Animal
species profiles |
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The
giant panda is a national treasure in China and is therefore
protected by law. This unique bear has long been revered  by
the Chinese and can be found in Chinese art dating back thousands
of years. The Chinese call their beloved pandas "large bear-cats." People
outside of China have been fascinated by giant pandas since
they were first described by French missionary Père
Armand David in 1869. Now, more than 100 years later, the
worldwide love for pandas has been combined with international
efforts to keep them from becoming extinct. Click
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With
their bright feathers and strongly hooked bills, flamingos
are among the most easily recognized waterbirds. Their pink
or  reddish
color comes from the rich sources of carotenoid pigments
(like the pigments of carrots) in the algae and small crustaceans
that the birds eat. The Caribbean flamingos are the brightest,
showing their true colors of red, pink, or orange on their
legs, bills, and faces.
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Have you
ever heard someone refer to a koala as a "koala bear?" Well,
like bears, they are mammals, and they have round, fuzzy
ears and look cute and cuddly, like a teddy bear.  But
koalas are not bears. They are members of a group of pouched
animals called marsupials. Marsupials include kangaroos,
wallabies, wallaroos, wombats, possums, and opossums. Many
kinds of marsupials are native to Australia. Koalas look
soft but their fur actually feels like the wool on a sheep.
They also seem cuddly, but they are wild animals and don't
make good pets. Today, the koala is threatened by predation
by domestic dogs and by habitat destruction.
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Gorillas
have always fascinated zoo visitors. They are the largest of
all primates—the
group of animals that includes monkeys, lemurs, orangutans,  chimpanzees,
and humans. Gorillas are peaceful, family-oriented, plant-eating
animals. Gorillas have no natural enemies or predators
, yet these peaceful creatures are very endangered because
of humans. People hunt gorillas for food called bushmeat
. Logging companies destroy gorilla habitat . Africa may
seem far away, but there is something you can do to help!
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Long and
lanky, cheetahs are the sprinters of the cat world. Their bodies
are uniquely designed to run very fast for fairly short distances,
allowing them to catch prey that other big cats can’t
get.  Cheetahs
are endangered for a number of reasons. Genetic problems,
leading to severe inbreeding, occurred long before humans
began impacting cheetah habitat. Cheetahs hunt by day, which
means their daily routine can be affected by tourists taking
safari rides into cheetah habitat. Their habitat is open
savanna, the most likely areas to be occupied by humans.
There are around 12,000 cheetahs left, down from as many
as 100,000 just 100 years ago. Ranchers sometimes shoot them
because the cats feed on livestock.
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 Lions
have captured our imaginations for centuries. Stars of
movies and characters in books, lions are the top of the
African food chain . The Swahili word for lion, simba, also
means "king," "strong," and "aggressive." The word lion
has similar meaning in our vocabulary. If you call someone
lionhearted, you're describing a courageous and brave person.
If you lionize someone, you treat that person with great
interest or importance. Natural habitat for lions is now
only found in protected reserves, where lions are doing
well. Although there are still enough lions to provide
genetic diversity and prevent inbreeding , lion movement
between prides is becoming more limited.
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Orangutans are the
loners and the daydreamers of the great apes. While chimps,
bonobos, and gorillas are usually found in groups called
troops—socializing, foraging, or playing—orangutans
tend to be more solitary. It’s not that they don’t
do all the things the other great apes do, it’s just  that
they seem to have a more internal approach to everything.
Unfortunately, these highly intelligent red apes are critically
endangered in their rain forest home in Borneo and Sumatra.
Illegal logging, mining, and the burning of the forests for
farming have destroyed 80 percent of the rain forests where
the orangutans used to make their homes. If the current rate
of habitat destruction continues, experts feel orangutans
in the wild could become extinct in 10 to 15 years.
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Storks have a dignified appearance,
standing graceful and tall or marching deliberately on
slender legs. Nature has a good purpose for those long
legs, of course: they allow the stork to take long  strides
and wade into deep water or tall grasses and reeds in search
of food. A long neck allows them to stretch out to capture
their prey. Storks are also beautiful in flight. They fly
mostly by soaring on warm air currents, with long, broad
wings that only flap occasionally. They stretch their necks
out and dangle their legs behind them as they fly, making
them recognizable even from far away.
