At the 20th of March 2021, a25-year-old father wanted a nicer close up picture in the African bull elephant enclosure with his daughter. One of the bulls begun a charge towards the man (see video below ), thankfully, the onlookers of the scene warned him and his daughter and him managed to get out unarmed.
Bulls elephants can be aggressive towards humans. An elephant can charge at 30 miles per hour which could easily catch up to even the fastest person. In this case here it seems to have been a mock charge which explain why the elephant stops right before the father, allowing the escape.
Needless to say, the father have been arrested and is awaiting trial. Common sense would tell you to never go inside zoo enclosure, even those of seemingly docile herbivores. Pictures aren’t worth a tragedy. Stay safe !
A 25-year-old father carried his 2-year-old daughter into an elephant enclosure at the San Diego Zoo on Friday. The man said he “wanted to take a photo with the African bull elephant.” He was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment pic.twitter.com/2XiVOx09nN
Is a hooved deer found most commonly in North America but also parts of Europe ( where it is referred as an elk). They are herbivore and feeds on a variety of plants and fruits. In general they live solitary lives, meeting in smalls groups only for mating seasons. Bull moose use their antlers to fight other males for females and territories.
Moose, just like any members of the deer family, shed their antlers every year.
A moose fight is always impressive, even more when it happens in the front of your home
Fun Facts
Moose are the largest deer specie in the world
Moose are excellent swimmers and have no trouble crossing rivers.
They posses hollow hair, which traps heat, helping to keep warm during the coldest winter
The plural of moose is still moose, this is due to the words origin, coming for the Algonquian language, where plurals doesn’t change the word. Moose is derived from moosu, meaning “he strips off”. This alludes to the facts that moose will eat the barks of trees in winter especially, leaving the tree exposed.
A moose has a ‘dewlap’, this refers to the piece of skin below their head. Both male and female posses one, although the males is bigger, biologist aren’t certain of it’s usage.
Conservation challenges
Due to its large distribution and a very healthy population, the moose isn’t considered endangered.
Some population are slightly declining around the globe. Many factors can explain this but one of them are road accidents. Collisions are often fatal to the moose and to the occupants of the cars. Moose tend to surprise driver by crossing the road terribly fast and being so high on their legs means that most of the weight of the collisions goes right through the windshield.
This could be fixed with fences or animal passageways under or over the highways. On average in Canada 2 to 3 persons die per year due to a moose collisions.
An another cause of decline can be explained by the numerous parasites that the white-tailed deer brings such as liver flukes, brain worms and winter tick infestations, which moose aren’t equipped to deal with.
Moose are also hunted for sports, trophies and their meat. Most regions around the world regulate heavily their hunt, allowing a tag per person or group per hunting season.
Mooses are HUGE. They are the tallest mammals in North America. No wonder why meeting them on the road can mean bad news.
Here are some link if you wanna help or know more about the moose:
is famously known as the last true wild horse. Even though in 2018 a DNA study revealed that they are actually descendant of domesticated horse. So in reality they may be feral just like mustangs and avoid humans contact. But even this study is being questioned and so the answer to this question may change through time.
They can only be found in Asia, even though they used to roam through Europe also. They live similarly to feral horses in small family groups with one stallion, multiples mares and their babies. Young stallions may lives outsides the group but are only allowed to reproduce if they challenge the stallion of said groups. They feed on bushes and dry grass and graze a lot through the day.
Przewalaki horse have a stockier body and are generally smaller than domesticated horse.They live in small family groups and thrive in the most harsh deserts and plains.
A example of successful conservation
The Przewalski horse used to be extinct in the wild. Thankfully, big conservation efforts saved it from extinction. Reproduction and reintroduction was particularly successful in China and Mongolia. Nowadays, they are classified as endangered in the wild which is a big improvement from before.
All Przewalski horse today ( around 1900 individuals ) are descendants of only 12 individuals! Therefore, the horses today can have issues due to an important lack of genetic diversity.
In 2020, at the San Diego zoo, a very special foal was born. It was a clone of an stallion that died in 1998. This colt and maybe others like him will help to add the genetic diversity that the species really need.
Adorable truly.
