develop at about one year of age but remains short and scraggly until the
male is three or four years old. Another physical characteristic of lions
is the tuft of long hairs at the end of the tail. This black tassel occurs
in both males and females. Often, when females have cubs or are being
courted by males, the tail tassel is carried high above the ground.
Researchers believe that this behavior allows cubs or males to maintain
visual contact with the female when she moves through dense vegetation.
Fortunately for us, it is also an excellent way for humans to maintain
visual contact.
LION: NO LONGER KING
You may have believed that African lions are the kings of the jungle.
Well, that's just not true. But the reason isn't because lions aren't the
lordly animals that you thought them to be; it's just that lions don't live
in the jungle. They live in the open savannas in Africa, which are grassy
plains with a few scattered trees.
Lions, of course, are big cats, but they're different from tigers,
leopards and other big cats because they are very social animals. They live
in a group called a "pride," which can have as many as 35 lions in it.
Adult female lions, or lionesses, and cubs make up most of each pride,
although two or three adult males live in it, too.
Hunting is how the lions get their food. They eat animals such as
zebras, gazelles, hartebeests, gnus and even buffalo. Lionesses do most of
the hunting but when it comes to eating, the adult males get their share
first.
Lions often hunt together. A couple of lions may chase the prey and
herd it toward other lions hiding in the grass. Then the hiding lions leap
out and ambush the prey.
When lions eat, they often eat a whole lot of meat all at once. It's
possible for a wild lion to eat up to 40 pounds of meat at one sitting. But
then it may fast for several days and not eat anything. While it's fasting,
the lion may be very, very lazy and just sleep a lot ... until its time to
eat again.
If you've ever heard the roar of a lion, you know what a thundering
sound it is. It's very possible for a lion's roar to be heard five miles
away if the wind conditions are right. Lions often roar just after the sun
goes down.
Male lions have manes around their necks. A young male will start to
grow a mane when he's about a year old. It's believed that the mane helps
protect the neck areas of males when they fight with each other.
Baby lions are called cubs. A lioness will usually have three or four
cubs in an area protected by rocks or brush. Many animals are born with
their eyes closed, but it's possible for a lion cub to be born with its
eyes open. The cubs are very playful and love to wrestle and stalk each
other. Lionesses often care for each other's cubs, which is a little bit
like baby-sitting.
Although African lions aren't an endangered species, there's a lion
subspecies that lives in Asia that is very rare and endangered.
So remember: While you may not be able to call a lion the king of the
jungle, there's certainly no reason you can't call him the king of beasts.
ASIAN LION
In the past, you could find hundreds of thousands of these lions in
the Middle East and Asia. Now, they number only 180, living on a small
wildlife preserve in India. Like the African lion, they've suffered from
the destruction of wild lands and from over hunting.
Once, people thought that Asian lions had shorter manes than African
lions, but that's not the case. Both can have either long or short manes.
WOLVES
COYOTE: PLACE IN THE FOOD CHAIN
Every animal on earth lives by eating some other living organism --
plant or animal. The sequence of eaten and eater is called a food chain.
The ultimate source of the energy contained in food comes from the sun. It
is stored in the grass, and passed on to the grasshoppers. The alligator
lizard, which eats the grasshopper, is the next link in the food chain. It,
in turn, is eaten by a roadrunner, which then falls victim to the coyote.
The coyote is called an ultimate consumer because nothing hunts it for
food.
But this food chain is a closed circle, the final link -- coyote --
being fastened to the first -- the grass. When the coyote dies, its
chemicals are broken down by bacteria and returned to the soil, where they
nurture more plant growth.
Like many wild dogs, the coyote is usually active at night, when it
can hunt safely. You can often see a coyote in the early evening and
morning, as it goes to and from its nighttime activities.
Coyotes can run as fast as 40 miles per hour, and at slightly slower
speeds, they can run for miles. If a coyote can stay close to its prey, it
has a good chance of getting a meal.
DHOLE
In hunting style, the dhole is like the hyena. It hunts in a pack with
other dholes, whining, barking and whistling as they go. Whistling usually
means that the hunt is unsuccessful, and the pack should reassemble for
another try.
