IUCN : The Red List

The conservation status of different group of animals which I had mentioned in past on my blogs has a very important role in studies of animals. This gives an idea whether an animal(or a group of animal) which we are discussing is still alive or it used to live once upon a time, and if the animal is still here what are the chances that they will become extinct(no more living animal) in near future.  

These lists have been made by taking into account so many factors like overall increase or decrease in the population, breeding rate, loss of habitat, external and internal threats and not only by counting the total number of population of a particular animal.

The IUCN red list is the best-known conservation status listing which are accepted by the governing bodies of most countries. This list contains avast number of animals and even included species which became extinct since 500 AD. There are 9 different categories in IUCN red list:

Extinct (EX): The animals in this category are not present in live form any where. There are no doubt that the last individual of this category of animals has died. These data need to be collected after exhaustive surveys.

Extinct in the Wild (EW): These type of animals are generally not present in their natural habitat i.e, in the wild. They can be found only in cultivation or in captivity.

Critically Endangered (CR): Though they have not became extinct in the wild but there are extremely high risk of being so.

Endangered (EN): These animals are in very high risk of extinction in the wild. Risk wise they are less riskier than the CR category.

Vulnerable (VU): They are in very high risk of going into the endangered list as per the best available evidences.

Near threatened (NT): This category of animals are currently not threatened as of now, but there are a heavy chance that they will be in the threatened category by very near future due to many reasons.

Least Concern (LC): The animals in this segment are generally widespread and abundant on earth. So the name also suggest we don’t need to be worried about their conversation as of yet.

Data Deficient (DD): In case there are deficiencies in the available data and thus the information becomes inadequate. It may happen that these animals are well studied and biology of these animals are known but appropriate data regarding their habitat is always lacking.

Not Evaluated (NE): It is under this category when they are not evaluated against the criteria.

The main purpose of this list is to provide an framework for classification of different animals on their risk of extinction from the planet. Though the list may prompt us to focus on the animals on the highest ranks it is not the sole means of setting priorities.

This red list is analyzed and result are published in every 4 years. You can find the latest list by visiting the official site http://www.iucnredlist.org. I have mentioned animal in general lay man’s term. The original term which is used by IUCN is taxon. It is much more technically correct to use taxon in case of animals for biological usages.

The Octopus: The Myths Vs The Facts

Today I will share some information about an animal which has many myths associated with it The Octopus. I hope after reading this article you will be able to separate the facts from the fictions. So here we go:

The octopus is a cephalopod(meaning foot originated from the head)and closely related to squids and cuttlefish.The name octopus refers to an animal with eight arms. All of them bears suction cups.

Octopuses have very short life span. They can live from 6 months to 5 years depending on the species. Usually they reproduce once in their life time. Male octopus dies withing one month of the reproduction while female dies shortly after their eggs hatch. Female octopuses are also known sometimes to eat their male partners after copulation. Young octopus learns no behavior from their parents.

They are very agile hunter they eat mainly crabs, lobsters, fish, and other molluscs.

The octopus can smell through its arms along with using it as tactile organ because of the presence of olfactory nerves.

They have a very strong mimetic ability and is even greater than chameleons(who is famous for the camouflage). They not only immitate the color of the surroundings but also the texture. This helps them catch their prey as well as to escape from the predators.

Octopuses also possess the power of regeneration. When attached by predators they can detach their arm (which will grow within a week or so) and escape.

They can squirt a cloud of ink. These feature helps them to hide behind the cloud and can confuse both its predators and preys.

Though in popular culture and films octopus have been shown as some monster who can destroys ships and boats with one splash of its arm, Octopuses are neither aggressive nor man eating. And certainly not large enough to crush boats.

The eyes of octopus is very complex in nature and they have a wonderful sense of eyesight. Their sense of smell and touch is also very sensitive but they lack the auditory senses.

Octopuses have three hearts. The color of the blood of octopus is blue. Unlike human and other vertebrates their blood does not contains hemoglobin, it contains a copper rich protein hemocyanin and it is remained dissolved in plasma and not in the blood cells like vertebrates.

They don't have any bones. They possess a hard beak like parrots. Apart from that they donot possess any external or internal skeleton.

