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Elizabeth B

Elephants - 0 views

  • Elephants are the largest land animals. They can weigh over 6,000 kg, or more than the weight of four cars! The one feature that makes an elephant unmistakable is its long trunk. A trunk is an elephant's best tool for sucking up water, digging, grabbing, lifting, sniffing, and breathing. The trunk even has a fingerlike tip that can flick dirt from an elephant’s eye or pick up a single blade of grass. There are three species of elephants. Two species live in Africa and one lives in Asia. All three species are endangered.
  • Asian elephants have an arched body shape. They have triangular ears that do not reach their shoulders and two bumps on their foreheads. Their trunks have a single lip on the upper tip of the trunk. Male Asian elephants are 2-3.5 m tall. Their average weight is about 5,400 kg. Females average about 2.35 m tall and weigh about 2,700 kg. Often, only males have tusk
  • Elephants live in social groups called herds. Herds usually have about 10 to 20 members. Sometimes many herds will meet and form “super herds” of 100 or more elephants. Herds consist mainly of females that are related to each other. A typical herd might include mothers, daughters, aunts, and grandmothers, and a few young males. The oldest female is the herd’s matriarch. She leads the herd to water and finds food and a place to rest. There are also smaller bachelor herds that are made up of adult males.
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  • oung male elephants leave to join a bachelor herd when they are about 11-years-old. Female elephants, however, stay with their mother’s herd for life. Elephants keep growing their whole lives. A male may grow to be twice as large as a female of the same age. In the wild, elephants live to be about 60-years-old.
  • People have always been amazed at the great size and strength of elephants. Long ago, elephants were sometimes used on the battlefield. Soldiers riding atop them would charge at the enemy. The sight of a giant elephant in armor could terrify the enemy soldiers into running away. In Asia, elephants are trained to work for people. They carry people and supplies through tropical forests and help with logging by moving giant logs from place to place. Asian elephants have even been used as taxis to carry people through slow traffic. In India, Thailand, and other Asian countries, elephants are honored as symbols of good fortune. People sometimes decorate elephants and include them as part of traditional religious ceremonies.
  • In the early 1900s, there were more than 5 million elephants in Africa and Asia. Today, there are fewer than 500,000, as a result of hunting (legal and illegal) and habitat destruction. People are the biggest threat to the survival of elephants both in Africa and Asia.
    • Elizabeth B
       
      we must save them
Avinash X

Animals - 0 views

  • The Champions of the Animal KingdomPeople are good at a lot of things, but if animals could enter the Olympics as one team they would probably win almost all the medals! Animals can outrun, outswim, and outjump all humans. Young cheetahs learn to hunt by watching their mother. Later, they start taking part in the hunt. Cheetahs are the fastest land animal and can reach speeds of 113kph in short bursts. ©G.Ellis/GLOBIO.org Fastest Mammal on Land Cheetahs can run up to 113 kph. Fastest Mammal in Water Dall porpoises can swim up to 56 kph. Fastest Flying Bird Peregrine falcons can dive toward the ground at more than 320 kph. Fastest Flightless Bird North African ostriches are the fastest birds on land. They can run at speeds up to 72 kph. They are also the biggest bird. They can weigh 155 kg. Fastest Fish Sailfish can swim up to 109 kph. Loudest Animal The blue whale’s low-frequency pulses are as loud as 188 decibels. This is louder than a jet engine. A blue whale’s call can be detected more than 805 km away. On land, the loudest animals are howler monkeys. Their howls can be heard 4.8 km away.
    • Avinash X
       