Here are some links if you wanna learn more or help the przewalski horse:
If you go online you can find multiple viral videos of these burrowing owls. Their big eyes makes them truly expressive, either in photos or videos. They are also pretty much the only owl species active during the day, especially in the early morning and late evening, allowing many good shots opportunities for photographs. They also have great geographical range all over the Americas. If there is no trees around and plentiful burrows they have a good chance to be around.
It not hard to see why the internet would fall in love with them.
An unusual owl
Just like their name suggest burrowing owls lives in burrows, sometimes they dig them themselves or sometime they use abandoned ones from other animals, like groundhogs or badgers.
Despite their size and their lifestyle, they are capable of full fledged flight just like their other owls cousins.
They also use their burrow to conserve food, a Saskatchewan cache observed in 1997 contained more than 200 rodents! They hunt a variety of things from grasshoppers to mice, allowing them to be truly resilient little birds. Having reserve is truly useful on a slow hunting day !
A burrowing owl in it’s burrow. Probably wishing to have a door installed sooner.
Conservation
The status of the burrowing owl varies depending where you look. In general the species is considered least concerned due to their huge but specifics population can be considered threatened such in Canada. The Canadian population of this little bird of prey has declined over 95 per cent since 1987. Multiple factors are to explain this such as the loss of habitat, the lack of prey, the lack of burrows space and landscaping can be to blame.
Thankfully a number of project and their good adaptability in new environments may allow their population to bounce back all around the world.
One of the smallest owl species
Here are some links if you wanna learn more or help the burrowing owl:
Is the smallest wild cat endemic to Africa ( specifically Southern Africa), measuring a measly 50 cm at the smallest. They lead mostly a nocturnal and solitary life only meeting to mate. They spend most of their time hunting small rodents and birds with a complement of insects, having to compensate it’s high metabolism, requiring 250g to 300g of prey a night. This amount represent around a sixth of their whole body weight.
Fact: The black-footed cat is a poor climber and avoids climbing to hunt or escape predators unlike most cats.
Despite it’s size, this cat is considered to be the most efficient feline hunter, managing to take down 60% of their prey. By comparison, other wild cats such as leopards have a success rate closer to 20%. Fear him.
Challenges even for the most efficient hunter.
Black-footed are classified as vulnerable and are often a unexpected victim of predation control, by which their prey are poisoned to control the population of servals or african wildcats. The increasing usage of grasslands for livestock, where the black-footed cat thrive the most, is also an important. Information about their whereabouts is scarce since it is one of the least studied cat species in Africa.
The black footed can reproduce with the domestic house cats. All resulting males will be sterile.
Sounds and look like a domestic cat, can I keep one as a pet ?
There is no such thing as a black-footed cat breeder if someone is selling a kitten is has been poached illegaly. If not raised young they will make skittish and even sometimes aggressive companions especially towards other cats or pets due to their solitary nature. Despite their similar appearance to house cats they are very much wild and does not appreciate human contact.
You’d be better off with a domestic cat breed, which there’s plenty with appearances similar to the black-footed cat, such as the pixie bob or Bengals.
Here are some links if you wanna learn more or help the black footed cat:
Despite being similar looking, these big cats do have quite a few difference going for them.
One of the main differences is their habitat, cheetahs and leopards are endemic to Africa, the jaguar is only found in South America. Their lifestyle and appearance differs too, enjoy the charts below to view them !
Cheetahs have particular line markings around their eyes.
Leopards have a small jaws and bigger ears than the jaguars.
The jaguar have a bigger jaw allowing them to hunt caimans and tortoises.
Cheetah are very slender and use speed to catch their preys
Leopards are agile and hunt from the trees, jumping down on unsuspecting preys.
The muscular builds of the jaguars allow them to put up a fight against big preys
Cheetah fur is mostly just round black spots
Leopards have ” rosettes” on light colored fur
The jaguars rosettes often have extras spots in the middle. Their fur tends to be darker too
Small note
Concerning what would most refer as a black panther, both the jaguar and leopard can be all black. Looking closer you might still see the pattern!
Here are the main differences ! Hope you enjoyed this small trivia!
Is the largest of all macaws and it’s stunning blue plumage distinguish them easily from other macaws. They are found in central and eastern south America. Their main diet is composed of nuts and fruits. They live in small groups and sometime are found on clay cliffs licking the rocks for minerals. Pairs bond for life and macaws have been seen using tools, such a leaves to avoid having a nutshell slips while holding them.