Octopuses are the most intelligent among all invertebrates. They can store stort term and long term memories. They have a very highly complex neuron system and unlike vertebrates most of their skill are not originated from their brain but rather from their arms where most of the nerves remain. They have such a strong intelligence but so short life span that many people believe that if they had lived more they would have been a dominant intelligence on earth.

They are the inhabitants of diverse region of the ocean such as coral reefs, pelagic water and ocean floors.

Apart from blue-ringed octopus none of them are deadly to humans. Although most of them are venomous.

In UK till 2013 octopus was the only invertebrate which is protected under Animal Act 1986.

Hope this article is as enjoyable for you to read as it is for me to write. I will be back with some other interesting animal of our Animal kingdom in my next blog. If you have any preferred animal of your own please let know.

Some interesting facts about Rabbits

There are several different species of rabbits including European rabbit and cotton tail rabbits are included in the total rabbit family. They should not be confused with hares. Hares generally are larger and do not live inside a burrow. Here I will only discuss about The Rabbits.

The size of a rabbit can vary from 20cm to 50cm in length and 0.4 kg to 2 kg in weight.

Rabbit is a social animal. They lives in groups. All rabbits (except the cottontail rabbit) live underground in burrows.

Most of the rabbit population is in North America(more than 50% of total rabbit population). Apart from North America they are also found in southern Asia, Europe, Japan and some parts of Africa and South America.

Rabbits ear is very long can reach upto 10cm in length. The long ears help them to detect predators in the jungle.

Rabbits have a near 360-degree vision and can even see behind them. They have just one blind spot right in front of their nose.

Rabbits have 28 teeth. They have two sets of incisor teeth one behind another.

Male rabbits are called bucks whereas the females are called does. The young ones are called kits. 

Rabbits are herbivores i.e, they eat plants. They prefer green leafy vegetation.

Rabbits are coprophagous i.e, they eat their own feces. They pass two different types of feces viz. hard droppings and soft black viscous pellets. They eat those pellets(called caecotrophs) immediately after extracting. Unlike other herbivores(such as cow) they do not chew the cud, rather ingest own droppings to extract the required nutrients. Rabbits can not vomit.

The fur of rabbits can range from pure white to black or grey. Although they were born without fur.

They have large and very strong hind legs. This helps them to jump 3 ft or higher. The front two paws have 5 toes whereas hind feet have 4 toes. They can run very fast. They can reach a speed of 30 to 40km per hour.

Rabbits have average sleeping time of 8-9 hours. They can live up to 12 years.

In popular cultures rabbits are often used as a symbol of fertility. It has also been related with characters such as Easter Bunny, Bugs Bunny etc. It is also relates to the perception of innocence.  

Hope you got some facts which was not known to you. If you have any experience of having a rabbit as a pet, please share it with us.

Giraffe: Standing Tall Above the Rest

Anybody who have studied biology in any phase in his life will definitely have a special feeling for “The Giraffes”. The theory of evolution was first made on trying to describe the uniqueness of the neck of giraffe. Though the long neck is the characteristic feature of giraffe, there are so many other unique features of this animal which are not well known. This blog will bring out some of them to you which will be fascinating to know.

 

Biological name of Giraffe is Giraffa camelopardalis.

It was initially believe to be a hybrid of a camel and a leopard and thus got the species name of cameleopardalis

Giraffe is the tallest living terrestrial(on the land) animal. It is 5-6 meter tall and an average weight of a male giraffe can reach up to  1600 kgs. They are native to savannas, woodlands and grasslands of Africa. They are herbivorous i.e, eat plants only.

Giraffe is a ruminant i.e, they first chew the food, then swallow it for bacterial processing and then back into mouth to chew it again. The can eat up to 34 kgs of foliage daily. They can drink up to 10 gallons of water per day.

They are known to be non vocal.

Giraffes can run pretty quickly. Though not any where near to the fastest animal, the Cheetah but they can reach a speed of 60 km/hr. But unlike cheetahs they can maintain 50km/hr for several kilometers. Giraffe spends only 2 hours in an average to sleep. This is the least sleep requirement for any animal in animal kingdom.

The fore legs are 10% more longer than hind legs. The tail of a giraffe is 8 feet long. It is the longest in any animal.

The neck of a giraffe is 2 meter in length and it is a form of disproportionate lengthening of the cervical vertebrae. Male giraffes use their neck in the combat.

