Killer Whale

General Description

Killer Whale are come in categories of  the  mammals. They have black and white markings on their bodies. They are swift, sharp, and dodgy and their  average sprints  have been recorded  up to  56 km/h. The length of a killer whale’s fin can be 6ft. They have 20-26 sharp teeth. The length of  each  tooth can be 2 inch long.

Killer Whale

Classification

They are  classified into three groups:-

·        Resident

·        Transient

·         wonderer

Habitat

Killer whales live in all oceans round the world. They can exist both in hot and icy waters. They do not migrate from one place to other. They can live upper, middle and lower  surface  of water.

Communications

The most interesting thing of the killer whale is,  the shrilly sound it produces. They travel in pods and each pod ( group of fish) is marked with distinctive sound which can be clearly recognized by a person who hears this sound again and tells you which pod is passing on.

Social behavior

All the three groups of killer whales  have  distinct habits. They live in the groups of 5-25 whales. Most of the time, they make calls and follow each other every where. 

Breeding

One calf after 8 years  with a gestation period of 17 months.  Life can  35-60 years (female 90 years)  

Hunting technique

They are quieter, deceptive  and clever hunters. They like to hunt in a team. The trap  the fish in between their pod and drive them to the shore when the fish reach the shore get entangled  with killers’ pod and hunted. They may jump out to  the sea shore to catch sea animals resting on the beach.

Food

Killer whales are  the over eaters. They swallow almost every animal. Their most attractive foods are : seals, sea lions, dolphins, fish, dugongs, turtles, penguins, gulls and other whales more than 10 time their size.  

Distribution

Killer whales are found in all oceans through out the world. They can be found in Polar Regions as well as Equator Regions.

Status

Not an endangered species, however at lower life risk.

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Gray Wolf

General Description

Gray Wolf belong to dog’s species and are generally considered clever and adaptable animal. They are of dark or light brownish  color. They live in herds called packs. The pack forms the couple members and last one or two breeds. They are found in Tundra Scrub and almost anywhere. It is also considered an endangered species. The size and color of the wolves depend upon the habitat, species and the food availability. Gray wolf  living in northern hemisphere is thought to be the most powerful, active and sharp species of the wolf categories.

Gray Wolf

Habitat

Wolves live in grassland , deep forest and scrub area. They occupy the territory between the range of 50-13000 sq km. It  is called their howling area. To avoid this, both the rival groups form a certain areas of land as buffer between the two. This is very useful for growing hunt and killing the prey when they feel hungry in extreme cases.

Breeding

A female wolf gives birth to 1-11 cubs with an average of 3-6 cubs. The gestation period of a wolf is 63 days.

Life  span

The wolves may live13 years in wild and 19 years in captivity. If they are provided with sufficient food, they remain healthy and fit for all life functions.

Hunting Technique

Pack of wolves attack together. They kill all types of prey ranging from young, healthy and disable but they leave the prey if it is able to defend itself. Only 8% of wolf’s hunt ends successfully. They are very good deceivers and  tend  to be not a threat for this prey but they fall suddenly when the time is ripe for the attack.

Food

An adult wolf needs 2-3 kg meat per day. But due to shortage of food, they may go without food for several days. When ever they get  meat, they may eat 5-9 kg meat at once and if the prey is big enough, they can feed on it for a week.

Communication

Gray Wolf are the wise, cunning and adaptable specie. They interact with each while howling. in open fields, wolf howl can be heard over an area of 16km.They can also communicate with the help of body language such as facial expression, defense and offense postures and showing teeth.

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Cheatah

General Description

Cheetah is the fastest land animal with an average speed around 105km/h. It has a long and lean body. It has a flexible spine which enables it to take huge stride. It has large legs and small paws. It has perfect splinting ability. The cheetah is known for its suprintellegence and perfect camouflaging ability which make it more dangerous than tigers or lions.

Cheetah

Food

It is totally carnivores and mostly eats antelopes,gazzales,rabbits, sheep, goats and wild /pet  animals.

Distribution

It is found through out the world with widely scattered population. It is also found in Congo, Iran and some parts of India.