Their huge beak is useful to break nut shells, their main diet.
Do they make good pets ?
Like most macaws, the hyacinth kind can be kept as a pet. It is recommended to have bird ownership experience or have done EXTENSIVE research. A macaw needs pretty much a toddler level care around the clock to thrive and for a minimum of 30 years. They are deeply social and will require constant attention either from other birds or their humans families.
They need a custom cage or a commercial one with strong bars since most cage on the market are either too small or will get destroyed by their huge beak. It’s recommended to let them have a room for themselves with tons of toys to destroy. They are prone to stress and plucking if their social need are not met. They are also extremely loud and can learn a few favorites words. Their diet must be varied and contains fresh fruits, veggies and nuts.
They tend to be affectionate bird but tend to play on the rough side. Their bite can draw blood and in the worst case might require stitches. Even the tamest bird can occasionally bite so keep that in mind.
Since they are so rare in the wild, a young hyacinth macaw can set you back 10,000$, even more for pairs. Most pairs are in breeding programs in hope to reintroduce them in the wild. With such a steep price theft is also a thing that can happen so make sure your bird is secure at all times.
So unless you have money and time to throw outside the window I wouldn’t recommend the hyacinth macaw and let zoos and professional breeders care for them for a better future for their wild population. Their presence on the black market is also a concern, never buy a macaw you cannot confirm that was bred in captivity.
A truly intelligent bird, they require extensive care.
Status in the wild
They are classified as vulnerable with 2500 to 5000 individuals left in the wild. The main threat for hyacinth macaw is the loss of habitat and also smuggling on the black market for the pet trade.
It is impossible to know how many of these birds are in captivity since many are part of private collections. Breeding in captivity has also a myriad of issues with embryos often dying inside the eggs.
Thanks to effort such as arresting poachers and protection of their environment the wild population seem to be stable and growing slowly.
Here are some links if you wanna know more or help the hyacinth macaw:
An African animal that look likes a odd mix of animals including zebras for their striped legs. They are actually closer to giraffes, which can be confirmed by looking at their heads and their long tongues. They are shorter than giraffes because they live in the rainforest, being too tall would cut their vision and wouldn’t allow for fast movement. Only the males possess horns and they are arched back to not get in the way while running through the forest.
They are only found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The head is terribly similar to giraffes with the same
Like no others
They are really difficult to find in the wild, they are very wary of their surroundings and flee when humans are on sights if they don’t hear them before with their sensitive ears. Because of this, their existence was only confirmed in the 1900s. Their fur is very oily so that water just runs over it.
Okapis are generally solitary and mark their territories with glands situated behind their legs. They have a very strong sense of smell.
The okapi can also communicate with different sounds, some are so low that humans cannot hear them. In nature, this allow the mother to communicate with her calf without alerting potential predators such as leopards.
Okapis have a very long tongue just like their giraffes cousins
Conservation and threats
Because they are hard to find in the wilds, scientist can only estimate their population, which is around 25 000 individuals. They are classified as endangered, logging and loss of habitat is one of the main treat for the okapi. Thankfully wild reserve were created and okapis are also commonly found in zoos around the world ( with successful reproductions too ! ).
Here are some links if you wanna know more or help the okapi:
The capybara is a semi-aquatic animals living in south America. It is the largest rodent being 2 feet high at shoulders. They can live in groups of 40 individuals, males and females mixed. Babies will sometime nurse on females other than their own mothers. They are herbivores and will eat anything from aquatic plants to tree barks. Don’t be fooled by their chunky appearance, they can run up to 35km to escape crocodiles and jaguars !
Capybaras prefers living in groups.
Adaptation is the key
The capybara isn’t considered endangered and the population is stable.
Capybaras have adapted very well to the urbanization of south America living in the different zoos and parks. They reproduce easily in captivity and a invasive population can be seen in Florida. They are still hunted in some places for their meat but in general this isn’t threatening to the survival of the species.
So cozy .
Fun fact : Capybaras are quite popular in japan, the local zoos often showcase them in onsen ( hot springs) which the capybaras seems to love, and so does the tourists.
Very good swimmers with their palm paws, their eyes, nose and ears are high on theirs heads allowing them to see clearly when swimming.
A pet ?