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Endangered
monkeys from African, mandrills are one of the largest species
of monkey in the world. Their furry head crests, manes, and
beards are quite impressive, but what will really get your
attention is their bright  coloration. They have thick ridges
along their noses that are purple and blue, their noses and
lips are red, and their beards are golden.
Mandrills are most closely related to and share a habitat with drills Mandrillus
leucophaeus. Drills are one of the most critically endangered primate
species in
Africa. Researchers from the San Diego Zoo’s department of Conservation
and Research for Endangered Species (CRES) are actively working in the
coastal forests of Cameroon to study and help save these primates and
their habitat.
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Tigers are recognized by their orange, black,
and white stripe pattern. The tiger is a stalk-and-ambush hunter,
and the stripes are good camouflage in
the long grass.  Dark
stripes on a pale background break up the tiger’s outline
as it lies in wait for prey to
come near.
Sadly,
it is possible that tigers could be gone by 2010.
Tiger
researchers estimate that there are fewer than 2,500 tigers in
the world.
But
there is a lot of work being done to make sure that tigers will
survive. In the early 1970s, India began passing laws against
killing tigers. Since then, other countries with wild tigers have
passed similar laws. Many countries around the world, including
the United States, have passed laws to stop the sale of products
made from tiger parts. International projects exist that help
protect wild tiger habitat.
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All the species of
alligators, caimans, crocodiles, and gharials together are
known as “crocodilians.” That is sometimes shortened
to “crocs” and still refers to all the species
as a group. Crocodilians are efficient hunters, and their
senses are
more powerful than those of most other reptiles. You may
not be able to see a croc's ears, but they have excellent
hearing. They  have slits on their heads that lead to a well-developed
inner ear, and the slits close up when they dive to keep
water out. Crocs can even hear their young calling from inside
their eggshells!
Of the 23 crocodilian
species, 12 are in need of conservation help.
Many croc species are hunted by people for their skins to make
shoes and luggage, and some have suffered from a loss of habitat.
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Polar bears are patient hunters, staying motionless
for hours above a seal's breathing hole in the ice, just
waiting for a seal to pop up.  Unfortunately,
many bears have learned to eat at garbage dumps. They could
be injured or poisoned by trash, and it puts the bears in
close contact with humans. This can be a dangerous situation
for both humans and bears!
For a while, polar bears were in trouble. People killed them
just for trophies, and they were losing some of their wild
places to live as people started moving into their territory.
Global warming has affected polar bears as well, as ice sheets
are melting, preventing the bears from traveling in search of
food. Many countries got together to help this magnificent bear
by preserving its habitat and
setting up hunting restrictions. Polar bears are doing better
now, but still need our help.
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 Giraffes are the tallest land animals. A giraffe could look into a second-story window without even having to stand on its tiptoes! It takes a lot of leaves to fuel such a large animal. Their favorite leaves are from the acacia tree. Acacia trees have long thorns that keep most animals from eating the leaves. But those thorns don't stop the giraffes! They simply use their 18-inch (46-centimeter) tongues to reach around the thorns.
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 Rhinoceroses get their name from their most famous feature: their horns. The word rhinoceros comes from the Greek rhino (nose) and ceros (horn). There are five types of rhinos: Sumatran, Javan, black, white, and Indian. What they all have in common are large heads, broad chests, thick legs, poor eyesight, excellent hearing, and a fondness for rolling in the mud. The Wild Animal Park has the most successful captive breeding program for rhinos anywhere in the world.
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 No other animal looks quite like an elephant. What makes them so unique, apart from their enormous size, is their trunk. An elephant's trunk is both an upper lip and a nose. A trunk has more than 40,000 muscles in it. That's more than a person has in his or her whole body! An elephant's trunk is so strong and agile it can push down trees, or pick up a single piece of straw.
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 With its eyes, ears, and nostrils on the top of the head and nose, the hippo can hear, see, and breathe while most of its body is underwater. Surprisingly, however, hippos cannot swim! Their bodies are far too dense to even float, so they move around by pushing off from the riverbed or simply walking along the bottom in a slow-motion gallop, lightly touching the bottom with their toes like aquatic ballet dancers.
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