Elusive, beautiful, and impressive jumpers, Snow leopards are a rare, roarless species of big cat. They live in the mountains, and can leap up to 50 feet through the air!
They use their long tails for balance and blankets to keep warm in the frigid mountain air.
Their wide, furry paws act as natural snowshoes, preventing them from wading through the frosty ground. Snow leopards mainly diet on blue sheep or Bharl and ibexes.
Their numbers are dwindling, not many more than 4,080-6,590 are left in the wild.
Snow leopards are actually more related to tigers than leopards! Their gorgeous gray spotted fur is helps them hide in the rocky clefts and snow piles of the Asian mountains.
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Pangolins
Today I will be speaking on Pangolins.
They are very unusual creatures, whose name means: "something that rolls up". They are covered in plates instead of fur (much like an armordillo). Pangolins are nocturnal and mainly feed on insects using their long tongue. They have prehensile tails and keratin scales, making them the only known mammals with this adaptation.
There are eight species of Pangolin. Let's see if I can list them all: the Chinese pangolin, the Sunda pangolin, the Black-bellied pangolin, the White-bellied pangolin, Temmenik's ground pangolin, the Giant pangolin, and the Indian pangolin, and Philippine pangolin. Phew! That's a lot!
Here are some more interesting facts:
Four of the eight species live in Africa while the other four survive in Southern Asia.
They can eat up to 70 million ants per year!
Are often hunted for their scales and meat.
Their tongue is longer than their body!
20% of their body weight is made up of scales.
Baby pangolins are carried on their mother's tails.
I hope you enjoyed learning about these beautiful and unique creatures!
Until next time...
They are very unusual creatures, whose name means: "something that rolls up". They are covered in plates instead of fur (much like an armordillo). Pangolins are nocturnal and mainly feed on insects using their long tongue. They have prehensile tails and keratin scales, making them the only known mammals with this adaptation.
There are eight species of Pangolin. Let's see if I can list them all: the Chinese pangolin, the Sunda pangolin, the Black-bellied pangolin, the White-bellied pangolin, Temmenik's ground pangolin, the Giant pangolin, and the Indian pangolin, and Philippine pangolin. Phew! That's a lot!
Here are some more interesting facts:
Four of the eight species live in Africa while the other four survive in Southern Asia.
They can eat up to 70 million ants per year!
Are often hunted for their scales and meat.
Their tongue is longer than their body!
20% of their body weight is made up of scales.
Baby pangolins are carried on their mother's tails.
I hope you enjoyed learning about these beautiful and unique creatures!
Until next time...
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
The Sea Otter
Here are some cool facts about Sea Otters you may or may not know.
- A large male sea otter can eat up to 25-30% of its body weight per day!
- Sea otters can balance rocks on their bellies, using them like an anvil to try to crack open the tough shells of clams and mussels.
- Sea otters close their ears and noses when they dive below the water.
- Sea otters live in group known as "rafts".
Once I photographed a Sea otter relaxing in a bay in Alaska. It just floated in the water while we watched and photographed it.
Once I photographed a Sea otter relaxing in a bay in Alaska. It just floated in the water while we watched and photographed it.
Welcome!
Welcome to Wildfire Forest. Here I will be explaining to you about cool and sometimes unusual wildlife, such as tigers, pangolins, and thorny devils. I hope you enjoy everything you discover here.
~ Sydney
~ Sydney
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