The heart of a giraffe is about 2 feet long and weights almost 20 lbs. it maintains a blood pressure that is approximately double of the human blood pressure. The lever is small and compact and gallbladder is absent.

The tongue of an adult giraffe is black in color and almost 2 feet long. This is useful not only for grasping foliage but also in cleaning its nose.

The coat of a giraffe has color patches. It darkens as the giraffe ages. We can calculate the age of a giraffe by the color of the spots in its body. Like fingerprints in humans, the spots of every giraffe is unique. This pattern help them to camouflage in the woodland.

Male and female giraffe both have prominent horn like structures which is called ossicones. Though the female ossicones are thinner compared to the males.

Giraffe has a gestation period of 400-600 days after which gave birth to a 1.8 meter tall  newborn. A giraffe can leave up to 25 years.

Giraffes are common target for hunters Africa. Though Giraffes have been eradicated from many African countries, the giraffe species as a whole is not included in endangered category by IUCN.

Thanks for reading. A lot more to come so stay tuned.

Cheetah: The Speedstar

Cheetahs have been in interest for all the people who love associating themselves with speed. This article will put some lights on this exciting cat species. 

Cheetahs should not be mistaken with Leopards. They possess tear lines, which run from corner of its eye till their mouth are absent in Leopards. Also unlike Leopards they do not have rosette like spots. The body frame of cheetah is also thinner than a Leopard.

The word “Cheetah” is derived from Sanskrit word of chitrakayah meaning having variety of colors.

Scientific name of cheetah is Acinonyx jubatu. They are the sole member of their genus(Acinonyx). The rest of the species have become extinct.

The cheetah originated over 4 million years ago. That’s long before any of the other big cats of today.

An adult cheetah can weigh up to 20 to 70 kg while its length varies from 110 to 150cm. Though males tend to be little larger than the females and have slightly larger head, it is very difficult to distinguish between males and females just by appearance alone.

Like all other cats cheetahs are also carnivorous. They eat mostly mammals like gazelles. Sometimes they hunt wildebeest or zebras when hunting in groups. 

Males tend to live in small groups of 2-3 individuals, usually brothers. They are extremely territorial and mark their territory by urinating on objects like dogs.

Unlike other cats or their male counterpart, female Cheetahs are solitary and do not establish territories. They always hunt alone(though sometimes cubs join their mother to learn hunting). 

Cheetahs can live up to 12 years in wild and 20 years in captive condition. Males reach maturity at the age of 1 year where as for female it is 20 to 22 months.

Cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world, reaching speeds of up to 113km/h. They can accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in just 3 seconds.

The paws of a cheetah have semi retractile claws. It helps in better grip in high speed chase. The dewclaw is much shorter and straighter than other members of their cat family. Cheetah uses its tail as a rudder during  sharp turn in its chase to catch a prey. They are the only big cat that can turn in mid-air while sprinting. They possess large nostrils to allow increased oxygen intake during running. Enlarged heart and lungs to circulate efficient oxygen supply.

Running on high speed puts much strain on their bodies. While sprinting the body temperature elevates very quickly. So if they fail to catch their prey quickly they have to gave up the chase.

Unlike other cats, Cheetahs are born with their characteristic spots. They are native to Africa and Asia.

Cheetah can not roar like other cats, however they do have a range of other meaningful vocalizations such as purring, growling and a variety of contact calls which resemble bird-like chirping sounds.

A cheetah has 50% chance of loosing its kill to other predators. That is why they eat immediately after killing its prey. They usually avoid fighting with other carnivores and surrender its kill even to a single hyena.

Cheetahs are caring, affectionate and dedicated mothers. They spend a long time caring for their cubs and teaching them essential survival skills like hunting. Cubs typically stay with their mothers for one and a half to two years.

In ancient time(3000 BC) cheetahs have been tamed by human. They have been used as pets and trained for hunting purposes. This trend initiated in ancient Egypt and then subsequently followed to Persia and India.

Cheetahs are included in the list of vulnerable species by IUCN. Cheetah cubs have high mortality rates(90% of their cubs died in the early weeks of their rearing). Low genetic diversity, predation by other carnivores, birth defects along with loss of habitat and poaching are the cause for their low counts.

Hope this reading has been enjoyable for you. A lot of animal still to come. So keep visiting.