World_of_Animals_Issue_46_2017

5 snake superpOWers yOu WOn’t beLieve
TM
garDening
gOne WiLD
Get up close to the animals in your backyard
Geckoes
tOrtOises
seaGulls
OceLOts
bats
Which animal has
the most heart?
INCREDIBLE LIVES OF
SEABIRDS
eXtreMe snaiLs
meet the biGGest, most poisonous and fastest Gastropods on earth
reasons
to go wild in
mauritius
KoAlAS
Fighting
Fish
How to better know
a betta fighting fish
Meet the
DOLphins
Get to know this
playful marine species
LeaFcutter
ants
Learn all about these
tiny insect farmers
WiLDLiFe
OF a cave
Uncover the creatures
that thrive in the dark
australia’s sleepy icons
ISSUE 46 PRINTED IN THE UK £4.99
Digital Edition
GreatDigitalMags.com

Welcome
Did you know that the
puffin’s famous bill only
turns that bright orange
colour to help it attract
a mate, and that the
northern gannet has
evolved built-in airbags
to help it dive and hunt?
Turn to page 48 to find out all about what
makes seabirds so incredible and how they
have adapted to life above the oceans.
Seabirds are not the only animals with
unique bodies adapted to their environment.
On page 12, meet Australia’s sleepiest icon,
the koala. Eucalyptus can be seriously
dangerous to humans, but the koala loves
eating the stuff. Discover how this cuddly
critter has adapted to life in the trees and
how it manages to survive digesting the
toxic leaves it munches on.
Also in this issue, explore life inside a cave,
journey to Mauritius to find out why it is fast
becoming a wildlife haven, and get to know
the animals that inhabit your garden. We’d
love to see pictures of the wildlife in YOUR
garden. Until next time!
Zara Gaspar
Editor
Editor’s picks
Return to the Sahara
Here at WOA HQ we have
been celebrating another
conservation success
story. Read all about the
reintroduction of the scimitarhorned
oryx to its former home
on the edge of the Sahara
Desert on page 58.
Walking for wildlife
Do you love animals, but don’t
want to do a bungee jump or
run a marathon? Find out on
page 96 how something as
simple as putting on a pair
of walking shoes and joining
together with others can raise
thousands for wildlife charities.
Meet the team…
© Thinkstock
Lauren Debono-Elliot
Designer
Although they are notoriously bad
tempered, I was blown away by
the beautiful colours of Siamese
fighting fish on page 32.
Charlie Ginger
Production Editor
From bats to bullfrogs, many
animals call caves home. Dare
you venture into the dark and
discover the creatures inside?
Tim Hunt
Picture Editor
Seabirds come in all shapes and
sizes, each one perfectly adapted
to their habitat. We take a closer
look at some unique species.
Want to read the
magazine online?
Download the Future
Folio app on the
Apple store.
Follow us at… @WorldAnimalsMag worldofanimalsmag
Which snail is the speediest?
Find out on page 20
Visit www.animalanswers.co.uk for
Exclusive competitions Hilarious GIFs
Upload your photos and win prizes!
3

Welcome to Issue 46
06 Amazing animals
12 All about koalas
Discover the sleepy Australian
icon that survives on toxic leaves
20 Extreme snails
Meet the biggest, most
poisonous and fastest
gastropods on Earth
26 Painted leopards
Everything you ever wanted
to know about the ocelot
31 Which animal has
the most heart?
Strange facts about
animal hearts
32 Fighting fish
How to better know a
betta fighting fish
38 Gardening
gone wild
Get up close to the
animals in your backyard
46 Lost forever:
sloth lemur
Why the slow–moving relative of
modern lemurs couldn’t survive
human destruction
48 Seabirds
The incredible birds adapted
to life over the oceans
57 Bizarre: horned frog
The cleverly disguised frog
with a cannibalistic streak
58 Conserving
the oryx
Returning this graceful
antelope to its wild home
64 Explore the
Earth: Mauritius
Journey to this island paradise
to find out why it is becoming
a wildlife haven
72 Super serpents
Five snake superpowers that
you won’t believe
74 Leaf-cutter ants
Meet the farmers of
the insect world
80 Meet the dolphins
Get acquainted with these
playful marine mammals
82 Wildlife of a cave
How animals have adapted
to thrive in the dark
96 Walking for wildlife
How to raise funds for
conservation charities
82
20
26
The IUCN red lIsT
Throughout World of Animals you
will see symbols like the ones listed
below. These are from the IUCN Red
List of Threatened Species, the most
comprehensive inventory of the global
conservation status of animal species
in the world. Here’s what they mean:
ExTINCT
ExTINCT IN THE WILD
CRITICALLy ENDANGERED
ENDANGERED
VULNERAbLE
NEAR THREATENED
LEAST CoNCERN
4

88 Behind the lens
Conservation photography
with Luke Massey
INCREDIBLE LIVES OF
SEABIRDS
48
90 Keeping in touch
94 Readers’ Q&A
12
38
74 64
Enjoyed
the issue?
Subscribe now
and save 25%
Page 92
5

The amazing world of animals
6

The amazing world of animals
A group of northern gannets nose dive to feed
on a shoal of discarded fish just off the coast of
Scotland’s Shetland Islands
Northern gannets are special high-speed divers, able to locate their prey
from up to 45 metres (147.6 feet) in the sky. They hit the water like an
arrow, with their bodies completely rigid and wings tucked back. They
are opportunists, too, regularly following fishing trawlers in the hope of
snatching some tasty scraps.
© NaturePL/The Big Picture
7

The amazing world of animals
Every winter, monarch butterflies from North
America embark on a mass migration in their
millions to the warmer climates of southern
California and central Mexico
© Getty/Joel Sartore
Monarch butterflies are the only species of butterfly to travel huge
distances every year. They do so in their millions, leaving behind the cold
weather that would literally kill them within weeks, travelling up to 4,828
kilometres (3,000 miles) to return to the same trees as their ancestors.
8

The amazing world of animals
A young snowy owl nesting in the Arctic tundra
waits patiently in its nest for its parents to return
with some much needed food
During the breeding season, snowy owls rely on small rodents like
lemmings for food. A snowy owl uses a ‘sit and wait’ style of hunting,
pouncing on unsuspecting prey with its sharp talons extended,
swallowing it whole. Unlike other species of owls, snowy owls hunt
during both night and day.
© Getty/Arpad Radoczy/EyeEm
9

The amazing world of animals
A spread-eagled polar bear plays around in the
snow, scratching its back on some stray wood near
Hudson Bay, Manitoba, Canada
© Getty/Juan Carlos Muoz
Life is tough for a polar bear, largely due to massive habitat loss, but that
doesn’t stop them being among the most playful species of bear. They
live solitary lives, but have been photographed playing together. Young
males are known to play fight with each other, possibly imitating the
serious battles that may lie ahead.
10

The amazing world of animals
11

All about the koala
Koala
Phascolarctos cinereus
Class Mammalia
Territory Eastern and
southeastern Australia
Diet Herbivore
lifespan 10-20 years
adult weight 9-15kg (20-33lb)
Conservation Status
VUlnerable
12

All About
The koala
These sleepy Australian animals
have survived on toxic leaves
for centuries, but their habitat is
disappearing and their future is
looking increasingly uncertain
Words Laura Mears
© Shutterstock
13

All about the koala
Koalas wedge
themselves between
branches to sleep
Stomachs of steel
Koalas eat a diet that’s toxic to most other animals
For us, eucalyptus is dangerous. The oil causes a burning feeling
in the mouth, followed by vomiting, dizziness, problems with
coordination, balance and speech, and loss of consciousness.
In children – who have smaller bodies – it can trigger seizures.
Koalas, on the other hand, eat handfuls of the stuff every day.
They’re picky about which leaves they eat, and prefer certain
species, and certain types of soil; trees growing in fertile areas
seem to be less toxic than those growing in infertile soil. Their
stomachs produce excess acid, and their intestines are adapted to
process the leaves without the nasty side effects.
The major downside to their unusual diet is the lack of nutrients.
The leaves don’t contain much in the way of calories, and koalas
have a slow metabolic rate to compensate. They spend much of
their time sitting or sleeping, and their digestive systems operate
slowly to squeeze as much nutrition as possible from the leaves.
A koala’s life Koalas might seem lazy, but when they’re not eating or sleeping, they get up to all kinds of mischief. A koala’s life is in fact rather busy...
alpha Male
MarKing TerriTory
lone wanDerer
Being the boss is a constant struggle
Koalas are generally solitary, but males like to take charge
of nearby females. Rivals are warned off with loud bellowing
noises, and if that fails, a wrestling match can settle disputes.
Dominant males spread their scent
Male koalas have glands on their chests that secrete an oily
substance. They rub it against trees, especially during the breeding
season, to attract females and warn other males to stay away.
young males travel between groups
When males leave their mothers, they need to find a place of their
own. They move between established groups, hanging out on the
edges and hoping for an opportunity to set up a permanent home.
14

The koala
Life in the
slow lane
Koalas are slow and steady; they spend the
vast majority of the day sleeping, and most
of their waking hours eating. But they’re
far from lazy. Even running on a diet of
nutrient-poor leaves, they can still manage
to travel over 100 metres (330 feet) per
day. They can walk on land, and will cross
vast areas of ground to reach new trees,
but because their limbs are curved for
climbing, they are bow-legged on the
ground and their palms and soles don’t
properly touch the floor.
They are generally solitary animals,
but don’t live far from their companions.
Individual koalas occupy home territories,
but they overlap at the edges with the
territories of other koalas. They don’t share
food, though, and only visit the overlapping
trees during the breeding season. Should
another koala violate that rule, conflict can
often ensue.
Koalas try to avoid head-to-head battles
by using their voices to deter would-be
aggressors; they have a powerful bellow
that makes them sound much larger than
they are. Coming to blows consumes a lot
of valuable energy. Sometimes, however, a
fight is inevitable. Angry koalas bite, scratch
and wrestle, fighting in the trees and on
the ground. This can be very dangerous,
particularly if one koala loses their footing
and falls, potentially to their death.
“Koalas try to avoid
head-to-head
battles by using
their voices to
deter aggressors”
SeCreT CliCKS
Mothers talk quietly to their joeys
Females and their offspring stay together for at least a year,
forming a close bond. They communicate using clicks, murmurs,
squeaks and hums. If they are annoyed, they grunt softly.
BalanCeD DieT
The koala diet is hard to stomach
Koalas are one of few animals able to digest eucalyptus. They
tend to snack on the leaves from two or three local species, but
supplement their diets with other plants, including tea trees.
UrBan aDvenTUreS
Many koalas live near people
Koala habitat is broken up by human settlements, and koalas
aren’t afraid to venture into our towns and cities. They can get into
trouble with dogs and cars, but if they’re hungry, it’s worth the trip.
© Alamy; Thinkstock
15

Inside the koala
Koalas are adapted for an unusual life in the trees. They
have strong legs, flexible paws and curved claws to grip
to the branches, and an enlarged digestive system that
allows them to digest the toxic leaves of eucalyptus plants
Paw
adaptations
large skull
Male koalas have broader heads than
females, and both sexes have large
skulls in comparison to their body
size. This provides an anchor point
for their enormous jaw muscles.
vertical pupils
Most marsupials have horizontal
pupils, but koala eyes have vertical
slits. Their eyesight isn’t very good,
with smell and hearing being
much more important senses.
Sharp, curved claws and two
opposable thumbs on the front
paws help with grip. The back
paws only have one thumb.
Jaw
muscles
Two of the fingers on the back
feet are partially fused. These
strange digits are used for
personal grooming.
Digestive detox
Eucalyptus leaves are
toxic to most animals,
but koala digestive
systems are adapted
to process this
dangerous food.
Tufty fur
The fur of a koala is short and thick,
providing some padding when
they’re sitting in the trees. The
mottled grey and white colouring
helps to break up their outline.
Small brain
Koalas have smaller
brains than other
marsupials in comparison
to their body size, helping
to save energy.
Chubby cheeks
The distinctive cheeks of a koala
conceal powerful jaw muscles
and cheek pouches. Their diet
takes a lot of chewing, so their
jaws are enlarged and their
back teeth are sharp.
Oesophagus
large ears
Koalas have sensitive hearing. They
communicate using low bellowing
sounds, particularly during the breeding
season, and their middle ear is enlarged
to help transmit the vibrations.
Muscular limbs
Thick, stocky
limbs enable
koalas to
effortlessly grip
to tree branches.
16

The koala
Cecum
inFanCy
a joey is born
0 days
Like kangaroos, koala
babies are known as
joeys. They are just 2cm
(0.8in) long at birth.
in the pouch
0-22 weeks
The joey is blind and
has no ears, but
manages to find its
way to mum’s pouch.
© The Art Agency/Sandra Doyle; Nobu Tamura; JJ Harrison
JUvenile
pap feeding
22-30 weeks
Feeding on its mother’s ‘pap’
(droppings) provides the joey
with the bacteria it needs to
digest eucalyptus later.
Stomach
Small intestine
Large intestine
Closest family
Most of the koala’s closest relatives are extinct
pouch
Like kangaroos, koalas
raise their newborns
inside a pouch. It opens
at the bottom, and has
muscles that tighten up to
prevent the joey falling out.
“The koala’s large head
provides an anchor for
its huge jaw muscles”
wombat
The closest living
relatives of the koala
are the wombats.
These stocky animals
live underground
in burrows that can
extend tens of metres.
Their teeth allow them
to eat grass, which
has helped them to
survive to this day.
Marsupial lion
This unusual predator
had teeth like a
lion, a body like a
wombat, and arms
like a primate. It had
a powerful grip and
was able to climb
trees, leaping out to
take on prey as large
as a kangaroo or
diprotodon.
Diprotodon
This rhino-sized
marsupial is the
largest that ever lived.
It was found across
Australia during the
Pleistocene (the Ice
Age), more than 11,700
years ago, living in
a variety of habitats,
from damp woodlands
to dry plains.
MaTUriTy
weaning
30 weeks-1 year
The joey ventures out of
the pouch and starts to
eat leaves, coming back
for milk for up to a year.
independence
1-2 years
The joey leaves as soon
as its younger sibling is
old enough to poke its
head out of the pouch.
Finding a home
2 years
The first step is finding a
territory. Females often
choose somewhere close,
while males move away.
Sexual maturity
2-3 years
Males and females mature
at the same age, but
males don’t usually mate
successfully until four or five.
Mating
3-10 years
Breeding between
October and November,
koalas have one joey
every one to two years.
old age
10+ years
Sadly, many koalas
don’t make it this far.
Road traffic can be a
real problem.
17

All about the koala
Life in a gumtree
There are two things that a koala looks for in
a home – eucalyptus trees and other koalas
Koalas are native to Australia, but they’re not found
everywhere on the island. The population congregates along
the eastern and southeastern coastline where the climate
is wetter, the soil is more fertile, and there are plenty of
eucalyptus trees.
With food their top priority, koalas tend to cluster in areas
with high numbers of their favourite plants. They like to munch
on just a handful of the over 700 different eucalypt species
found in Australia, and their top food sources include cabbage
gum and ribbon gum. They’ll also snack on other eucalyptus
trees when their favourites aren’t available, including bimble
box, woollybutt and monkey gum. Eucalyptus forests also
contain other tree species that the koalas use for shelter,
including tall, strange-smelling turpentine trees and evergreens
known locally as ‘brush box’.
Koalas have thrived in Australia for thousands of years, but
the eastern and southeastern coasts aren’t just ideal habitat
for them – the fertile soils also attracted human settlers and
now there’s intense competition for space. It’s estimated
that 80 percent of their habitat has been destroyed since
Europeans first arrived in Australia; some of it carved away to
make space for developments, and some lost to droughts or
fires. From an estimated 10 million animals in 1800, numbers
have plummeted to fewer than 100,000.
Loss of habitat continues to be the biggest threat, and
according to the IUCN Red List, koalas are one of ten species
most at risk of the effects of climate change. As the chance
of droughts and wildfires increases, their future could become
more and more uncertain.
Habitat restoration
programmes are
underway to replace
lost eucalyptus trees
Environmental factors
Life in the trees isn’t as simple as it seems
Competition
Humans and koalas share the same
land, attracted to eastern Australia by
the fertile soil. But this close proximity
brings a battle for space, and at the
moment humans are ‘winning’.
Wildfires
Bushfires have shaped the Australian
landscape for millennia, but if koala
populations are penned in by human
developments there’s nowhere to run
when disaster strikes.
Roads
With roads carving up the ground
between koala strongholds, traffic
accidents are a real problem. Males
are particularly vulnerable when
they go looking for a mate.
Predators
Even though they’re high in the
trees, koalas aren’t invulnerable to
predators. Dingoes, owls, eagles
and pythons all pose a threat, as do
invasive species like cats and foxes.
18

The koala
Pushed to the edge
Koalas live on the eastern and southeastern edges of Australia, but
their numbers have dropped dramatically over the past 200 years,
and populations are now severely fragmented.
Current population range
Nearest
neighbours
Koalas share their treetop
homes with a host of weird and
wonderful animals
Koalas are extinct in most of Australia
Sugar glider
These little marsupials hide in the
hollows of trees during the day, and
spend their nights out foraging for
sap, nectar and insects. Like koalas,
they depend on the trees for survival
and are vulnerable to deforestation.
Short-beaked echidna
Echidnas might look a bit like
hedgehogs, but they aren’t closely
related. They are monotremes (like
the platypus), laying eggs despite
being mammals. Like marsupials,
they have a pouch.
A ‘bear’
down under
Koalas sleep for
20 hours a day
Koalas don’t usually visit
each other unless it’s
breeding season
Southern koalas have
more fur than their
northern counterparts
Koalas get moisture from
their food and rarely drink
Joeys cling tightly to
their mothers for about
a year
Male koalas bite, scratch
and fight for dominance
Koalas use their sharp
claws to shimmy up and
down trees
Koalas eat up to 0.5kg
(1.1Ib) of leaves every day
Male koalas threaten
rivals by bellowing
Ringtail possum
These cat-sized marsupials are
skillful climbers, and use their tail as
an extra limb when swinging in the
trees. They have adapted well to life
alongside humans, and can often be
seen in suburban gardens.
Little red flying fox
These bats can climb as well as fly,
and spend their lives in the trees. They
eat fruit and nectar, and like bees, they
transfer pollen from flower to flower
when they feed. They have a particular
fondness for eucalyptus.
© freevectormaps.com; Thinkstock; Suzi Eszterhas/Minden Pictures/FLPA
19