Some places allow capybaras to be kept as pets. They are high maintenance and require a big enclosure with access to water to swim at all time. They also require to be kept in at least pairs of two. They are shy and might take a while to warm up to their owners. The good side is that they are quite hardy and not prone to get sick and can make lovable companion for years.
Even if the capybara isn’t endangered you can still find more information here:
Nor is it a fox, it’s part of no family but it’s own since it’s not even closely related to other canids. The name of their genus is Chrysocyon. Standing at around 90 cm or 35 inches it is also the tallest of all canids. It is found in central America and in particular Brazil.
They live solitary crepuscular and nocturnal lives, communicating through their markings and a call called a roar-bark. Couples do raise their young together and share their territories.
A fox on stilt or a wolf with a fashion sense? Neither it seems.
A specie like no other
The biggest distinctive traits of the maned wolf are those long legs, these allow them to walk through and see over the long grass of the grasslands and savannas they live in.
Another particularity is they are strictly omnivores with a focus on fruit and vegetables. Their main diet is a tomato like fruit called the wolf apple, this fruit alone can make up to 40% to 90% to their diet ! The first captives maned wolfs were given meat centric diet but they soon developed kidney stones as a result of it. Nowadays a more varied diet avoid this problem. They also eat rodents or small mammals such as the agoutis.
The wolf apple is also edible for humans
Fun fact : their strong urine smells very similar to marijuana smoke. An incident happened 2006 at the Rotterdam Zoo in Holland where the police was called for what was believed at the time to be a stoner trying to enjoy a smoke. It was actually just a maned wolf marking it’s territory !
The mane on their back can actually raise to make the wolf appear larger in case of danger.
The rare roar-bark is used to communicate over long distance, still, the primary form of communication for them is the usage of urine
A unique specie to conserve
Despite not being officially endangered, their population have been declining steadily all around central south America. Their wild population is believed to be around 20 000 in Brazil with an additional 5000 around the world in zoos. The main threat for maned wolfs is the reduction of their habitat and the construction of roads where they risk getting hit by cars.
Reproduction is going steadily in captivity and awareness of the need of protecting the maned wolf is progressing for this unique specie.
Here are some links if you wanna help or learn more about the maned wolf :
The pink fairy armadillo is a small mammal endemic to Argentina. They lives their whole lives underground just like a moles would, only coming outside when being forced by heavy storms. Outside, the armadillo is incredibly vulnerable to predators. They possess huge claws relative to their body sizes and are known to be able to burrow themselves very fast thanks to them. Just like a regular mole they do not have good eyesight. The pink fairy armadillo mostly eat ants, worms and other insects, some plants too if food is lacking.
The pink fairy armadillo is 90–115 mm (3.5–4.5 in) long and only weights around 120g ! It’s also adorable !
Why so pink ?
Their shell actually posses thermoregulation abilities . Blood is pumped into the shell through blood vessel to get rid of the heat, which is what is giving it it’s cute pink shell.
Mythical like a fairy, seeing them outside of their burrow is a rare sight.
Mysterious and rare.
The conservation status for the pink fairy armadillo is listed as data deficient. They are hard to observe due to their lifestyle and even field sighting gets rarer and rarer by the day. The fact that they only lives in Argentina and the lack of information of their population make the conservation attention extremely urgent. The increase of farmlands and domestic dogs are known threat to this species.
They are also terribly fragile and impossible to keep in captivity due to intense stress responses which causes them to perish even before the travel is over to their captive home. Despite that, some people trap them and sell them on the black market as pets.
Thankfully, the pink fairy is protected in a number of reserves such as Lihué Calel National Park giving it a chance to have a future.
Here are some links if you wanna learn more or help the pink fairy armadillo :
The kakapo is a bird endemic to New Zealand. It’s name in Māori means night parrot, a fitting name for a mostly nocturnal bird. Because of the lack of predators on the island, the kakapo lost the use of it’s wings and cannot fly, they spend most of their time on the forest floor foraging for food using their keen sense of smell to find it. Despite being very chunky birds, the kakapo posses a slow metabolism allowing them to survive on less food than other species of birds who flies. The kakapo live solitary lives only meeting to mate, the males won’t take care of the chicks, which is atypical for parrots.