Breeding

Female cheetah gives birth to 1-8 cubs which may bear at any time of the year. It has a gestation period of 90-95 days. Female cheetah reaches to maturity after18months to 2 years. It average age in wild life is 14 years and in captivity 19years. Female cheetah goes to a lonely place for giving birth to cubs. It protects it cubs and feed milk up to the time , the cubs  start walking and can eat with their own teeth.

Habitat

Cheetah are found in thick forest areas where plenty of food resources are available .It prefers to live in the place where it habitat is not disturbed by the human beings. They live between the range of 50-500 sq km. female cheetah lives alone(most of the time) but male cheetahs live in groups.

Hunting Technique

Cheetah hardly kills old, young or sick prey. It kills the animals which are in its closest range because cheetah has always a one minute  run and  a flying thrust  on its prey. That is why ,unlike tigers, cheetahs do not run for too long  for chasing its prey.

Conservation Status

Due to rapid increase in human population, cheetahs are also being threatened along with  similar species. They need open country with open patches of grass and trees. They use such places to ambush their prey and use it as camouflage to hide itself  to seek the proper opportunity to fall on the prey. But due to growing  human population, they are vastly disturbed and find no safe place to live in. Therefore, their number is decreasing more rapidly than tigers and lion of the same cat species.

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Lion

General Description

Lions were the second abundant species on earth after humans but their number decreased due to growing human population and ruthless predation from time to time. Today, lions are found in Africa  and some parts of Asia( India) . They are most endangered species and are killed for sports and self defense. Lion are carnivores and feed on prey. They live in groups called pride. They are distributed in territories. The male members are halves the size bigger than females and known as the king of jungle. The mane of male lion makes him awesome and dominant.

Lion

Hunting Technique

Although male and female both hunt but females are more suitable for hunting and killing than the males. Usually, the faster member of the pride launches attack on the prey and other male and female follow suit. They neutralize the pray by tearing it throat and  other vital organs. A single male/female member or a whole pride may participate in hunting together. They are marked with hide and seek technique to capture their prey. They  can follow their prey at a speed of 60km/h. during the  fight when the prey is tightly held, lion can breathe through its nose. It is worth mentioning, that the clever hyenas mostly embarrass and scavenger their prey.

Communication

The lions like humans are very good at natural communication. They produe  variety of sounds clearly understood by the pride. The roar of a lion can be heard over a distance of 10km. they mostly roar alone at day and together at night.

Distribution

Lions are scattered in Sub Sahara-Africa and northwest India .

Salvation

They are endangered species and their number has significantly bean decreased in Africa due to indiscriminate hunting for sports.

Food

Lions eat   mammals (like cow,goat, zebra , deer and stag etc).

Habitat

They live in grass land ,forests,deserets ,ebbs and  woodland dens.

Breeding

Female produces 1-6 cubs with a gestation period of 100-120 days. They  are sexually mature after 3-4 years and can live  a age of 13-30 years .

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Tiger

General Description

Tiger is  the most popular species in the world. It  is dark brownish, brownish and whitish in color  depending on the species and habitat. The Siberian tiger is the biggest in the world weighing 300Kg. They can be 4.5 - 9ft long and  weigh 90-300 kg with a speed of 70km/h. They are   good swimmers as well  can jump  up to  30ft in a single stride.

Tiger

Breeding

 Female  tiger produces 2-3 cubs. The gestation period is 95-110 days. Their  mating   age live in  captivity  for  26 years  and  for 10 years in  wild. A female tiger chooses  a lonely  den to produce cubs. 

Habitat 

They live in tropical forests and swamps and the places  where  the prey is found in abundance.

Food

They eat large hooves mammals especially goats, sheep, deer, buffaloes, cows, antelopes and   gazelles .

Hunting  Strategy

Like lions, tigers also ambush, surprise and attack its prey. A tiger attacks prey from  very close range with the help of  claws and teeth. A tiger has long hind limbs that enable it to jump up to 30ft, capturing  the prey from the most sensitive body parts like throat.

Man’s Flesh Eaters

Tigers are very dangerous human flesh eaters and  at times   like human flesh more than any thing else. However, they are not basically  human flesh eaters. They may be forced to eat in extreme conditions such as accidently eating the dead body ,but once they get use of it, afterwards, they turn to be  the worst cannibals (human flesh eaters)

Conservation

They like other rare animals, are endangered species. They are mostly hunted for fur and other body parts. Unfortunately they are being  hunted for sports. Mostly   the tigers are hunted as a precautionary measure   to keep them away from human population. Presently their estimated number in Africa  is 50000 – 75000 and 30000-50000 in Asia.

