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Loggerhead Sea Turtle Facts

5/28/2015

Loggerhead Sea Turtle Facts

Loggerhead Sea Turtle

There different types of animal cruelty and the naming of this sweet animal is just one of them. Who knew that some joker would have spotted this animal and thought that it's head was ridiculous looking and decided to call it the "Loggerhead Sea Turtle"? Should have been renamed decades ago. But sorry my sea turtle fella, i will have to address you as loggerhead through out this article, no disrespect intended!

So this magnificent sea creature is called the Logger Head Sea turtle, because it is a turtle with a big head which is also a marine animal. The loggerhead sea turtle is actually the second largest hard shelled turtle. It is first runner up to the Green Sea turtles, which of course are the largest of all the hard-shelled sea turtles.

How Big Are Logger Head Sea Turtles?
A loggerhead can have an average length of 70 - 100cm. The average weight of these slow sea gliders is 100-220kg. There however has been a weight reported of a whopping 545kg, now that is a heavy turtle! The maximum carapace length is approximately 214 cm. The carapace is actually upper shell are of the logger head.

How Do You Identify a loggerhead Sea Turtle?
Well you can always look at the pictures in this article for starters. Despite its logger head attribute the turtle is quite a charming fellow indeed. The head and caraspace of this animal is yellow-orange to reddish brown, while the plaston, which is the underside of the turtle is normally of a pale yellow look. The loggerheads neck and sides brown on the tops and yellow on the sides and bottom.

What does the Loggerhead Sea Turtle Eat?
The Loggerheads are not that much of a picky eater. One thing is for sure is that they are not meal chasers. The Loggerhead turtle primarily is carnivorous and you will find it feasting shellfish that lives at the bottom of the ocean. They will gobble down clams, mussels and horseshoe crabs. They have powerful jaws that makes it easy for them to crack open shell animals.

Where in the Ocean Would you find Loggerheads?
The turtles prefer to hang out in estuaries and coastal bays. Estuaries are bodies of water and their surrounding coastal habitats typically found where rivers meet the sea. Estuaries harbor unique plant and animal communities because their waters are brackish a mixture of fresh water draining from the land and salty seawater. The loggerhead turtle also inhabits the shallow water along the continental shelves of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.

How much Little Loggerhead turtles do Loggerheads give Birth to?
The nesting interval for loggerheads are between 2-4 years. They may lay about 2 -6 nest for each nesting intervals. The loggerheads lay about 100 - 130 eggs in each nest. The eggs will incubate for approximately 55-60 days.

Loggerhead Sea Turtle Endangerment
Overfishing and poaching is always an issue when it comes on to the endangerment of marine animals. The loggerhead is no different. The loggerhead is listed as threatened by The USA. What this means that the turtle is likely to fall in the endangered list of species or worse extinct if proper measures are not put into place to prevent such a horrible situation from happening.

Threats to Survival: The greatest threat is loss of nesting habitat due to coastal development, predation of nests, and human disturbances (such as coastal lighting and housing developments) that cause disorientation during the emergence of hatchlings. Other major threats include incidental capture in long line fishing, shrimp trawling and pollution. Incidental capture in fisheries is thought to have played a significant role in the recent population declines observed for the loggerhead.

Population :It has been estimated that there are between 40,000 to 55,000 nesting females.

The loggerhead sea turtle is a simple marine animal ans does not live an adrenaline life. It is part of the ecosystem and plays its role in another branch of life on earth.

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All About The Sumatran Tiger

5/22/2015

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The Sumatran Tiger is a subspecies of tiger which can be found in habitats of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Sumatran Tiger shares its home with many other Sumatran animals which includes but not limited to the Lion, Elephants, deer, monkeys and some really weird Sumatran plants.

Sumatran Tiger Endangered
The Sumatran Tiger is classified as endangered due to poaching rearing its ugly head all over the place. Poaching is always a dangerous act as it quickly reduces the tigers survival rate. Due to man and their lust for money, the tend to kill these tigers for their beautiful coats. Deforestation also keeps these animals on the decline as the Sumatran Tiger considers the forest as its home. Without out the forest and its natural habitats, not only would the Sumatran tiger have no where to live, it would also starve to death as its natural preys would also be excavated. The Sumatran tiger was classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2008. There are a fewer than 400 Sumatran Tigers still living in the patches of forest on the Sumatra Island.

