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The Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Reserve is the most popular tourist attraction in Sichuan, China.
Pandas Ailuropoda melanoleuca are so lazy that they are even reluctant to reproduce - and, as a result, their numbers are rapidly declining. Plus, rapidly developing China needs new lands, and bamboo forests are quickly being cut down, but bamboo is the main diet of these animals. Therefore, the task of the reserve is to preserve and increase bamboo bears.
Giant pandas have unusual front feet, with a "thumb" and five normal toes; at the same time, the “thumb” allows them to handle even thin shoots of bamboo. An adult panda eats up to 30 kg of bamboo per day, but on occasion, pandas can also eat insects and eggs.
Unfortunately, giant pandas are an endangered species in China. No wonder they are the symbol of the World Wildlife Fund. Outside of nature reserves, pandas live only in the mountains of Sichuan province and Tibet.
The Kuban (Caucasian) tur Capra caucasica lives on a strip of 4500 km² along the Russian-Georgian border. Since the 19th century, this already small area has shrunk even further due to human influence.
The Caucasian tur has a very short tail. The beard, as a rule, is also short and wide. The fur on the upper side of the body is reddish-brown, on the underside it is yellowish. In winter, the coat color changes to gray-brown.
Body length in males is 150-165 cm, shoulder height 95-110 cm, weight 65-100 kg. Females are noticeably smaller. The horns are relatively short, strong and fairly curved with a maximum length of 75 cm.
Their food consists of grasses and leaves, and leaves are more important in winter than in summer, when the main role is played by herbs
Elk.
Moose are the largest representatives of the deer family. Males can reach a height at the withers of up to 2.5 meters and a weight of 350 to 600 kg.
Moose are excellent swimmers. Their long and strong legs allow them to maneuver in the water, and their dense coat keeps them warm and buoyant. Moose can cross bodies of water and swim across small rivers.
The Blue Ambanya Chameleon is a colorful reptile native to Madagascar, known for its vibrant blue and yellow coloration. It is a popular pet due to its docile nature and unique appearance.
The Blue Ambanja chameleon is an arboreal species, meaning it spends most of its time in trees. It is an active hunter, using its long tongue to catch prey.
The flight of an owl is completely silent thanks to its special feathers. This beneficial property helps owls in their night hunting.
Most owls are nocturnal birds; they prefer to sleep during the day. However, some owls hunt at dawn or dusk, that is, at dusk.
An owl can turn its head 270 degrees, that is, make three-quarters of a full rotation.
Owls of different species hunt each other.
The eyes of owls are completely motionless, which is why nature has endowed them with such a mobile neck.
The only species of owl that also eats plant foods is the elf owl.
Toucan.
It turns out that overripe bananas make happy sounds when you stroke them.
The average flight speed of butterflies is 10-20 km/hour. However, butterflies can fly much faster, reaching speeds of up to 60 km/h. And some specimens are even capable of accelerating up to 100 km/h!
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Fan-throated lizard
They use their “fan” to cool down in the sweltering heat.
Males also show off their dewlaps to attract females during mating season!
Sloth mom and her baby enjoying a nap 😴 🦥
If for us the usual position is a relaxed state, then for a sloth it is a strong grip. Sloths have to work hard to release their grip. That's why they don't fall from trees even when they're fast asleep!
Sloths spend about 85% of their life hanging upside down, simply because it takes no effort for them to do so!
Goliath beetles undergo metamorphosis in a kind of earthen “cradle”.
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Red-sided duiker.
Lives in Central and Western Africa.
This is a very small antelope (about 35-38 cm at the withers), which just dives into the nearest thickets.
Hence the name “Duker” - from the Dutch “duiker” is translated as “diver, diver, scuba diver”.
The common spotted cuscus is a large opossum that lives in tropical low-growing forests. The female has a pouch for carrying her offspring, like a kangaroo. 🦘
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😍The largest size of food that a puffin eats does not exceed seven centimeters.
Puffins are sea creatures, so they feed on small fish, mollusks and crustaceans. The bird's beak allows it to eat small food, so all the living creatures that puffins catch underwater are small, no more than seven centimeters.
Lovely gray herons are the real favorites of the Maldives!
These graceful birds with long graceful necks are often found in shallow waters.
For many travelers, such meetings become a real magical moment, clearly demonstrating the harmony of man and nature in this amazing corner of our planet.
The amazing Shoebill birds are usually silent, but sometimes they exhibit beak-clacking behavior by flapping their upper and lower jaws to make that loud, thumping sound.
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Antilope cervicapra is one of the fastest land mammals, reaching speeds of up to 80 km/h and capable of jumping 2 m in height and 6.5 m in length.
Garns live on the plateaus and plains of India and are found in Nepal. They used to live in Pakistan and Bangladesh, but are now extirpated from these countries.
Garns weigh 25-35 kg, height at the withers 60–85 cm. Males differ from females in color: their upperparts are dark brown, while those of females and young animals are light red; in both sexes, the underparts are white. In addition, adult males have horns up to 75 cm long, which are twisted in a spiral by 4 turns. There are ring-shaped growths along their entire length.
Garni antelopes live in herds of 5 to 50 individuals. They never enter forests or hilly areas. They cannot swim, and when lowlands are flooded, they often drown. Usually silent, garns make a hissing sound when threatened.
These animals are hardy and can go without water for a long time. They feed on grass and can pinch leaves of trees and shrubs. They eat fruit if they find it. Now the main enemy of the garn is man; they are also hunted by wolves and feral dogs, and occasionally by tigers and leopards.
