Group items tagged

Love them or loathe them, snakes are undoubtedly one of the most successful of animal groups, inhabiting a wide range of habitats.  And many species in Southeast Asia have simply stunning colours and patterning.

Gorilla's live mostly in Zaire, and are very large. They can be up to 5'6" tall and weigh 600 pounds, with an arm span of 9 feet. Gorilla's have coarse black hair.

There are two kind of sloths, and both are very shy and quiet. The two kinds are the three toed sloth and the two toed sloth. They are mammals and live for about ten years. Sloths stay up in trees most of the day, almost never coming down. They like to do things upside down, even sleep!

A highly endangered specie of the Amazon river, it can grow up to 6 feet long and a weight of around 70 pounds.

the anaconda continue to grow throughout its entire life, reaching up to 37 feet long and astonishing 600 pounds of mass.

One of the most beautifl creatures of the Amazon river

The rainforests of the world are being destroyed by loggers and development. Many species found in the rainforest are endangered. Once they disappear, they are gone forever!

The word tundra derives from the Finnish word for barren or treeless land. The tundra is the simplest biome in terms of species composition and food chains

Many animals wake up to full activity in the night and can be seen and heard throughout the rainforests if you are walking through at night. Bats generally fly far around the rainforests at night searching for food.

Monkeys and Apes can be found on various continents. Monkeys live in Asia, Africa and South America. Gorillas and chimps live in Africa, and orangutans and gibbons live in Southeast Asia.

Many animals wake up to full activity in the night and can be seen and heard throughout the rainforests if you are walking through at night. Bats generally fly far around the rainforests at night searching for food.

What We Can Do To Save Them Learn and Share Information The first step toward saving the rainforests is to learn about them. Through reading we can explore the wonders of the rainforests without ever visiting them. Once we learn about them we need to share our knowledge with others. Letters to our congressional representatives can influence those in power and encourage discussion on the rainforest. And by talking to friends about the rainforests another person can become active in saving the them. Join Groups We can join a conservation group. The group can tell us what needs to be done to save the rainforests and how we can help. Or we can volunteer with the local zoo, nature center, botanical garden, or museum. We can learn a lot from the professionals that work there. Begin at Home Our own homes provide many chances to help save the rainforests. We can recycle all reusable materials. We can learn to use products made from rainforests in a thoughtful way. And we can protect living things in our own backyard. The plants and animals there also need protection. Ask Questions We can protect illegal trade of animals and plants from the wild by asking questions. We need to ask store owners if the plants and animals they sell were taken from the wild. Unless we ask questions, illegal trade will continue. Illegal trade leads to endangered species and extinction. Think Globally And we can encourage our local or national conservation organizations to help save the rainforests. It is necessary for all of us to be aware of and help with saving the rainforests. Although the rainforests cover on ly a small area of the world, far away from many of our homes, they have an effect on all of us.

The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda is the most successful center for breeding and caring for endangered giant pandas. The keepers and staff members at the Center take good care of the baby pandas. They care for them from birth until they are old enough to be on their own.©K.Feng/GLOBIO.org The Conservation Center also conducts important research on the surrounding environment. Scientists believe it is important to understand the whole environment and all its species. For example, scientists study the bamboo groves around Wolong. Bamboo is the favorite food

The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda is the most successful center for breeding and caring for endangered giant pandas. The keepers and staff members at the Center take good care of the baby pandas. They care for them from birth until they are old enough to be on their own.

The smallest rhinos are found in the tropical rainforests on the islands of Sumatra, Java and Borneo.  These two species are very rare and extremely difficult to find.  Only a few photographs of them in the wild have been taken.

Sumatran and Javan rhinos—use their speed to disappear to safety in the thick grass or jungle.

For the rarest rhinos, the Sumatran and Javan rhinos, their survival may depend on how well we learn to breed them in captivity while we work to protect their wild tropical rainforest home from destruction.

Arapaima, Paiche or Pirarucu is one of the 500 species of catfish inhabiting the Amazon rainforest. The largest scale fish in the Amazonia. World's largest freshwater fish. An air-breathing, carnivorous fish that can grow up to 10 feet long and can weigh up to 400 pounds. One individual can yield 70 kg of meat. Pirarucu ranks among the most ancient fish on earth - Jurassic period, 200 million years back. Its name comes from Tupi language which means something like "red fish".

Captured and killed in Florida, juvenile Burmese pythons (left), a young African rock python (center), and a larger African rock python lay coiled on a tray in a Unversity of Florida laboratory in late August 2009.

Hang onto old pieces of junk mail. While you can't stop companies from wasting trees to produce ads that nobody reads, you can still put the paper to good use. Use old envelopes from credit card offers to take phone messages or make "to do" lists.

The world's rainforests are among our most precious natural resources. Many rare species of plants and animals live in the rainforests. As modern civilization continues to progress, an increasing percentage of the world's rainforests are cleared for commercial purposes. Thankfully, there are many easy things you can do to help conserve the rainforest.

The forests and rivers of the Amazon harbor more species of reptiles than anywhere else on earth

Fish is the common name for 29,000 species of cold-blooded, backboned animals that live in freshwater and ocean environments. Fish breathe using gills. Most have a body covering of scales and move using fins. Many fish hunt other fish for food. Fish are also an important food for other animals such as humans, birds, seals, and whales. Overfishing by humans has now made some fish endangered.