ExtrEmE
SNAILS
Famous for their slow speed and fragile shells,
these molluscs possess secret powers that are
almost beyond belief
Words Amy Grisdale
An estimated 80,000 snail species exist on Earth,
surviving in arid deserts and abyssal ocean depths.
Most are marine species, while around 40 per cent
live on land. All of these species share common
traits as members of the Gastropod class. This
name literally translates as ‘stomach foot’, as the
insides of a snail are twisted in such a way that the
digestive organs lie directly above the fleshy ‘foot’.
Their protective shell is made from tough calcium
carbonate; a substance that can withstand high
pressure and temperature and acts as armour.
Most terrestrial species are herbivorous, but a
great number that live in the ocean are meat-eaters,
and some have developed extreme adaptations to
take down animals that are larger and faster than
themselves. Those that live on shores face exposure
to predators and battle the elements on a daily basis,
while some invade fresh water despite breathing air.
Snails make up 80 per cent of all living molluscs
and are an incredibly successful group of animals that
emerged around 250 million years before the first
dinosaurs, and survive across the planet to this day.
20

Strongest
Extreme snails
Limpet
tongues are
tougher than
titanium
A common sight at the seaside,
these hardy snails are miniature
scouring pads that scrape every
scrap of food from bare rock
The life of a limpet may look almost nonexistent
to the casual observer. Their shells
stick to rocks and appear to stay still while
waiting for the tide to cover them back up,
but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Beneath the conical shell is the radula,
which is a ribbon-shaped organ similar
to a human tongue. The big difference is
that the radula is covered with tooth-like
daggers made of the strongest material
known to humans. These ‘teeth’ are
compressed fibres and can be 100-times
thinner than a human hair. Despite being
microscopic, they are designed to scrape
back and forth across rocks for hours
on end without eroding throughout the
limpet’s life, which can be up to 20 years.
Each tooth has equal strength regardless
of its size, and lifts particles of algae from
the rocks that can then be eaten by the
limpet. The animal is always on the move,
and footage of foraging limpets can be
sped up to reveal how far they travel each
day. Once all the food has been prised free
from the rock the snail moves on to find
more, though some species return to their
original place at the end of each day. This is
known as the ‘home scar’, and they follow
their own trail of chemicals to find it.
On top of this, limpets compete with one
another for space. More than 300 snails
can live within a single square metre
(10.7 square feet) and have even been
known to shove one another off rocks.
Radula
This long tongue can
grow to double the
length of the shell and
the teeth are stronger
than any substance
known to humankind.
“An estimated 80,000
species exist, most of
which are marine”
21

Extreme snails
Most protective
Apple snail
eggs destroy
the central
nervous
system
As if living underwater while needing
to breathe air isn’t enough, these
snails go the extra mile to protect their
progeny from predators
This tropical freshwater species takes child
safety seriously. Females risk their lives by
leaving the water to find an aerial surface
for their eggs to develop in peace. In some
apple snail species the preferred location is
a stone or log at the surface, but most seek
out high-up plant stems that tower above
the water.
Their eggs are bright pink to warn off
egg hunters – those that do eat them meet
a grisly end. The toxin inside is a unique
combination of proteins that remains
active even when it has passed through a
predator’s entire digestive system. Of all
their natural predators, only tropical fire
ants are able to survive eating these eggs.
Apple snails are able
to lay so many of these
protected eggs that the
species has colonised
new environments and
even become a pest
22

Kindest
Extreme snails
Queen conches give
vulnerable ocean
animals a home
Prized as a decoration above the waves, this giant
snail goes through life helping others, asking for
nothing in return
Sometimes animals form mutual
relationships where both species
rake in benefits. But that’s not
what happens with the queen
conch. Interactions with this
peaceful vegetarian are known as
commensal because they don’t
benefit the host in any way.
Measuring up to 30 centimetres
(12 inches), its large shell provides
a surface for animals to bind to,
such as barnacles, who can’t feed
unless they’re stuck down. Small
fish and crabs even make their
way inside the spacious shell to
hide from predators, and the
conch tolerates these invasions.
This snail is even a breeder of
bacteria that is at the bottom of
the ocean food chain. Microbes
feed on scraps the conch can’t
finish and provide the ocean with
life-giving bacteria that in turn
feeds plankton.
Friends of
the queen
These are just some
of the animals that the
queen conch allows to
share its shell
Slipper limpet
Porcelain crab
Cardinal fish
23

Extreme snails
Deadliest
Cone snails pump prey with poison
Even humans fear this predator, which is known by scuba divers as an animal to avoid at all costs
The problem this species faces is simple – it’s
a slow-moving snail that eats fast-swimming
fish and needs to be able to catch prey without
expending too much energy. A high-speed
chase is out of the question, but thankfully for
this snail it has a lethal trick in its shell. During
its evolution it developed a weapon that allows
it to kill anything that gets too close.
Cone snails can modify
their venom to create
different lethal cocktails
to stun a variety of prey
Tucked beneath its speckled shell is a
harpoon filled with venom for which there is no
antidote. The fluid inside is so toxic that fish are
paralysed instantly, allowing the cone snail to
eat a meal without having to move. In fact, it’s
potent enough to take down an adult human,
and this snail alone is responsible for more than
30 fatalities to date.
This is not only the world’s deadliest snail;
it’s one of the most venomous animals alive.
Researchers are working to pick apart the
hundreds of chemicals that make up its venom
and have found proteins that are 10,000 times
more effective than morphine as a painkiller. It
also contains a form of insulin that causes the
blood sugar of prey to drop to a fatal level.
How it hunts
This static sharpshooter sits and waits for prey
Proboscis
Toxic
harpoon
The waiting game
With an arsenal of deadly poison ready to fire, the
cone snail stays in the same place waiting for prey
to cross its path. It even waves its long proboscis to
lure fish into the danger zone.
Harpoon action
Once prey is in range the snail throws out a hollow,
modified tooth that contains the fatal cocktail. The
fish will become motionless in less than a second,
saving the snail from having to pursue its meal.
Down in one
Stretching its mouthparts wide, the snail swallows
the fish whole; the venom has no effect on the snail.
It can wolf down animals that are equal in size to it,
and only the prey’s bones are excreted.
Violet sea snails
are pelagic (Greek
for ‘open sea’),
meaning they
drift along on the
ocean surface
Cleverest
Violet sea snails sail the oceans
While it’s impossible to determine how intelligent a snail is, this specimen
definitely tops the charts for being the most enterprising
This snail forms a buoyant raft at the
entrance of its shell by inflating bubbles of
mucus. It’s the pirate of the snail world and
spends its entire life floating at the ocean’s
surface feeding on venomous animals like
the Portuguese man of war jellyfish.
Interestingly, all violet sea snails are born
male and mature into females as they age.
Male snails release a case of sperm into the
water, which drifts towards a female who
can then use it to fertilise her eggs.
Everything in this animal’s life is
precarious, from the raft that prevents
it sinking to certain death to predators
seeking a meal. Its purple colouration
helps the shell stay hidden using a type
of camouflage called countershading. The
dark base faces upwards and blends in
with the sea when viewed from above,
while the tip of the shell that hangs upside
down is light in colour, making it hard to
distinguish from the sky if seen from below.
24

Fastest
Garden snails are secret speedsters
The world’s speediest snail uses special tactics to get around ‘quickly’
Archie the garden snail holds a Guinness World Record for
speed, having completed a 33-centimetre (13-inch) course
in two minutes. When the numbers are crunched, that boils
down to 0.01 kilometres (0.006 miles) per hour, which sounds
extremely slow. In reality, it is slow, but this snail species uses
techniques to navigate its environment better than any other.
The two types of movement in land snails are crawling and
loping. Garden snails crawl across flat surfaces secreting a
characteristic trail of lubricating mucus as they go. In times of
dry weather, to prevent water loss, snails will touch the ground
The Latin name for the
common garden snail is
Cornu aspersum
Biggest
Extreme snails
with only a few parts of their ‘feet’, thereby conserving as much
of their vital mucus as possible. This is known as loping, and
snails also do this when trying to evade a predator.
When retreating a snail can either hide in its shell or burrow
underground. Sticky mucus helps it seal itself inside its spiral
chamber or stick the whole of its shell to the ground. When
under soil, it uses a sheet of solidified mucus to barricade itself
in, and can shut down its body to stay dormant for lengthy
periods. These hardy snails can even survive temperatures of
minus ten degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit).
African land snails decimate the landscape
This mollusc is very good at doing two things: eating everything in
its path and popping out baby snails
Being big is a great way to avoid
predators, and in order to be big this
snail needs to eat a lot. It’s a herbivore
that feasts on plant matter, and uses its
keen sense of smell to sniff out crops.
Growing snails prefer soft, decaying
fruit, but lose their fussiness with
age. Digestion begins outside the
mouth as the toothed radula
works the vegetation into a
pulp before it’s swallowed.
Very few predators seek out the giant
land snail, but rodents, terrestrial crabs
and even smaller carnivorous snails
have been known to hunt it. This snail is
a survivor and farmers often find that
their crops have been shredded by these
mammoth molluscs. Even in death these
snails have a tremendous impact, as
their calcium shell rots, changing the pH
of soil and altering its potential for future
plant growth.
“Few predators will seek
out the giant land snail”
ACTUAL
SIZE
© Alamy/Paul R. Sterry; NaturePL/Joris van Alphen; Alex Mustard; Georgette Douwma; Thinkstock
25

PAINTED
LEOPARDS
A life spent prowling the rainforests of Central and
South America has produced a formidable and uniquely
adapted hunter in the form of the striking little ocelot
Words Hannah Westlake
Standing at only 71 to 89 centimetres (28 to 35
inches), the ocelot is one of the most breathtaking
small wild cats found in the rainforests and
thickets of Central and South America. The
pattern of each individual cat’s fur is unique and
hard to describe, consisting of open and closed
black bands and stripes on tawny fur, as well
as smatterings of spots and smudges that look
‘painted on’, hence the name painted leopard.
These markings help the ocelot stay
camouflaged in the dappled shade of a forest and
blend in during the twilight hours. Accomplished
climbers and swimmers, ocelots have a varied
diet, from birds and insects to small mammals
and even fish. They have been observed stalking
prey and tracking by scent, but they will also
sometimes lie still and partially hidden, waiting
for prey to pass by their hiding spot. Like most
carnivores the ocelot has sharp teeth meant for
tearing meat rather than chewing, and it is also
known as a fussy eater, skinning or plucking its
prey before tucking into a meal.
Unfortunately, the species faces many threats
to its survival. Ocelots are no longer legally
hunted for their pelts, but the fur trade had a
devastating effect on the population, leading to
the ocelot being classified as Vulnerable by the
IUCN from 1982 to 1996. However, with proper
conservation efforts, it is possible that the species
may start thriving once again.
26

Painted leopards
OcelOt
Leopardus pardalis
class Mammalia
territory Central & South
America, with a small
population in Texas, US
Diet Small mammals, birds,
reptiles, fish and insects
lifespan Up to 20 years
Adult weight 10.9-15kg
(24–35lb)
conservation status
Least ConCern
27

Painted leopards
Hunters of
the night
Keen senses make the ocelot
an extremely successful hunter
The ocelot is typically nocturnal,
though it can also be observed being
crepuscular, meaning that it is active
in the twilight hours preceding dawn
and following dusk. Even in the day, it
can get quite dark in the shade of thick
forests, so the ocelot needs to have
the keenest senses to search for prey.
Ocelots have very sensitive hearing
and they also have a strong sense of
smell, having been observed in the
wild tracking prey on the ground by
following odour. Whiskers also give the
ocelot an extra edge when it comes
to hunting; they help the cat sense
the world around them. But by far the
biggest evolutionary advantage is the
ocelot’s incredible night vision.
Cats – the species as a whole – tend
to have good night vision, and the
ocelot is no different. Their eyes have
more rod cells than a human’s, and
these rods are more sensitive to low
light. Feline eyes also have a tapetum,
which is a layer of tissue that reflects
light back to the retina, helping gather
more light as well. It’s also responsible
for that reflective shine in their eyes.
DiD you
know?
Ocelots are also known as
dwarf leopards because of their
markings and their small stature.
However, they are only distantly
related to leopards. Leopards
are members of the Panthera
genus, whereas ocelots
are in the Leopardus
genus.
“At this time, the biggest
threat to the survival of ocelots
is habitat loss and fragmentation”
Ocelots are
preyed upon by
eagles, jaguars
and anacondas
28

Painted leopards
The water
inside a
rainforest
is full of the
ocelots’ prey
Aquatic adaptations
Ocelots are one of the few strong feline swimmers
Ocelots hunt a variety of prey, and their diet is not just limited to
small land-dwelling mammals, insects, and the small birds they
manage to catch. This wild cat will also hunt aquatic and semiaquatic
prey throughout the seasons, such as fish and amphibians,
if the prey is available in their habitat.
Most cats can swim, but swimming well and swimming willingly
are other matters entirely. Tigers and jaguars, which live in lush
tropical jungles with wide rivers, are strong swimmers because their
environment calls for it, and being large, they have the muscles and
strength to fight the currents. It might be surprising, then, to learn
that ocelots, which are only twice the size of a typical housecat,
are strong and confident swimmers. Their fur is short and smooth,
which means it does not hold water and weigh the cat down too
much. The pattern of stripes and spots helps to camouflage the cat
as it waits for prey, and their sharp claws hold fast to wriggling fish
and bring the prey back up to the shoreline for eating.
Life for the
painted leopard
Females raise
their kittens alone
Male ocelots aren’t involved
in the raising of their
kittens. Kittens are around
three months old when they
begin to hunt alongside
their mother, and may stay
in close proximity to her
for another year before
venturing out alone.
Some ocelots
still live in the US
Only 50 ocelots are now
left in two small separate
populations in the state of
Texas, US. A decade ago,
there were over 100. This
decline is largely due to the
number one cause of ocelot
deaths in the area: vehicle
collisions on the roads.
Ocelots can get
very vocal
Ocelots make a variety
of vocalisations when
body language and scent
marking do not get their
point across. They make
a chuckling sound when
excited and yowl at each
other during courtship in
breeding season.
Rough tongue
The ocelot’s rough
and rasping tongue is
perfect for stripping
off the last morsels of
meat from the bone
and careful
self-grooming.
Round ears
Unlike the rest of
their body, ocelot’s
small, round ears
are marked by a
bright white spot,
contrasting with the
black background.
Sharp teeth
Ocelot’s mouths are
adapted for eating meat.
Their piercing fangs deliver
the killing bite and their
sharp back teeth tear the
meat into edible chunks.
29

Painted leopards
South
America
Current territory range
Hunted almost
to extinction
Thousands of ocelots have been killed for their fur
© Thinkstock; Dreamstime; freevectormaps.com; Gerard Lacz/FLPA; ZSSD/Minden Pictures/FLPA; Alamy/Terry Whittaker/Linda Kennedy
Though ocelots are an adaptable species and can
sometimes be found in the vicinity of villages and other
human settlements (or even highways and convenience
stores in the case of the last few ocelots living in Texas),
there are some threats that are insurmountable.
At this time, the biggest threat to the survival of ocelots
is habitat loss and fragmentation. Home ranges for males
can be anywhere between two square kilometres (0.8
square miles) and 43 square kilometres (16.6 square miles),
possibly even over 50 square kilometres (19.3 square
miles). A loss of this space can result in a lack of available
prey in hunting grounds and make it harder for mature
ocelots to find mates and raise the next generation.
In the past, ocelots have been assessed as Vulnerable
by the IUCN Red List, and were only re-assessed as Least
Concern approximately nine years ago (having been first
listed as Least Concern back in 1996). But despite this, the
population is still decreasing.
The threat began with the fur trade, when thousands of
ocelots were slaughtered by hunters for their beautifully
patterned fur. This led to a severe decrease in population,
and although the fur trade was made illegal decades ago,
illegal hunting still persists today.
Cats of the Americas
The ferocious felines that share the ocelot’s home
Jaguar
The jaguar is the largest cat in the
Americas. An adept climber and
swimmer, its recognisable coat is
covered in rosettes, which are good
camouflage in dappled light.
cougar
Also known as the mountain
lion or puma, the cougar has an
incredibly large habitat range, from
the Canadian Yukon to the Andes of
South America.
Margay
Slightly smaller than the ocelot, the
margay is solitary and nocturnal,
spending almost its entire life in the
treetops of tropical and cloud forests.
These carnivorous cats also eat fruit.
Jaguarundi
More closely related to the cougar,
the jaguarundi has short legs and a
long body and prefers to hunt on the
ground despite being a good climber.
They are also able swimmers.
Oncilla
Resembling the ocelot and margay
but with a more slender and lighter
build is the oncilla. They are generally
a nocturnal hunter, preying on small
mammals and birds.
30