      i hope this interests you
  • Arctic terns migrate to and from the Antarctic - about 35,405 km round trip - each year. Among mammals, gray whales and northern elephant seals are the migration champions. They travel up to 20,900 km round trip each year. Deadliest Animal Female Anopheles mosquitoes, which carry and transmit malaria, play a role in the deaths of more than a million people each year. Most Venomous Animal A single sea wasp (a kind of jellyfish with 60 tentacles, each 4 m long) has enough venom to kill 60 adult humans. Strongest Animal The rhinoceros beetle can lift 850 times its own weight
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  • Longest Gestation Asian elephants are born after a gestation period of 19 to 22 months. Largest Mammal Blue whales are the largest mammals of all time and the largest living animal. Females grow to a length of about 27 m. They may weigh well over 100 metric tons. The heaviest blue whale weighed more than 190 metric tons. The longest ever measured was more than 33 m. African elephant bulls are the heaviest land animal. Large males may weigh as much as 5,895kg. Despite their power and size, elephants are vegetarians, or herbivores. ©G.Ellis/GLOBIO.org Largest Living Animal on Land African elephants are the heaviest land animal. They are also the second tallest land animal. Large bulls (males) weigh more than 5,895 kg and are 3.5 m tall at the shoulder. Giraffes, which can grow to a height of 5 m, are the tallest land animals. Large males weigh more than 1,800 kg. Smallest Vertebrate Australia's stout infantfish, slightly smaller than the better-known dwarf goby, is less than 1 cm long. Smallest Bird Adult bee hummingbirds, found in Cuba, weigh about 2 g. Smallest Mammal Adult bumblebee bats, which live in Thailand, weigh about 2 g. Longest Lifespan In the 1770s, British explorer Captain James Cook presented a Madagascar radiated tortoise to the royal family of Tonga. The tortoise lived until 1965. It was at least 188 years old when it died! Several Galápagos tortoises h
  • ave lived past age 150.
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    this looks quite informative. i never knew this!!!
Annabelle H

Rainforest Animals - 0 views

  • The Sumatran rhinoceros is a small, hairy rhinoceros which survives in limited numbers in pockets of Indonesian and Malaysian rain forests. In the early 1900s it ranged over most of Southeast Asia from the Himalayas in Bhutan, eastern India through Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo. Now they are only found in little forest pockets on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the Malay peninsula.
    • Katherine G
       
      For Research, Remeber to do on weekends . . .
  • The smallest living rhinoceros, the Sumatran rhinoceros has a gray-brown leathery hide. Its deep folds around the neck, behind the front legs, and before the hind legs give the rhinoceros an armor-plated appearance. It has a short, stocky body and stumpy legs which are covered with coarse reddish-brown hair. Its body length is from 8 to 8.5 feet and stands 4.5 feet at the shoulders. A mature rhino weighs from 2200 to 4400 pounds.
  • The Sumatran rhinoceros is the only Asian rhinoceros with two horns. Both sexes of rhinos have horns, the front horn being larger, averaging 15 to 20 inches. The male's horns are usually bigger than the female's, whose second, smaller horn is often absent. The upper lip curves down and can move around to grasp objects.
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  • Information about the Sumatran rhino has been difficult to come by because it survives in small, scattered populations in the thick undergrowth of their rainforest habitat. It is known that the females have territories of about 1.2 to 2.2 miles in diameter that partially overlap with other females. The males seem to be nomadic. The estimated density per animal is approximately one animal per 15 sq. miles in high density areas, and one animal per 31 to 46 sq. miles in low density areas.
  • They live in a variety of habitats, but prefer higher elevations in the mountain moss forests and tropical rain forests with few human developments. The rhinos are most often found near water, and spend much of the day in mud wallows, which they dig out themselves and whose perimeters are kept clean. The wallows help the rhino avoid biting insects and protects them from the heat .
  • Sumatran rhinos are solitary animals who only come together to breed. Breeding of captive Sumatran rhinos has shown that the female will not come into estrus until she senses the nearness of a male. This reduces energy spent on cycling when the rhinos don't come into contact with each other on a regular basis. Gestation is 475 days with one calf per birth. The calf is covered with a dense coat of reddish hair. Calves are weaned at 18 month, but stay close to their mother for 2 to 3 years. Females reach sexual maturity at 4 years, and males take 7 years to reach sexual maturity. Birth intervals between calves is 3 to 4 years. The life span of captive rhinos is around 35 years.
  • Rhinos feed just before dawn and after dusk and move about during the night. The normal diet of the Sumatran rhino includes wild durian mangoes, figs, bamboo and plants species characteristic of disturbed forests. It will knock down saplings to get at the tender leaves. They are very fond of salt licks and each territory will include one.
  • The Sumatran rhinoceros is the smallest and rarest rhinoceros species. There are thought to be only 300 animals still in existence and the IUCN has put it on its critically endangered list in 1996. These survive in very small and scattered populations, their habitat fragmented into smaller and smaller pieces by encroaching human populations. The number of Sumatran rhinos has declined 50% due to poaching in the last 10 years. There are no signs that the situation is stabilizing. Efforts have been made by IUCN to set up a 3 year program for the protection to the Sumatran rhino in Indonesia and Malaysia in the wild. They are seeking to extend the program, whose funding ended in 1998. Captive breeding programs have also been set up, but have not been very successful. Since 1984 40 rhinos have been captured to participate in breeding programs, but 19 of these have died. Artificial insemination efforts have also not been very successful. These failures were the result of lack of knowledge of the diet and reproduction of the Sumatran rhinoceros. Experience so far has shown that the rhinos need larger enclosures with more natural conditions. Time is running out as efforts to save the Sumatran rhinoceros from extinction continue.
  • The Toco Toucan is the largest of the toucans. It can get to about twenty-four to twenty six inches in length. Its bill is brightly colored orange and black and can get to about eight inches in length. The Toco Toucan weighs about ten to seventeen ounces. The Toucan's massive bill is not as heavy as it looks; it has a hard outside and a hollow inside. A bright blue patch of blue skin surrounds the eye.
  • ifty degrees North to fifteen degrees South, and thirty-five degrees to sixty-five degrees in
  • The Wagler's pit viper lives in trees of the Southeast Asian rainforest. The climate in the rainforest is wet and humid and it rains a lot. During the wet season, or monsoon season, it
  • Chimpanzees are about 3 to 5 feet tall and weigh from 99 to 176 pounds. They have black hair. Adults are very often bald, usually a triangle on the forehead of the male, and more complete baldness in females. Their faces are hairless. Infants have pink faces which turn darker with age. Although chimpanzees have no tail, infants have a white tail tuft.
  • Africa Forest Elephant Bengal Tiger Chimpanzee Common Palm Civet or Musang Dawn Bat Golden Lion Tamarin Harpy Eagle Jambu Fruit Dove King Cobra Kinkajou Linn's Sloth Orangutan Proboscis Monkey Red-shanked Douc Langur Silvery Gibbon Slender Loris Sumatran Rhinoceros Toco Toucan Vampire Bat Wagler's Pit Viper
    • Gurupranav G
       