Identifying The Sumatran Tiger?
So if you are strolling through the Sumatran Forest and a tiger begins to stalk you, aside from running breathlessly for your life, How would you know its a Sumatran tiger? Well not because you are in the Sumatran Forest you assume it must be a Sumatran tiger! It could have been another subspecies imported to that forest. You can tell if you spotted a Sumatran Tiger by the heavy black stripes on its orange coat, they are also smaller than any other tiger subspecies. And if you feel like being dinner that day, go take a closer look!

What does The Sumatran Tiger Eat?
Surely not honey and wheat. There are a wide range of animals living on the island of Sumatra which is preyed upon by the Sumatran Tiger. Some of the tigers preys include, monkeys, deers, wild pigs and many more.

What is the Average Life Span of The Sumatran Tiger?
You could say that the Sumatran tiger is no fan of long living. The lifespan of the Sumatran tiger is about 15 to 20 years in the wild and up to 25 years in captivity.

How Much Does The Sumatran Tiger Weigh?
We know that the Sumatran tiger is the smallest subspecies of tigers and should weigh substantially less. The average length and weight of a male Sumatran tiger is 2.4 meters (8 feet) and 120 kilograms (265 pounds). While the average length and weight of a female Sumatran tiger is 2.2 meters (7 feet) and 90 kilograms (200 pounds). Compared that to other Siberian species of tiger and you get at least 300 pounds difference in weight!

How many Cubs do the Sumatran Tigers have?
When it comes on to reproduction with the Sumatran tiger, there is no specific time to breed. The gestation period of the tiger is 100-103 days, the Sumatran tiger will give birth to a maximum of six Sumatran cubs. Like many other tiger subspecies, the cubs are born blind and helpless and will rely heavily on their mothers milk for nutrition for the first eight weeks. After about 6 to 8 months, the cubs will be introduced to eating meat. They will rely on the hunting skills of their mother until around 18 months when they will begin to hunt for themselves. At about a ripe age of 2, the cubs would have started to depart from their mothers bosom as they have become fully independent and they will go about living their solitary lives.

Social life
The Sumatran tiger is a loner, numero uno, a solitary animal. The Sumatran Tiger is a very territorial hunter and will not allow another male to live within the boundaries of its claimed territory. They sometimes claw on trees as a way to let other male tigers know that this area is occupied and should move along. It seems like no matter the species, the females are always shown special attention and many times privileges. The male Sumatran tiger will not share his territory with another male but don't mind the females overlapping on his territory.

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All About The Bengal Tiger

5/20/2015

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Bengal Tiger

The Bengal Tiger
Now here is a bad boy you would not want to stumble upon and looking it straight in the eye. Chances are that you have just made the Bengal's tiger day and has prevented him from exerting all his energy by going out hunting as you now have become dinner. So my suggestion to you before you go butterfly hunting in India is to rub on those tiger repellent lotion first. (Of course you know there is no such thing as a tiger repellent lotion right?) OK, enough of the chat about Bengals eating humans, lets look at some

Bengal Tiger Facts
Scientific Name of the Bengal Tiger is Panthera Tigris Tigris

Where Do Bengal Tigers Live?
If you find yourself wondering across India you will definitely meet upon some Bengal tigers. They are primarily found in inhabiting this location. However, small populations can also be sen in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and even China.

How Many Tigers Bengal Tigers Exist Today?
When we do a count on our natural wild animals, it is always disheartening to view or hear the results. The Bengal tiger was a big factor in poaching which saw the numbers dwindling. India help to bring up the Bengal tigers numbers by creating a natural reserves to help protect the tigers. The Bengal tiger is one of the more numerous tiger subspecies with a count of approximately 2500 left in the wild. Poaching will always be an issue and thus the tigers should always be closely monitored and more reserves established to prevent an extinction. The Sundarban mangrove that is shared between India and Bangladesh is the only mangrove forest where you will be able to spot these magnificent striped animals.
The Sundarbans are increasingly threatened by sea level rise as a result of climate change.