The kakapo was important to the Māori as they were often hunted for meat and their green feathers but also seen as spiritual appearing in many legends. Fun fact: they were also kept as pets sometimes by the Māori . The kakapo is often not afraid of humans at all and will approach to check you out due to their curious nature !
The kakapo still possess tiny wings despite have little use to them
Instead, they have strong legs and are good climbers !
Also one of the rarest
The kakapo is classified as critically endangered has of May 2020 only 209 individuals have been recorded. The first decline in kakapo population was due to the arrival of the first humans on the island. The bird with it’s strong scent was easy prey to the Māori and their dogs. The biggest decline were due to European colonization, where Europeans bought more dogs and other mammalians predators. Including mustelids to reduce the rabbit population, this was bad news for the kakapo who lays their eggs on the ground and had no way to defend themselves against them.
In 1995, the population was at their lowest with 51 individuals and this is where the Kākāpō Recovery Programme was launched.
The mating call of the male kakapo is called booming, it sounds like a lightsaber from Star wars !
Despite suffering from a genetic bottleneck, the recovery program was quite effective going from to 51 individuals to 200 individuals in quite a short time. Moving them to island with no predators and their long lifespan (rumored to be around 100 years old ) helped greatly despite having more than 50% of the eggs being infertile. 2019 was an incredible year for the kakapo recording a record breeding seasons with more that 70 chicks in one go ! With so many kakapos lover, in New Zealand or anywhere else in the world, this plush like bird has a good chance of having a bright future !
Adorable, quirky, fearless and almost unreal. What’s not to love ?
Here are some links if you wanna know more or help the kakapo :
The platypus is a mammal commonly found on the east part of Australia. It’s unusual appearance might bring some doubt about their origin and when first discovered it was believed to be an hoax! To add even more confusion they are also one of the few mammals to lay eggs instead of giving birth. They are also classified as carnivorous, feeding on shellfish and larvae on the bottom of the river. The platypus beaks is actually a sensory organ, when hunting the platypus closes its eyes and use electrolocation to find it’s food. It needs around 20% of his weight in food to survive and hunts around 12 hours a day to achieve that need.
Another particularity is the presence of a spur on their hind legs which despite being found on both sexes , venom is only found on the males. This venom is used for defensive or dominances purposes and is not lethal to humans but is known to be very painful. It is strong enough to kill a small dog so still be wary !
A duck bill, a beaver tail and the body of an otter. Truly bizarre.
The spud found on the hind legs of males platypuses is actually venomous ! The females do have one too but they do not dispense venom.
The platypus in culture and media.
The platypus holds a dear place in the hearts of Australians and is often used as a symbol for the country. It was one of the mascots for the 2000s Olympics, is often used on stamps and appears on the 20-cents coins.
One of the biggest worldwide appearance of a famous platypus is from an American cartoon called Phineas and Ferb. The two boys happens to have a pet platypus named Perry. Perry lives a double live as a secret agent, unknown to the whole family.
Platypus are also very common in wildlife sanctuary and zoos in Australia and had success in breeding in the past despite being hard to keep in captivity due their diet and the sheer quantity of food they require. Outside Australia only the San Diego zoo possess platypuses. So no, you can’t have it as a pet just like the cartoons ! 😦 (It’s not legal either! )
Perry the platypus from the cartoon Phineas and Ferb. One of the best secret agent that the world has ever known.
Maybe common for now but with a decline
The population of wild platypuses was considered to be quite healthy in the last year. Recently, due to the destruction of their habitat but also the drought that have been extreme, It is estimated that around 40% of the population is under threat of extinction if nothing is done. Officially the platypus is listed under ”near threatened” even if demand was made in 2020 with the droughts to list it under ”vulnerable”, especially taking into account climate change which may bring even more drought. Efforts are made everyday to avoid losing what is a truly unique mascot for Australia.
Here are some links if you wanna help platypuses :
The musk deer can actually refer to any of seven species of musk deers, for simplification, the Siberian musk deer will be used for this article. The very first thing that one will notice is those vampire fangs that the males possess. They are used just like another deer would use their antlers and are used against other males and predators only . They live solitary lives only meeting to mate and they do eat things typical deer food such as lichens.
The Siberian musk deer in the forest. The males use their fangs to defend themselves against other males and predators.
A juvenile Siberian musk deer born at Akron zoo.
