Playful in captivity, fearsome in the wild

Bears are some of the most feared carnivorous mammals in Asian forests, but you could easily get deceived by their behaviour as the sloth bears in the zoo seem playful. Brought to the zoo when very young and raised by the ‘Young Zoologists’ and zoo staff, these bears are playful and interesting to watch. This week ZooLander reports on the playful sloth bears at the Dehiwala Zoo..!

Sloth bears are fascinating to watch. Though they inhabit the dry zone jungles in Sri Lanka, it is not easy to spot them in their natural habitats as they are shy animals. If you are really lucky, you could have a glimpse of them in a national park like Yala.  But at the Dehiwala Zoo you will have all the time to observe these secretive sloth bears.
You can meet the sloth bears at two locations within the zoo. The one which is home to the  playful bears, is located near the Aviary and adjacent to Patagonian Cave (Mara)’s den. These sloth bears are really playful unlike in the wild. One of these bears was brought to the zoo while just a baby. It was about 4 months at the time of rescue and had even been hand fed by the animal keepers and the Young Zoologists with the love and care the cubs needed. This baby bear had also been kept in the Pets Corner; which allows visitors - especially the kids; to have a closer interaction with animals. It had been cuddled and the kids had played with it resulting in an acquired playfulness.Though fully grown now, it still likes to swing playfully on the iron swing placed in its enclosure.
This bear has the company of another of its kind, which had been kept as a pet and they can be seen playfully engaging in mock fights. Opening their large lips baring sharp teeth, they sometimes seem as if they are trying to scare one another ... Standing on their hind legs they compete in height, while wrestling is also one of their popular pastimes. But when the day-time heat gets to these bears, they lie under a shady spot in their enclosure and go to sleep. They also enjoy relaxing on the large logs in their den.
The other bear enclosure is located elsewhere and is made to give the feel of an environment closer to their natural habitat in the wild. You can find it on your way to the elephant area and will be a reminder of the bears in the wild.

Termite Suckers
With bushy thick coats of black hair, they do not look as cute as pandas. But they are, our local brand of bear, and their natural range is South Asia. Most sloth bears live in India and Sri Lanka; others live in southern Nepal, and they have been reported in Bhutan and Bangladesh too. Sloth bears live in a variety of dry and wet forests, and also in some grasslands, where boulders and scattered shrubs and trees provide shelter. In areas like Yala, large boulders are the best hideouts for the bear. Some of the hideouts in Yala are also named with reference to these bears such as Walas Kema meaning watering hole for thirsty bears. Wasgamuwa has been a combination of words Walas + Gomuwa which translates as  ‘jungle where the bears roam.’
Sloth bears have shaggy, dusty-black coats, pale short-haired muzzles, and long, curved claws which they use to excavate ants and termites. A cream-colored “V” or “Y” usually marks their chests which resembles a loosely stitched necklace. They have large lips, a long tongue, a pale muzzle and well-developed hook-like claws that enable them to climb trees and dig for termites.
Sloth Bears relish termites and ants; which has earned them the tag insectivores; they are actually omnivorous ready to eat meat as well. Sloth bears employ a well-evolved method to dig out termites.Their long, curved claws are used for penetrating nest mounds, which can be rock-hard. Once they’ve opened a hole, they blow away excess dirt, then noisily suck out the insects through a gap in their front teeth. To do so, they close their nostrils and use their lips like a vacuum nozzle. To support these dietary preferences, the sloth bears’ nostrils have evolved in a way that they can be closed. This helps bears to protect the respiratory system from dust or insects when raiding termite nests or beehives. They also have gaps in their teeth which enable them to suck up ants, termites, and other insects. A sloth bear uses its lips like a vacuum, making rapid, loud “kerfump” noises as it sucks insects from their nests.

Bear Season
Though termites are their favourite diet, sloth bears do not mind a juicy fruity treat. Whenever palu trees are ripe with fruit, in the local jungles, they come out from hideouts as the smell of this sweet fruit is irresistible to sloth bears. The palu season which starts in May and goes on till end July marks an unofficial bear watching season in our national parks. Yala is thought to be one of the best places to watch bears in the open, in the wild, and that’s mainly during this palu season ... as the bears are attracted to the fruit.
Some of the greedy bears that cannot control  temptation even climb the palu trees in search of berries hanging on branches. Zoologists also have records of some greedy young bears that have got dizzy after eating too many palu fruits.
Sloth bear is also a much sort after animal by tourists who visit our national parks. Like Africa’s Big 5, the tourism industry in Sri Lanka is also vying to promote “Sri Lanka’s Big 4” which includes the Sloth Bear along with the Elephant, the Blue Whale and the Leopard – adding importance to sloth bears, making them rank among the top Sri Lankan attractions.
In fact, Sri Lanka has its own sub species of sloth bear that is endemic to Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan sub species of sloth bear is highly threatened, with populations continuing to dwindle. Destruction of dry-zone forests is the  main threat, because unlike other large Sri Lankan animals, the Sri Lankan sloth bear is highly dependent on natural forests as a food source, and is a shy animal.