What’s at the heart of
the animal kingdom?
From self-repairing tissue to record-breaking speed, each
heart in the animal kingdom is unique and imperative for
survival, be it during fight or flight
Cephalopods (aka tentacular
marine animals) such as the
octopus, squid and cuttlefish have
three hearts. One is a systematic
muscle, while two branchial
hearts force blood to the gills
BEATS PER
SECOND
Hummingbirds beat their wings
approximately 15 times per
second, so their hearts have
to keep up. The blue-throated
hummingbird’s heart beats
around 21 times each second
The resting heart rate of
an elephant is only 30
bpm – that’s nearly half of
that compared to a human
A blue whale’s heart
is the size of a
small car, weighing
approximately
180kg (396Ib). It is
the largest heart in
the animal kingdom
The zebrafish can regrow
its heart if it’s damaged.
In 2002, scientists
discovered that 20 per
cent of the muscle could
be regrown in two months
While humans have four chambers
in their hearts, cockroaches have
approximately 13 chambers in their
unusual, tube-shaped hearts
After a large meal, a python’s heart can
grow up to 40 per cent larger to provide
the necessary oxygenated blood to their
other expanding organs as it digests
A bear’s heart rate is
approximately 40 bpm
when it is active, but during
hibernation that rate drops
to as little as 8 bpm
If you compare a dog’s
body weight to its
heart size you will find
that it has the largest
heart to body mass
ratio of all mammals
A giraffe’s heart weighs
about the same as 12
litre bottles of water,
and has to fight gravity
to pump blood up their
long necks to the head
Starfish do not technically
have hearts. Instead, these
creatures have millions of
hair like structures called
cilia that constantly pump
seawater (not blood)
through their system
The fairy fly, a type of
wasp, has the smallest
animal heart. Its body
measures about 0.2mm
(0.07in), so you will
need a microscope to
see its heart
31

Fighting
Fish
Discover fascinating facts about one of the world’s
most irritable, feisty and colourful fish from the
streams of Southeast Asia
Words Amy Best
32

Fighting fish
33

Fighting fish
That’s not my name
The fighting fish are known by
many different names, but are
most commonly known as Siamese
fighting fish, due to their origins in
Southeast Asia. Some of their other
names include Japanese fighting
fish and Betta splendens, which is
their scientific classification.
34

Fighting fish
I can see a rainbow
The fighting fish can be found in
virtually any colour, ranging even
into marble and metallic tones. These
colours are caused by the presence
of guanine crystals that are found on
layers of the fish’s scales. It is through
selective breeding that the fish
become so colourful, as wild fighting
fish are usually a dull green colour.
Temper, temper
Siamese fighting fish are most
famously known for their
aggressive temperaments.
Without it, their name would
be obsolete. They typically
become defensive around
other males of their kind,
but can also become feisty
towards any creature that
they deem a threat. Females
can typically live together in
harmony.
35

Fighting fish
I choose you
The mating process of
the fighting fish could
easily be mistaken for
a dance. They spiral
around one another with
eggs being released and
then fertilised with each
encounter. The female is
then chased away, leaving
the male to care for the
fertilised eggs in a bubble
nest until their birth.
36

Fighting fish
Belle of the ball
Due to their colourful and
attractive fins and small size,
the fighting fish are sought
after by many creatures. Cats,
salamanders and larger fish
prey on the Siamese fighting
fish, while humans catch
them to display in fish tanks.
They are popular pets.
© Getty/Jaturapat Pattanacheewin/EyeEm
37

GARDENING
GONE WILD
Fancy turning your garden into a thriving nature
reserve? Follow these biodiversity-boosting tips to
spot captivating creatures in your own backyard
Words Matt Ayres
38

Gardening gone wild
Insects provide food for larger animals
and protect your plants from pests
Ladybirds
specialise in
feeding on plantdestroying
pests
such as aphids
While you may not spot them as easily as
birds and other larger animals, an abundance
of insects are likely to live in your garden.
These mini beasts form an important part
of the food chain, supplying numerous
animals with the nutrition they need to
survive. What’s more, several insect species
can serve as a natural defence against more
destructive pests, protecting your favourite
plants from the likes of slugs and aphids.
Ladybirds are some of the most familiar
garden insects and should be welcomed.
These charming red and black beetles are
brilliant at controlling aphid populations,
which can be a scourge on all kinds of
foliage. Ladybirds can be attracted by
plants such as dill and dandelions.
Other beneficial insects include
ground beetles (which eat slugs)
and dragonflies (which eat
mosquitoes). And while
they’re not technically
insects, spiders are a
fantastic first line of
defence against flies
and earwigs.
© Thinkstock;Gary K Smith /Alamy Stock Photo
How to attract insects
It’s well worth putting in a little effort in order to
build a bug haven in your back garden
Build a bug hotel
Include a pond in your garden
Leave some long grass and weeds
Avoid pesticides and insecticides
Choose insect-friendly plants
Don’t fear the weaver
Despite their portrayal as the stuff of
nightmares, spiders are useful guests
Before you brush away the next cobweb you find, stop
for a moment to consider the many advantages of
having these eight-legged hunters in your garden.
Along with other garden critters, spiders are
considered beneficial predators due to the nature
of their prey. While some actively hunt the likes of
woodlice on the ground, others spin a web and await
the arrival of pests such as flies and moths.
39

Gardening gone wild
Hedgehogs help
to keep your
garden slug-free
Hedgehogs are familiar icons of the
countryside in the UK, and their presence in
our gardens is a welcome sight. These snuffling
critters are a worthy ally for gardeners,
gobbling up pests like slugs and beetles in
order to fatten themselves up in time for their
winter hibernation.
Unfortunately, gardeners don’t always return
the favour by looking out for hedgehogs. Many
of our everyday activities can be harmful to
these spiny mammals. From mowing the lawn
to lighting bonfires and leaving out slug pellets,
seemingly harmless outdoor chores can lead
to fatal consequences for the hedgehogs that
inhabit our gardens. Sadly, this means that
hedgehog populations are declining rapidly,
with recent reports showing that their numbers
have declined by more than 30 per cent in the
last decade or so.
Fortunately, there are lots of ways to help
hedgehogs in their fight for survival. One step
is to assess your garden for hedgehog hazards.
Slug pellets and pesticides should be avoided
wherever possible; bonfires should be checked
thoroughly before being set alight; and bricks
should be placed on the inner edges of ponds
to provide hedgehogs with a safe way out.
Leaving out a pile of logs will also help
hedgehogs, attracting a range of insects for
them to eat and providing a shady place for
them to hide during the day.
Hedgehogs
are nocturnal,
so rarely seen
during the day
Hedgehog hazards
Bonfires
Hedgehogs seek refuge
in woodpiles, not realising
the risk they face when the
bonfire is lit. Always check
your bonfire thoroughly
before lighting it.
Ponds
Although hedgehogs can
swim, they sometimes
become trapped in steepsided
ponds. Bricks can be
used to create steps for the
soggy critters to climb out.
Slug pellets
Slug pellets can be fatal if
ingested by hedgehogs.
Sprinkle ground shells
around your plants
instead for a nontoxic pest
prevention method.
40

Gardening gone wild
Five rather
helpful insects
Ladybird
These famous aphid-eaters are
beautiful to look at and an excellent
ally for gardeners who want to keep
their plants free of the leaf-piercing
pests that ravage gardens.
Damsel bug
They aren’t much to look at, but
damsel bugs are surprisingly useful
pest controllers, curbing populations
of plant-devouring insects such as
mites, aphids and caterpillars.
Dragonfly
You’ll find these elegant insects
buzzing over ponds and other bodies
of water. They’re incredibly efficient
hunters, preying on flies, termites,
mosquitoes and other pesky bugs.
How to help
hedgehogs
Five top tips for supporting
these rare critters
Cut hedgehog holes in
your fences
Create a cosy woodpile
for hibernating hogs
Provide pet food and
water (but not milk!)
Cover over holes and
swimming pools
Remove sports netting
when not in use
Ground beetle
While some beetles are considered
pests, ground beetles are very useful
to gardeners as they eat slugs and
insect larvae that might otherwise
cause damage to plants.
Hoverfly
Although they look like wasps,
hoverflies are a species of fly. They
dart around eating aphids, thrips and
caterpillars, making them one of the
most useful garden insects.
© Alamy/FLPA; Thinkstock
41

Gardening gone wild
Bees pollinate our plants and provide honey
Bees are one of the most familiar and iconic insect
families, yet they need our help more than ever.
With vast areas of the countryside set aside for
environmentally damaging industrial agriculture,
bees have lost much of the varied rural habitat that
they previously relied upon. As a result, many of
the UK’s bee species are now extinct, and a host of
other species are now endangered.
Wildlife-friendly gardens serve as an important
refuge for bees, providing them with the diversity
Gathering nectar is the
bumblebee’s favourite
daytime activity
of plants and natural shelters that they need if they
are to survive. The bees in our gardens can be
broadly categorised into three groups: honeybees,
bumblebees and solitary bees. All are important
pollinators, and can be attracted by planting flowers
such as crocuses, alliums, geraniums, lavender,
sunflowers and wisteria.
Trees are also a vital food source for bees – just
five established trees can provide the same amount
of pollen as an acre (0.4 hectares) of meadow.
How to attract bees
Beckon these buzzing little workers
and watch your garden flourish
Invest in an insect house
Keep weeds like dandelions
and clover
Avoid pesticides and insecticides
Plant bee-friendly flowers and trees
Leave out water droplets on
pebbles or marbles
42

Gardening gone wild
Butterflies showcase biodiversity
and pollinate flowers
Butterflies are undeniably beautiful, and also serve an important
role as pollinators in our countryside. Sadly, these impressive
winged insects are in decline, with some four species having gone
extinct in the last decade and more looking as though they will
follow suite unless we take responsibility for their conservation.
There are six different families of butterflies, and you can find
many of them in your garden. You can increase your likelihood of
seeing these fluttering beauties by investing in the right types of
plant. Many butterflies favour a particular type of flower or herb,
so including a variety in your outdoor area can maximise your
chances of spotting different species.
Choosing the sunniest spots of your garden for flowers will
not only help your foliage to flourish; it will also give butterflies
a place to bask in the sunshine, charging up their cold-blooded
bodies with the heat and energy they need to fly.
The buddleia, or
butterfly bush, is a
favourite plant of
these winged insects
How to attract butterflies
These delicate fliers are always a welcome
sight. Here’s how to make a butterfly paradise
Create sunny spaces in your garden
Plant butterfly-favoured flowers and herbs
Avoid pesticides and insecticides
Provide tall grass and rocks for shelter
Leave a puddling area for thirsty butterflies
The best plants for butterflies
Painted lady
One of the UK’s most
recognisable butterflies, the
painted lady loves buddleia
for the high levels of glucose,
sucrose and fructose in
its nectar. Common blues,
red admirals and peacock
butterflies also adore it.
Holly blue
As its name implies, the
holly blue is attracted to holly
bushes, which provide an
important source of food for
its caterpillars. Ivy, gorse
bushes and brambles are
also popular with these little
blue beauties.
Meadow brown
The meadow brown is
particularly attracted to
fragrant herbs such as
marjoram. Other species that
you may find fluttering around
your herb patch include the
common blue and speckled
wood butterflies.
Clouded yellow
A migratory butterfly that
visits the UK from North
Africa and southern Europe,
the clouded yellow is often
seen perched upon patches
of clover, which is the
preferred food plant for its
hungry caterpillars.
Orange-tip
Wild and cultivated crucifers
such as garlic mustard and
lady’s smock are popular
with the orange-tip, an aptly
named butterfly seen during
spring and early summer.
The females of this species
lack the orange tips.
Comma
Named for the commashaped
white marking on
its underside, the comma
is one of many butterfly
species attracted by Verbena
bonariensis. This plant is
popular with honeybees as
well as butterflies.
© NaturePL/Stephen Dalton; Alamy/Richard Becker; Thinkstock
43

Gardening gone wild
Five birds in
your garden
Blackbird
The most widely seen garden bird,
blackbirds eat a wide variety of
food. Look out for them pecking
earthworms out of the ground or
singing from the treetops.
Green woodpecker
These vibrant birds are particularly
attracted to gardens with large trees,
which provide the cover they need.
Woodpeckers eat peanuts and suetbased
foods alongside insects.
Birds control insect populations
and give your garden life
Keen twitchers may organise exotic trips
around the world to spot rare and unique
birds, but you needn’t go to such lengths to
witness the wonders of the avian world. A
variety of birds enjoy visiting gardens up and
down the country; you can invite them into
yours by equipping your outdoor space with
a few simple provisions.
All birds need food, so a bird feeder is a
good place to start if you want to encourage
feathered friends into your garden. A simple
mix of seeds, nut granules and flaked maize
will be enough to attract sparrows, finches,
dunnocks, doves and blackbirds. Robins,
blue tits and wagtails prefer live food such as
mealworms. If you can stomach them, these
squirming bugs will bring greater diversity to
your garden.
As well as food, birds require water. While
heavy stone birdbaths are aesthetically
pleasing, an upturned dustbin lid half buried
in soil will do the same job for a fraction of
the cost. Remember to clean and refill your
birdbath regularly to prevent dangerous
bacteria from building up, threatening the
health of visiting birds. For shelter, place nest
boxes around your garden to provide birds
with a cosy place to hunker down.
“You can invite birds into your garden by
equipping it with a few simple provisions”
Goldfinch
The goldfinch has a thin beak
that’s perfect for picking out the
spiny seedheads of teasel plants.
Try planting some to attract these
handsome birds.
Jay
Jays are members of the crow family.
They are often seen during autumn,
when they bury acorns to retrieve
during winter. Scatter nuts around
your garden for them to eat.
Sparrowhawk
Sparrowhawks are one of the most
common birds of prey in the UK,
targeting small birds. Listen out
for the alarm calls of starlings and
thrushes to spot these predators.
Bird feeders can
attract a variety of
species, including
blue tits and great tits
44

Gardening gone wild
How to
attract birds
Build it and you can be sure
that avian visitors will come
Hang bird feeders
in open spaces
Provide a birdbath
Place nest boxes
around your garden
Leave out nesting
materials like wool
or pet hair
Plant trees with
fruits or berries
Nest box
size guide
The size of the entrance hole in
your nest box will determine
the birds able to use it. To
attract a variety of bird species,
use this size guide.
25mm: blue tits, coal tits,
marsh tits
28mm: great tits, tree
sparrows, pied flycatchers
32mm: sparrows, nuthatches
45mm: starlings
© NaturePL/Stephen Dalton
45

ost forever
Sloth lemur
This slow-moving relative of modern lemurs
couldn’t survive after humans arrived in
Madagascar and set fire to its forests
Big-boned
Skeletal remains suggest
that their bodies were
much larger than those
of any extant lemur.
Lemur claws
Their claws were
short and flat,
not curved like
those of sloths.
Hangers-on
Their limbs might have
been better suited to
hanging rather than
swinging from branches.
Madagascar
What the sloth lemur is
believed to have looked like
Vegetarian diet
Their teeth suggest
they ate a diet of leaves,
fruit and nuts picked
from the trees.
Considering the fate of the flightless dodo, it may
seem advantageous to be a species that lives
entirely off the ground when it comes to evading
humans. Unfortunately, that does not appear to
have been true for Madagascar’s sloth lemurs.
Biologists believe that most of the species in this
group lived in trees, yet they were probably all
extinct by the middle of the 17th century, partly
because of encounters with people.
Four genera of sloth lemur have been identified
from subfossil skeletal remains found in caves
and pits, including one that might have been
terrestrial. These bones have features that suggest
they belonged to mammals that were like sloths.
Analysis of DNA has confirmed, however, that
sloth lemurs evolved from a common ancestor
of extant lemurs. Even so, all sloth lemur species
appear to have been much larger than any
modern lemurs and the biggest one possibly
resembled a prehistoric ground sloth.
46
The long limbs of the smaller sloth lemurs
would have been ideally suited to a life spent in
the trees, but even these species are thought to
have been slow-moving. That would have made
them easy targets when humans began colonising
Madagascar from around 1,800 to 1,500 years ago.
Some of the oldest evidence of human presence
on the island includes a sloth lemur bone that has
signs of damage from what could have been a
primitive cutting tool.
Why sloth lemurs went extinct is not known for
sure. Anecdotal evidence suggests that they were
solitary, which might have meant they had a slow
reproductive rate. In combination with hunting by
humans, the burning of the forests by settlers and
the effects of climate change, this behaviour may
have led to a slow decline in sloth lemur numbers
until eventually there were not enough individuals
to sustain the population. The fate of these gentle
giants was then sealed.
Last seen…
Date: 1658
Location: Madagascar
One of the last records of a sloth lemur could
have been made by Étienne de Flacourt,
France’s governor of Madagascar in the
mid-17th century. In his book, L’Histoire de le
Grande Île de Madagascar, published in 1658,
he described a creature called the ‘tretretretre’
that had long, monkey-like hands and feet, a
flat face and was the size of a two-year-old
calf. If Flacourt’s account is of a sloth lemur, it
means some were still alive 360 years ago.
“Why sloth lemurs
went extinct is
not fully known”
© freevectormaps.com; Alan Batley

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THE INCREDIBLE LIVES
SEABIRDS
Despite being a huge family that spans the globe, these
nautical navigators are now endangered thanks to humans
of
Words Darran Jones
From the smallest storm petrel to the largest
albatross, seabirds come in a range of different
shapes and sizes and are able to survive in some
of the harshest conditions imaginable. They are
masters of adaptation, typically form large groups
(called colonies) for protection and many are
excellent flyers, able to travel enormous distances
around the globe in search of both food and a
potential mate.
Seabirds typically live far longer than their landbased
relatives and breed at much later ages than
other birds do. Some species, like albatrosses and
shearwaters, tend to mate for life, while others,
such as penguins, have evolved massively, losing
the power of flight completely.
The vast seabird family includes gannets,
pelicans, frigatebirds, fulmars, petrels, cormorants
and tropicbirds, and they can be found
throughout the world occupying a variety of
important niches on the food chain. Some
seabirds spend so much time at sea that very little
is known about them, while others are incredibly
well documented, which gives great insight into
their fascinating lives.
Seabirds are now some of the most threatened
birds on the planet, and it is humans who are
driving certain members of this expansive group
to the brink of extinction. Here, we’ll not only
be highlighting some of the most common and
interesting seabirds around the world, but we’ll
also explain how they’ve evolved to face
a life at sea and the many steps
that are now being taken by
conservationists in a bid to
save them from going the
way of the dodo.
48