What do Bengal Tigers Eat?
Don't go expecting the Bengal to be sitting by a stream having Kellogs frosted flakes and milk. Forget about that tiger on the cereal box and look at the tiger in the wild. Tigers are carnivores. They prefer to have a nice tasty wild pig any day over cereal. The Bengal Tiger hunts large ungulates such as Chital, (a large deer that normally roams the forest of India) Sambar (another type of large deer), Gaur (a type of buffalo), and to a lesser extent also Barasingha (another Large deer), Water Buffalo, Nilgai (Antelope), serow (a form of goat) and takin (a form of goat). Among the medium-sized prey species they frequently kill wild boar, and occasionally hog deer, muntjac and Gray langur.

How Much Cubs Do The Bengal Tiger Have?
The Bengal will carry her young in the womb for 3-4 months. The female Bengal will find a safe and solitary place to give birth to her cubs which is an average of about 3-5 cubs. These new cubs are born blind and as a blind animal eventually helpless. The mother takes care of Bengal cubs by feeding them milk for around 2-21/2 months. After the lactose period, the Bengal tiger mommy will eventually introduce the Bengal cubs to meat. The mother will hunt and bring dinner home to these cubs until they are about 18 months then they will have to go out on their own to look their own meals. During this 18 months, the tigers will watch the hunts and learn and even simulate such activities by playing.

white Bengal tiger

What is the Average Life Span of The Bengal Tiger?
The Bengal tiger is not much of a long liver. The average lifespan of the tiger living in the wild is around 8-12 years, very short.

What is the Average weight of the Bengal Tiger?
Talk about packing on the pounds. The Bengal has an average weight of 140kg - 300kg (309lbs - 660lbs)

How fast can these tigers run?
Well, when the Bengal hunt it relies on mostly stealth and camouflage. In other words it is not much of a chaser. The Bengal can reach top speed of 96km/h (60mph) in quick burst but will not maintain that speed in a long chase.

How do the Tigers Live
The Bengal prefers to live a solitary lifestyle.

Whats with the white Bengal Tiger?
The white tiger is a Bengal tiger that has mutated genes, meaning that it is white in color with black stripes. Black tigers are known to have black fur with lighter colored stripes but are even rarer than the white tiger.

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All About Polar Bears

5/7/2015

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The Polar bear is a breed of the bear family. It is a massive carnivorous animal weighing anywhere from approximately 380 -450kg. The polar bear is 1.3 Meter tall for adult males with a full body length of approximately 2.5-3Meters. The Polar bear is a great swimmer and will spend a lot of time hunting fishes and seals.

Where do polar bears live?
Polar bears fancy the cold and snow. They have white thick furs and thick fatty skins that allow them to live in areas of extreme cold. You will find many polar bears living in Canada, Norway, Greenland, Russia and of course Alaska. These are prime areas for the polar bears as they are also homes to another animal which is the main prey for polar bears, the seal.

What do Polar Bears Eat?
Well aside from fish, polar bears love the taste of seals. The polar bear's main prey is the ringed seal. Polar bears usually hunt ringed seals by waiting for them to breathe at openings in the ice (leads) or at breathing holes. Polar bears will also stalk seals that are hauled out on top of the ice. The polar bears are real patient when it comes on to catching these seals as they can't out swim them so it is always a cat and mouse game when it comes on to polar bear and ring seals. The seals makes holes in the ice so that they can come out to breath. This is the time when the polar bear will try and strike to catch these seals.

The Seals surface about every five to fifteen minutes at one of these breathing holes. Seals also use air pockets trapped under the ice when available. The polar bear finds these breathing holes and just sits there and wait for the seal to come and get oxygen. The thing with this hunting method is that the bear may have to wait a pretty long time and chances are the seal may not come up at the breathing hole where the bear is waiting. The polar bear have gone hungry many nights using this method.