Short Tempered
With their sharp teeth and long claws, the  sloth bears can indeed be a fierce carnivore in our jungles. They are known to be short tempered and are responsible for attacking many forest dwellers that are not careful enough to avert them. In the past, there were occasional news reports about bear attacks. In fact bear attacks are more common than leopard attacks, simply because leopards have a more acute sense that makes them avoid humans before humans feel the presence of the leopard.
Sloth bears lead solitary lives, and most are nocturnal. If threatened, these smallish bears will stand on two legs, brandishing their clawed forepaws as weapons. Their sharp claws could indeed be deadly. There are fairly agile bears that can run faster than a human.
Sloth bears grow to around five to six feet in height, stand two to three feet high at the shoulder, and weigh from 120 pounds (in lighter females) to 310 pounds (the heavy males).

Softer Side
After a six- to seven-month gestation period, sloth bears normally give birth to a litter of two cubs in an underground den. The cubs will often ride on their mother’s back, a feature unique to bears. Sloth bears mate during the hot season - May, June,and July - and usually give birth to two cubs, six to seven months later. After emerging from the den, cubs stay at their mother’s side for two to three years, before heading off on their own.
Sloth bears show their softer side as they are the only bears to carry young on their backs. This behaviour known as ‘piggy-backing’ gives more protection to the young, which are vulnerable to predation, when on the move.

Published on LakbimaNews on 29.07.2012 http://www.lakbimanews.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6293:playful-in-captivity-fearsome-in-the-wild&catid=41:mag&Itemid=12

Wild boars: Pigs in the wild

Pig’ is considered taboo in many religions and the majority consider them dirty animals, always delving into and eating dirt. Some domesticated pigs in villages rummage in garbage dumps looking for anything - even carcasses that are half rotten. Their fat body is often covered by mud and other dirt that they have caught on their skin, which further reinforces their image as filthy animals. Even the wild form of these domesticated pigs, are considered the same, even though they are named differently and are called wild boars.
The term boar is used to denote an adult male of certain species - including, confusingly, domestic pigs. However, for wild boars, it applies to the whole specie, including, for example, wild boar sows or wild boar piglets. Wild hogs or simply ‘boars’ are also called scavengers in the wild. They indeed are omnivorous scavengers: eating almost anything they come across, including grass, nuts, berries, carrion, and nests of ground nesting birds, roots, tubers, refuse, insects and small reptiles. This scavenging has also earned them the title Forest Cleaners.
Wild boars are not rare and are commonly found in Sri Lanka’s jungles. They still survive in many forest patches that are located very close to human settlements. They are widespread from lowland wet zone forests to dry zone scrub lands. Proving that they are quite adaptable animals, the wild boar can also be found in abundance  in the cold hill country. Some of the coldest places in Sri Lanka, such as the Horton Plains, are also home to wild boars.

Unwelcome Guest
Unfortunately, they are also considered pests by many farmers as they frequently invade farmlands and eat up vegetables and other tubers. Even the law is not strict in protecting them giving the farmers an opportunity to hunt down any intruders to their farmlands. Wild boars become active mainly in the night. Early mornings and late afternoons would be the best time to see these animals that sometimes move in herds in forested areas. They like to rest during other times and also like to dig whenever they get an opportunity.
Wild boars are indeed the wild ancestors of the domesticated pig. Ancient man had captured pigs from the wild and through hybrids they have raised the present domesticated pig. But unlike the domesticated pig, the body of the wild boar is compact and is covered by a heavy layer of fur. They also have a clear ridge on their back made of very thick fur that stand out like a decoration almost like a crown. Their heads are large, but the legs relatively short, giving them a funny appearance.  The fur consists of stiff bristles and the colour usually varies from dark grey to black or brown. This dense fur has given them the chance to survive in colder climatic conditions.
A fully grown boar can grow up to 90-200 cm (35-79 in) in length without the tail of 15-40 cm (5.9-16 in), and have a shoulder height of 55-110 cm (22-43 in). As a whole, their average weight is 50-90 kg, as per web sources. But their sizes can vary according to the region that they live in.
Wild boars have incredibly poor eyesight as they have very small-sized eyes, but they also have long, straight snouts which gives them a strong sense of smell. The snouts of the wild boar are probably one of these animals most characteristic features, and like other wild pigs, it sets these mammals apart. The wild boars’ snout is a cartilaginous disk at the end, which is supported by small bones - the pre nasal, that allows wild boars to use their snouts as excavator backhoes when foraging.