The incredible lives of seabirds
Evolution of the seabird
Learn how seabirds have evolved in order to deal with their
challenging lifestyles and the threats they face
The sea is one of the harshest and most unpredictable
environments on Earth, so it should come as no surprise to learn
that many birds have evolved in numerous ways to live and thrive
in such a dangerous, inhospitable place.
One of the most obvious indications of this distinctive evolution
is the webbed feet that virtually all seabirds have; another is
their ability to deal with any salt they consume with the help of
salt glands. With the exception of cormorants and several terns,
all seabirds have waterproof plumage and typically have far
more feathers than other birds, allowing for greater protection in
harsh conditions. The wings of many seabirds have also evolved,
depending on where they live, with species like the albatross having
gigantic wingspans that allow them to effortlessly glide in search
of food. Birds like gannets and boobies have binocular-like vision,
designed to help them easily locate their next meal, while the
Procellariiformes order, which includes albatrosses, shearwaters
and various petrels, have a highly adapted sense of smell.
Perhaps the most evolved group, however, are penguins, which
have developed into such adept fish hunters that they have become
completely flightless, using their short, stubby wings to cut through
the water in order to chase after their prey.
“Species like the albatross
can glide through the sky
effortlessly thanks to their
gigantic wingspans”
Plumage colouration
Many seabirds are quite
drab to look at and are
typically dark on top with
lighter undersides. Some
scientists believe this is
to counter predators and
to make sure they are not
seen by potential prey.
Salt glands
Seabirds have
extremely specialised
nasal glands that act
as useful desalinators.
They effectively allow
the bird to drink
saltwater or eat
salty foods without
suffering side effects.
Webbed feet
Virtually all seabirds
have webbed feet to
some degree. They
not only allow many
seabirds to swim at
fast speeds, but also
act as useful propellers
when they take flight.
© NaturePL/Andy Rouse
49

Brown
pelican
Arctic tern
This diminutive flier is a
master of migration
Despite weighing 90-
120g (3.2-4.2oz) this
bird flies from the Arctic
to the Antarctic every
year and back. Some
cover up to 90,000km
(55,923m) in a year!
Wandering albatross
This bird travels huge
distances and mates for life
This seabird is a master
of travelling thanks to its
gigantic wingspan, which
can reach over 3.5m
(11.5ft). All albatrosses
are threatened to some
extent and this species
is no exception, listed as
Vulnerable by the IUCN.
Magnificent
frigatebird
The bully of the high seas
While frigatebirds will
happily catch fish on the
wing, they’re equally adept
at stealing it from others. All
species of frigatebirds are
masters of kleptoparasitism,
meaning they will harry
other seabirds until they
drop their catch.
Emperor penguin
A bird that’s perfectly
adapted for a life at sea
This penguin is perhaps
the most famous, thanks
to its focus in numerous
nature documentaries, as
well as wide-reaching
films like Happy Feet.
It’s the only penguin
that breeds during the
Antarctic winter.
50

Herring gull
This highly adaptable scavenger is
one of nature’s best opportunists
Although herring gulls fare
well in most parts of the
world, they’ve become
endangered in the UK in
recent years, with less than
half the country’s breeding
population confined to
fewer than ten sites.
Gannet
Northern
fulmar
Atlantic puffin
Nature’s colourful clown is
currently fighting for survival
This tiny auk is arguably one
of the most delightful seabirds,
thanks to its bright bill and
equally colourful character.
Sadly, it’s become extremely
threatened in recent years.
Great cormorant
This large seabird is moving
inland in increasing numbers
The great cormorant, like
the herring gull, is highly
adaptable. While it can still be
found on coastlines in great
numbers, it’s equally at home
on large stretches of water
inland, and can be found at
many lakes and reservoirs.
The range of
the seabirds
Meet some of the most interesting
members of the vast seabird family,
present all over the world
High adaptability and the ability to fly has
allowed seabirds to spread to every corner
of the planet. Some have taken to forming
gigantic colonies for protection, while others
have adapted to plundering booty from
other smaller seafaring birds. Each and
every one has evolved to fill an incredibly
important niche.
© Abi Daker
51

The incredible lives of seabirds
This large-billed bird is actually
the world’s smallest pelican
Once listed as an endangered
species, the brown pelican has
bounced back and is now a
common sight throughout the
Americas. Although it’s one of the
largest seabirds we’re covering,
the brown pelican is actually the
smallest of the eight pelicans.
However, it maintains the typical
characteristics of the species,
particularly its large, unmistakable
bill, which is perfect for capturing
its primary food – fish. An
accomplished hunter, this bulky
seabird likes to catch its prey by
diving into the water to catch any
stunned fish, although it will also
take small invertebrates when it
gets the chance.
Extremely gregarious, the brown
pelican is typical of many seabirds
in that it likes to breed in large
colonies, which helps to protect
it from predators. It typically lays
two to four eggs and has one
brood a year. In addition to being
the national bird of St Kitts, it’s
also the state bird of Louisiana.
BroWn Pelican
Pelecanus occidentalis
class Aves
Territory North and South
America
Diet Small fish and
invertebrates
lifespan On average 10-20
years
adult weight 2-5kg
(4.4-11Ib)
conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
“This bulky seabird
likes to catch its
prey by diving into
the water to catch
any stunned fish”
Disturb the fulmar and you’ll receive
a very nasty surprise indeed
The northern fulmar is a true seabird in the
sense that it only comes to land in order to
breed a single, white egg. Like many other
members of its family, the northern fulmar
has prominent looking nostrils that can
norThern fulmar
Fulmarus glacialis
class Aves
Territory North America,
Greenland, Iceland, northern
Europe, northern Asia
Diet Fish, plankton, squid,
jellyfish, shrimp, carrion and
refuse
lifespan 32 years on average
adult weight 450-1000g
(15.9-35.3oz)
conservation status
discrete a stomach oil to repel predators or
provide a nourishing food source (handy,
considering how long the bird spends at sea).
Its actual name derives from Old Norse, with
fÚll meaning ‘foul’ and már meaning ‘gull’.
Role reversal plays an
important part in this
penguin’s upbringing
These iconic birds are endemic to Antarctica, and
they do things differently to many other animals
when it comes to parenting. Young emperor
penguin eggs are incubated by the male while
the female searches for food. They are expert
divers, able to stay underwater for up to 20
minutes in search of food, while their barbed
tongue stops a caught meal from escaping.
emPeror Penguin
Aptenodytes forsteri
class Aves
Territory Antarctica
Diet Fish, cephalopods and
crustaceans
lifespan 15-20 years
adult weight 22-45kg
(48-99lb)
conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
NEAR THREATENED
52

The incredible lives of seabirds
This lovable little
auk is also known
as the sea parrot
The huge, seemingly oversized bill of the Atlantic
puffin may make it look like a clown, but there’s
nothing comical about its current life-threatening
status. Numerous conservation projects have
been set up to save it over the years, including
Project Puffin and SOS Puffin, but the bird’s
population is still declining in many regions.
While hunting and pollution have caused
problems for the puffin in the past, climate
change is now thought to be one of the main
reasons for the bird’s most recent decline. It is
thought that fish populations are being displaced,
stopping the puffin from acquiring its staple food,
leading to emaciated adults and starving chicks.
Interestingly, the puffin’s famous brightlycoloured
bill, which is perfect for stockpiling fish,
only develops its vivid colours during breeding
season. It’s otherwise far duller, but is rarely seen
due to the bird spending the winter at sea.
A breeding pair of
puffins will work
together to dig a burrow
in which the female will
normally lay one egg
“Climate change is
thought to be one
of the main reasons
for the puffin’s most
recent decline”
aTlanTic Puffin
Fratercula arctica
class Aves
Territory Northern Europe,
Greenland and North America
Diet Fish, crustaceans and
molluscs
lifespan 20-30 years
adult weight 500g (17.5oz)
conservation status
VULNERABLE
© Alamy; Thinkstock
53

The incredible lives of seabirds
norThern ganneT
Morus bassanus
class Aves
Territory North America,
Greenland, Europe and
North Africa
Diet Fish and squid
lifespan Up to 21 years
on average
adult weight 2.2-3.6kg
(4.9-7.9lb)
conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
A spectacular diver
with a built-in airbag
The northern gannet is a
marvellous looking bird that’s
a master of both air and sea.
Years of evolution have turned
it into an effective hunter, and it
is able to pull off heart-stopping
dives that reach speeds of up
to 100 kilometres per hour
(62 miles per hour). The sheer
impact and velocity from a
gannet’s dive allows them to
travel up to 16 metres (52.5
feet) under the water’s surface,
where they chase after prey.
To help with this, gannets
have evolved over the years
so that parts of their body –
particularly the airbags in their
neck and throat – help protect
them from the initial impact.
This large seabird
was originally
encountered
by Christopher
Columbus
The most notable aspect of
the magnificent frigatebird
is its scarlet throat pouch,
which is inflated during
breeding season and
used to attract a mate.
It’s the largest of the five
frigatebirds in existence,
and, along with the great
and lesser frigatebird,
the least threatened. The
females are typically larger
than the males.
This huge bird is
one of the world’s
greatest fliers
Wandering albatrosses
use a technique known as
dynamic soaring to fly for
huge distances of up to
16,093 kilometres (10,000
miles) without needing to
land. They have the largest
known wingspan of any
albatross and are believed
to be declining in numbers
due to the continual use of
longline fishing.
LEFT Wandering albatrosses can
mate for life and have an elaborate
courtship display
54

The incredible lives of seabirds
A superb hunter
known by many
different names
The worldwide reach of this excellent fisher
also means it’s known by many names,
including black cormorant, black shag and
large cormorant. It’s had a difficult relationship
with humans over the years due to its love of
fish, and some fisheries in the UK now have
licences for culling a set number of these birds
in order to protect their stock.
But sometimes humans and cormorants
work together. Cormorant fishing is still
popular in some parts of the world, with
fisherman sending them out to catch fish. The
birds’ throats are tied with string to prevent
them swallowing their catches.
Unlike many other seabirds, great
cormorants don’t have waterproof feathers,
and can be seen drying their wings. They
can dive to considerable depths and can stay
underwater for up to 30 seconds at a time.
greaT cormoranT
Phalacrocorax carbo
class Aves
Territory North America,
Africa, Europe, Asia and
Australia
Diet Fish
lifespan 15 years on average
adult weight 1.3-5.3kg
(3.3-12lb)
conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
BELow Once they’ve finished eating,
cormorants regurgitate pellets of fish
bone and animal parts they can’t digest
© Alamy/Keirsebilck Patrick; Thinkstock; NaturePL/The Big Picture
This legendary
migration expert
sees two summers
every year
Also known as sea
swallows, Arctic terns are
masterful fliers and migrate
over vast distances during
the course of a year. Due
to their long lives, the
average arctic tern migrates
an astonishing 1.5 million
miles over the course of a
lifetime; enough to fly to the
moon and back three times!
LEFT Arctic terns are extremely
aggressive during breeding season
and will attack nearby humans
A bird that’s equally
at home on land or
out at sea
Few seabirds in our list
are as opportunistic as the
herring gull. It’s thrived in
the presence of humans in
some respects, feeding on
the refuse we leave behind
in town centres, dumps and
landfill sites. It will take all
sorts of food and has been
seen to catch earthworms
by shuffling back and forth
to simulate the falling of
rain. Pesticides, oil pollution
and new fishing practices
threaten some populations.
55

The incredible lives of seabirds
Seabird protector
Seabirds are some of the most
threatened birds in the world, and many
conservationists now work tirelessly to
protect them from a range of dangers
Berry Mulligan is a
conservationist working for
Birdlife International and is
currently involved with the
Albatross Task Force, which
is doing everything it can to
protect this majestic species
longline fisheries
A single longline boat sets up to
2,500 hooks at a time. Birds get
caught in these hooks, causing
160,000 seabird deaths each year.
Pollution
Plastic represents around 90
per cent of the floating marine
debris. Ingesting plastic is
deadly for marine life and
damages seabird populations.
What dangers are seabirds currently facing?
Seabirds have the dubious honour of being one
of the most threatened groups of animals on
the planet – almost half of all seabird species
are in decline and under threat. They face
dangers on land at their breeding colonies,
where they fall prey to invasive alien predators
such as rats and cats, or suffer from human
disturbance and habitat destruction. At sea, it
is fisheries – competing for prey or accidentally
catching birds – and pollution that are the
major issues driving declines. Albatrosses and
other enigmatic seabirds such as penguins are
in serious trouble globally, with some species
teetering dangerously towards the brink.
Trawl fisheries
Trawl boats work individually or in tandem.
Deaths occur at warp cables at the back of the
boat, or in nets during setting and trawling.
climate change
Climate change disrupts the
oceanographic cycles governing
marine ecosystems. Seabirds are
increasingly affected by it.
gillnet fisheries
Gillnets are set at many different
depths. Birds get entangled in
them and drown. This causes over
400,000 seabird deaths each year.
© Bird Life; Rachel Hudson/butterflytrack.co.uk; Jack Barton; Helen Mulligan
So what is Birdlife International doing to
combat this?
We are tackling accidental bycatch, identifying
special sites for seabirds and the threats to
them, and ridding seabird islands of any invasive
species of animals.
Solving the bycatch crisis requires working
directly with fishermen to develop simple
and inexpensive measures to prevent the
unintentional deaths of seabirds on hooks and
in nets. To achieve this, BirdLife established
the groundbreaking Albatross Task Force,
an international team of bycatch mitigation
instructors working in southern Africa and South
America. Using this collaborative approach,
albatross bycatch has been reduced by 99 per
cent in the South African hake trawl fisheries
and seven of ten fisheries we have targeted now
have seabird conservation regulations.
human disturbance
All animals can be threatened
by close contact from
humans, and seabirds are no
exception. Loud noises and
unwanted disturbances near
colonies can cause havoc.
“Albatross bycatch has reduced by 99 per cent
in the South African hake trawl fisheries”
What are invasive species and how do they
effect seabirds?
Invasive alien species are animals and plants
that are introduced accidently or deliberately
into a natural environment where they are
not normally found, often wreaking havoc
on the species already there. The problem is
particularly acute on islands as the species
present tend to lack adequate defences against
introduced predators, like rats.
While they present a huge conservation
challenge, when the invasive species are
removed, nature bounces back. Invasive
species have been successfully eradicated from
small seabird islands in the tropics to large
subantarctic islands, and many sites around the
UK. The number of breeding pairs of the rare
Manx shearwater are fast increasing on Ramsey
Island in Pembrokeshire, for example, following
the removal of introduced brown rats.
Why are the numbers of birds like puffins
dropping so rapidly?
Warming seas affecting puffins’ food sources
are thought to be one of the main issues. While
fisheries may exacerbate the negative impact
of climate change on puffin prey, the evidence
invasive species
The arrival and/or spread of an invasive alien species (IAS)
can threaten the native biological diversity. When the likes of
rats reach islands they impact massively on local seabirds.
is pointing towards sea warming causing
broad disruption to the entire food web in the
North Atlantic, from plankton through to small
shoaling fish, puffins, kittiwakes and other
species of seabirds.
Puffins provide a good example of the
multiple pressures placed on our seabird
populations. They are also impacted by
bycatch in some fisheries, invasive species, and
even being hunted for food. Joined-up and
collaborative approaches are therefore required
to tackle the dangers to seabird survival at sea
and at nesting sites.
What can our readers do to help?
Use your consumer power. If you eat fish, look
for the blue Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)
label and pick species ranked one or two on
the Good Fish Guide. Support organisations
that stand up for seabirds, from local
groups protecting specific colonies to global
partnerships such as BirdLife International.
Visit a nesting colony, too! The oceans and
their magnificent seabirds might feel distant
from our daily lives but the UK holds some
amazing seabird sites. Breeding colonies are
inspiring places, bursting with noise and colour.
56

Bizarre!
The cleverly disguised frog
with a cannibalistic streak
Despite being masters of disguise and ferocious predators, Bornean horned
frogs have a somewhat surprising enemy – others of the same species
They will even eat
their relatives
Horned frogs are ambush predators;
lying in wait for prey to come past before
lunging out to catch it. They will eat
almost anything they can catch, including
spiders, scorpions, rodents, lizards and
other frogs. They have even been known
to eat their own young, and females
sometimes eat their mates once they
have served their purpose.
Tadpoles have
funnel-shaped
mouths
Female horned frogs lay their eggs either
partially or totally submerged in water.
These capsules are quite large and few in
number. They hatch within ten to 12 days,
and the emerging tadpoles have huge
funnel-shaped mouths, which they hold
at the surface of the water. They suck
tiny microorganisms into their mouths,
which are then filtered out through the
gills before being swallowed.
Often mistakenly
called a toad
The Bornean horned frog has several
other common names, such as the large
horned frog, the long-nosed horned frog
and the Malayan leaf frog. It is also often
called the horned toad, even though it
doesn’t have either of the two features
that usually define toads – warty skin and
parotoid glands (external skin glands that
secrete toxins).
Leaf-shaped
horns help
them hide
True to their name, Bornean horned frogs
have pointy, horn-like structures above
their eyes. As these frogs are a mottled
brown and grey colour, these structures
look a little like leaves and help them to
blend in perfectly with the forest floor.
This disguise is useful for evading
their predators and also allows
them to be very effective
ambush hunters.
Males are
small but noisy
Adult male Bornean horned frogs are
much smaller than the females; generally
less than half the size. What they lack in
size they make up for in noise, though,
emitting a loud croak at night. Females
are not known to make any vocalisations
at all, and spend most of their time hiding
in the leaf litter waiting for unsuspecting
prey to come past.
Bornean
horned frog
Megophrys nasuta
Class Amphibia
Territory Widespread across
Southeast Asia, including
Borneo, Thailand, Malaysia,
Singapore and Indonesia
Diet Spiders, crabs, scorpions,
nestling birds, lizards and
other frogs
Lifespan Over 5 years
Adult weight Unknown
Conservation Status
LEAST CONCERN
© FLPA
57