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Meerkat

General Description

Meekest are long-tallied members  of  mongoose family. They live in Africa .Their  females are  bigger  in size and  dominant than male members. The interesting aspect of  their social  life is that , one of the Meerkat performs sentry duty when the pack is searching  food or taking rest. They live in complete harmony with each other and scarcely fight among them selves .  All Females which may or  may not be  pregnant , provide milk to the young babies born by others. They have strong muscles and are well known for  digging.

Meerkat

Breeding

Meerkat produce babies through out the year .They are ever  green .Their young ones  like to eat food after 3-4 weeks of milk  feeding ,they  associate themselves with their adult members for  begging  food for  even a younger member.

Habitat

They live  10-12 ft blow the surface, in the places known as warrens. They roam to and fro in  search of food. They mostly roam around their tunnels  in search of food . Their  dwelling  area  is around  6-10 sq km, within which, they put up strong resistance if they are attacked. They are very possessive of their territory as well.

Food

Meerkat eat snakes, scorpions, lizards and other venomous insects. They kill them with high speed before  the prey should sting them. They dig holes and bring the prey in the hole for peaceful eating.

Sacrifice 

They perform sentry duty and never leave the place of  duty until replaced by another female or male meerkat. Their females  feed milk to young ones   born by other females,  with out any distinction, they nurture the babies. One of the meerkat nurses  and cures the sick or injured meerkat  lying in the warren without leaving the sick for a moment. Thus they become the most disciplined animals.

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African Elephant

General Description

African elephant is the biggest land animal in the world. The most known species in the world which is considered to be the biggest and heaviest is the bush elephant (a type of African elephant). They have curved bodies, large ears, distinct upper lip and nose. Their upper lip and nose form trunk which is used for carrying out life functions such as picking up food, eating food, drinking water and defending against predators. 

African Elephant

A grown up African elephant between the age of 25-40 years, weighs around 4500-6000 kg. They have an average height between 7-13 ft (both male and female) .They are of grayish or dark grayish color depending upon their species and dwelling places. They have four molars (upper and lower teeth) called ivory which are the most expensive trade items in the world. They replace their teeth about 5-6 times in their life time. Their tusks weigh 20-25 kg which are useful weapons for attack and defense. Their tusks are 6-8 ft long. The African elephants live in 37 African countries much larger in number and size than their counter parts- the Asian elephants. They communicate with the help of a shrilled sound called whistle. They can call their family members at the time of danger in a minute notice or when they find good vegetation. Their sounds cannot be understood by humans but generally they are considered to be wise land animals.

Classification

Living African elephants are classified into following groups:-

• African elephant
• North African elephant
• Bush elephant(biggest of all)

Habitat

African elephants like to live in forest habitat with nearby available water resources. They like to swim in water in hot summer. They live in a family unit consisting of 8-10 female members with their calves. Their calves are protected by mother and other family members together. Their young ones live along their mother and learn the art of living as they grow old. Male elephants live separate and join female bond in mating season and like to form group of similar kinship (males) to tackle their enemies.

Food

African elephants are herbivores which eat up 400– 500 kg vegetation (leaves, herbs and tall grass). They drink about 200 -300 ltr water per day. It is interesting to note that the elephants have inefficient digestive system that is why, they digest only 40% of ingested food. Had it not been so, they would have eaten up all the forest vegetation.

Reproduction

African elephants are very fertile at the age of 25-40 years .They give birth to their babies (calves) weighing 25-30 kg at the time of birth. The gestation period is 1 year and 8 months or 2 full years.

Hunting and Death

African elephants are endangered species because their number has significantly decreased in the recent years. They have ever looming danger from the ivory hunters who kill them just for precious organs called molars (upper and lower teeth). Other common causes of their death are old age (when they loose their teeth and cannot eat any longer) diseases and predation.

Protection

African elephants are living in37 countries and there many   zoological  organizations for the protection of elephants working under the governments and international  protection system  but only 20% of the total number can be claimed to be protected well other 80% elephants are exposed to all types of extermination.

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