A giant that was too badly hurt to make it to the Dehiwela Zoo

Injured wild animals are often sent to the zoo for treatment. Last week, a giant crocodile caught in Ragama was sent to the zoo by the Department of Wildlife Conservation in an attempt to save the life of this animal  which had been badly beaten up.
Crocodiles are seen as menacing creatures. The news broke a few weeks ago that a man who went into a marsh in Ragama had been attacked by a crocodile. The man was killed and people in the area who use the marsh for many purposes were scared by the lurking threat. So they decided to catch the crocodile and a team baited the crocodile using a strong iron hook hidden in a chicken on one end with a strong rope that had been tied firmly to restrain any victim that swallowed the bait.
Luckily for the hunters the hungry croc fell for the trap. But even the hunters were surprised to find that the croc was indeed a giant. The hook, entangled deep in its mouth and neck, prevented escape. Its struggles were to no avail. Finally the team managed to drag it to the banks of the marshy land. Whilst the crocodile tried to escape, its legs and the deadly jaws were tied tight.
It measured 15 feet long and about 900kg in weight and was identified as a salt-water Crocodile by the experts. Proving that it is a truly giant, the experts claim it is one of the largest crocodiles found in recent years in South Asia. Surely, it must have been the largest specimen found in Sri Lanka.
As the news about the capture of the large crocodile spread in the area, people started to gather near the marsh to have a look at this rare creature. But unfortunately some of them were harming the crocodile, in trying to be heroes. The croc was also badly beaten and its head had been hit with a sharp weapon injuring it critically. It could be a killer croc, but it was captured and imprisoned with legs tied and kept in a helpless position. The crocodile was exhausted, scared and weakened by the time Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) officers got to inspect it.

Tragedy on the way to the zoo

The usual practice is to release captured crocodiles to a national park, but as the crocodile was injured, the DWC officers sent it to the Dehiwala Zoological gardens for treatment. The veterinary team was informed about the unusual patient that was being brought in and had to quickly get ready to act. But unfortunately, the crocodile succumbed to injuries just a few minutes before reaching the Zoological Garden. The vets and others removed the hook which was entangled in its mouth in an attempt to revive it.
“The wounds created by the hook and injury on the head were too deep that even the giant croc didn’t stand a chance,” commented the zoo’s veterinary surgeon Dr.Jagath Jayasekare who tried to save the wounded croc.
The veterinary team then conducted a post-mortem on the crocodile to find remains of the things this reptile had fed on. “There were bodies of tortoises and to our surprise, a few bones believed to be human too were collected from its belly. These were half digested and were sent for further investigations to re-verify whether these could be the bones of the unlucky victim killed by the crocodile a few weeks back,” said Dr. Jayasekare. “Usually the bones and other remains of what the crocodiles feed on fully digest due to the potency of their abdominal acids.” It was also stated that a DNA test will be carried out to identify the bone remains found in the crocodile.
Crocodiles are a protected species in Sri Lanka. They are the top predators in the riverine and marsh environments. Though they sometimes take an unlucky human victim, they mostly feed on fish. This also means that they remove the sick and weak creatures from the environment ensuring the overall health of the ecosystem. If you remove all these top predators, it will mean a loss of balance of that ecosystem. This will also have bad repercussions for all, so it is necessary to strike a balance and not to kill all those animals because of unwholesome incidents. The  way there are only a few nasty men among the good, in the animal world too there can be occasionally a nasty animal that needs to be ‘managed.’ Reptile experts recommend that there should be mechanisms to avoid confrontations with humans by different means and in the case of nasty crocs, they could be relocated instead of resorting to killing.
This croc which was killed in Ragama will be stuffed by taxidermists in the near future and will be kept on display in the zoo’s museum. At least you will get the chance to see the giant croc in that form. 

Crocs in the Zoo

Crocodiles are reptiles. So if you want to see the crocs in a zoo, you need to visit the reptilian enclosure. This was actually begun as an enclosure housing one croc. This particular one can  mostly be seen basking in the sunlight in a corner of its den. Sometimes it likes to take a dip in the small cement water pool located in the middle of the den. Other than the local crocodiles, the zoo also has foreign crocs such as the Gavial Crocodile, Cuban Crocodile and Dwarf Crocodiles. On your next visit to the zoo, you shouldn’t forget to observe these reptiles very closely.