Conserving the scimitar-horned oryx
58

Conserving
THE
scimitar-horned oryx
What are the options when
an animal is classified as
Extinct in the Wild? A
reintroduction scheme
proved a lifeline for these
African grassland natives
with elaborate horns and a
resilient spirit…
Words Ella Carter
The scimitar-horned oryx cuts an impressive silhouette.
With long, lean legs and a lithe, athletic body, it’s a
graceful beast that now roams almost exclusively across
grassland plains in central Chad. The oryx’s defining
feature are its almighty horns. Curving dramatically away
from its skull, adorned with delicate ridges and tapering
to a fine point, it’s very clear to see how this animal got
its name. The scimitar, a long, curved blade originating
from the Ottoman Empire, is an impressive weapon, and
these graceful animals are kitted out to wield two of these
‘swords’ simultaneously, albeit in horn form.
The scimitar-horned oryx species is one of four
members of the oryx genus along with the Arabian, east
African and gemsbok. The scimitar-horned variety was
once widespread across the Sahelian grassland system – a
narrow strip of land that stretches from the Atlantic in the
west of Africa to the Nile. However, thanks to numerous
factors, they are now classified as Extinct in the Wild.
This classification is defined by the IUCN as a species
where the only living members are kept in captivity or as
a population living outside the perimeters of its historic
range.
To combat this, dedicated reintroduction programmes
are now in effect, with captive-bred oryx being released
into protected reserves. Schemes like this ensure that,
with a bit of luck, there will still be wild oryx roaming the
Sahel in years to come.
The Oryx Reintroduction Programme in Chad does
precisely what it says on the tin. It’s a dedicated initiative
to return these amazing antelope to live freely in their
home range where they belong, but have been absent
for nearly 50 years. Jointly run by the Government of
Chad and the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (with
the on-the-ground implementation of the project carried
out by the Sahara Conservation Fund), the reintroduction
© Dreamstime
59

The open plains
beckon! The first
oryx make their
way out of the
enclosure to start
life in the wild
programme has also
involved the work of the
Zoological Society of
London (ZSL).
“At the moment I spend
a lot of my time out in
the field in Chad as part
of the team monitoring
the recently reintroduced
oryx,” says ZSL wildlife
biologist Tim Wacher,
who has worked with oryx
of varying species since
1985. ZSL played a key role
in the habitat surveys for the
selection of the reintroduction
site. “The Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi
Achim Reserve is a very large
grassland and desert reserve of
80,000 square kilometres (30,888
square miles),” Wacher tells us. “It isn’t a
national park; it’s used by livestock grazers, so
the range is shared with lots of camels and other
types of livestock.”
This safe haven isn’t just for the antelope, however; there
are also some other critically endangered neighbours,
too. “The area supports one of the world’s only remaining
populations of the critically endangered and very beautiful
dama gazelle, as well as the world’s biggest population
of wild dorcas gazelle, important numbers of three large
bustard species, and breeding vulture populations,”
Wacher explains. There are also plenty of migrating birds
that pass through, making this reserve a very important
part of Chad’s biodiversity.
So what’s special about the scimitar-horned oryx
and why is it essential that we save them? Wacher says:
“Scimitar oryx are the largest wild herbivore of the
Sahelian grassland system. The species once existed
throughout this area, and according to local tradition
abundant oryx were linked to prosperity, as both oryx and
livestock need the same good pasture conditions.
“Historically, the large wild predators of the oryx were
cheetahs and hunting dogs, both of which vanished from
this area of Chad not long before the oryx. They are brave
antelopes who will defend themselves vigorously. Today,
the only large predators they may encounter are striped
hyenas and perhaps jackals, which may be a risk to small
calves, but healthy adult oryx will chase both away.”
Strong, brave and resilient are just three features
boasted by these amazing antelope species, which are
perfectly adapted to the sweltering heat of their semiarid
home. Conserving water is the aim of the game
and the oryx has specialised kidneys and guts to ensure
that maximum moisture is retained. Grazing at night
Desert living
The scimitar-horned oryx has perfectly
developed adaptations to cope with their
arid desert home
Horns
The imposing horns are for deterring
predators like hyenas. Should one
approach, the oryx will adopt a
sideways stance to look larger. Males
also use their horns for fighting, so they
are prone to breakages.
Body temperature
To deal with the extreme heat of
the desert, oryx’s bodies work
hard to preserve moisture. This
involves elevating the internal
body temperature to minimise
water loss through sweating.
Skin
Oryx have black skin to prevent
sunburn in the blistering heat
– the tips of their tongues are
also black for the same reason.
Light-coloured hair covers the
skin to reflect heat away.
Hooves
In the wild these oryx would
roam over large home ranges.
Their hooves are broad and flat,
ideal adaptations to prevent
them sinking into the sand and to
conserve energy while walking.
60

Scimitar-horned oryx
Scimitar-Horned
oryx
Oryx dammah
class Mammalia
territory Previously found
across the Sahara and Sahel
diet Grasses, shrubs and roots
Lifespan 15-20 years
adult weight 200kg (440.9lb)
conservation Status
EXTINCT IN THE WILD
also minimises heat stress,
and the oryx may also lick
dew off each other’s coats
at night as a means of
consuming additional fluid.
“Oryx are preferentially
grazers,” Wacher says,
“but are adaptable and
can browse on selected
plants when conditions
become tough in the long
dry season, which lasts
from October to the end
of May.” Getting most of
their moisture from their
food can be hard during the
dry seasons, but incredibly these animals can survive for
weeks at a time without drinking!
The scimitar-horned oryx was classified as Extinct in
the Wild in 2000 after a long struggle with habitat loss.
“The major factor impacting the oryx across their original
range was probably the invasion of their living space by
livestock,” Wacher explains. Rapidly evolving technology
to bring water to dry lands was also part of the issue. “For
example,” Wacher continues, “water tanker lorries and
giant plastic bladder reservoirs all enabled livestock to stay
longer on dry land that they previously had to leave early
for lack of surface water, so they continue to chew down
on, and ultimately kill, the naturally drying vegetation.”
This combination of factors resulted in the oryx being
pushed to the brink of extinction. “The last significant oryx
populations were in Chad, where they still existed in large
numbers of up to tens of thousands at the beginning of
the 1970s,” says Wacher. “However, a period of civil unrest
in the area, in which the frontline lay across the heart
of the oryx range, ultimately drove the last remaining
scimitar-horned oryx population to die out.”
But despite this sad story, all is not lost. Indeed the oryx
was driven to extinction in the wild, but thanks to the fact
that these antelope are incredibly hardy and adaptable
animals, they now have a second chance. “The founder
group of oryx now represented in the world’s zoos and
more widely in private collections mainly derive from a
group of 40 individuals from the wild from the late 1960s,”
Wacher elaborates when asked about the origins of the
oryx now living in the Ouadi Rime-Ouadi Achime reserve.
Scimitar-horned
oryx on the map
These antelope are the buffalo of North Africa. Once ranging
widely across the whole Sahara and Sahel region, they are
now limited to small pockets of protected land.
Historic range
The introduced population living in
the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Reserve
© Alamy; Dreamstime; freevectormaps; ZSL
61

Conserving the scimitar-horned oryx
“In order to provide the best individuals for
reintroduction to the wild, the Environment
Agency of Abu Dhabi worked to assemble a
‘world herd’.” This involved cooperation with
organisations across the world to select the best
possible oryx in captivity to make a genetically
diverse herd to release into the reserve.
There are some animals that need special
treatment to prepare them for life in the wild,
but the scimitar-horned oryx is a hardy beast
and its resourceful nature means it needs little
coaxing to begin a new life out on the plains.
“There has been a relatively long history of
transporting scimitar-horned oryx from lush
European pastures to thorny North African
steppes in Tunisia and Morocco, starting
in 1985,” Wacher says. “These exercises
showed that even naïve and inexperienced
young animals, born in a meadow in the UK,
nevertheless undertook a pragmatic and
sensible approach to strange potential food
plants, some poisonous, many very thorny. They
proved very good at identifying the palatable
grasses that are typical food of all oryx species.”
So the oryx make a great candidate for
these types of schemes. Wacher goes on to
take us through the release process. “The main
way individuals are prepared for their release
is through a protected ‘pre-release’ stage at
the release location. Animals are given time to
acclimatise in a large pen at the release site,
where they learn to orientate themselves to the
new surroundings and gain a sense of place.
For ungulates, it is also an important period to
transition gradually from their captive diet to
the new natural diet through slow reduction of
artificial feed. Food and water is available at the
release site if the animals want to take it.
“Watching the oryx leave the pre-release
pen is always a happy experience,” reflects
Wacher on the moment the oryx leave their
travelling crates and venture into the reserve.
“The reaction of the oryx themselves varies
immensely depending on the individual. One
group, released in the wet season, took a whole
day to decide to approach the open gate, and
another before they decided to step through it.
They then travelled off and none came close to
the release site for six months.”
Wacher also tells us of another group that
was released in the cooler dry season. These
oryx ventured through the gate within ten
minutes and went off on a nine-kilometre (5.6-
mile) trip! They returned later in the day to take
advantage of the plentiful food and drink left
out for them. “This group will move off with the
first rains,” anticipates Wacher.
To ensure that the oryx are doing well, each
animal is kitted out with a tracking collar that
collects GPS data. This allows scientists to track
the oryx’s movements as well as look at their
behaviour. The tracking data has revealed that,
six months into the project, the oryx are doing
well. “The first four calves have been born!”
Wacher says, “And movement patterns and
social groups are beginning to break out from
the combinations in which they were released,
with patterns typical of other oryx species
emerging.” This is a great sign that the oryx are
settling into their ancestral home.
So, what’s next for this species? Wacher
tells us of the plan for the oryx’s future. “The
goal is to build up a population of at least 500
oryx in the reserve through a combination of
reintroduction plus on-site breeding over the
next five years.”
If you want to see the majestic scimitarhorned
oryx with your own eyes, there’s an
amazing herd at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo and some
members of this group have been selected for
the world herd. If you would like to learn more,
visit the ZSL or Abu Dhabi Environment Agency
websites at www.ZSL.org and www.ead.ae.
“One group took a whole day to leave their
crates, while another took just ten minutes”
Oryx in numbers
4 37
1.2
metres
Their horns can
reach up to 1.2m
(3.9ft) in length –
that’s over 50
per cent of their
body length!
8.5 14 1000s 46.6
calves WILD
Before their
MONTHS WEEKS
Four oryx
calves have
now been born
to reintroduced
mothers in the
reserve – great
news for the herd.
There are
currently 37
wild-ranging
individuals
in the reserve,
with more
joining soon.
The approximate
number of
months a female
oryx is pregnant
before giving
birth to a calf.
The number of
weeks a calf
spends with its
mother before
becoming
independent.
extinction in the
wild, oryx would
gather into huge
herds numbering
in the thousands
to prepare for
their migration.
Degrees
Celsius (116
degrees
Fahrenheit)
that an oryx
can raise
its body
temperature to.
© ZSL
The oryx are released from
their crates, getting their first
taste of the Chad sunshine at
the reserve
62

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Explore the Earth
A wIL dlIfE
PaRaDISE
Mauritius may be best known as the final resting
place of the dodo, but this tropical island is
starting to get a new reputation as one of the
leading lights of conservation
Words Adam Millward
64

A wildlife paradise
Travel expert
Dr Vikash Tatayah is the conservation director of the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation
(MWF). He manages a number of programmes that have helped wildlife to recover
Mauritius is among the most isolated islands in the world. Plants and
animals arrived naturally from the Afro-Malagasy region, Australasia
and Asia, with a high proportion becoming endemic.
Despite high levels of extinction following the arrival of man to an
uninhabited Mauritius, the island is home to an amazing endemic fauna
and flora with a dozen different native forest types. One can see Round Island bottle
palms, ebonies and various hardwoods, Mauritius kestrels, pink pigeons, echo parakeets,
Mauritius fodies, olive white-eyes, cuckoo-shrikes, Telfair’s skinks and surrogate giant
tortoises by visiting Ile aux Aigrettes, Ferney Valley and the Black River Gorges National
Park. Mauritius has led the rescue of plants and animals that would have joined the
dodo, with a number of species brought back from the verge of extinction. For more
information, visit www.mauritian-wildlife.org.
Spinner dolphin
You can get up close to these marine
acrobats in their natural environment
and also go whale watching off the
west coast of the island.
Pink pigeon
It might seem counterintuitive travelling
halfway around the world to see a
pigeon, but this isn’t your average
urban cooer. In 1986, there were just 12
wild individuals left, but they refused to
go the way of their unlucky relative the
dodo and continue to recover.
Travel guide
Fruit bat
The only mammals native to the
Mascarene Islands (consisting of
Mauritius, Rodrigues and Réunion)
are these charismatic flying foxes.
When to go
When it’s winter in the UK, it’s summer in
Mauritius. The off-peak cooler months (July
to September) are more comfortable for
exploring the island.
4
1
5
6
Map key
1 Black River Gorges National Park
2 Bambous Mountains
3 Ile aux Aigrettes
4 Tamarin Bay
5 Black River Gorges National Park
6 Trou-aux-Biches
Clownfish
Find Nemo, Dory and a whole lot more
when you descend beneath the waves
in a submarine, the only such leisure
sub in the entire Indian Ocean.
3
2
Mauritius kestrel
Another resident that
has made a remarkable
recovery is the island’s
only remaining bird of
prey. Once classified
as the rarest bird in the
world, this raptor is on
many a birdwatcher’s
bucket list.
Aldabra tortoise
Although Mauritius’ own
native giant tortoises were
driven to extinction in the
19th century, a successful
rewilding programme
with these Seychelles
natives has seen great
success in recent years.
How to get there
Limited direct flights are available from
the UK to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam
International Airport, from where you can
take a taxi on to your hotel.
What the weather will do
Mauritius has a tropical climate year-round,
so expect sun and intense rain showers,
especially in the summer. January to
February is peak period for cyclones.
What to take
In addition to your bathing suit, you’ll want
to take light clothing. Pack something
smart for the evenings as many hotels
and restaurants request formal wear.
What you’ll see
Mauritius is a lot more than sandy
beaches and turquoise seas. Make time
to visit its wild forests, unusual geological
sites and bustling capital, Port Louis.
65

Watch the bats rise as the Sun sets
Even in a tiny country famed for its
biodiversity and high number of endemic
animals, the Mauritian fruit bat stands
out. It’s the sole surviving native mammal
found on the island. These mega
bats, also known as flying foxes, have
wingspans of up to 0.8 metres (2.6 feet)
and their ginger-coloured furry heads lend
them their fox-like appearance.
Fruit bats play a vital role in pollinating
and dispersing the seeds of some of
Mauritius’ most endangered plants. Although
they can be spotted in forested areas all
over the island in the evenings, one of the most
impressive displays takes place at sundown in
Black River Gorges National Park. You can easily
spend a day hiking in the country’s only national
park, and it’s a hot spot for many of Mauritius’
rarest birds, including pink pigeons, olive whiteeyes
and echo parakeets. As the light begins to
fade, thousands of bats fly up en masse from
the caves and ravines where they rest during
the day. Be sure to keep a close eye on the time,
though, as the gates shut in the evenings – or you
might want to consider stopping the night at the
campsite next to the Black River Visitor’s Centre.
See Darwin’s
plan in action
Sadly, just like the dodo, the many native
tortoises that once called Mauritius home
were wiped out by the arrival of European
settlers. This was not just a loss for
chelonian-kind. It also left a huge gap in
the regional ecology, as the turtles were
the principal grazers, keeping wild plants
in check and spreading seeds, like those
of the ebony tree. It was history’s most
famous naturalist, Charles Darwin, who
suggested that a similar species might be
introduced to take their place. Enter the
Aldabra giant tortoise, the last of their
kind in the Indian Ocean.
In 2000, the Mauritian Wildlife
Foundation (MWF) released 20 of
these gentle giants – originally from the
Seychelles – on the Ile aux Aigrettes
nature reserve off the southeastern coast.
The focus of a long-term conservation
project, this 26-hectare (64-acre) islet
contains the only remnants of Mauritius’
once prolific dry coastal forest, providing
a refuge for many animals long since
driven off the mainland. The initiative
has proven so successful that over 100
tortoises have now been translocated
to another island to build up a second
population. The MWF leads walking
tours on Ile aux Aigrettes, so as well as
meeting the shelled stars, you’ll also have
an expert at hand to explain exactly how
rewilding works.
66

A wildlife paradise
Beyond the beach
Explore Port Louis
Set around a busy harbour, the Mauritian
capital is a melting pot of cultures. You’ll find
colourful temples, markets and museums,
and don’t miss the Pamplemousse Gardens.
Get active
Mauritius offers many outdoor activities, from
kayaking to caving. But top of the list must
be abseiling down a 95m (312ft) cliff beside
Chamarel Falls, Mauritius’ highest waterfall.
Listen to some sega
Typically sung in Créole (the native tongue),
sega is one of the most popular musical
genres in Mauritius. Variants of it include
seggae – a cross between sega and reggae.
Climb Le Morne
If you’re feeling energetic, why not tackle
the 556m (1,824ft) Le Morne Brabant? This
UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to
several rare plants and offers amazing views.
Enjoy a very sweet
history lesson
Discover the huge role sugar has played in
shaping Mauritius at the Beau Plan sugar mill.
You can buy some souvenirs produced from
the local sugarcane, including Mauritian rum!
67