A prized animal for it’s … strong smell ?
The males are also known for another thing, it’s musk. They possess some sort of pod that contains a substance called musk. It’s locate in-between their genitalia and underbelly, this is why it was confused for a long time to be their scrotum. The male musk deer actually use it to mark their territories and to the human nose it is a very strong animalistic, earthy and woody scent. The perfume industry is known to use musk for it’s strong scent but also the ability of the musk to make scent last for quite a while.
Musk used to be very common in perfume and soaps before the 19th century.
A Siberian musk deer ”pods” , this is where the famous musk is.
Conservation: the good news and bad news.
It’s possible to collect the musk of a deer without killing it but be aware that there is no such thing as ethically raised musk. Thankfully, for ethical and monetary reasons, synthetic musk is now widely used in the perfume and soaps industries. Only a few perfumers ( especially in France ) still use the real thing.
The Siberian musk deer population still appears to be declining, the main culprits being reductions of their habitat but also the use of the musk pods as shifted to be used in traditional medicine instead. Musk is said to help cure different ailments concerning the heart and the nerves. To this day, just typing deer musk into Amazon, Etsy or eBay gives you thousands of byproducts to choose from since the trade, even if supposedly regulated, is still very much and still going.
Thankfully, projects to protect this species are going on in Russia and in captivity all the species of musk deers seems to have no particular issues reproducing.
Tips and links to help the musk deer:
Avoid using real deer musk products, most product will advertise using the real stuff to justify a steep price. Raising musk deer ethically is not profitable and is more than likely to come from the wild or a shady battery farm.
Normally people think of leopard as living in the savannah in Africa, the Amur leopard is actually a subspecies who evolved to survives in the mountains and forest of Russia and China. They are solitary by nature, though uncommonly there has been sighting of male and female staying together for a little while after mating. They are very good climbers and are known to sometimes climb in the trees to hide their prey ( such as the Siberian musk deer or Sika deers) from other predators, the Amur tiger, whom they share their habitat with. It’s name comes from the 2700 miles long Amur river.
Having a roll in the snow.
The Amur leopard is perfectly adapted to thrives in the mountains with their thick fur.
Challenges
Poaching for their beautiful fur and deforestation are one of the main treats for the Amur leopard. Also, the very small wild population left are at risk of inbreeding, which has been going on for multiple generation even without human intervention, is bad news for the long term survival of this specie. When there is less preys in the winter, the Amur tiger will get in competition with the Amur leopard for food and more often than not, it does not end well for the leopard.
A cute Amur leopard cub, a hope for the specie.
Conservation effort
Not all is lost for the Amur leopard. Despite being very rare, there is a captive population of around 300 individuals in zoos all around the world and captive reproduction seems to go smoothly for this animal . This may be the key to avoid inbreeding issues since work is also done to make sure they get reintroduced in the wild .
Here some tips and links if you wanna help the Amur leopard :
Go visit your local zoo, there’s a good chance they house this incredible panther. Most zoos have adoptions programs so you can help them directly!
The palm civet, sometime called cat civet, is actually not a feline but a viverrid (the same family as the mongoose ). They come in a variety of colors such as brown, grey, black or orange coats. Commonly found in south and east parts of Asia, they live solitary lives and are mostly nocturnal. Omnivores, they will eat small rodents and fruits ( including coffee cherries ! ). They spend almost all their lives in trees.
Close up of an Asian Civet. How adorable.
Victims of their “delicious” coffee.
Civet coffee or Kopi Luwak is well known for being the most pricy coffee in the world at around 80$ for a single cup. Traditionally, civet would come and go on coffee plantation to eat the fruit. They then would then defecate leaving the coffee beans intact and ready to handpick to roast. Sadly, since the popularity of this coffee as risen with curious people wanting to know the taste of an 80$ cup, many civets have been captured to be raised in battery cages being fed only coffee fruits to mass produce, especially in Indonesia.
Now you must think that this coffee, despite it’s strange origin, must taste great. Well, you’d be surprised that the general consensus is that it taste… typical. The process is said to give it a smoother taste with notes of nuts and earth. Underwhelming to say the least and nothing unique that you cannot find at your local coffee shop. As for myself, I will enjoy my non-poop coffee thank you !
A civet being held captive given only coffee fruit to eat.