Valentine’s Day ‘wedding’ for ram and deer at a China zoo

A Chinese zoo held a Valentine’s Day wedding on Tuesday (February 14) for a male sheep and a female deer whose unconventional relationship has captured the public imagination, state media reported. Visitors have flooded to the wildlife park in the south western province of Yunnan to see the sheep, whose Chinese name Changmao means long hair, and the deer, Chunzi (pure), after zookeepers revealed online that the pair had begun mating.On Tuesday, visitors flocked again to the zoo, to see the two unlikely lovers unite in a ceremony carefully choreographed by their keepers, the state-run China News Service said in a photo report. Photos posted online showed Chunzi trotting under a man-made arch that carried the words “I do” in Chinese, with Changmao following closely behind, as spectators stood behind a railing with cameras ready. Another photo shows the sheep puckering its lips for what looks like a kiss, while the deer looks on with an undecided look on its face. 

Symbol of Love in Dehiwala Zoo

There are only few more days to the Valentine’s Day which is fallen on 14^th.February. Day is special for lovers and if you are undecided on what to do on this Valentines’ day, ZooLander suggests you to visit the Zoo to meet a symbol of love that mates for life..!! 

Valentine’s Day is on next week and perhaps you have already done the shopping to select a gift for your loved one. If the gift is a kind of an ornament, ZooLander bets that most of lovers will get a gift portraying a pair of swans or geese. That is the fame received by these lovable birds as they are commonly associated with romance. Their stark white beauty, graceful swimming and the fact that they mates for life all add up to make Swans the Symbol of Love.

To strengthen this image as birds of love, the Swans and Geese were given the most picturesque enclosure of Dehiwala Zoo. You can observe few pairs of these white birds in this enclosure that that has a spacious pond with lots of greenery. The most eye-catching feature of this enclosure is the artificial waterfall that falls from a considerable height. Trees with lots of hanging lianas make the setting perfect for these swans and geese to unfold their romance in Dehiwala Zoo.

The name board in the Swan Pond of the Dehiwala zoo mentions Mute Swans Cygnus olor. The mute swan is a very large white waterbird which can be heavy as much as 25-30 lbs. measuring 56-62 inches in length. It has a long S-shaped neck, and their orange bills with black knobs, white plumage and long necks make them strikingly attractive. When swimming, mute swans often hold their wings slightly upraised over their back, forming a hump if viewed from the side and they flies with its neck extended and regular slow wingbeats. The face between the bill and eyes is naked and black, and legs and feet are black.

Mates for Life

Yes, that is true – these Swans and Geese usually mate for life and contrast to other birds. They are trusted partners which are known as Monogomy in animal kingdom. One male mate with several females which is known as Polygomy which is the most common occurrence among animals, but quite contrasts, the swans has chosen to be mates for life where a single male selects a single female to mate and raise their swan family. 

In the wild, a juvenile swan normally lives as part of a flock until it is about 4 years old and deemed as being an adult. It then seeks out a mate, most commonly from the flock it's living in, and heads off with the mate to find their own mating territory. If another mating pair is nearby then problems can occur in the form of a territorial battle, the losers of which will have to move on in search of another "patch". 

Mated pairs usually raise one brood per year. They construct a nest using a huge mound of material, normally dried grasses and assorted vegetation, sticks and rushes, constructed at the water's edge. The nest is built by the female, while the male supplies the materials. The female lays up to seven eggs between late April and early May. Not giving the burden of incubation only to the female, father swan too sits on the nest providing necessary warmth for the eggs to hatch. The hatching should goes for 35-41 days continuously. 

The young birds, or cygnets, sometimes ride on their parents' backs and remain with the adult birds for four or five months. Cygnets are not as white as their parents and usually brown above and whitish below. This also based for the fair tail of the ugly duckling where a stranded young duckling was humiliated for his dirty look, but where finally he become one of the most beautiful bird as it grow. 

The young of some pairs are driven off the breeding territory as soon as their plumage is predominantly white (during late autumn or winter). Other broods often accompany their parents to the wintering area, and usually join a large flock in which they remain when the parents return to their breeding territory. Young birds will not generally breed for the first two years of adult life.

The male and the female birds, the cob and pen, usually attempt to mate for life and only if one of the birds were to die then they looks for another mate. After several failed nesting attempts, some pairs rarely ‘divorce’ their mate and goes for a new mate finds the researchers. 