Explore the Earth
Go island-hopping
to see rare reptiles
In relation to land area, the Mascarene island group
once claimed more endemic reptiles than anywhere
else on Earth. Although some of these have now
been lost for ever, others managed to cling on in
isolated communities on offshore islets. These mini
ecosystems – the last remaining pockets of a precolonisation
era – formed the foundation for a longterm
project to restore Mauritius’ reptiles.
After decades of groundwork, replanting native
plants and trying to manage invasive species like
shrews and land snails, small groups of endangered
lizards have been moved to neighbouring islands to
increase their range and odds of survival.
Some of these island nature reserves are
closed to the public to avoid jeopardising the
rewilding process, but others are accessible. The
aforementioned Ile aux Aigrettes is home to new
populations of Telfair’s skinks and Guenther’s geckos
– one of the world’s biggest gecko species – as well
as the colourful ornate day gecko. Ile aux Fouquets
now supports a healthy community of Ilot Vacoas
skinks, while Gabriel Island has a small number of
orange-tailed skinks, but you will need permission
before you can visit the island.
Meet the ultimate
comeback kid
It’s terrifying to think how close the Mauritius
kestrel came to extinction. A deadly cocktail of
forest destruction, introduced species raiding
their nests and harmful pesticides used in
agriculture reduced the population to just two
mating pairs by the 1970s. A huge conservation
initiative, including monitoring of wild birds,
captive breeding and the installation of pest-proof
nest boxes, has reversed their fortunes. Although
they are no longer Critically Endangered, with an
estimated 400-500 kestrels island-wide, these
rare raptors are not completely out of the woods
yet; there have been worrying declines in some
areas in recent years.
To see Mauritius’ last endemic birds of prey,
your best bet is to spend some time hiking in the
Bambous Mountains nature park on the southeast
coast of the island. There are sometimes feeding
sessions at a visitors’ centre in the Vallée de
Ferney, where a few wild kestrels have learned
that they can pick up a free lunch!
68

A wildlife paradise
Learn about the
dodo’s demise...
Today, dodos have acquired almost legendary status. But
what was this flightless bird really like? And just how did this
Mauritian native – now synonymous with extinction – meet
its maker? You can find the answers to these questions and
more at the Mauritius Institute (aka the Dodo Museum) in
Port Louis, where an exhibit including skeletons, models and
artist impressions will help shine a light on this ill-fated fowl.
More Mauritian avifauna
Mauritius fody
Distinguished by the males’ bright red head during the
breeding season, these charismatic little birds have
staged an impressive comeback.
...then meet the
dodo’s closest
living relative
In the 1980s, pink pigeons came very
close to extinction. Luckily for them,
their fate was not to be the same as
their doomed dodo relations. Thanks to
a huge conservation drive, the perilously
low population of 12 birds in 1986 is now
estimated to have grown to almost 500.
One of the best places to see them is the
Macchabee Trail, which starts at the Pétrin
Visitors’ Centre in the Black River Gorges
National Park.
Olive white-eye
Following the same recovery programme that has seen
great results with the fody, it’s hoped that this critically
endangered green songbird with its distinctive white
‘spectacles’ can also be brought back from the brink.
Red-tailed tropicbird
Easily recognised by their long, red tail feathers and
crimson bills, tropicbirds are being translocated
from larger populations to new areas of Mauritius to
encourage the development of new seabird colonies.
Explore a
reef without
getting wet
Diving and snorkelling aren’t for everyone, but
that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on all
the amazing marine life Mauritius has to offer.
Near Grand Baie in the north, you can book a
place on a submarine or even hire your very
own ‘subscooter’ to go on an underwater
adventure. The larger ten-seater sub passes
through several coral banks and also tours
the Star Hope, a shipwreck that has become
a haven for marine life since it sank in 1988.
Indian Ocean residents you might encounter
on your marine odyssey include clownfish,
trevally, rays, eels, crabs, lionfish, swordfish
and even turtles.
Mauritius bulbul
Mauritius also boasts its very own species of bulbul, a
songbird similar in size to blackbirds. Their plumage is
fairly dull (mainly brown and grey), so you’re most likely
to spot the bright orange-pink beak and legs first.
Mauritius cuckoo-shrike
Cuckoo-shrikes are another endemic species that has
benefitted from an intensive push to preserve native
forests. They are often easy to hear – listen out for short
whistles followed by a string of sharper staccato notes.
69

Explore the Earth
Dive with dolphins
Off the west coast lies Tamarin Bay, where it’s
possible to see both spinner dolphins – famed for
their playful, acrobatic displays – and their larger
bottlenose cousins. Take pictures from the boat
or, for an even more memorable experience, take
the plunge to become an honorary member of the
pod for a short while. There are also trips that head
further out in search of larger cetaceans. Sperm
whales are found in Mauritian waters year-round,
while humpbacks pass through between July and
September during their migration.
Listen out for echoes
Once dubbed the world’s rarest parrot, echo parakeets are
another shining example of what can be achieved when
governments and conservationists work together. The
population has multiplied approximately 30-fold since the
1980s, when numbers in the wild had dwindled to around 20.
That said, they are still endangered and only found in one
place: Black River Gorges National Park. Their green plumage
can make the parakeets tricky to spot in the forest, so be
sure to spend some time at one of the parrot-friendly feeding
stations set up by the MWF.
70

A wildlife paradise
Top tips
Gone but not forgotten
While enjoying the wide variety of fauna
on Ile aux Aigrettes, keep an eye out
for the bronze statues that pay tribute
to Mascarene species no longer around
today. It’ll make you appreciate the
animals that do remain even more.
win
a Hammamas!
visit www.animal
answers.co.uk to
enter tHe draw
Visit mini Mauritius
About an hour’s flight east of Mauritius
is the small volcanic island of Rodrigues.
Part of the Mascarene archipelago, it too
boasts creatures found nowhere else on
the planet, including its very own species
of warbler, fruit bat and fody.
Learn the lingo
Mauritius is a multilingual society, with
Mauritian Créole being the main language
spoken by the locals. However, English and
French are also widely used, particularly in
tourist areas, so it’s worth brushing up on
your Français before you go.
Key kit
Merrell Kahuna
III sandals
For adventurers looking for
something more durable
than a pair of basic flipflops,
the Kahuna III sandals
are ideal. The thick rubber
soles and padded suede
uppers make for a winning
combination of comfort
and ruggedness.
£85
merrell.com
HERO5 Black
GoPro’s HERO5 allows you
to capture nature on the go
like never before. It can be
used while snorkelling to a
depth of ten metres (32.8
feet) without a case. Out
of the water, it includes a
voice-command feature, so
you don’t even have to hit a
button to take a photo!
£399.99
gopro.com
Clash spearmint,
azure and orange
Colourful Hammamas
are the next generation
of beach towel. Light,
compact and quick to
dry, a Hammama works
just as well as a picnic
blanket, tablecloth, casual
beachwear or even as a
makeshift bag.
£25
hammamas.com
Bushnell Equinox
A lot of Mauritian wildlife
is on the small side and
well camouflaged, so it
makes sense to take along
some optical assistance.
Bushnell’s Equinox works in
all light conditions, so is as
suited to viewing dolphins
in the day as it is fruit bats
during the night.
£259.95
manfrotto.co.uk
WakaWaka Base 10
Mauritius is blessed with
eight-plus hours of bright
sunshine most days, and
you can take advantage of
that with the WakaWaka
Base 10. Fully charged,
this solar power kit has
enough juice to replenish
four smartphones and also
includes two LED torches.
£139.99
amazon.co.uk
© freevectormaps.com; Alamy; NaturePL; Thinkstock; Dreamstime
Who to travel with
Budget
Mauritian Wildlife
Foundation
mauritian-wildlife.org
Ile aux Aigrettes ecotour
Two-hour tours offer the chance to see
many of the country’s rarest animals and
plants for less than £20 per adult.
Beach retreat
Steppes Travel
steppestravel.co.uk
This ten-day trip includes seven nights halfboard
at the 20 Degrees Sud boutique hotel
on the north coast, just a short drive from the
departure point for the reef tours. From £2,295
per person, with all flights and transfers.
Safari combo
Rainbow Tours
rainbowtours.co.uk
Kenya Safari & Mauritius Escape
This 13-day trip starts in Kenya’s Maasai Mara
viewing traditional game before heading to
Mauritius. From £3,240 per person; includes
flights, transfers and accommodation.
71

SUpEr
serpents
Snakes are some of the most
fascinating animals alive. Here
are just five of their amazing,
and sometimes utterly
terrifying, superpowers
Words Ella Carter
Some snake species don’t
need males to reproduce
When male snakes are scarce, the North American
copperhead snake can still keep the species going by
undergoing parthenogenesis – a ‘virgin birth’. First witnessed
in captivity, experts have recently found that wild snakes are
also capable of this phenomenon. Other species are also able to
reproduce without male fertilisation. In 2012, a female reticulated
python (the world’s longest-growing snake) called Thelma produced
a brood of eggs with no male parent in Louisville Zoo in the US.
Skin shedding
Snake skin doesn’t stretch with
growth like human skin, so to grow
and to remove parasites the snake
has to loosen its old skin, wriggle
out of it and grow a new one.
Snake chemical weaponry
About 20 per cent of all snakes are
venomous, to varying degrees.
Venom is delivered through the
fangs from venom sacs, and some
can even spit their venom at prey.
Forked tongues aid stereo smells
Having two tips to their tongues
means that snakes can take chemical
information from the air around them
from two separate points – handy for
accurately following a prey trail!
72

With a flattened body
it makes a slithering
motion in mid-air for
more efficient gliding.
It jumps from
a branch in a
J position.
It lowers its head
to gain speed.
To flatten its body the
snake spreads its ribs.
The internal organs are
flattened with the body.
Super serpents
Tree snake species have
evolved to glide in mid-air
In Southeast Asia’s jungles, five species of ‘flying’
tree snake have evolved an ingenious way to get
from tree to tree without touching the forest floor.
After an initial jump into the air from the edge of
a branch, the snake flattens its body to twice the
normal width, expanding its surface area to allow
it to glide. It can then undulate its body to wriggle
in mid-air, which helps to keep the flight going
and also provide steering.
On landing after a successful
dive the snake can adjust
its body to the normal nearcylindrical
shape.
Snakes can ‘see’ infrared
Vipers, pythons and boas have pit organs on
their faces that can detect infrared radiation
from warm bodies close by, allowing them to
sense prey by ‘seeing’ body heat.
Snakes hear with their jaws
Believe it or not, despite it being widely reported
that they don’t have ears, a snake’s hearing is
actually very good. Instead of using external ears
like many other mammals, vibrations
(from the ground and also from
low-frequency airborne noises)
travel through the snake’s body to
the quadrate bone, which is the
connection between the lower
jaw and skull. From here the
vibrations are passed to the
snake’s inner ear where
nerves link to the brain.
Elastic ligaments
allow the bottom
jaw to expand to
swallow large prey.
The quadrate bone attaches the
‘floating’ jaw to the skull, allowing
the jaw to move independently.
When swallowing prey, the
snake uses large, sharp
teeth for leverage to ‘walk’
its jaw over the prey.
© Thinkstock; Alamy
Some snakes can
swallow super-sized meals
For snakes, the laborious act of eating a massive
meal has the benefit of not needing to hunt for a
long while afterwards – it’s hard work to digest,
but less work than hunting. These snakes can fit
colossal animals relative to their size into their
bodies thanks to highly elastic skin and specialized
jaws that can expand to let in the largest of prey.
73

Leaf-cutter ants
FARMERS OF THE INSECT WORLD
With super strength, unrivalled teamwork and incredible
foraging abilities, these tiny critters are expert cultivators
of the rainforest
Words Amelia Jones
74

Leaf-cutter ants
While many animals are often praised for their hunting and
food gathering abilities, it is easy to overlook the millions of ants
foraging on the forest floor for food to ensure the survival of their
colony. Among these tiny critters is a particular tribe that is highly
adapted for foraging: leaf-cutter ants.
Native only to Central and South America, living among
the tropical rainforests, the Attini tribe, otherwise known as
leaf-cutter or fungus-growing ants, features two genera: Atta
and Acromyrmex. These closely related genera are easily
distinguished; Acromyrmex have four pairs of spines on their
back and a rough exoskeleton, while Atta have three pairs and a
smooth exoskeleton. But both possess the amazing ability to cut
and carry leaves 50 times their body weight, making them one
of the strongest creatures on Earth in terms of their power to
weight ratio.
Leaf-cutter ants are rusty in colour and between two and
22 millimetres (0.07 and 0.8 inches) in length, with their size
determining their role within the colony. They have compound
eyes and fairly poor vision, instead using their extendable and
retractable antennae to investigate any objects they come across.
While small in size, a leaf-cutter ant’s brain is highly complex and
allows these tiny critters to adapt and react to their surroundings.
They have an exceptional memory and can remember the smell
of their colony, its location and where they have placed objects.
A gland in their head also produces alarm chemicals, which
alert nearby ants to danger and sends them into battle mode,
Strong scent
trails left by ants
returning to the
colony from a
good foraging site
attract other ants
to the plant
“Carrying leaves 50 times their body weight, they are one of the
strongest creatures on Earth in terms of power to weight ratio”
75

Leaf-cutter ants
Leaf-cutter ant
Atta cephalotes
class Insecta
territory Central and South
America
Diet Fungus
Lifespan 1-2 years (worker
ant); 10-15 years (queen)
adult weight 1-5mg
conservation status
NOT CLASSIFIED
Below Highly in tune with the fungus
they cultivate, leaf-cutter ants will stop
collecting a certain plant species if the
fungus releases toxic chemical signals
Ant anatomy
Leaf-cutter ants are highly adapted
for foraging on a colossal scale
Wings
A small selection of female
and male leaf-cutter ants
will develop wings during
the mating season to
allow the nuptial flight, or
revoada, to take place.
Size variation
These ants range in size from
the 2mm (0.07in) length of the
minim ants to the 22mm (0.8in)
length of the queen of the colony.
Their size determines their role
and function within the colony.
chemical signals
The ants leave pheromone trails
to good sources of vegetation for
other worker ants to follow. They
also let off chemical signals when
faced with danger, signalling for
other ants to defend the colony.
triggering a chain reaction that spreads rapidly through
the colony.
But a leaf-cutter ant’s most prized tool are its powerful
jaws and incredible strength. As their name suggests, leafcutter
ants use their jaws and mandibles to cut through
leaves, and most of their head is filled with the muscles
that close the jaws, but this is not for the purpose of
eating. A common misconception is that these ants eat
the leaves they cut. In fact, the ants cut the leaves and,
using the spines on the back of their thorax, carry them
home. Here, the leaf segments are cut into smaller pieces
and allowed to decompose. It is this fungus that the
ants feast on, making leaf-cutter ants the only creatures
on Earth, aside from humans, that grow and farm other
creatures. But with approximately 8 million ants in a
colony, that requires the decomposition of a lot of leaves,
and a single colony can strip a tree bare in just one day.
Similar to human societies, leaf-cutter ant colonies
are highly complex and intricate structures. Their
underground nests can be up to nine metres (29.5 feet)
deep and cover an area one acre (0.4 hectares) in size,
with some sub-entrances found 80 metres (262.4 feet)
away. The central mound can be 30 metres (98.4 feet)
wide and features complex tunnels and ventilation
chambers. These are carefully positioned to remove
poisonous carbon dioxide produced by the fungus
garden and to allow fresh air inside the nest.
With millions of inhabitants to keep in line,
colonies are ordered into castes, with each
ant having a crucial role within the nest. The three main
castes are mostly based on size and consist of the queen,
workers and soldiers, which are all female. The males are
purely there to breed with the queen.
Larger worker ants go out foraging, harvesting the
leaves with their strong jaws and carrying them back
to the nest. But they are often working in tandem with
tiny hitchhikers. The smallest leaf-cutter ants, known as
minims, will climb onto the leaves as they are being carried
and decontaminate them before they reach the fungus
garden, as well as feeding on the leaf sap. The minims also
protect the larger worker ants, often sitting on their backs
to ward off parasites such as phorid flies, which lay their
eggs in the crevices of the worker ants’ heads.
Medium-sized worker ants tend to the fungus garden,
care for the larvae and excavate tunnels within the colony,
while a special caste of worker ants is responsible for
waste management alone, shuffling the waste around
to help with decomposition. Sadly, these ‘rubbish’ ants
are exiled from the colony as they are often riddled with
disease and have shorter lifespans, and if they try to leave
the rubbish dump, other ants will force them back or even
kill them, showing how the success of a colony is in each
ant knowing its place within the workforce – an ability
they are born with. As each ant is so dedicated to its job
within the colony, leaf-cutter ants display the ultimate form
of teamwork; they are able to feed each other through a
second ‘social’ stomach, where they store undigested food
in a process known as trophallaxis.
“Similar to human societies,
leaf-cutter ant colonies
are highly complex and
intricate structures”
Super strength
Leaf-cutter ants have
phenomenal strength and
are able to cut, manoeuvre
and carry leaf segments
that are extremely heavy
in relation to their size.
Strong jaws
Leaf-cutter ants have extremely
strong jaws for cutting through
vegetation, which vibrate at 1,000
times per second. The muscles that
close the jaws are much stronger
than the muscles that open them.
antennae
Extendable and retractable
antennae are used for
identifying objects and
finding suitable vegetation
for cutting, as the eyesight of
leaf-cutter ants is fairly poor.
76