      This is just beautiful. If you want to know about some of the animals that live in tropical rainforests, well just click on one of the names and you'll find out about it. one example is to your right . This is a piece of information on the African Forest Elephant, which can also be called the Pygmy elephant, as it says here. Maybe you would want to find out about that animal.
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    Rino Info
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    Elephant Info
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    very good animal info
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    chimpanzees
Jean Luc L

The grassland biome - 0 views

  • SavannaSavanna is grassland with scattered individual trees. Savannas of one sort or another cover almost half the surface of Africa (about five million square miles, generally central Africa) and large areas of Australia, South America, and India. Climate is the most important factor in creating a savanna. Savannas are always found in warm or hot climates where the annual rainfall is from about 50.8 to 127 cm (20-50 inches) per year. It is crucial that the rainfall is concentrated in six or eight months of the year, followed by a long period of drought when fires can occur. If the rain were well distributed throughout the year, many such areas would become tropical forest. Savannas which result from climatic conditions are called climatic savannas. Savannas that are caused by soil conditions and that are not entirely maintained by fire are called edaphic savannas. These can occur on hills or ridges where the soil is shallow, or in valleys where clay soils become waterlogged in wet weather. A third type of savanna, known as derived savanna, is the result of people clearing forest land for cultivation. Farmers fell a tract of forest, burn the dead trees, and plant crops in the ashes for as long as the soil remains fertile. Then, the field is abandoned and, although forest trees may recolonize, grass takes over on the bare ground (succession), becoming luxuriant enough to burn within a year or so. In Africa, a heavy concentration of elephants in protected parkland have created a savanna by eating leaves and twigs and breaking off the branches, smashing the trunks and stripping the bark of trees. Elephants can convert a dense woodland into an open grassland in a short period of time. Annual fires then maintain the area as a savanna.
Gurupranav G