Even though Polar bear will enjoy a nice succulent seal, they will not starve themselves if none is available. They also dine on almost any other meat kind and vegetation available. The will consume small mammals, bird eggs, birds, whale remains, walrus, narwhal and some vegetation. Any sea mammal such as the Beluga or narwhal that has become trapped in small opening in a park ice (savatt) are very easy targets for Polar bears.

Baby Polar Bears
Polar bears will mate during the period of April, May to June. Almost all mating will occur on ice.
Female polar bears will give birth to two cubs about two month after they enter their maternity den.

Newborns are 12 to 14 inches long (30–35 cm) and weigh a little over one pound (0.5 kg).

The family remains in the den until March or early April. During her entire time in the den four to eight months—mother bear doesn't eat or drink. When she finally emerges with her cubs, she leads them to the sea ice so she can break her long fast by hunting seals.

For at least 20 months, cubs drink their mother's milk and depend on her for survival. Her success at hunting is critical for her own needs and for teaching cubs to find food for themselves. Cubs generally stay with their mother for two-and-a-half to three years.

Polar Bears Hibernation
Other than if the Polar bear is pregnant. The polar bear does not hibernate in dens like brown and black bears. Instead, adult male polar bears and non-pregnant females remain active throughout the year.

Pregnant female polar bears do a mini pre birth hibernation where they will dig a snow den, give birth, and emerge three months later. During this three months, the Polar bear eats nothing end will loose weight as she will simply live off her fat reserves.

When bears actually hibernate, their body goes through changes such as heart rate drop and lower body temperature. Mother Polar bears do not enter a state of deep hibernation because they need a higher body temperature in order to meet the demands of pregnancy, birth, and nursing.

Polar bears endangered
Because of ongoing and potential loss of their sea ice habitat resulting from climate change, polar bears were listed as a threatened species in the US under the Endangered Species Act in May 2008.
The survival and the protection of the polar bear habitat are urgent issues. Polar bears numbers are constantly monitored as well as their habitat.

Polar bear extinction

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Wasps Facts

5/6/2015

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Wasp are part of the insect family, the flying and stinging one that is. I am sure you wouldn't want to encounter stumble upon these bad boys when they are angry or by some means have disturb their nest. There are different species of wasp, but each species fall into two main categories:

Solitary Wasp
I am guessing by now you may know the exact characteristics of Mr Lonely. Solitary wasp have no friends and will live out the rest of their lives just flying around. They rarely construct nest as they are more of a roamer.

Social Wasp
When last have you tweeted to a wasp? These wasp will actually live in colonies and of course do make nest. These colonies can be small like a a few hundred wasps or they can be huge numbering in the thousands. In the colonies not all wasp are able to reproduce as many times this is the sole responsibility of the queen wasp. I would not envy her for that job because all the queen wasp does is sit around all day and produce eggs. She doesn't fly out everyday to sting a few here and there and catch a little air time. Most of the workers within these colonies are sterile female workers.

Lets look at The Characteristics of Wasp

The normal Wasp is equipped with two pair of wings; so the wasp has four wings in all for weight balance and of course flight control.
Wasp are Parasitoids, You just learned a new word to day my wasp reading friend. What this means is that the wasp may use it's pray for reproductive purposes. As gross as it may sound, a wasp would love to lay ts egg in a dead spider. Wasp preys eventually become its host for its brand new off springs.
Wasp possess and stinger or ovipositor. This is what they use to defend themselves and bring food or a nesting host. Did you know that only females wasp are capable of stinging? How comes you ask? Elementary my dear boy. Since the stinger is part of the ovipositor and only females wasp has this sex organs. Its a no sting for males

What do Wasp Eat
When the wasp are larvae, meaning when they are babies, they are mostly grown in some host such as a spiders guts and will eventually eat out their host and become fit and healthy wasp where their return of the living dead eating habits will be over and they will then begin to crave and seek nectar.

Queen Wasp
Long Live the Queen, Long Live The Queen...Wasp that is. We have always heard about the queen in the Ant, Bee and Wasp Colonies. Have you ever asked yourself why these insects need a queen? How did she come by this royalty? Why there is no King Bee or King Wasp? Well here is how the queen got her royalty.