The colony is protected by larger soldier ants, who
respond to chemical alarm signals and defend the colony
from threats, while the queen ant is much larger again – up
to 22 millimetres (0.8 inches) long – and can live for up to
15 years, compared to the one- or two-year lifespan of the
workers and soldiers. The queen is the only ant that is able
to produce eggs and spends her life deep underground,
laying up to 1,000 eggs per day in order to build her
colony. Alongside sterile worker and soldier ants, she also
lays a small number of winged queens and males who will
one day form new colonies.
At the beginning of the rainy season, winged fertile
females and males take part in a nuptial flight, known
as revoada, after which the males will die. The females
mate with multiple males, lose their wings and search for
a suitable underground location to set up their colony.
Sadly, only 2.5 per cent of females will be successful
in establishing a long-lived colony and 90 per cent will
die before their eggs hatch. But for those queens that
are successful, they begin cutting the first few leaves
themselves and cultivate their fungus garden while their
larvae develop. Most of these larvae will become foraging
workers, while a small number will develop into new
queens and males, and the entire process starts again as
the fungus garden thrives.
Leaf cutting is a vital aspect of fungus cultivation, and
once a worker has located a good source of vegetation,
they will lay down a scent as they return to the colony,
helping to guide other workers to the plant. The more
ants that visit the plant, the stronger the scent trail
becomes. Leaf-cutter ants have adapted to change food
sources constantly, preserving the habitat they live in and
preventing the colony from stripping all the surrounding
plants bare. These tiny insects have a large influence on
their environment and leaf-cutter ants from the Atta genus
are estimated to be responsible for the decomposition of
20 per cent of leaves in South America. However, they are
skilled farmers and expert cultivators.
Leaf cutting
Working in teams, the
medium-sized worker ants
will leave the nest and find
a suitable plant species.
Here, they will begin
cutting the leaves into
segments with their strong
jaws and mandibles.
Leaf transportation
Using their jaws and the spines on their
back to manoeuvre the leaf segments,
the ants begin carrying the leaves back
to their nest. They are incredibly strong
and can carry a segment in their jaws
that is 50 times their own body weight.
Waste management
A special caste of worker ants
lives in the rubbish dump and
constantly removes waste from
the colony. These ants are exiled
from the rest of the colony, as they
often carry bacteria and disease.
Decontamination
As the leaves are being
transported, smaller worker
ants known as minims
hitch a ride on the leaf,
decontaminating it of any
parasites or bacteria. They
may also ride on the backs
of larger worker ants to
protect them from parasites,
such as phorid flies.
fungus garden
The leaf segments are deposited underground in the
fungus garden. Here, the leaves are left to decompose
into the fungus the ants feed on. If a leaf is seen to be
toxic to the fungus it will no longer be collected.
© Ed Crooks
“The smallest worker ants,
known as minims, catch a
ride on the cut sections of
leaf to decontaminate
them before they
reach the nest”
77

Leaf-cutter ants
“These ants are often seen as major
agricultural pests. They cost the crop
industry around $1 billion each year”
In order to carry an equivalent
weight to the leaves these ants
transport, a human would need
to lift a medium-sized van
In numbers
47
30
metres
Width that the
central mound
of a leaf-cutter
ant’s nest can
reach up to.
1
8 million 15
species dAy
Leaf-cutter ants Average number
The genera Atta
and Acromyrmex
contain a total
of 47 species
between them.
The number of
days it takes a
single colony of
leaf-cutter ants to
strip a tree bare.
1,000 50 20
The number
of times a
leaf-cutter ant’s
strong jaws
vibrate every
second.
are able to carry
leaves up to 50
times their own
body weight in
their jaws.
of leaf-cutter
ants in a colony.
Colonies of 10
million have
been found.
YEARS
The number of
years a successful
queen leaf-cutter
ant can live up to.
The Atta genus
is responsible for
the decomposition
of 20 per cent
of the leaves in
South America.
78

Leaf-cutter ants
Through their leaf
cutting, they trim and
maintain the rainforest, allowing
light to reach the forest floor and more plants to
grow. They also have a strong influence on the species
that grow here by selectively bringing seeds into their
underground chambers of various depths, helping the
rainforest floor to flourish.
Like termites and ambrosia beetles, leaf-cutter ant
societies are based on a mutualistic relationship between
the ants and the fungus they cultivate and feed on.
Different species of leaf-cutter ants feed on different
species of fungi; however, all of the fungi they eat is from
the genus Leucocoprinus. As the growth of the fungus is
so crucial to their survival, the ants have adapted to react
to the chemical signals the fungus emits and will stop
collecting certain plant species that are deemed to be
toxic. As such, they rely on each other to stay alive; the
ants grow the fungus to feed their colony and the fungus
relies on the ants bringing fresh foliage underground to
sustain its growth.
However, due to the vast amount of leaves the ants
need to sustain a colony of millions, these tiny critters are
often seen as a major agricultural pest. This is because a
single colony can strip a tree bare in just 24 hours and leafcutter
ants are responsible for destroying more vegetation
than any other animal, costing the crop industry over $1
billion (£803.9 million) each year. But they are a crucial
and influential part of the ecosystem and are often very
selective about the leaves they cut to ensure the survival
of the plants they so heavily rely on. It is because of this
that these ants, while small in size but prolific in number,
should be seen not as pests, but as intelligent and skilled
farmers who have a close and intimate relationship with
the habitat they live in. Carefully cutting plants, farming
fungi and growing their colossal colonies, leaf-cutter ants
display the ultimate form of teamwork, making them the
best sustainable farmers in the insect world.
The vice-like jaws
of a leaf-cutter ant vibrate
1,000 times per second, allowing
them to easily cut leaves. In fact,
large worker ants can even cut
through leather with their
mandibles.
Below Although not native to the
region, leaf-cutter ant populations
have been found in southern US
states and Mexico
Once the male leafcutter
ants have mated
with the fertile females
in their nuptial
flight, they will
die, leaving
the female to
establish the
colony.
Leaf-cutter ants are
aggressively territorial
insects, willing to fight to the
death to defend their colony.
Although they don’t seek out a
battle, even members of the same
species will be killed if they stray
into a colony that is not
their own.
© Alamy; Amazon-Images; Alex Hyde/NaturePL/Thinkstock
79

Meet the family
Dolphins
After making their way back into
the water 50 million years ago, over
40 species of dolphin roam oceans
and rivers all over the world today
Orca
The deadliest relative
This is one of the most successful predators on the planet, killing around
95 per cent of the prey it sets out to catch. That’s immensely impressive
compared to a lion’s measly 17 per cent success rate. Orcas charge at prey
at 65 kilometres (40.4 miles) per hour before biting with their 40 to 50
teeth, which can reach ten centimetres (four inches) in length. But their
physical attributes aren’t the most dangerous thing about the aptly named
killer whale. Orcas have intelligence almost beyond belief, and this stems
from their close social bonds. Calves never leave their family pod and are
cared for by their parents, siblings and grandparents. Young orcas are
taught by their parents and given the chance to finish off prey weakened
by the adults. Teams co-ordinate and communicate to hunt animals on ice,
land or in the water by any means necessary.
orCa
Orcinus orca
Class Mammalia
Territory Global
diet Fish and marine
mammals
lifespan 80 years
adult weight 5,400kg
(11,905lb)
Conservation status
DATA DEFICIENT
The dorsal fin on the back contains
no bones – it’s pure cartilage.
Captive fins are prone to collapse
after giving into gravity because the
orcas spend an inordinate amount
of time floating at the surface of
their shallow tanks.
Spinner dolphin
The family acrobat
Aptly named, these dolphins can leap three metres (9.8 feet)
clear of the water and perform
spinner dolpHin
Stenella longirostris
Class Mammalia
Territory Tropical oceans
diet Fish and squid
lifespan 30 years
adult weight 59-82kg
(130-180lb)
Conservation status
DATA DEFICIENT
seven 360 degree twists before
landing. The rotation begins
underwater and once the animal
breaches the surface it can
twirl faster without the sea’s
resistance. There are lots of
theories to explain this spinning
but there isn’t a single accepted
explanation. They may be
attempting to dislodge remoras,
which are fish that attach to the
bodies of other sea creatures to
hitch a free ride. These dizzying
displays may also attract
mates or display dominance.
Alternatively, the loud splashes could communicate the
position of dolphin groups to others, or maybe it’s just for fun.
This species visits shallow waters to rest and socialise on a
regular basis, especially in the summer when the calves arrive.
The pectoral fins contain five long ‘finger’
bones and help the spinner dolphin get lift
when attempting a jump.
Hourglass dolpHin
Lagenorhynchus cruciger
Class Mammalia
Territory Southern Atlantic
diet Small fish and squid
lifespan Unknown
adult weight 94kg (207lb)
Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
The black and white colouration
confuses predators. It makes
it difficult to tell where one
animal ends and the next
begins or even which direction
the group is travelling.
Hourglass dolphin
The sub-zero hunter
These rare animals are found in small groups in the freezing waters of
the Antarctic, following fluctuating cold currents. Like most other species
in the family, hourglass dolphins use echolocation to search for food,
beaming out sounds into the water and listening out for the echo. These
animals produce such high-pitched sounds that they are able to travel
twice as far as those produced by other dolphins. This is probably the
result of their ability to dive to depths of at least 1,500 metres (4,921
feet), far too deep for sunlight to penetrate, meaning the dolphins
have to rely on their hearing rather than their eyesight.
80

Dolphins
Common dolphin
The family’s social butterfly
As the name suggests, these dolphins are found
throughout the Earth’s oceans. Pods of
common dolphins often contain members
of other species, like the acrobatic striped
dolphin. Not only do these two animals
mix, but they breed to produce hybrid
calves. Nobody knows if these
young dolphins are fertile, but
evidence suggests they survive
into adulthood. Common
dolphins form super pods
numbering upwards of
1,000 individuals and use these great armies to hunt in
packs. They are extremely social animals and get to know
one another on a personal basis. Their fondness for other
species extends beyond dolphins, with one individual
forming a long-term partnership with a harbour porpoise.
The pair even travel as far as 65 kilometres (40.4 miles)
inland into sea lochs, which is highly unusual behaviour for
the common dolphin.
The rostrum, or beak, contains
approximately 100 thin, razorsharp
teeth, which are used
to grip or slice prey before it is
then swallowed.
norTHern rigHT
wHale dolpHin
Lissodelphis borealis
Class Mammalia
Territory North Pacific
diet Fish and Squid
lifespan 42 years
adult weight 115kg (253lb)
Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
There are two
subspecies
of common
dolphins: the
long-beaked
and the
short-beaked.
sHorT-Beaked
Common dolpHin
Delphinus delphis
Class Mammalia
Territory Temperate oceans
diet Fish and squid
lifespan 35-40 years
adult weight 100-140kg
(220-309lb)
Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
Northern
right whale dolphin
The family’s black sheep
Very little is known about these bizarre animals. They swim in groups of
roughly 150 in the cold waters of the north Pacific Ocean. Here, they feed
on squid, which they chase at top speeds of 40 kilometres (25 miles) per
hour. The missing dorsal fin on the back makes these dolphins streamlined,
and pods swim in four distinct formations to maximise their forward
force. Groups can be densely packed, with uniform spaces between each
member or in small clusters. They can also form straight lines or swim in a
V shape, much like flying geese trying to reduce wind resistance.
2
1. Rarest
Baiji
Classified as
‘functionally
extinct’, this river
dolphin may
have already
disappeared. If
any remain, there
aren’t enough to
save the species.
2. Smallest
Maui dolphin
At only 50kg
(100Ib), these
are the smallest
dolphins. Native
to New Zealand,
recent surveys
estimate that
there are only 60
left in the wild.
Not a
dolphin
1
3
4
3. Slowest
Pilot whale
While incredibly
fast when diving,
this member of
the dolphin family
swims slowly
at the surface –
unless threatened
– to allow calves
to keep up.
4. Shyest
Sotalia
Found in the
waters of South
America (as
well as Atlantic
and Caribbean
coasts), the two
species of sotalia
are very fearful
of humans.
Porpoises are in another family to the dolphins,
and harbour porpoises have several crucial
differences. The dorsal fin is triangular rather
than curved and the iconic long beak is
missing. Porpoise teeth are flat unlike spiky
dolphin teeth, and these animals don’t usually
leap out of the water or approach humans.
The bottlenose’s ‘smile’ is simply
the shape of its mouth, and in no
way means the animal is happy.
BoTTlenose dolpHin
Tursiops truncatus
Class Mammalia
Territory Global
diet Fish, squid and
crustaceans
lifespan 20-40 years
adult weight 136-499kg
(300-1,100lb)
Conservation status
LEAST CONCERN
Bottlenose
dolphin
The family’s poster animal
Doubtlessly the most famous face in the dolphin world, these animals are held in
aquariums because of their intelligence and relatively long lifespan. Captive life does
not reflect what these animals do in the wild, and bottlenoses can become aggressive
and even depressed without the freedom of the open ocean. Wild bottlenoses can
swim upwards of 120 kilometres (74.5 miles) each day and interact with hundreds
of new friends, even developing ‘social networks’, where dolphins know one another
through mutual friends. These dolphins develop regional accents and are extremely
fast learners, with groups around the world developing new hunting techniques that
are passed down to future generations.
81

The wildlife
of a cave
Meet the curious creatures that are specially
adapted for a life underground in some of Earth’s
deepest and darkest natural wonders
Words Jo Stass
© Michael Durham/Minden Pictures/FLPA
It’s difficult to imagine any form of life
thriving in a cold, damp and pitch-black
cave, but there are many creatures that do
just that. The name given to these animals
that spend their entire life underground
is troglobite, and they often feature some
very clever adaptations to help them live
in such extreme environments.
However, perhaps the most recognisable
cave dweller, the bat, doesn’t fall into
this category. It is actually known as a
trogloxene, or cave visitor, as it only uses
caves to roost. Nevertheless, these visitors
are still an important part of the cave
food chain. Without them, many of their
underground neighbours could not survive.
82

The wildlife of a cave
How do caves form?
Discover the processes that create solution
caves over thousands of years
2
1
Going underground
Groundwater seeps through cracks or fractures
in the earth to reach the limestone rock beneath.
5
3
Creating cavities
The slightly acidic water slowly dissolves the limestone
rock to create a system of small caves.
4
Joining together
As more water enters, the caves get bigger and eventually
join together, becoming one large cavern.
1. Hard rock
The upper layers of rock are harder
and so dissolve more slowly than the
soft limestone.
2. Acidic water
Groundwater mixes with carbon dioxide
in the air and soil to create weak
carbonic acid.
3. Underwater caves
Caves situated below the water table
are always flooded with water.
4. Collapsing cracks
Cracks in the upper layers of rock
gradually become bigger, collapsing
into sink holes.
5. Rock chemistry
Minerals inside the rock can also make
the groundwater more acidic as it
passes through.
“A troglobite will
spend its entire life
inside a cold, damp,
pitch-black cave”
83

The wildlife of a cave
The creatures of
Mammoth Cave
With over 650
kilometres (403.9 miles)
of passageways and
caverns, the world’s
longest cave system,
located in Kentucky,
United States is home
to more than 130
species of flora and
fauna, 14 of which don’t
exist anywhere else on
the planet.
Cave cricket
The long-legged, jumping cave cricket is a
keystone species of the Mammoth Cave. By feeding
on the surface and transferring the nutrients to the
subsurface in the form of guano, eggs and bodies,
it subsidises three separate communities of rare or
endemic cave-dwelling invertebrates.
Animals of
the shadows
Troglobites
Troglobites are animals
that have adapted to
spend their entire life cycle
within a cave and could
not survive outside of one.
They typically have poorly
developed or absent eyes,
little pigmentation and
are able to go a long time
without food. Examples
include cavefish, crayfish
and shrimps.
Fox
Troglophiles
A troglophile is an animal
that can survive outside
of a cave, but prefers to
live inside one. They will
typically only leave the cave
in search of food, but could
live their entire life either
inside or outside of one.
Examples include beetles,
worms, frogs, salamanders
and crickets.
Trogloxenes
Trogloxenes are animals
that regularly visit caves for
specific parts of their life
cycle, such as hibernation,
nesting or giving birth. They
will never spend an entire life
cycle within a cave and have
no special adaptations for
the environment. Examples
include bats, bears, skunks
and raccoons.
Bullfrog
Cave crayfish
Northern cavefish
Specially adapted to the lightless,
low-energy environment of
freshwater cave streams, this
species of fish has ceased to
develop unnecessary eyes and
pigmentation. It navigates by
feeling its surroundings using
sensory organs on its body, and
can live for up to two years without
food due to its low metabolic rate.
Opossum
84

The wildlife of a cave
Gray bat
Bats have inhabited Mammoth
Cave for millions of years, and only
150 years ago, the gray bat was
one of its most prominent species.
However, today they are listed
as Near Threatened due to cave
disturbance and are under threat
from a deadly fungal disease called
white-nose syndrome.
Screech owl
Snapping turtle
Cave salamander
The rocky limestone caves are the
ideal habitat for the spotted-tail
cave salamander. A dull yelloworange
coloured amphibian with
black spots, it can reach between
10-20cm in length (3.9-7.9in). It
feeds on insects, earthworms and
mites, which it catches with its long
tongue, and lays its eggs in cave
streams or pools.
Kentucky cave shrimp
This tiny crustacean is endemic
to the Mammoth Cave National
Park, where it inhabits large,
base-level, slow-flowing cave
streams. It grows to just 30mm
(1.2in) in length, has no eyes and
a translucent body and is listed as
Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Mussels
The Green River that runs through
the Mammoth Cave National
Park contains the most diverse
population of freshwater mussels in
North America, and one of the most
diverse populations in the world.
Over 50 species of mussels can be
found in the river, several of which
feature on the endangered list.
© The Art Agency/Peter Scott
85