Sharp Tusks
Male wild boars have tusks that can inflict painful injury. Their tusks are continuously growing teeth that protrude from the mouth, from their upper and lower canine teeth. These tusks are used as weapons against their predators. The upper tusks are bent upwards in males, and are regularly ground against the lower ones to produce sharp edges. The tusks normally measure about 6 cm (2.4 in), in exceptional cases even 12 cm (4.7 in). Females also have sharp canines, but they are smaller, and not protruding -- like the males’ tusks, say  zoological experts.

There are many who have fallen victim to attacks of panicking wild boars. If surprised or cornered, a boar (particularly a sow with piglets) can and will defend itself and its young with intense vigour. The males, lower their heads, charge, and then slash upwards with the tusks. Females, whose tusks are not visible, charge - head up, mouth wide, and bite. Their sharp tusk is strong enough to tear the flesh off and it is advised not to walk around jungle roads at times when wild boars are expected to come out. Leopards are the worst predator of wild boars, but with their sharp tusks, the wild boar sometimes turns the tables, making the leopard victim. There are many eye witness records where leopards have been sighted being chased away by angry wild boars. Boar moms can be very aggressive when they have piglets and humans need to be extremely careful, when in the wild, as they do not hesitate to attack anybody to ensure the safety of their piglets.

Different Piglet
After a gestation period of 112 - 115 days, boar mothers raise a litter of 3 - 12 piglets. The sows prepare for the birth by constructing a nest of grass and the babies are born into this. The mother has 8 - 14 teats and each piglet has its own teat from which to suckle. It is said, that the first piglets born choose a teat near their mother’s head so that they have a better chance of attracting her attention and are less likely to be trodden on. The piglets are born with stripes and these help to camouflage them in the undergrowth.
Wild boar piglets look vey different to their parents as they are marbled chocolate coloured and have cream stripes over their bodies. The stripes fade by the time the piglet is about 6 months old, when the animal takes on the adult’s grizzled grey or brown colour. Female wild boars and their offspring live in groups called sounders. Sounders typically number around 20 animals, although groups of over 50 have been seen, and will consist of 2 to 3 sows; one of which will be the dominant female. Group structure changes with the coming and going of farrowing females, the movements of maturing males (usually when they reach around 20 months) and the arrival of unrelated sexually active males.
Wild boars are native across much of Northern and Central Europe, the Mediterranean Region (including North Africa’s Atlas Mountains) and much of Asia as far off as Indonesia. Populations have also been artificially introduced to  some parts of the world, most notably the Americas and Australasia, principally for hunting. Elsewhere too, wild boars, have grown in number, multiplying after escaping from captivity.

Hakka Patas and Snarls
Today, wild boars have been listed by the IUCN as being a species that is of least concern of becoming extinct, in its natural environment, in the near future. Population numbers are suffering on the whole, however, mainly due to hunting and loss of habitats and even in Sri Lanka due to demand for their flesh, hunting of wild boar is on the increase. Earlier, hunters had commonly placed a loaded gun on the  paths frequented by these animals. But nowadays, wire snarls are commonly placed to catch these animals. But the most gruesome method used to kill wild boar is the locally made explosive device called ‘Hakka Patas’. The poachers crush dried fish and other rotting items together with small stones and explosives, which mix wild boars can’t resist the temptation to bite on. When it does, there is an explosion inside the mouth, fatally injuring the animal. But death is not usually instant and it’s a painful slow death, with much suffering.
Unfortunately, not only wild boars, but other animals too frequently fall victim to these traps. Several leopards have already been killed by getting caught in wire snarls. In their attempt to escape, the animal struggles, further tightening the wire and killing the unlucky animal. The hakka patas have already claimed the lives of several elephants as they too bite in to the bait. When elephants fall victim to these explosives, they usually suffer for a long time, as they do not die instantly. So conservationists point out that though wild boar populations are not threatened, the ways poachers kill wild boar can harm  other threatened animals, and measures need to be taken to control the situation.

Facts on Pigs

You would be surprised that their fur had been used for Tooth Brushes until the invention of synthetic materials in the 1930s. Even though these bristles were soft, they had taken time to dry - so these were replaced by plastic bristles.