A queen was is picked from birth. Once the wasp identify a special larvae laid by a queen, that larvae is treated differently in order to produce another queen to continue the reproductive cycle so that the wasp generation may live on. The larvae selected for queening is also fed differently. It is given special protein that will foster high reproduction once those larvae becomes adult wasp. The larvae that become queens have high levels of a group of proteins that enable them to survive the winter and reproduce next year, whereas the ones that become workers are much shorter-lived and have low levels of these proteins. Now we know how a queen is selected but what about the king. Well the wasp queen is quite a solo producer as the queen is able to determine which sex the wasp will come as and produces the cell to reproduce without the intervention of a male.

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Africanized Killer Bees

5/4/2015

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So what is with all the buzz about the Africanized Bee?

Well before we go into why this bee is classified as a "killer" (poor little fellow) we need to look at a few things about the Africanized Bee. The Africanized Killer Bee is actually a result of cross breeding between the European Honey Bee and the African Honey Bee.

It is believed that a Brazilian bee keeper who was trying to interbreed the both European and African honey bees had accidentally let some loose. crossed bred bees resulted in a much more aggressive type bees that eventually made its way across the Americas. The bees are feared because of how they attack. They are well known to for aggressive swarms which will relentlessly chase their victims for miles. If your are cornered by these bad boys you will be aggressively stung hundreds or thousands of time leaving you either in excruciating pain or if medical attention is not received soon enough; death.

Africanised Honey Bee facts

Even though the Africanised Honey Bee is quite aggressive and even dangerous at times, traits that make them less desirable for commercial beekeeping. They have bullied themselves into becoming the dominant type of honeybee due to genetic superiority than all other counterparts. The Africanised killer bees exhibit without a doubt better and more honey production and when it comes on to pollination they come out top notch also. These little buzzers have to time to just sit idling, pollen and honey is their business, and if you accidentally stumble upon a wild nest of bees. Just leave them alone as they could be Africanized.

So we know that the Africanised Honey Bee is a force to be reckoned with and not something you would want as a pet. But what are some of the major differences between these honey bees and its Western counterpart:

Deploys in greater numbers for defense and pursues perceived threats over much longer distances from the hive.

In other words, these killer bees don't run out of stamina that easily and are very persistent in a chase. Their objective when chasing you is to simply inflict pain so you know the next time you are in their proximity you better stay at a good distance.

Is more likely to migrate as part of a seasonal response to lowered food supply.

Well, these bees will not stick around when food supplies begin to run low. They will travel for hundreds of miles to find a suitable environment where they can continue with their chores of making honey while they have adequate food supply.

Tends to swarm more frequently and go farther than other types of honey bees.

These bees are just natural swarmers and will do so very quickly. When these Africanised bees come together and form swarms it is like a frenzy which they love. An excited and ready to attack swam that just spells bad for you.

Has greater defensiveness when in a resting swarm, compared to other honey bee types

These killer bees are not just gonna sit by and let you trample all over their hives. If they have to go down, they will defend their resting swarm aggressively.

Have a higher proportion of Guard Bees in hive

These little yet aggressive dudes take their protection of their colony quite serious. On any indication that their hive is about to be threatened or is being threatened, they will attack mercilessly.

Africanized Honey Bees general Behavior

The way how many people describe the Africanized Honey Bee you would actually believe that it is a Goliath bees from mars with deadly venom that sucks on humans as lollipops. These honey bees are nothing like the picture some would want us to believe in their battles against the bees. The Africanized bee sting has no more venom than any other variety of bees. The reason why the African honey bee is feared is simply because of its aggression and its attack in swarms. The africanized honey bee will deliver at least 50% more sting to a body in an attack than all other bee species. They are relentless in pursuit and will basically chase and sting you many times. They will chase you over a kilometer in distance if they have to. Now that to me is one determined bee.

Queen Bee: Is the only bee in the hive that is sexually developed. She is the largest, and can be recognized by here elongated abdomen. The worker bee select which eggs will become queens. Once a queen is born, she goes on a mating flight and drone bees fertilize her. This fertilization flight can last her entire lifespan. She lives longer than all the bees in the hive. Some say she can live years and years, but she is most productive the first two years or so.

