Saving the California Condor

The California condor is the largest bird in North America. With their nearly 10 foot wingspans, these majestic scavengers have never had any real natural predators, yet they became nearly extinct just a few decades ago.

California condors were plentiful throughout the southwest United States and northern Mexico until relatively recently. However, loss of habitat, egg poaching, and incorrect assumptions by ranchers who thought the massive birds had actually killed the livestock carcasses they were feeding on led to the California condor’s decline. This combined with the fact that the birds mature and reproduce very slowly meant that even after the species received protection, populations did not recover.

In 1987, conservationists made the unprecedented move of capturing all 22 California condors remaining in the wild for a captive breeding program at California Zoos at a cost of 35 million dollars. By 1991, the birds began being reintroduced in the wild at national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in California and Arizona. California condors can live up to 60 years, and as of April, 2011, there are 181 of them living in the wild, with an additional 200 in captivity. Hopefully this majestic animal, a symbol for the southwest its native tribes, will flourish again in years to come.

Mexican Gray Wolves Come to Seneca Park Zoo

A trio of Mexican Grey Wolves were introduced at the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, New York today, according to local news. The three wolves, all four-year-old brothers, are slated to become a permanent fixture at the zoo.

The Mexican Grey Wolf is the smallest wolf in North America. Only 50 of them are known to still exist in the wild.




Mexican Gray Wolf

                                                                  

Rare Cat

The Bay Cat from Borneo is also known as the Bornean Cat, Bornean Red Cat or Bornean Bay Cat. It is also related to the Asian Golden Cat, although it is smaller and has a different skull structure. Bay Cats are about the size of a domestic cat.

Not a lot is known about these cats. There were no recorded sightings of them between 1928 and 1992! For more details check out this article where you can also see a picture.

Jungle Jane

African and Asian Cats

The Jungle Cat is also called the Swamp Cat or Swamp Lynx (though not related) and the Reed Cat. In Ancient Egypt the Jungle Cat was trained for hunting wildfowl. These cats are bigger than a domestic cat and are found in Egypt, West and Central Asia, India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.

They are endangered partially due to the fur trade. Twelve adult jungle cats are killed to make one fur coat.

Jungle Jane

It's a fox...no, a jackal...no, a wolf!

The Ethiopian Wolf is one of the rarest of the dog family. It is sometimes called the Red or Simian Jackal, the Abyssinian Wolf, or the Red Fox. It is more closely related to wolves than jackals or foxes. As its name implies it is an African animal. Unfortunately, it is also endangered. More info can be found on our wolf animal facts page.

And you thought you eat a lot?

Photo by Ray Forester.

Adult male gorillas can eat about 45 pounds of food a day. They spend most of the day eating. (I can see why! That's a lot of food to shovel in...) Gorillas mainly eat fruit, leaves, and shoots, though they do eat a small amount of insects, too.
Both species of gorilla are endangered. For more info on gorillas check out our animal facts page. Or watch videos at this site. I watched the “Plight of Baby Gorillas.” Poor babies!

Jungle Jane

Jumping Gazelles

This picture of Thomson's Gazelles (East Africa) was taken by Matthew Hull. Tommies exhibit a distinctive behavior of running slowly and jumping high before fleeing when threatened by predators. This is called stotting.

There are 14 types of gazelles. Most are found in Africa, but some are native to Southeast Asia (Goitered Gazelle or Persian Gazelle, Chinkara or Indian Gazelle, Mongolian Gazelle, Tibetan Gazelle, Przewalski’s Gazelle).

Left - a Mhorr Gazelle (Morocco and North Africa) – a desert gazelle now extinct in the wild.

Gazelles are a type of antelope and are known for being speedy animals. They can run up to 50 miles per hour for a long time.

Cuvier's Gazelle above is an endangered gazelle in Tunisia.

♪ Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam…♪

We call it a buffalo, but the correct term is bison. There are American and European varieties, which are the largest land mammals in North America and Europe. Bison are grazing herd animals, which were almost hunted to extinction. The European bison is still endangered.

I've seen them in Yellowstone National Park and on buffalo farms.

This crest is only feathers

I had no idea that Cockatoos only occur naturally in Australia and nearby islands. I guess the fact that they are bred for pets has made me think they are common. 11 of the 21 species only occur in Australia. 3 occur in both Australia and New Guinea. The other 7 are from Indonesia, New Guinea and some other south Pacific Islands. Some species are black. The Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo is the most common in Australia.

Cockatoos have a movable head crest.

Cockatoos are also an endangered species.

JJ

Lowest known bird call

The Cassowary is found in Australia, New Guinea and New Britain. They are the 3rd largest flightless bird. All 3 species of cassowary have a hornlike crest, called a casque. Female cassowaries are larger and more brightly colored than males. A cassowary call is a low “boom,” sometimes described as “thunder in the distance.”

Cassowaries are considered to be one of the most dangerous animals to keep in a zoo. They have a dagger like claw about 5 inches long. When cornered or threatened, a cassowary kicks out and can inflict fatal injuries.