Here are some other facts on pigs...
l Pigs are intelligent animals.
l Like humans, pigs are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and other animals.
l The pig’s snout is an important tool for finding food on the ground and sensing the world around them.
l Pigs have an excellent sense of smell.
l There are around 2 billion pigs in the world.
l Humans farm pigs for meat such as pork, bacon and ham.
l Some people like to keep pigs as pets.
l Wild pigs (boar) are often hunted in the wild.
l In some areas of the world, wild boars are the main source of food for tigers.
l Feral pigs that have been introduced into new areas can be a threat to the local ecosystem.
l Pigs can pass on a variety of diseases to humans.
l Relative to their body size, pigs have small lungs.
www.sciencekids.co.nz

Published on LakbimaNews on 22.07.2012 http://www.lakbimanews.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6209:wild-boars-pigs-in-the-wild&catid=41:mag&Itemid=12

Vegan giraffe feared even by the mighty lion

The movie ‘Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted’ -- 3rd in the Madagascar series now showing in Colombo is based on the adventures of a group of zoo animals that escaped from New York Zoo in the USA.   One of the key characters of the movie is Melman the Giraffe. ZoooLander this week reports about  Melman’s kind.
This movie illustrates the adventures of Alex the lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo and Melman the Giraffe that escaped from the New York Zoo, together with a group of mischievous penguins. Among them, Melman is the most awkward, receiving constant treatment, for imaginary medical problems. In the zoo, he wanted to be tested for many ailments; undergoing MRIs, CAT scans, subjecting himself to injections also being put in braces and using crutches, for no apparent illness.  From the first movie itself Melman is worried about a brown spot on its neck; but Melman is a giraffe and has brown spots all over its body, it is the way giraffes are meant to be. An interesting fact highlighted in today’s article is that, the pattern of these large brown spots are unique to each individual giraffe.
Giraffes have distinctive orangish, rusty, or blackish coats which have whitish outlines which has the look of a patchwork cover. The pattern and the colour of the spots  goes with the brownish habitat it lives in: the African grasslands. If it was a stitched patchwork cover, it would have taken a long time to get done, considering that the giraffe is the world’s tallest animal. Male giraffes are taller than females and grow to a height of around 20 feet. Its long legs and necks are the main features that make the giraffe hold the world record for being the tallest animal. A giraffe’s legs alone are taller than many humans, as it is about 6 feet (1.8 meters) high. These long legs also add to the giraffe’s speed on account of the length between the strides. A giraffe usually can achieve a speed of about 35 miles (56 kilometres) an hour over short distances -- and can cruise comfortably at 10 miles (16 kilometres) an hour over longer distances reveal zoologists who have studied the animal in depth.

Multi-purpose Neck
A long neck and height gives the giraffe many advantages. First of all, the long neck enables it to reach leaves of tall trees. Being a herbivore, the giraffe is on a totally vegetarian diet, and the long neck helps, there being no competition with other herbivorous that have no option, but to graze. Acacia trees are their favourite pick. Even the giraffe’s tongue is long! The 21-inch (53-centimeter) tongue helps them pluck tasty morsels from branches. The giraffe spends most of his time eating, and like cows, regurgitate food and chew it as cud. The giraffe is in fact the largest ruminant who can do this trick. It is said that a giraffe eats hundreds of pounds of leaves each week and must travel many miles to find sufficient food.
The giraffe’s height also gives it an added advantage. The large African Savannah is full of threats, but because of its long neck, the giraffe can observe a vast area to detect any impending danger giving it ample time to flee. The long neck is also used as a tool in battle, where young males ‘neck-fight’ to show dominance. Males establish social hierarchies by ‘necking’ which is a combat bout, where the neck is used as a weapon. Dominant males gain mating access to females, who bear the sole responsibility for raising the young. However, such contests are usually not dangerous and just end in a show of power. A fight usually ends when one animal submits and walks away. The giraffe has small “horns” or knobs on top its head that grow to about five inches. Both sexes have horns which are covered with skin. The horns of males are thicker and heavier and are used in fights between males. These knobs also act as a form of head gear in fights protecting from serious harm.
Nature is indeed wonderful and has balanced the gift of height of the giraffe,  which is an advantage in finding food and in detecting danger at the same time, by making it vulnerable at drinking posture. The giraffe’s stature makes it very difficult and dangerous to drink at a water hole, as it has to spread its legs and bend down in an awkward position making it  easy prey to predators like the lion. However, the giraffe can go without a drink for several days as they get most of their water needs from the luscious plants they eat.