This is what the excrement of a civet looks like after consuming coffee fruit. Leaving only the coffee beans themselves. Yum?
Here are some ways you can help the Asian palm civet :
Avoid drinking civet coffee, brands never hide it as way to justify the price tag. It is pretty much guarantee to come from a battery farm.
If you find a wild civet or their babies, leave them alone. If relocation is necessary call your local wildlife rescue.
The Giraffe Conservation Foundation researchers recently spotted 2 giraffes with what seems to be dwarfisms in Namibia and Uganda. Those little guys seems to have much shorter legs despite being well into adulthood, a tinier tail and slightly shorter necks. Not much is known on the specifics on how it happened.
Adult animals with dwarfism in wild are extremely rare since it normally hinders their ability to survive in the wild. There was one report of an Indian elephant in Sri Lanka with the same condition as it was the first official case of dwarfism in the wild in 2013. All others wild “dwarf” animals have a good chance to be fake.
For these giraffes, I will take a wild guess here, that even a dwarf giraffe is still pretty tall. Meaning this is how they managed to make it into adulthood, still having good access to food and still fast or tall enough to escape predators.
The Yangtze giant softshell turtle species had no expectation to come back from disappearing forever.
Or so we thought, when the last 100 years old female died at Suzhou zoo in china after a failed insemination. Leaving the 80 years male to be the last of its kind, that is until an individual was found in a lake in northern Vietnam. Tests have confirmed that said turtle is female. With this discovery, another turtle is believed to live there. Plans are made to capture and confirm the specie and gender of the said individual. If it happens to be a female setting up a real breeding program to save them is becoming a closer reality.
Observing this specie in the wild has proven to be difficult, despite their huge size they spend most of their time in deep waters, only coming out to breathe. Many believes that there is more than those few left in the wild even if we are talking about one or two more.
2021 has a good start, especially for this huge turtle !
He really wants to apologize. He’s just not quite sure how
A very much unique family .
There is 8 distinct species of pangolins. Four in Africa ( white-bellied pangolin, black-bellied pangolin, ground pangolin, giant pangolin) and four in Asia ( Chinese pangolin, Sunda pangolin, Indian pangolin and Palawan pangolin). All these species are part of a family of mammals of their own called Manidae. All pangolin species posses scales made of keratin ( the same thing your nails and hair are made of ! ) and lack of teeth. There is no need for teeth if you possess what sometimes can be a 16 inches tongue to catch ants and termites which is their main diet. They posses long claws used to dig out ants and sometimes for the arboreal species to climb. They are mostly active at night.
The scales of the pangolins account for 20% of their weight !
A most particular walk, very much like a T-rex.
The most trafficked animal in the world
Sadly, their uniqueness makes them perfect victims to traffic. They hold the sad record of being the most trafficked animal in the world with one million pangolin poached from 2000 to 2013. For what? Their scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine to help mothers that have difficulties nursing or for blood pressure. Of course, there is no evidence to support this. Besides, a new trend in Asiatic countries for “wild meat” and where pangolin meat is considered a delicacy just adds more pressure on theses species that they really could have done without. This applies to all species of pangolin which are all at least considered vulnerable but most are endangered or even critically endangered.
A plague ridden critter ?
So the pangolin share a protein of the covid-19 virus with us at around 99%. Some even labelled it the revenge of the pangolin, a natural consequence of exploiting a already vulnerable species for so called medicine.
In captivity, pangolins are generally hard to breed and to even make thrive, even in the best zoos, efforts has been made and things have gotten better over the years by having complex diets and with more natural enclosures. A few births have been recorded as a result. The big problem is their weak immune system making them prone to infection and you guessed it, viruses. Most of the individual trafficked are full of parasites such as ticks and mites from the dirty and horrid conditions they are kept in, leaving them even weaker to attacks to sickness.
So there it is. You have a fragile animal having immunity issues even in ideal captive conditions, you take tons of them, add parasites and dirty conditions and watch as people consume their meat and scales. The perfect recipe for a plague. The cause of covid-19 isn’t pangolins, it’s the still ongoing animal trafficking. Even if today it is this particular species tomorrow it could very well be another one.
We have to do better for the shy pangolin just like we would for a friend too shy to speak for themselves.
Here are some links if you wanna help the pangolins:
Factual Animals 