The wildlife of a cave
The cave ecosystem
How do animals survive in the constant
darkness of a cave environment?
The deepest part of a cave is known as the dark zone,
and this is where troglobites live. As light cannot reach
this region, plant life cannot grow, and so the animal
inhabitants have had to find other sources of sustenance.
One way they get access to food is through weather,
as rain washes leaves, twigs and other plant matter into
the cave. Alternatively, non-permanent cave dwellers –
trogloxenes and troglophiles – can bring the food in for
them, or of course, become the food themselves. Bats
are an important part of many cave food chains, as their
guano is full of organic matter. As their droppings pile
up, bacteria and fungi break it down into basic nutrients
for others to feed on. These microscopic organisms
also become food for larger creatures, and so the chain
progresses until you reach the larger mammals at the top.
These delicate cave ecosystems can be found
throughout the world, but they differ slightly depending
on the size, location and conditions of each cave. For
example, glacier caves, which have been carved out of
solid ice, create an environment that only a select few
creatures can live in, while certain solution caves are
home to a rich and diverse selection of wildlife.
The olm is well-adapted to cave life
but is currently under threat from the
pollution of its underwater habitat
Cave types The many varieties of caves that can be found around the world
Solution Lava Sea Glacier
Groundwater containing
natural acid seeps through
the earth to dissolve the
soluble rocks – such as
limestone, chalk and
dolomite – beneath.
As lava flows downhill,
its surface cools and
solidifies, but hot lava
will continue to flow
underneath, leaving a
hollow cave behind.
Also known as littoral
caves, these are formed
when waves slowly
erode zones of
weakness in sea cliffs,
carving out caves.
Water running through
or underneath a
glacier gradually
melts the ice around
it. Eventually, a cave is
formed as a result.
86

The Arachnocampa
luminosa glowworm is
endemic to New Zealand
and can be found in many
of the country’s caves
Cave wildlife
from around
the world
The species that have adapted
to life in different types of cave
Tardigrades
These microscopic
organisms are able
to survive in freezing
glacier caves, withstand
temperatures below
freezing and even cope
in outer space!
Glowworms
Glowworms use their
bioluminescent tails to
attract prey, which then
gets stuck in their sticky
feeding lines. Damp, dark
caves are therefore the
perfect habitat.
Olms
These blind aquatic
salamanders have lived in
Croatia and Slovenia for
over 20 million years. They
have heightened smell and
hearing and can detect
electric and magnetic fields.
Springtails
This wingless insect has
no eyes and largely lives
off a diet of fungi. It’s the
deepest land animal ever
found, living at depths of
1,980 metres (6,500 feet)
below the surface.
“The deepest part of
a cave is known as
the dark zone. It’s
home to troglobites”
Large mammals
While fossils of some
bear, lion and leopard
species suggest they
once inhabited caves for
long periods, today, large
mammals mainly use caves
as a temporary shelter.
Ostracods
These tiny crustaceans can
live in caves flooded with
freshwater or saltwater
They have adapted to
dark, oxygen-depleted
environments by swimming
slowly to preserve energy.
© Alamy/Moritz Wolf; Nature Picture Library/Alamy
Fracture Talus Eolian Anchialine
Layers of more soluble
minerals located between
layers of less soluble rock
are dissolved by acidic
groundwater, leaving behind
deep fractures.
The openings that
form between
large boulders that have
fallen into a heap at the
base of cliffs are known
as talus caves.
Common in deserts,
these caves are
formed by winds
blowing fine sand
against a rock face,
eroding the surface.
Typically found
along coastlines,
these flooded caves
contain a mixture of
both fresh water
and salt water.
87

ehind
lens
THE
Luke Massey
Pro photographer Luke Massey invites us
inside the wonderful world of animal
conservation photography
Through my work I try to showcase species that
are under threat or in need of attention. In the
case of proboscis monkeys they’re disappearing
in front of us – it is feasible that they could go
extinct in the next 20 to 30 years due to habitat
destruction. I hoped with my work that I could get
this story out there; I want people to look at my
photos and fall in love with these monkeys.
I headed to Tarakan [Indonesia] where the
city had engulfed the mangroves, leaving only a
tiny patch remaining where just a few proboscis
monkeys survived. With almost all my work I put
a lot of effort into researching beforehand and try
to build contacts on the ground. Here I worked
alongside a Czech primatologist who has been
working with proboscis monkeys for decades, Dr
Stan Lhota.
I’d spend all day with the monkeys; there was
actually a boardwalk so that I could follow them
through the mangroves on foot. There were two
troops in the mangroves; in the true wild with
acre upon acre of mangrove to roam there’d be
no reason for two troops to meet, but if they did
there’d be little conflict. However, in Tarakan there
was; they’d fight at least once a day when they
met, mainly due to the lack of food available.
When I took this shot it was late in the day and
the troop was beginning to prepare for roost. Most
of them were lounging about or grooming high
in the canopy; it was only these three who didn’t
think it was time for bed just yet! As the boardwalk
had a few gaping holes, I had to concentrate on
where I placed mine and my tripod’s feet. On top
of this, the monkeys are a lot more nimble than
me, and there were tall mangroves for them to
shoot through.
I wanted the main action to take centre stage,
hence using a longer focal length. I just waited
for the action to kick off again. I shot this with
a Canon EOS 1D X and a 500mm lens with a 1.4x
converter. This kit is pretty heavy so I was using
a Benro tripod to keep everything steady. In the
mangroves light can be pretty low, so luckily the
1D X is capable of shooting in low light with very
little noise, which is the grain created when you
put your ISO up.
luke Massey
www.lmasseyimages.com
An award-winning wildlife photographer,
Luke has a passion for storytelling through
his imagery, aiming to educate and inspire by
showing people species close to home and
further afield.
Location: Borneo, Indonesia
Camera used: Canon EOS 1D X
88

Behind the lens
Getting your
message across
Luke Massey’s top tricks for making
your shots more expressive
Give it some context
I try to show the context of where the animal is in
my images so I tend to shoot a little wider. This can
work for both good and bad situations, from an
animal caught up in the illegal wildlife trade to these
black kites, who each morning would swoop down
to be thrown morsels of meat in Old Delhi [India].
Work with light
Light is an incredibly important tool; it can change
an image. From exposing just the lighter sections
and throwing all the darker images in to shadow
you can make an image so much more dramatic.
Use the eyes
Eye contact connects the person looking at the
image to the subject. The eyes can show so many
different emotions in countless species and make
the image stronger immediately.
© Luke Massey
89

Keeping in touch
Contact us at…
@WorldAnimalsMag
worldofanimalsmag
This month we asked World
of Animals readers what their
favourite animal noise is. Here
are some of our favourites:
Superpower dogs update
This month we take a look at the real-life work that Halo’s handler Cat Labrada has been involved
in, and what it’s like to be the human half of a superpower search-and-rescue duo
Trumpets from elephants. They are
my favourite animals. Just like
our little girl.
@MummyBear123456
O wow! I would love to win a copy
for my son Harry. Our favourite
animal noise is a monkey.
@BeckiSarahSmith
My little boy and I love the sound
of an elephant... He often
pretends to be one!
@PumpkinBunnyBea
Disaster: Hurricane Katrina
Year: 2005
Location: New Orleans & Gulf Coast
Storm category: Category 5 hurricane
Casualties: 1,836
Search dog: Fancy
“With Katrina it was different because the damage
was caused by water. The majority of the lives
that were lost were due to drowning. That meant
that when the floodwater receded, nobody was to
be found from searching because everybody had
either been evacuated or had drowned.”
Disaster zones
Cat Labrada started training search
and rescue dogs in 2000. Since then
she has worked with her loyal canine
counterparts to find survivors in some
of the world’s worst disaster zones
“I was working at a vet clinic and a woman
walked in with a search and rescue shirt
on,” Cat tells us. “So I enquired, as at that
time I had an eight month-old puppy, so
I started taking her out to training!” That
puppy was Fancy, a yellow Labrador.
Cat and Fancy worked on all kinds of
deployments together, the first one being
hurricane Charley in 2004. “We worked on
hurricane Charley, Frances, Jeanne, Ivan
and Katrina together before Fancy retired.
You get activated, and then you just await
instructions,” Cat explains. “You pack your
bags, have a meeting and a general check
up before getting deployed.
“There’s a lot that goes through
your mind in terms of emotions; it’s the
unknown. The extent of the devastation
depends on the disaster. Was it a bomb,
hurricane, tornado? It all depends on
what’s there and what the recon is going
to find to send you out to.” Luckily, the
dogs are ready for everything. “That’s why
we try to travel as much as we can during
training, so they’re used to getting off a
plane, out of a bus or a car to get straight
to work”.
Disaster: Haiti earthquake
Year: 2010
Location: Haiti
Storm category: Magnitude 7.0 on the Richter scale
Casualties: 100,000
Search dog: Bella
“Haiti was the most devastation. The majority of the housing is
shanty towns, so walking across the roofs on steep hillsides is
definitely what we train for in terms of mass casualty and mass
entrapment experience, but it was a Third World country. We were
there for nine days and we had no maps. It was very difficult because
it wasn’t very safe so they didn’t let us search at night.”
90

Wildlife journeys
Reader Rob Curtis from the Vale of
Glamorgan shares some stunning images
from his trip to Antarctica
Last winter [2016] (or summer in the
Southern Hemisphere) I had the wonderful
opportunity of working in the Antarctic
for the British Antarctic Survey, helping
to move their Antarctic Survey station
Halley across a large crack that had
developed on the ice shelf.
Although the hours of work were long
and hard we still found time to travel
down to the coast on our Sundays off
and enjoy the stunning wildlife that make
Antarctica their home. We even saw
emperor penguins! I was lucky to see
the remains of the emperor colony as
the sea ice had blown out and they
had lost all their eggs and chicks, yet
another indicator of global warming. The
remaining emperors were easy to snap as
they came to us, but timing their ‘flight’
from the sea onto the ice was difficult.
Reader photos
Pelicans waiting
to steal fish from
cormorants
Tell us
about one of your
wildlife holidays by
emailing your story and
photos to animals@
animalanswers
.co.uk
Animal antics
this month
Our favourite animal news and
stories. Let us know yours at
animals@animalanswers.co.uk
New nature app
launched
A new app that provides nature
documentaries on demand
has launched in the UK. LOVE
NATURE by Blue Ant Media and
Smithsonian Networks, is a
subscription video streaming
service available from the Apple
App Store.
‘Fake’ fur not fake
A pair of high-heeled shoes at
Misguided had to be taken off
sale after it was discovered they
contained cat fur. The discovery
was made by the Humane
Society International. Misguided
have stated they have a strict
no-fur policy and were unaware
the fur was real, but they are
not the only store with ‘faux fur’
products that contain fur.
A great egret
flying overhead
near a lake
I found this redshouldered
hawk
on a powerline
Eating dogs banned
Taiwan has become the first
Asian country to ban the sale
and consumption of dog and cat
meat. Purchasing or eating the
meat now carries a fine of up to
£6,500; anyone who kills these
animals could face prison.
Thanks to Johnny Walker for this stunning selection
of bird images sent in to World of Animals!
We love hearing from readers, whether it’s
receiving letters, emails, photos, drawings or
even feedback. Get in touch and you could be a
lucky winner, too!
© Thinkstock
91

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Animal
answers
Send your animal questions to us at:
questions@animalanswers.co.uk
How do kangaroos
pause pregnancy?
Kangaroo mums can keep a joey in
reserve; while one baby is growing in the
pouch, a second one waits in the uterus
ready to take its place. And it’s all down to
a feedback loop in their hormones.
If there’s already a joey in the pouch, the
action of it suckling triggers the release of
a hormone called prolactin, which halts the
development of the embryo. The fertilised
kangaroo egg can divide until it reaches a
ball of 100 cells, but after that it stops until
there is room. When the bigger joey is old
enough to leave its mother’s pouch, the
hormone balance changes and the embryo
can continue developing.
This clever adaptation means that the
female kangaroo will always have room for
her new arrival, but she won’t need to wait
until her older joey has left to find a mate,
maximising the number of little kangaroos
she can successfully raise.
There’s only room
for one joey in the
pouch at a time
What’s the difference between
venomous, poisonous and toxic?
These terms can be confusing, but there’s
a simple way to remember the difference. If
something bites or stings you, causing you
harm, it’s venomous. If you eat something
and it damages you, it’s poisonous.
A toxin is a substance that causes harm
when it enters the body through inhalation,
ingestion, injection or absorption. Poisons
can be inhaled, ingested or absorbed, while
venoms are injected via an animal’s teeth,
sting or barbs.
Poison dart frogs are poisonous because
they secrete batrachotoxin. Gathered from
the beetles they eat, it disrupts nerve and
muscle cells, resulting in heart failure.
Pit vipers, on the other hand, inject their
toxins with a bite. They make several kinds
of molecules called metalloproteinases.
These are enzymes - biological catalysts -
that break down other molecules inside the
victim’s body. Many cause bleeding, while
others directly kill cells.
Follow us at...
94
@WorldAnimalsMag
worldofanimalsmag

Animals answers
Can it really rain frogs?
Surprisingly, yes. Frogs, fish and other
small animals can be carried into
the atmosphere by tornadoes before
plummeting down again when the storm
subsides. In 2000, the BBC reported fish
raining down in Norfolk after a minitornado
travelled in from the sea.
These swirling winds form over land,
and if they travel over water they can
create a waterspout with an area of low
pressure in the centre. This pressure
difference draws liquid and other objects
upwards into the air, occasionally
carrying aquatic animals away from
their homes. As the winds start to drop,
the heaviest objects fall first, followed
later by the lighter ones.
It really has
been known
to rain frogs
Haemocyanin
Hemerythrin
Why do crabs and spiders have blue blood,
and does blood come in any other colours?
Haemoglobin
Chlorocruorin
We are used to blood being red, but the animal kingdom has
come up with a rainbow of other options.
Our own blood contains the oxygen-carrying molecule
haemoglobin. It is made from four units of haem, each of
which contains an atom of iron. The molecule absorbs certain
wavelengths of light, giving it its distinctive red colour. When
oxygen is bound, it appears bright, but without oxygen it’s a
deeper hue.
Crabs, lobsters, spiders, squid and octopuses have blue blood
because they use a copper-based system to carry gas to their
tissues. The molecule is known as haemocyanin and, without
oxygen, it is colourless. When the gas binds, the colour changes.
Some marine worms have iron-based systems with even
wilder colours. Green blood is the result of a molecule called
chlorocruorin, while a slightly different iron-containing molecule
called hemerythrin is purple.
And, some animals don’t have any oxygen-carrying pigments
at all. In very cold water, there’s so much dissolved oxygen
that colourful pigments aren’t necessary, so some deep sea
creatures have completely transparent blood.
© Thinkstock
Crabs have copper
in their blood
Q.Why are
March hares mad?
Find out at…
animalanswers.co.uk

Interview with a…
wildlife fundraiser
Walk 4 Wildlife is a great example of how much we can do to help
animals just by putting on our walking shoes and joining together
In 2015, colleagues
Mark Oliver and
Mike Matthews
wanted to get a few
people together for
a sponsored relay
walk to raise funds for
their favourite wildlife
charities. But as word got out and more
people became interested, the idea turned
into something much bigger. Now they are
holding several fundraising events with the
aim of raising £1million this summer.
What is Walk 4 Wildlife?
Walk 4 Wildlife events are sponsored walks
that bring together like-minded people;
people with an empathy for animals and
a determination to go the extra mile to
help protect wildlife. We have five very
different events this summer, each one
a challenge. The season starts in the
Sussex South Downs with our ‘3-Distance
Challenge’ and ends with a 20-mile
[32.2-kilometre] night safari walk in the
New Forest.
On 19 May, a unique event will be
taking place across the UK. Hundreds
of thousands of primary school children
will be taking part in a mass sponsored
walk, in an attempt to break a Guinness
World Record. On the day, primary schools
around the country will be joining together
to try and break the world record for the
most people walking in an organised event.
The current record is 231,635 people all
walking at the same time!
How was it founded?
In 2015, we came up with an idea to
do a sponsored relay walk to raise
money for five carefully chosen wildlife
charities. Originally, just a handful of people
were each going to be walking a section of
the route for their chosen cause. However,
as the word spread and more people
wanted to join the walk, it quickly became
apparent that we needed to expand our
ideas, and so we put together a Land’s End
to John o’Groats 50-day relay walk. We
wanted to make this first Walk 4 Wildlife
a walk for some of the world’s most iconic
and endangered species and so we came
up with our own ‘Big 5’. Having chosen
cheetahs, elephants, lions, rhinos and tigers,
we then selected five separate charities to
benefit from the proceeds of each walk.
Although a lot of people wanted to join
the walk, for many the route was either too
far away or was coming through their area
on a day that just wasn’t convenient. So we
set about organising other walks up and
down the UK, so that many more people
could join in. With very little publicity and
relying only on word-of-mouth, another
eight walks were held over the summer
of 2016, raising over £25,000 for our five
charities. This year, we are hoping to create
something really special for wildlife.
Why should people get involved?
There is no other event like this where
people can come together to raise
money for wildlife. From the majestic lion
to the humble hedgehog, the critically
endangered black rhino to the mountain
gorilla, animals around the world need our
help. If you have a compassion for animals
and are thinking about doing something
for charity this year; if you want to support
your local wildlife charity, or help protect
endangered species, why not get involved?
Who can take part?
The Big 5 events have been carefully
created so that everyone can take part.
From a gentle stroll along the Sussex South
Downs, to some harsh hill walking over the
Yorkshire Three Peaks, our five sponsored
walks should appeal to everyone. The
Guinness World Record attempt on 19
May is aimed primarily at schools. Anyone
wanting to take part should contact us at
enquiries@walk4wildlife.uk and we can
put them in touch with their local schools.
How can people sign up?
Visit www.walk4wildlife.uk, or email
enquiries@walk4wildlife.uk for more
information and to get signed up.
“Hundreds of thousands of primary
school children across the country will
take part in a mass sponsored walk”
96

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Explore even more amazing animals in
World of Animals Issue 47
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sharks
sloths
parrots
red PAndAs
rhinos
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