Author: barry a bieda How does the cutting of the rainforest affect Earth? Response #: 1 of 1 Author: mortis Well, we have been cutting rainforests for thousands of years with no permanent damage to the earth at all. Forest people who cut small patches for growing gardens do not hurt the forest because the small plots recover their original growth very quickly: think of the pictures of Mayan ruins in Mexico that are completely covered by forest - these used to be open, active cities! So on a small scale, slash and burn agriculture has no effect whatever on the rain-forest- it is a sustainable use of the forest. However, on a large commercial scale, where bulldozers and flame-throwers are use to convert huge tracts of land into pasture for cattle, the ability of the forest to recover is seriously impaired, destroying the forest for a very long time, if not forever. This kind of unsustainable destructive use affects the earth by taking a large portion of the biosphere out of production - which interrupts the carbon and oxygen cycles, affects local water and soil quality, and causes a decline in the global gene pool by making many species extinct.

Macaws are herbivores. They eat primarily seeds, nuts, and fruit. Using their impressive beaks, they have no problem opening even the toughest seed.

First they scratch a thin line with their beak’s sharp point, and then they shear the seed open. But inside some of those seeds are poisonous chemicals. How can macaws eat the seeds without getting sick or dying? They visit clay licks—the rainforest’s natural “drugstores.”

The Amazon rainforest has more than 100 of these special clay- and mineral-rich areas along riverbanks.

The billions of leaves of the canopy, acting as miniature solar panels, provide the source of power for the forest by converting sunlight to energy through photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert atmospheric carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and simple sugars. Since the rate of photosynthesis of canopy trees is so high, these plants have a higher yield of fruits, seeds, flowers, and leaves which attract and support a wide diversity of animal life. Besides attracting a broad array of wildlife, the canopy plays an important role in regulating regional and global climate because it is the principal site of the interchange of heat, water vapor, and atmospheric gases. In addition to collecting solar energy and regulating the climate, the canopy shields the understory from harsh and intense sunlight, drying winds, and heavy rainfall, and retains the moisture of the forest below. Thus the forest interior is a far less volatile environment than the upper parts of the canopy ceiling. The interior region is protected from the extremes of the canopy: temperature fluctuations, damaging solar radiation, and strong winds. Light levels are diffuse and subdued, the humidity is higher and more constant, and there is very little direct sunlight in the lower canopy.

The overstory is characterized by scattered emergent trees that tower above the rest of the canopy, the tops of some species exceeding 210 feet (65 m). Below the overstory trees, the canopy stretches for vast distances, seemingly unbroken when observed from an airplane. However, despite overlapping tree branches, canopy trees rarely interlock or even touch. Instead they are separated from one another by a few feet. Why the branches of these trees do not touch is still a mystery, but it is thought that it might serve as protection from infestations from tree-eating caterpillars and tree diseases like leaf blight. To survive, canopy dwellers must have the ability to negotiate these gaps by climbing, leaping, gliding, or flying.

Reptiles have been around for 300 million years, and during the age of the dinosaurs, they ruled the Earth. Those days are long gone, and those giants have vanished, but some 6,500 species of reptiles still thrive today. Crocodiles, snakes, lizards, and turtles are all reptiles. Most reptiles live on land, and most lay eggs. They are vertebrates, and, unlike any other animals, are covered in scales. They are cold-blooded, and regulate their body temperature by seeking or avoiding the sun's heat.

Rain forests experience from 40 to 400 inches (100 to 1000 cm) of rain a year and an average temperature of about 80° F (26° C), with no pronounced cold or dry spells.

A: Every animal has the ability to protect itself from being someone's next meal. Each species has evolved with its own set of unique adaptations, ways of helping them to survive. BLENDING IN The coloring of some animals acts as protection from their predators. Insects play some of the best hide-and-go-seek in the forest. The "walking stick" is one such insect; it blends in so well with the palm tree it calls its home that no one would notice it unless it moved. Some butterflies, when they close their wings, look exactly like leaves. Camouflage also works in reverse, helping predators, such as boa constrictors, sneak up on unsuspecting animals and surprise them. The three-toed sloth is born with brown fur, but you would never know this by looking at it. The green algae that makes its home in the sloth's fur helps it to blend in with the tops of the trees, the canopy, where it makes its home. But green algae isn't the only thing living in a sloth's fur; it is literally "bugged" with a variety of insects. 978 beetles were once found living on one sloth! STAYING OUT OF SITE The sloth has other clever adaptations. Famous for its snail-like pace; it is one of the slowest-moving animals on earth. (It can even take up to a month to digest its food!) Although its tasty meat would make a good meal for jaguars and other predators, most do not notice the sloth as it hangs quietly in the trees, high up in the canopy. ARMED AND DANGEROUS Other animals want to announce their presence to the whole forest. Armed with dangerous poisons used in life-threatening situations,their bright colors warn predators to stay away. The coral snake of the Amazon, with its brilliant red, yellow, and black coloring, is recognized as one of the most beautiful snakes in the world, But don't admire its beauty too long; its deadly poison can kill within seconds The poison arrow frog also stands out with its brightly colored skin. Its skin produces some of the strongest natural poison in the world, which Indigenous people often use for hunting purposes.Another animal with no friends is the hoatzin. Often called the stinkbird, it produces a horrible smell to scare away potential predators.

The perfect partnership - Azteca ants live on the Swollen Thorn Acacia Tree, which offers the ants everything needed for survival - lodging, water, and food for themselves and their young. In return, the ants protect the trees from predators. Whenever the ants feel something moving at the foot of the tree, they rush to fiercely fight the intruder. They also protect it from vines and other competing plants that would otherwise strangle it. As a result, nothing can grow near these trees. They are the only trees with a built-in alarm system!