It is almost impossible for a single dhole to kill a deer, but five to
twelve dholes can manage it together. After the kill, dholes compete for
the morsels by eating very fast. A dhole can chew up almost nine pounds of
meat in an hour.
Strong, wise, brave -- all these words describe the gray wolf. But
another word needs to be added to the list: endangered.
Two hundred years ago, the gray wolf roamed throughout North America.
But many of them were shot by European settlers and pioneers, who were busy
cutting down the wolves' forest home for houses and towns. Those wolves
that remained found fewer deer, moose and beaver to eat.
Today, the gray wolf continues to feel the impact of an expanding
human population. That, and the popular belief that wolves shouldn't live
near humans, continues to threaten their presence on our planet.
GRAY WOLF
Did you know that the gray wolf is the largest member of the dog
family? Apart from man, it once was the most widespread mammal outside the
tropics. As humans move into its habitat, the wolf had to move out.
Did you know that after humans, wolves may be the most adaptable
creatures of all? They're able to live in a wider variety of climates and
habitats than most other animals and can survive on many different kinds of
BEST LEFT UNPROVOKED
Wolves prey on many species in the north -- musk ox, caribou, moose,
deer, hares and even rodents. These carnivores are among the most maligned
of all animals, victims of false myths and legends and systematic programs
of extinction. They are accused of attacking humans and destroying entire
herds of domestic animals. But their depredations of livestock are less
severe than often claimed. And unprovoked attacks by healthy wolves in
North America on humans are unknown. Those recorded from Europe's Middle
Ages are thought to have been by rabid animals or hybrids.
The world will be a far lonelier place if the last wolf dies. As
biologist Ernest P. Walker wrote in his book, MAMMALS OF THE WORLD, "The
howl of the wolf and coyote, which to some people is of more enduring
significance than superhighways and skyscrapers, should always remain a
part of our heritage."
.
PRIMATS
APES: FUTURE
The future of apes is up to us. All of the great apes are already on
the endangered species list, and all of the lesser apes are as well.
Scientists who have studied them agree that all great apes will soon die
out in the wild unless steps are taken now to protect them.
Gorillas and orangutans appear to have no natural enemies, and
chimpanzees have very few. Gibbons, because they move so fast and live so
high up in the trees, are safe from any animal. Nothing could threaten any
of the apes with extinction until man started hunting them, capturing them,
and destroying the wild lands in which they live.
Today, hunting of apes is against the law everywhere, and there are
strict regulations controlling the capture of wild apes. But illegal
hunting and trapping continues. And the greatest threat of all -- the
destruction of wild lands -- grows greater every day. Tropical forests are
being cut down faster today than ever before ... at the rate of one acre
every second, according to a recent report. At this incredible pace, the
homes of many wild creatures -- including apes -- are simply disappearing.
Most endangered of the apes are the mountain gorillas. Today, there
are less than 500 in Central Africa.
And the other apes are not much better off. Nobody is really sure how
many pygmy chimpanzees or bonobos survive in the jungles south of the Congo
River -- but it is probably less than 10,000. There are fewer than 5,000
orangutans still alive in scattered areas of Borneo and Sumatra. And the
numbers of lowland gorillas and chimpanzees are declining rapidly.
Fortunately, there are people who are trying to save the magnificent
apes. In Central Africa, governments are working to protect the last
remaining homes of mountain gorillas. They have even organized guards that
patrol the borders of gorilla preserves to keep the gorillas safe from
hunters. The World Wildlife Fund and other groups are raising money to buy
land and make sure that it will never be taken away from gorillas,
chimpanzees, orangutans, and gibbons. And scientists everywhere are
studying the apes to find new ways to help them.
BONOBO OR PYGMY CHIMPANZEE
Biologists who have studied the behavior of these animals say they are
the smarter of two species of chimpanzees. Their hair is parted at the
middle and wisps out to the sides of the head, giving them an obvious
physical distinction from the common chimpanzee.
Both species of chimps are intelligent. They belong to the select
animals that make and use tools. You might see a chimp defend himself with
a tree branch, or take a twig and turn it into a useful devise for
gathering or eating foods. Chimps also communicate with many gestures and
vocalizations.
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