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All About Gorillas

5/4/2015

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The Gorilla is part of the great ape family class. The other members of this great ape class are the Orangutan, Chimpanzee and the Bonobos. The great apes are much larger than regular monkeys and display both physical and mental differences.

Differences In species

Great Ape

Walks Upright Longer
Larger than Monkeys
Tailless
Exhibit more intelligence

Gorilla Subspecies

Eastern Low Land Gorilla
The eastern lowland gorilla is one of two sub-species of eastern gorilla found roaming in the jungles on the African continent. The eastern lowland gorilla is quite common and is also one of the largest primates in the world. The eastern lowland gorilla can be found living in the tropical jungles and forests of parts of eastern and central Africa. Some can be found in lowland swamps and forest. The eastern lowland gorilla can also be found in the trees throughout the countries of Uganda, Rwanda and eastern Congo.

Mountain Gorilla
The mountain gorillas inhabit mostly the forest of Virunga mountains in Central Africa. These gorillas live on the green, volcanic slopes of Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mountain gorillas have longer hair and shorter arms than their lowland cousins. They also tend to be a bit larger than other gorillas.

Western LowLand Gorilla
These Gorillas are much more numerous than all other gorilla subspecies and also very wide spread. These gorillas can be seen inhabiting many areas in Africa such as; Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Western lowlands are slightly smaller than other gorilla subspecies, they have auburn chests (copper looking) and brown grey coats. They possess wider skull type, smaller ears and well pronounced brow ridges.

Cross River Gorilla
These gorillas are very similar in appearance to the Western Gorilla except for minor differences in tooth dimensions and skull. Cross River gorillas live in a region populated by many humans who have encroached upon the gorilla’s territory. Whom have introduced heavy equipment to clear forests for timber and to create fields for agriculture and livestock. The matter of poaching also is detrimental to the population of these Cross River Gorillas.

Mountain Gorilla Population
The total world population of mountain gorillas has risen to 880, according to census data released by the Uganda Wildlife Authority. The number of mountain gorillas has increased from the 2010 estimate of 786 after a count in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

What do Gorilla's Eat
Don't believe that Gorillas simple feed on ripe banana all day as so depicted on television. These are big and strong creatures and they are herbivores. Gorilla's eat leaves, roots, vines shoots, fruits and vegetables.

Gorilla's Behavior

Gorilla's live in groups, from 6 up to the most 13 members. The leader of the group is always the largest silverback who is leading the females and their younger males. The younger male gorillas are called blackbacks. Of course, just like in any other leadership position, the silver back is the one who makes the decisions on all group activities. Decisions such as when to move from a particular location, when to eat and rest. But with great power comes great responsibility (somehow spider man just pops into my head). The silverback is in charge of protecting his group and therefore possesses some characteristics such as alertness, aggression and many times edgy.He is the one who most likely will have to fight to protect his group if needs be.

Gorillas don't go out simply looking for trouble and tend to mostly keep to their little clan. They are a bit shy and are mainly active during day time. When evening falls, gorilla will gather a nest of leaves and other plant material such as shrubs to make their comfortable sleeping area. The mothers of course will share their nest or beds with their infants which are still being nursed.

Since the master silverback has exclusive rights to mate with the females of his group. When the younger blackbacks gets older, they will eventually leave naturally or forcefully from the group to find mates of their own and start their own family.

Gorillas are not far from humans when it comes on to reproduction and its stages. Gorillas will mate right through out the year. Well, the silver back does get to choose a different gorilla when he pleases. So mating for him must be something he just loves to do. When a female Gorilla gets pregnant, the gestation period is around 8 1/2 month. Just like us humans, the genera offspring number produced is 1. So a baby gorilla has entered the jungle for the first time and has opened it's eyes and staring into a gorilla's world. These gorilla babies are helpless at birth and of course is cared for and nurtured by its mom. The babies learn to crawl in two months and begin to walk in 8 months. The babies are generally nursed for approximately three years, after that they are on their own.