Why mate for life..? 

Love usually helps human couples to be mates of life. But Zoologists thinks that birds do not form emotional relationships like humans do, and their principle drive for forming a pair pond is to produce offspring rather than for any emotional fulfillment. 

Birds that do form long term pair bonds may remain together for several breeding seasons without elaborate courtship renewals, though there may be some minor displays and other refreshing of their bond. Depending on the species, these birds may remain together until one partner dies, after which the other bird will seek another mate. Another common occurrence is that the birds stay together for several seasons, but they may find new, stronger partners at any time and could switch loyalties if they perceive that it would increase the chances of producing surviving offspring. 

While these benefits are not the same for every species, those that do appear to mate for life can take advantage such as availability of Larger Territories, Longer youth care and Multiple broods. Where there are larger territories if they must make annual efforts to attract new mates, they would be unable to defend the amount of space they need for feeding. Larger birds require longer incubation periods for the young to fully form within the eggs, and after hatching the young birds require more extensive care or teaching from their parents in case of Longer Youth Care. With long term bonds, the parent birds can mate earlier in the season and give their offspring the necessary time to develop fully before migration or harsh weather sets in. This is true for many large birds, including cranes, raptors and geese. 

Multiple Broods is where while many birds that only mate for a single season also produce multiple broods. Birds with long term bonds can often restart a brood if predators clean out a nest or if other circumstances destroy the eggs. This is another tactic birds can use to increase the odds of having viable offspring even in uncertain seasons. Birds of prey and many waterfowl have different nest threats that make long term bonds and multiple broods a necessity if their species are to survive.

Are ‘Mute Swans’ really mute..?

Despite their name, these birds are not really mute. Adult birds are usually silent but will use hisses, barks and rattling snorts when threatened, and juvenile birds have additional whining calls to attract attention.

We think all the aquatic birds that swim on the water are hunting fish for their meal. But this is a misconception where swans and geese are vegetarians. Swans eat aquatic vegetation, which their long necks equip them to take from the riverbed. They take the molluscs that cling to the vegetation, and also eat small fish, frogs and worms. Grain, such as wheat, and vegetable matter, especially lettuce and potatoes, can be fed to swans. In Dehiwala Zoo, they are given vegetables and also some sort of a serial where they gulp greedily. 

Mute Swan can be found in wild mainly in European countries. But they are domesticated by many cultures and show a wide-spread distribution around the world. The oldest ringed wild mute swan was 15 years old and even in the wild Swans do not have many natural enemies as they are well equipped to defend themselves against most predators. The main predators are foxes, which from time to time take birds roosting in accessible places. But the main threats come from pollution of freshwater areas, lead weights previously used by anglers, fishing tackle, and overhead power lines. Vandalism is a problem in some areas. 

Swans in Human Culture 

Swans have left their image throughout history. It is said that during the Middle Ages, the mute swan was considered to be a valuable commodity and was regularly traded between noblemen. The owners of swans were duty bound to mark their property by way of a succession of unique nicks in the beaks of their birds. It was the duty of the Royal Swanmaster to organise the annual swan-upping, a tradition that survives to this day. The Queen has a prerogative over all swans in England and Wales. The Swan Keeper also despatches swans all over the world, sent as gifts in the Queens name. 

The only two companies that still observe the tradition of owning swans on the Thames are the Worshipful Companies of Vintners and Dyers. The Royal swans are no longer marked, but an unmarked mute swan on the Thames is regarded as belonging to the Queen by default. The Queen still maintains an officially-appointed Swan Keeper, and the ceremony still takes place on the Monday of the third week in July. 

Geese in the Swan Pond 

Other than the Mute Swans, several pairs of domesticated geese too can be observed in the Swan Pond of Dehiwala Zoo. With the pinkish feet, they are easy to identify when they are out of water and they are missing the black patches on the beak of the Mute Swan. Geese too is said to make strong bonds. If you visit the Swan pond these days, you can find one of these geese has made a nest and incubating the eggs at a corner.

It really will be a nice experience for you to visit the Zoo on this Valentine’s Day and have a look at these lovable birds swimming free in the Picturesque Swan Pond in Dehiwala Zoo.

Visit Zoo to see Amazon's Largest Fish

The zoo’s aquarium is the home for large fish. Among them, you’d find one of the world’s largest freshwater fish, a habitant of the Amazon River - arapaima. They are true giants and ZooLander recommends that you closely observe these large fish.