Rude welcome to the world
Typically, this fascinating animal roams the open grasslands in small groups of about half a dozen. As mentioned earlier the male giraffe is larger than the female, with a male weighing around 1,600 kg and the female about 830 kg. The giraffe gives birth while standing. The young endure a rather harsh entry into the world by falling more than 5 feet (1.5 meters) to the ground at birth. The new born giraffe can stand on its legs within half an hour of birth and in ten hours will be seen running with the mother.  Baby giraffes are born at an impressive height of six feet. It has been calculated that they can grow an inch a day and just about double their height in one year.
A giraffe can rest standing, but often lies down with its legs folded beneath.  The neck is held vertical except during short periods of sleep, usually for about five minutes when the head is rested on the rump. When a giraffe walks it swings the two legs to the same side of the body at almost the same time. When galloping, the hind legs are brought forward together and placed outside the front legs. Maximum galloping speed is 31-37 mph.
Zoologists have categorized nine subspecies of giraffe that live in different parts of Africa, by difference in coat pattern and by the shape of horns . Although listed as low risk on the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN’s) Red List of Threatened Animals, several giraffe subspecies are rare, including the Kordofan giraffe (G. c. antiquorum) of Sudan and the Nigerian giraffe (G. c. peralta), which is now found only in Chad and is extinct even in Nigeria.
So what do you want..? Do you want to see the adventures of a cartoon giraffe that is showing at a theatre or do you want to see the real ones..? You can watch adventures of Melman by going to the Liberty Cinema or get a Madagascar DVD. But if you want to see the real ones - you definitely have to visit the Dehiwala Zoo..!

Giraffe Facts

n Giraffes do not have vocal chords unlike other animals. But researchers have found that they do have vocal chords, but can not make any sound. It communicates by waving its tail.

n Giraffes and humans have the same number of neck bones; both have 7 bones in their neck. The only difference is the giraffe’s bones are much longer.

n Who will win if a giraffe and a lion start fighting? Are you thinking that a lion will win? A lone lion won’t dare to start a fight against a giraffe. A giraffe can crush a lion with its long legs. Lions and giraffes do not relate well and stay away from each other.

n Giraffes walk differently from most other animals. It walks by stepping forward with both right legs and both left legs instead of alternating them.

n Giraffes have very long tongues which can be as long as 19 inches. The tip of its tongue is blue and black to prevent from sunburn.

n Giraffes have very large hearts, as it needs to pump very high blood pressure, and weighs around  26lbs.

n Giraffes are the tallest land animals on earth at the moment and grow to be more than 18 feet, in height, and have the longest tails. Giraffe calves are about 5 feet tall at birth.
n Giraffes need about 36 Kg of food each day to survive. It does not eat all the leaves of a tree at once. In some instances when a giraffe starts eating carnivorous ants that are symbiotic with some Acacia species attack, reducing  the amount of time the giraffe can spend browsing on any one plant.

n The average life span of a giraffe is about 25 years.

n Giraffe’s body spots are similar to human finger prints in the sense they are unique to each individual animal.

n Giraffes’ tongues are almost 2 feet long.

n Giraffes spread their front legs, to drink water at ground level as their tall necks are shorter than their legs.

n Giraffes use their markings as a camouflage among trees.

n Giraffes’ mouth has a hard inner surface making it easy to eat thorny plants.

n Giraffes cannot cough.

Source: http://www.bestfunfacts. com/giraffes.html

Published on SundayTimes on 15.07.2012 http://www.lakbimanews.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6128%3Avegan-giraffe-feared-even-by-the-mighty-lion&Itemid=56

‘Ol spiky hair makes ‘Man-eaters’ aplenty

‘Ol spiky hair makes ‘Man-eaters’ aplenty
Seemingly harmless Porcupines

Porcupines, though attired in sharp spiny quills, and look harmless, are in reality the cause for tigers and leopards to turn in to ‘Man eaters.’ ZooLander reports this week about these elusive animals.

