tiger parts and products.

Dedicated to Wildlife around the globe....

2011-05-10T06:51:00.000-07:00

The site is dedicated to raise awareness and to help saving Wildlife and Endangered Animals from around the world and bring about awareness for each and every one of these beautiful creatures. It is our hope that through Endangered Species Awareness, each one of us can make a difference.

I would publish the details of the most endangered animals on the earth from the next few posts. Also, I would mention the updates that take place worldwide, related to animal kingdom.