Animal of the Week Fun!

 

A subspecies of the larger coastal brown bear, the grizzly bear gets its name from the grayish, or grizzled, tips of its fur.

These awe-inspiring giants tend to be solitary animals—with the exception of females and their cubs—but at times they do congregate. Dramatic gatherings of grizzly bears can be seen at prime Alaskan fishing spots when the salmon run upstream for summer spawning. In this season, dozens of bears may gather to feast on the fish, craving fats that will sustain them through the long winter ahead.
Brown bears dig dens for winter hibernation, often holing up in a suitable-looking hillside. Females give birth during this winter rest and their offspring are often twins.
Grizzly bears are powerful, top-of-the-food-chain predators, yet much of their diet consists of nuts, berries, fruit, leaves, and roots. Bears also eat other animals, from rodents to moose.
Grizzlies are typically brown, though their fur can appear to be white-tipped, or grizzled, lending them their traditional name.
Despite their impressive size, grizzlies are quite fast and have been clocked at 30 miles (48 kilometers) an hour. They can be dangerous to humans, particularly if surprised or if humans come between a mother and her cubs.
Grizzlies once lived in much of western North America and even roamed the Great Plains. European settlement gradually eliminated the bears from much of this range, and today only about 1,000 grizzlies remain in the continental U.S., where they are protected by law. Many grizzlies still roam the wilds of Canada and Alaska, where hunters pursue them as big game trophies.

Fast Facts

Type:

Mammal

Diet:

Omnivore

Average life span in the wild:

25 years

Size:

5 to 8 ft (1.5 to 2.5 m)

Weight:

800 lbs (363 kg)

Protection status:

Threatened

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man:

Animal of the Week fun!

Nile crocodiles are the largest crocodilians in Africa, sometimes reaching 20 feet (6 meters) long.

The Nile crocodile has a somewhat deserved reputation as a vicious man-eater. The proximity of much of its habitat to people means run-ins are frequent. And its virtually indiscriminate diet means a villager washing clothes by a riverbank might look just as tasty as a migrating wildebeest. Firm numbers are sketchy, but estimates are that up to 200 people may die each year in the jaws of a Nile croc.
Africa's largest crocodilian, these primordial brutes reach a maximum size of about 20 feet (6 meters) and can weigh up to 1,650 pounds (730 kilograms). Average sizes, though, are more in the range of 16 feet (5 meters) and 500 pounds (225 kilograms). They live throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the Nile Basin, and Madagascar in rivers, freshwater marshes, and mangrove swamps.
The diet of the Nile crocodile is mainly fish, but it will attack almost anything unfortunate enough to cross its path, including zebras, small hippos, porcupines, birds, and other crocodiles. It will also scavenge carrion, and can eat up to half its body weight at a feeding.
One unusual characteristic of this fearsome predator is its caring nature as a parent. Where most reptiles lay their eggs and move on, mother and father Nile crocs ferociously guard their nests until the eggs hatch, and they will often roll the eggs gently in their mouths to help hatching babies emerge.
Hunted close to extinction in the 1940s through the 1960s, local and international protections have helped them rebound in most areas. In some regions, though, pollution, hunting, and habitat loss have severely depleted their numbers.

Fast Facts

Type:

Reptile

Diet:

Carnivore

Average life span in the wild:

45 years (est.)

Size:

16 ft (5 m)

Weight:

500 lbs (225 kg)

Group name:

Bask (on land) or float (in water)

Did you know?

Mummified crocodiles and crocodile eggs have been discovered in Egyptian tombs.

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man:

LOOK AT THIS!

                                                                 Oh. My. Goodness.

                                                                          *Faint*

                                                                        Adorable.

I want to reach into these pictures and just pull out these angels and keep them forever!!! But, maybe the Fairy God-Panther, the one I talked about in Oh my GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, located in older posts. Maybe she can turn into a kitten-and-puppy godmother...just maybe...

Animal of the Week fun!

Plastic versions notwithstanding, the vibrant pink greater flamingo is found throughout the world in warm, waterside regions.