Though it has hundreds of spiny quills, porcupines do not look like a threat. Being a rodent it innocently goes about looking for food, seemingly with a big appetite. Did you know that these innocent looking porcupines have been the cause of deaths of hundreds of men and women in India and elsewhere in the world..?
Well, they are the indirect cause, as the wound made by their spiny quills, is that which turns predators such as leopards and tigers into cripples, turning them in to ‘Man-eaters.’ Jim Corbett in his book Man-eaters of Kumaon explains clearly the reason for this and says “A tiger when killing its natural prey, which it does either by stalking or lying in wait for it, depends for the success of its attack on its speed and, to a lesser extent, on the condition of its teeth and claws. When a tiger is suffering from one or more painful wounds, or when its teeth are missing or defective and its claws worn down, and it is unable to catch the animals it has been accustomed to eating, is driven by necessity to killing human beings. The change-over from animal to human flesh is, I believe, in most cases accidental”
Jim Corbett further explains what he means by ‘accidental’ by bringing in the example of Muktesar the Man-eating Tigress that had killed 24 villagers. “This tigress, a comparatively young animal, in an encounter with a porcupine lost an eye and got some fifty quills, varying in length from one to nine inches, embedded in the arm and under the pad of her right foreleg. Several of these quills after striking a bone had doubled back in the form of a U, the point and the broken-off end being quite close together. Suppurating sores formed where she endeavoured to extract the quills with her teeth, and while she was lying up in a thick patch of grass, starving and licking her wounds, a woman selected this particular patch of grass to cut as fodder for her cattle”.
That was how Tigress Muktesar had ‘accidentally’ become a man-eater. So when you go back on the timeline of Muktesar, it is clear that porcupines have to take some blame for creating  these ‘Man-eaters.’ This is not the only case; many of the ‘Man-eaters’ about whom this expert hunter-naturalist writes, have had swollen limbs with painful wounds caused by porcupine quills. It is mentioned that these predators relish porcupine meat and do not hesitate to attack. But porcupines have  a well proven defence mechanism in the quills around their body that’s is covered in multiple layers of them, with the longest quills growing from its shoulders to about a third of the animal’s length. Its tail is covered in short, hollow quills that can rattle when threatened.

Best defence is attack
The quills are in fact the modified hairs coated with thick plates of Keratin and they are embedded in the skin-musculature. A porcupine can also drop their quills by shaking its body, but quills cannot be projected at attackers as believed in the past. From ancient times, it was believed that porcupines could throw their quills at an enemy, but this is just a myth, say zoologists.
When cornered, they would raise their spines and rattle their tails. If that does not deter the predator, then a porcupine takes on the aggressive position and moves backwards or sideways pushing the loosely attached quills deep into the body of the unwary predator. Porcupines can launch this backward attack so effectively that, most brushes between predators and the Indian porcupine end in death or severe injury. Every time the pierced animal moves, the barbs at the end of the quills penetrate further into the body. Often, the quills pierce vital organs and the animal dies. Within a few weeks, the porcupine will grow back the lost quills.
It is mentioned, that on an average a porcupine will have about 30,000 short and long quills, which in fact are very special hairs. The quills are comparable in hardness and flexibility to slivers of celluloid, are sharply pointed, and can penetrate any animal’s skin. In addition, the quill tips consist of tiny barbs (sharp points similar to arrows), which makes   a quillvery hard to remove when it has pierced the skin and is entrenched. The quills that do the most damage are the short ones that line the porcupine’s muscular tail.

Family members in all over the world
There are 29 different species of porcupines distributed around the world. There are two types of porcupines: Old World porcupines, which live throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa; and New World porcupines, which live in Canada and the United States. Porcupines are nocturnal (active at night), slow-footed, and stocky and spend much of their time on trees, sometimes not coming down for days, at a time. They are herbivores (plant-eaters), feeding on bark, buds, leaves, fruits, grasses, and vegetables.
The name Porcupine is derived from the old French words meaning the ‘Spine pig’. Porcupines are large rodents that belong to the mouse and squirrel family and are in fact the 3rd largest rodents in the world after capybaras and the beavers. Well rounded, large and slow, porcupines feed on leaves, herbs, twigs and green plants like cabbage. The North American porcupine often climbs trees to find food. The African porcupine is not a climber and forages on the ground.
The specie found in Sri Lanka is called the Indian Crested Porcupine and the scientific name is Hystrix indica. Sources indicate that they can grow to around 0.9 m (3 ft) long and weigh about 14.5 kg (32 lb). Our porcupines are mostly nocturnal, but do  sometimes forage for food during the day. There are several porcupines in the zoo and they are also found lazily resting during daytime. It is even difficult to photograph them, as they find refuge in the large cylinders, placed in their enclosure. However, when they are being fed, they are quick to come to the dining table.
Adaptable animals, porcupines are seen in some suburban areas of Colombo too. They are not categorized as threatened by the IUCN. When you visit the zoo next time, don’t forget to see the porcupines too. Their den is located near the old quarry.