During the rutting season, males are aggressive and fight for females in fierce fights, which sometimes even break their horns. The loser is expelled from the territory of the harem, the winner makes peculiar sounds, throwing his head back and touching his back with his horns, declaring his rights to the territory and the females located on it.
Garns once inhabited the entire Indian subcontinent, but are now found only in semi-desert and rocky areas of India. In the 20th century they were acclimatized in the USA and Argentina.
To save these beautiful antelopes from extinction, a center for breeding these antelopes was created in the USA. In 1955, the garn population in this center numbered 1,500 individuals, and by 1974 there were already about 7,000. However, garn continue to die in India - at the hands of poachers, from stray dogs, which foresters do not always have time to shoot, at the hands of farmers who kill animals wandering into cotton plantations.
Garna meat is considered a delicacy among the surrounding tribes. Garna horns are considered medicinal and supposedly treat asthma and other chest diseases. Livestock are displacing the garna from its usual habitats. In addition to stray dogs, the jungle cat, jackal, birds of prey - eagles, vultures, and even crows prey on young garnas
The blue-headed ifrita Ifrita kowaldi lives in New Guinea and is one of the few poisonous birds. The skin and feathers of this bird contain the poison batrachotoxin, which accumulates due to the consumption of poisonous beetles. The generic name comes from the Arabic ifrit - “genie” or “spirit”.
When a bird finds itself in the mouth of a predator, the poison enters the mucous membranes and tongue, causing severe burning and itching. But the effect of the poison does not end there. After irritation of the mucous membranes, the animal begins to actively secrete saliva, which it swallows. Once in the stomach, the poison is quickly absorbed and poisons the entire body. For example, a large representative of the cat family (lion, tiger or panther) only needs a small amount of poison to lose his life 5-8 minutes after it enters the body.
Due to the fact that this bird can only be found on the island of New Guinea, it is not considered very dangerous to humans. However, the inhabitants of the island never hunt the ifrit covaldi; they consider this bird sacred and severely punish for its murder
The White Tern is a very elegant and delicate seabird with immaculate white plumage. Small eyes surrounded by black rings make them appear much larger. These graceful terns fly in an undulating manner with deep, slow wing beats.
For all their beauty and elegance, white terns do not bother at all about building nests and lay eggs anywhere. A bird can lay a single egg absolutely anywhere, as long as it doesn’t roll away.
The saltwater crocodile Crocodylus porosus is the largest terrestrial or coastal predator. Males of this species can reach a length of seven meters and weigh up to approximately two tons. It is also called the "saltwater crocodile", "man-eating crocodile", "underwater crocodile" or "Indo-Pacific crocodile".
The saltwater crocodile can live in salt water - but, as a rule, lives in mangrove swamps, deltas, lagoons and lower reaches of rivers. It is much more widespread than any other modern species of crocodile: its range begins from the east coast of India, passing south through the territories of most states of Southeast Asia, up to Northern Australia.
Adult saltwater crocodiles can safely spend several months at sea without visible harm to themselves. There are even known cases where saltwater crocodiles were found in water twice as salty as ordinary sea water. However, they are unable to drink salt water and do not do so even when extremely dehydrated. Instead, crocodiles minimize water loss and can obtain it through food.
It occupies the top position in the food chain throughout its vast range. There are known cases of saltwater crocodiles attacking other top predators - sharks and big cats. Juveniles and females feed mainly on small animals, while adult males prefer to hunt large ones. The saltwater crocodile sometimes attacks humans, although the number of deaths caused by this is often exaggerated.
Since ancient times (like the Nile crocodile) it has been an object of fear and worship in many cultures due to its strength, danger and fearlessness.
Kangaroo 🦘
Rescue through speed
Most species move by hopping on their hind legs. The length of the jump reaches 10-12 m; At the same time, kangaroos reach speeds of up to 40 - 50 km/h, although for a short time.
Beaver.
The structure of the incisors is such that they have the ability to sharpen themselves. To compensate for constant wear and tear, the beaver's incisors grow at a very impressive rate - almost 0.5 cm per month. However, if a beaver happens to lose a tooth, it is doomed to catastrophic trouble.
Why are peacock feathers so shiny?🪶✨
They are this way because microscopic structures, arranged in different ways, reflect light, which leads to bright, fluorescent colors. This effect can be seen in butterflies and hummingbirds.
The paradise flycatcher or long-tailed flycatcher is a species of bird in the monarch family.
📍 Paradise flycatchers are common in densely forested areas from Turkestan to India, northern and eastern China, and south to the Indonesian archipelago on the islands of Sumba and Alor.
Cheetahs are the only cats that cannot completely retract their claws.
This makes their claws blunter than those of other predators, but they are still very effective at capturing prey.
🐒 Nemean subtle bodies. They lead a diurnal lifestyle and spend almost all their time in the middle and upper tiers of the tropical rainforest. They almost never go down to the ground, since they both feed and sleep in the trees.
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🐻 Even though bears are omnivores, they are primarily predators.
But at the same time, 75% of their diet may consist of food of plant origin.
🐒 Compared to other monkeys, hussars are silent and use 4-5 sounds to communicate.
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A chameleon's tongue is approximately twice as long as its body.
When the lizard sees an insect, it unfolds its sticky tongue with such speed that the prey is taken by surprise.
The purple or lilac frog is a true mole among amphibians
She spends almost all her time underground, coming to the surface only for 2 weeks.
The purple frog's body has a rounded shape, which makes it appear as if it is too fat. The head, on the contrary, is unusually small, with a pointed muzzle and the white tip of a tiny nose.
The tiny mouth does not allow the underground frog to swallow large creatures, so it feeds on termites, small worms and ants