UWC Grade 5 (2009-2010)

Introduction. The boreal forest (also known as the taiga, a russian word meaning swampy moist forest) is found in a nearly continuous belt across North America and Eurasia. Most of Canada and Russia are covered by coniferous trees that make up this biome. This biome is defined mainly by the trees that compose it. The climax trees are furs, spruces and pines. Subclimax plant communities may have deciduous trees like larch, tamarack and birch. Much of the zone that this biome covers was formerly glaciated. Today large sections have permenent permafrost.

The tiger, largest of all cats

Less than 4,000 remain in the wild

In the past century, the world has lost three of the nine tiger subspecies. The Bali, Caspian, and Javan tigers have all become extinct ... and many scientists believe the South China tiger is “functionally extinct”.

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.

A mildly venomous

The Reticulated Python is located in Southeast Asia in countries including but not limited to Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The Reticulated Python's diet consist of birds, mammals of different sizes including deer and pigs and on very rare occasions possibly humans.  Pythons will typically wait in hiding for prey to move close by before striking.  The Reticulated Python is not venomous; like other members of the Boa family it will use its large muscular body to constrict and suffocate its prey.  HabitatThe Reticulated Python can usually be found near water, including ponds and rivers, in warm and humid tropical rainforests of southeast Asia.  They may also have a tendency to live near human activity.     SizeThe average length of an adult Reticulated Python can range from 15 - 25 feet making it the longest snake and reptile in the world.  It is possible for Reticulated Pythons to grow over 30 feet in length.  The adult weight can be over 300 pounds.ReproductionUnlike other members of the Boa Family who bear live young, Pythons will lay eggs.  The female Reticulated Python can have between 25 - 100 eggs at a time.  The mother will coil around the eggs and create muscular vibrations to raise the temperature of the eggs several degrees.

birds live in the canopy (upper leaves of the trees) and in the emergents (the tops of the tallest trees). Large animals (like jaguars) generally live on the forest floor, but others (like howler monkeys and sloths) are arboreal (living in trees). Insects are found almost everywhere.

Some animals try to convince predators that they are bigger and more fierce than they really are. For example, the larva of the lobster moth (Stauropus fagi), whose larva looks like a scorpion, but is in fact completely defenseless. Many butterflies have large "eye" designs on their wings. This makes them look like the head of a very large animal instead of a harmless butterfly, and scares many predators away.

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!

Jaguars can climb trees and swim to catch their prey, but they are known for their fast running. The jaguar is large and orange with black or brown spots, but no stripes. It likes to hunt weaker animals, so it can win without a fight.