Leopard versus Porcupine

A battle between a leopard and a porcupine has been photographed by professional wildlife photographer Shem Compion in the Mashatu Game reserve, in Botswana. This young male leopard gets a prickly reception after deciding to make a meal of a porcupine. The big cat was left with sore paws and a bruised ego after losing out in a battle of wits with its spiny opponent. Using all his hunting techniques, the two-year-old male tried pouncing on the porcupine from above, prodding him and trying to roll him over, but to no avail.
Undeterred, the hungry feline even tried extending a gentle paw as the porcupine shook its foot-long spines ferociously. After 25 minutes and several painful spines in his paws, the big cat was forced to accept defeat and retreat with his tail between his legs.
Source:  ww.monstrous.com/ Monstrous_ animals/Leopard_versus_Porcupine.html

Published on 08.07.2012 http://www.lakbimanews.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6051%3Aol-spiky-hair-makes-man-eaters-aplenty&Itemid=56

From Rio to Rio: After the Earth Summit

ZooLander this week looks at the outcome of RIO+20 and will follow some positive actions taken by participating countries as stated in Rio to Rio, a special book published to coincide with the recently concluded Earth Summit. It is insightful and showcases how the United Nations (UN) has attempted to learn
from the past and move forward to protect the environment.

This is the first weekend after the United Nations Rio+20 Earth summit. The Summit has not yielded the expected results politically, but it has become a forum for the community to get together and discuss the “Future We Want” at international level.
Twenty years after the original Earth Summit, the signatories to Rio+20, last week, did not make very strong commitments. However, this can still be a blueprint document on how to continue with development on a more sustainable path. It was taken as a positive outcome by optimistic analysts. Zoolander this week publishes some extracts from Rio to Rio in the interest of our readers.
The final written outcome of the Rio summit is in fact the hard work put in by negotiators from different countries. There were several views which prevented it from becoming a fully fledged document with strong recommendations but getting it signed has been considered a win for conservation by optimists.
Under the title ‘The Future we Want’ there is a section which deals with ‘Our Common Future.’ The signatories, as world leaders have a personal obligation to the pledge, that reads as: “We, the Heads of State and Government and high-level representatives, having met at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from June 20-22, 2012, with the full participation of civil society, renew our commitment to sustainable development and to ensuring the promotion of an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable future for our planet, and for recent and future generations.”
The leaders had recognized that poverty eradication, changing unsustainable and promoting sustainable patterns of consumption and production, and protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development are the overarching objectives of and essential requirements for sustainable development. As Zoolander pointed out last week unsustainable development has been the core of most of the environmental problems and we hope that the leaders who signed this document will not forget this fact. They also pledged to introduce sustainable goals for development, similar to the Millennium Development Goals that were set up and which have to be met by 2015. The initial plan of the RIO+20 included coming to an agreement on the Sustainable Goals at the 2012 summit, which however did not materialize.

Protests
However, many NGOs are against the current document, claiming that the Rio+20 Summit is a failure. They wanted a very strong document and calls this only a blueprint that will not make governments work toward getting their acts together. On the other hand, most of them are also against the Green Economic concept that was being promoted. This has also been a common ground shared by the developing countries as pointed out earlier in this column. The indigenous people too have joined the protest against this outcome saying that nature cannot be valued.
Many of those who protested said that, “World leaders have delivered something that fails to move the world forward from the first Rio summit, showing up with empty promises at Rio+20,” and pointing that the, “The RIO+20 text is a polluters’ plan, and unless people start listening to the people, history will remember it as a failure for the people and the planet.” Some kids too have joined this protest. They had even gone to the extent of tearing off the papers with the Rio+20 text.
So this has painted the outcome of the Rio summit as one that cannot be celebrated. But this was not the case in Rio 20 years ago.

Rio Conventions
Twenty years ago, in 1992, the feeling soon after the first Earth Summit would have been different. The Earth Summit ended by introducing three new International Conventions which have been signed and were adopted later on. These three conventions – namely, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) continued to work on their areas to protect the environment. The world’s governments of developed nations too had agreed to put aside a portion of their income for Environmental Protection and this money has been put into a fund called the Global Environment Fund (GEF).
The UNFCCC sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. The UNCCD aims to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought in countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa, through effective actions at all levels, supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements, in the framework of an integrated approach which is consistent with Agenda 21, with a view to contributing to the achievements of sustainable development in affected areas.
The objectives of the CBD are the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from commercial and other utilization of genetic resources. The agreement covers all ecosystems, species and genetic resources, and CBD will also hold its next meeting – the 11th Conference of Parties (COP11) be held in neighbouring India.

From the Amazon to the Himalayas...