These famous pink birds can be found in warm, watery regions on many continents. They favor environments like estuaries and saline or alkaline lakes. Considering their appearance, flamingos are surprisingly fluid swimmers, but really thrive on the extensive mud flats where they breed and feed.
Greater flamingos are likely to be the only tall, pink bird in any given locale. They also have long, lean, curved necks and black-tipped bills with a distinctive downward bend.
Their bent bills allow them to feed on small organisms—plankton, tiny fish, fly larvae, and the like. In muddy flats or shallow water, they use their long legs and webbed feet to stir up the bottom. They then bury their bills, or even their entire heads, and suck up both mud and water to access the tasty morsels within. A flamingo's beak has a filterlike structure to remove food from the water before the liquid is expelled.
Shrimplike crustaceans are responsible for the flamingo's pink color. The birds pale in captivity unless their diet is supplemented.
Greater flamingos live and feed in groups called flocks or colonies. They find safety in numbers, which helps to protect individual birds from predators while their heads are down in the mud. Greater flamingos also breed while gathered in groups. Once mating is complete, a pair takes turns incubating their single egg. Young flamingos are born gray and white and do not turn pink for two years. In years when wetlands and pools are dry and food scarce, flamingoes may not breed.

Fast Facts

Type:

Bird

Diet:

Omnivore

Size:

36 to 50 in (91 to 127 cm); Wingspan, 60 in (152 cm)

Weight:

8.75 lbs (4 kg)

Group name:

Colony

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man:

Animal of the week fun!

Kangaroos' legs cannot move independently of one another, so they must hop everywhere. They can reach speeds over 35 miles (56 kilometers) an hour and bound 25 feet (8 meters) in a single leap.

The red kangaroo is the world's largest marsupial. Females have one baby at a time, which at birth is smaller than a cherry. The infant immediately climbs into its mother's pouch and does not emerge for two months. Until they reach about eight months of age, threatened young kangaroos, called joeys, will quickly dive for the safety of mom's pouch. As they grow, joeys' heads and feet can often be seen hanging out of the pouch.
Red kangaroos hop along on their powerful hind legs and do so at great speed. A red kangaroo can reach speeds of over 35 miles (56 kilometers) an hour. Their bounding gate allows them to cover 25 feet (8 meters) in a single leap and to jump 6 feet (1.8 meters) high.
Female red kangaroos are smaller, lighter, and faster than males. They also boast a blue-hued coat, so many Australians call them "blue fliers."
Larger male kangaroos are powerfully built. Like many species, male kangaroos sometimes fight over potential mates. They often lean back on their sturdy tail and "box" each other with their strong hind legs. Kangaroos can also bite and wield sharp claws, which they may do in battle with an enemy like a dingo.
Red kangaroos live in Australia's deserts and open grasslands, gathering in groups called mobs. Aboriginal and European Australians have spent centuries clearing open tracts of land and establishing water sources—both of which are boons to kangaroo populations. Many millions of these animals roam Australia, and considerable numbers are killed each year for their skins and meat, which is becoming a more popular human food.

Fast Facts

Type:

Mammal

Diet:

Herbivore

Average life span in the wild:

Up to 23 years

Size:

Head and body, 3.25 to 5.25 ft (1 to 1.6 m); tail, 35.5 to 43.5 in (90 to 110 cm)

Weight:

200 lbs (90 kg)

Group name:

Mob

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man:

Sorry about animal of the week the last couple of weeks!!!! :1                                                                                

Animal of the Week Fun!

An Australian king parrot

The parrots are a broad order of more than 350 birds. Macaws, Amazons, lorikeets, lovebirds, cockatoos and many others are all considered parrots.
Though there is great diversity among these birds, there are similarities as well. All parrots have curved beaks and all are zygodactyls, meaning they have four toes on each foot, two pointing forward and two projecting backward. Most parrots eat fruit, flowers, buds, nuts, seeds, and some small creatures such as insects.
Parrots are found in warm climates all over most of the world. The greatest diversities exist in Australasia, Central America, and South America.
Many parrots are kept as pets, especially macaws, Amazon parrots, cockatiels, parakeets, and cockatoos. These birds have been popular companions throughout history because they are intelligent, charismatic, colorful, and musical. Some birds can imitate many nonavian sounds, including human speech. The male African gray parrot (Psittacus erithacus) is the most accomplished user of human speech in the animal world; this rain forest-dweller is an uncanny mimic.
Currently the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) bans the sale of any wild-caught species, yet the parrots' popularity continues to drive illegal trade.
Some parrot species are highly endangered. In other cases, once tame birds have reproduced in the wild and established thriving feral populations in foreign ecosystems. The monk (green) parakeet, for example, now lives in several U.S. states.

Fast Facts

Type:

Bird

Diet:

Omnivore

Average life span in the wild:

Up to 80 years

Size:

3.5 in (8.7cm) to 40 in (100 cm)

Weight:

2.25 oz (65 g) to 3.5 lbs (1.6 kg)

Size relative to a tea cup:

I won't be doing Animal of the Week next week or the week after. Thanks for understanding.