At a quiet corner of the aquarium is a large tank. In it swims a group of large fish. They are well near 5 or 6 feet long, and are surely the heaviest fish in the aquarium. Everybody wants to have a peek at these monster fish, but the little known fact is that they are in fact one of the world’s largest freshwater fish.

Named arapaima, these fish are inhabitants of the biodiversity rich Amazon River. In local Amazonian languages, this giant fish  is also called pirarucu or paiche. Because of their enormous size, this giant is also mentioned in the legends of the local Amazonian tribes. According to legend, Pirarucu is the disrespectful and cruel son of an Amazon chief. God has struck him down to the depths of the river, and it became the arapaima. Brazilians and locals still refer to the fish as pirarucu.

Whatever the legend holds, the monster fish is also referred to as a living fossil by historians. They believe these fish have inhabited these Amazonian regions since the Jurassic age, millions of years back. The fossil records too supports this theory making the arapaima a living fossil fish and a true prehistoric river monster. In other words theyt could have been there during the same time as dinosaurs and can truly be called Dino-fish from the deep.

They are truly giants in freshwater, and records indicate that fish as long as 9 feet are caught from the Amazon River. An unconfirmed record from  the 19th century also reports of fishermen having caught an arapaima the length 14.8 ft (4.5m). A full grown arapaima can weigh as heavy as 440 pounds (200 kilograms). Arapaima has a wide, scaly, grey body and a tapered head. This gives them somewhat of a bizarre look and establishes their name as a monster river fish. This dino fish is indeed a predator of the deep. Usually they hunt other fish, crustaceans and other small animals. It is also claimed that the arapaima sometimes feed on water birds that are low flying or swimming without a sense of the lurking dangers that lie beneath.

Most of the fish breathe through their gills, and can stay underwater without a problem. But the arapaima is strangely an air breather, getting oxygen from air inhaled through the mouth. Arapaimas can stay underwater for 10 to 20 minutes, and tend to remain near the water’s surface, where they hunt and emerge often to breathe with a distinctive coughing noise, say experts.

Labyrinth organ

They have a special organ - the  labyrinth organ which is rich in blood vessels that opens into the fish’s mouth. This also helps the arapaima to survive in waters where the oxygen level is low.  Lakes in the Amazon region which are are isolated from other rivers during the dry season brings down the oxygen levels but this giant fish survives as it has the advantage of the ability to breathe air.

However, this air breathing habit also results in the arapaimas’ downfall. Because they have to surface to breathe, they are easy targets of fishermen, and others who hunt them for fun. Arapaimas are caught using nets or by harpooning. Once an Arapaima is detected, the fishermen can be certain that it could emerge somewhere near and stay ready to harpoon it. This has caused the  decline of the fish population pushing it to Vulnerable and to  Extinction status in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Because the arapaima can be cooked in to “large, boneless fish steaks” it is considered a delicacy, and records show some 7000 tons per year were fished from 1918 to 1924, at the height of it being commercialycaught. But recognizing the threat, the commercial fishing of arapaima has now been banned in the Amazon region. Fishing is allowed only in certain remote areas and on a catch-and-release, basis or harvesting by native people for their consumption. Raising arapaimas for food is allowed.

The reproduction cycle of this giant fish is also interesting. They build a nest at the bottom of rivers where it is muddy. Experts say that the nest is about 50cm wide and 15cm deep. It is said that the arapaima breeds in drier periods where water levels are low or at times when water levels just start to rise. As the water rises the eggs hatch and the offspring have the flood season to prosper, during the months from May to August. Because of this, the yearly  spawning is regulated seasonally in this region.

The father arapaima is truly the most dedicated of parents. “Mouth incubation” is thought to take place. Arapaimas are mouthbrooders with the eggs and young  protected in the mouth. This task is done by the father, who takes on the duty of protecting the babies. The father guarding the eggs is known to take the young and egss in his mouth and move them to another location. The young are led by the male in a group, once they are able to swim. The mother gives protection to the father by staying and swimming close, ready to interfere in case of an attack. This is truly the gentle side of this giant fish.

published on LakbimaNews on 05.02.2012 http://www.lakbimanews.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4412:visit-amazons-dont-dine-on-the-dino&catid=41:mag&Itemid=12