Rainforest mammals - 0 views

  • Tropical rainforests are home to many kinds of mammals
  • PRIMATES Bolivian Gray Titi Dusky Titi Monkey Ebony Langur Golden Lion Tamarin Gorilla Lemurs Long-Tailed Macaque Macaque Orangutan Proboscis Monkey Squirrel Monkey Wied's Tufted-Eared Marmoset Woolly Monkey CATS Jaguar Ocelot OTHERS African Forest Buffalo African Forest Buffalo Agouti Babirusa Bat Bearded Pig Capybara Coatimundi Elephant Giant Anteater Giant River Otter Malayan Tapir Okapi Sloth Sumatra Rhino Tapir Wild Boar
    • Gurupranav G
       
      Great and useful. Lots of options if you are looking at biodiversity
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    facts about tropical rain forest mammals
Thomas C

Borneo - 0 views

  • Hornbills are important to the tropical rainforest of Borneo. Their bills help them eat large fruits and carry seeds to new areas of the forest
    • Thomas C
       
      Look at the size of that things nose
  • The island of Borneo started as a single volcano beneath the sea. Millions of years ago, it erupted. Over time, smaller eruptions and earthquakes joined land together to form an island. Today, Borneo is the third largest island in the world. It is twice the size of Japan. Three countries share the island: Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei.
    • Thomas C
       
      A volcanic island? Intresting.
  • Over 16 million people live on Borneo. Borneo’s landscape and wildlife are diverse and include high mountains and rugged coastlines. Most of the island is covered with dense, ancient tropical rainforest. Borneo’s rare and endangered wildlife includes the orangutan, Asian elephant, proboscis monkey, flying frog, and many species of rare plants.
    • Thomas C
       
      With so many rare species, Borneo shoud be saved!
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  • Borneo’s rainforests are home to thousands of endemic species of animal, reptile, and insect. These include rhinos, hornbills, macaques, gibbons, tarsiers, and slow lorises. It also has some of the world’s strangest creatures, like flying lizards and frogs (they actually glide using webs of skin). New creatures are still being discovered. In 2005, for example, scientists discovered a large cat-fox mammal in Borneo’s rainforest. Orangutans: Borneo’s Most Famous Animal
  • Borneo’s hilly terrain, rivers, and thick forests have made it difficult to develop until recently. But in the late 1940’s, machines, trucks, and chainsaws were brought to Borneo. These made it possible for settlers from the coastal areas to cut their way into the interior of the island.
    • Thomas C
       
      Boo! no more deforestation
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    more new species? Borneo must be pretty big.
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    Brill website! come here!
Thomas C

Fighting to save Borneo's vital last rain forests - Health & Science - International He... - 0 views

  • A government agreement on the oil palm plan was signed during a visit to Beijing by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia in July of last year. But an Indonesian Forestry Ministry spokesman said last month that the government now proposed to steer Chinese oil palm investment toward 400,000 hectares of agricultural land instead.The government had never intended to destroy more rain forest, the spokesman said in a telephone interview from Jakarta, adding that no official agreement had yet been signed with Chinese business interests."The Indonesian Government seems to be supportive of the Heart of Borneo project and generally more concerned about facing up to its environmental challenges," said Douglas Sheil, a scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research in Bogor, Indonesia
    • Thomas C
       
      I SAY TO KEEP HOLDING ON AND SAVE THE RAINFORESTS OF BORNEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • WWF-Malaysia has said that the forests are one of two places in the world where endangered orangutans, Bornean pygmy elephants and the critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceros still coexist. In June, a motion- triggered camera there photographed for the first time a wild rhino, believed to be one of only 13 whose existence was confirmed by a field survey last year.
    • Thomas C
       
      All the more reason to stop logging in Borneo!!!!!!!!
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    YAHOO! KEEP PROTECTING THE RAINFORESTS OF BORNEO!!!!!!
Thomas C

Wildlife Preservation | Suite101.com - 0 views

  • In 2006, the number of endangered species rose to more than 16,000 worldwide. Habitat loss, pollution and human-animal conflict all play a part when species are threatened with extinction. Introductions of non-native species devastate local native populations and alter ecosystems. From elephants, leopards and bears to monk seals, sea turtles, manatees and whales we'll explore wildlife conservation issues and find some reasons to be encouraged. With new species being discovered every day, interest in protecting some of the world's unique habitats is growing.
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    good website
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