The Southern Cassowary is endangered.


I really like this head on picture!


Jungle Jane

Climbing kangaroo

As you’d expect of an animal called a Tree Kangaroo, they are good climbers. They actually leap from tree to tree. On the ground, however, they are awkward and slow.

Compared to ground dwelling kangaroos, tree kangaroos have longer tails, stronger forelimbs, shorter and broader hind feet, longer claws and spongy soles on their feet and front paws—all which help with balancing and gripping.

Looking online I found 11 varieties of tree kangaroo. I like this picture of the Buerger's Tree Kangaroo as you can see the unique coloration well. However, only 2 species of tree kangaroos live in Australia: Lumholtz Tree-Kangaroo and the Bennett's Tree Kangaroo. The rest live in Papau New Guinea.

Three species are endangered due to loss of habitat.

Smaller ears than the African elephant

Asian elephants reach almost 10 feet tall, 21 feet long and 11,000 pounds, and are smaller than the African elephant! They live in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Borneo, Cambodia, southern China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Asian elephant females don’t have visible tusks. Asian elephants also have two bulges on their forehead, while African elephants have flat foreheads.

Loss of habitat is their primary threat to survival.

I mentioned in a previous entry that I got to feed a baby elephant in Thailand. We also watched demonstrations of trained elephants moving logs, manuvering over obstacles, and more. As big and powerful as they are, it's hard for me to imagine standing next to a bigger elephant.

JJ

World’s largest tree dwelling animals

Not only are Orangutans the largest tree dwelling animal, they are Asia’s largest primate. Males are almost double the size of females. The male arm spread can be over seven feet from fingertip to fingertip, although they are only about forty inches long from rump to top of head.

Rainforest habitat loss is the biggest threat to orangutans. They are endangered.

An Indian reptile

I thought this week we’d focus on Asian animals. We’ll start with one new to me: the Gavial or Gharial. These crocodilelike reptiles have a long narrow snout—it’s almost tubelike—with razor sharp teeth. Fortunately gharials mostly feed on fish as they are 12 to 15 feet long!

These reptiles live in India and are endangered.

For pictures and more info check out this site.

JJ

New World Parrots

I came across this poem by Mark Twain:
She was not quite what you would call refined.
She was not quite what you would call unrefined.
She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot.
It made me laugh. But today we aren’t going to talk about parrots as pets, but parrots in the wild and specifically Amazon parrots, since we’ve been in the western hemisphere for over a week.

There are 27 species of Amazon parrot. They are predominantly green with accenting colors. Many are named for their coloration. Most Amazon parrots live in trees, especially in lowland tropical forests. They eat fruit, seeds, nuts, berries, buds and blossoms.

The Orange-winged Amazon Parrot is usually seen during the day flying in pairs above the forest canopy. At night they roost communally in groups of up to 600 birds.

The Lilac-crowned Amazon Parrot is usually seen in flocks, sometimes up to 200 to 300 birds.

The Tucumán Amazon from Argentina and Bolivia is rare and endangered due to habitat destruction and trapping for the pet trade.

The picture below is an Amazon Blue Front Parrot. From this picture and others I've looked at, the blue front refers to the area above the beak.

JJ

Wild ones endangered

Chinchillas are endangered mainly due to hunting for their fur. It takes 100 pelts to make one fur coat! Those loss of habitat has adversely affected wild chinchillas as well.

Chinchillas are rabbit sized, have big mouse like ears, squirrel-shaped bodies, and bushy tails.

These South American rodents are also raised as pets. Here is a video of a pet mother chinchilla and her babies. You can hear them squeak.

JJ

Largest land animal in South America

Baird’s Tapir, Mountain Tapir, and Brazilian Tapir are from Mexico, Central America and South America and weigh 400 pounds to 700 pounds. There is also a Malayan Tapir of Southeast Asia—they can weigh up to 800 pounds. This video gives you a view of a Baird’s and a Malayan Tapir.


Did you see that flexible nose?

JJ

Andean Mountain Cat

The second most endangered wild cat in the world is the Andean Mountain Cat. I hadn’t heard of them before and not a lot is known about them. Sightings of these are very infrequent. Not much larger than a domestic cat, their tail is banded like a raccoon’s tail. Their fur is gray with rust colored spots.

Click on this link to watch a video of them. If you want more information, this site offers that, too.

JJ

The Indian Wild Dog

In Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, he refers to a red dog—the Dhole. They are about the size of a collie, rather fox-like or coyote-like in appearance. They make some strange nondog sounds. Listen to them in this video—at one point they sound more birdlike.


I think I'm going to have to go back and reread the novel...

JJ

Think the giant panda is cute? Check out this guy!

Slightly larger than a domestic cat, the Red Panda, also eats bamboo and is from China. Kind of looks like a cross between a raccoon, a fox, and a panda, doesn’t it? But no relation to the first two, or even cats, though it does wash itself like cats do. This little guy is also endangered.

Watch some red pandas at play.


Cute, huh?

Jungle Jane