Rio to Rio: A 20-Year Journey to Green the World’s Economies ranges widely, from the Amazon region to the Danube River Basin to the Himalayas to tell the stories of projects and programmes backed by the 182 member nations that make up the GEF. GEF CEO and chairperson, Monique Barbut, hosted the book launch and panel discussion at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), better known as Rio+20 that took place in Rio de Janeiro on the 20th anniversary of the first Earth Summit in Rio.
Chapters of this book include the story of the revival of the Danube River Basin in one of the GEF’s first projects conducted in the Balkans region during a time of civil conflict. There is the story of the largest rainforest protected area programme – the Amazon Region Protected Areas programme in Brazil which has resulted in dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across a network of rainforest areas, larger in total than the Ukraine. The GEF’s role as the manager of the Least Developed Countries Fund is illustrated by an extraordinary project underway in the Himalayas of Bhutan where glacial melt attributed to global warming threatens to burst the banks of high mountain lakes, endangering communities downstream. Stone by stone, villagers working for good wages under the programme hike to the highest elevation work site in the world where they hand carry stones to make channels for the lake overflow and helping to avert the threat of so-called glacial lake outburst floods, or GLOFs.
The CEO of GEF has also said that the Fund has plans to conduct more programmes to protect the ocean’s biodiversity through the latest programme they are funding on the high seas. This will mainly aim at protecting commercially viable fish like Tuna that are dwindling due to overfishing.

Published on 01.07.2012 

Rio+20: Earth Overloaded

ZooLander on a previous Sunday reported on Environmental Summit RIO+20 and the development towards it in an article titled Road to Rio+20. Here Zoolander reports from Rio on RIO + 20 which took place from 20 - 22 June under the key theme the Green Economy. What impact could it make on Mother Earth, Zoolander investigates...

On many occasions, ZooLander has pointed out, with the continued threat to species, there may come a time when there will be a need for safe houses like the Noah’s Arc, as in the biblical story about varied species being saved from a great flood that washed across earth. In those articles Zoolander also highlighted the potential role of zoos  in protecting the Earth’s biodiversity, by providing at least some of them, with a last home when risked with extinction in the wild. But it is not only the species that are impacted; the thoughtless and unsustainable actions of humans have also started impacting on them too, on a large scale at that.
A recent study has revealed that there will be a need for an Earth that is one and a half times the size of the Earth of today, to replenish the annual consumption by humans. We are not giving enough time for mother earth to revive from services and resources yeilded to us and this will surely boomerang on all of us. The repercussions have already started to impact. Humans burn fossil fuels for energy, which leads to emission of carbon dioxide. This eventually leads to global warming which is now triggering climate change and large scale catastrophes that are happening around the world. The earth’s biodiversity too is in peril due to human activity. Scientists estimate that by 2100 half the species living on earth today will be in peril if we continue our actions in the same manner that we are doing at present. Over exploitation, habitat loss, introduction of invasive species - the list of threats is long.

Silent Spring
The impact of human activities on the natural cycles came to light 50 years ago. Rachel Carson - an American environmental activist and author published a book that has been tagged as the first time in history in documenting how human activities impact nature. Marking the rise of the present day environmental movement, Carson wrote Silent Spring, which was published in 1962; in it she tells of how the extensive use of DDT resulted in the decline of bird populations. DDT has been commonly used as a pesticide and has penetrated to birds through lower levels of the food chain as the chemical is sprayed on worms and other insects. The birds that feed on these affected little creatures also ingested the DDT which accumulated in their bodies, which led to the thinning of the birds’ egg shells. So when the mother bird - with utmost care - sits on the eggs in the nests to hatch them, the shell crack.
Silent Spring first highlighted these facts which became an eye-opener, setting the stage for environmental activism. More and more people started talking about the need to protect the environment, and scientists started connecting the dots that led to the findings that revealed the causes of the “bad things” that had repercussions in destroying the environment.

Earth Summit
In recognition a landmark Environmental Summit was held in Stockholm in 1970. Held 40 years ago, it was the first time that an international level summit had been convened, to act in unison to protect the environment of the earth. However, industrialization continued to take its toll on the environment and the need for action was evident. The United Nations intervened and organized another landmark summit titled Earth Summit which was held in 1992. The Earth summit was  attended by over 100 world leaders and inspired global environmental activism. The Earth Summit also launched 3 new conventions namely the Convention on Biological Diversity, Climate Change convention and the convention to Combat Desertification. Some salvage efforts have been taken during the past 20 years since the first Earth Summit, but the Environment continues to degrade putting the Earth in a worse position. The Earth’s population too is expanding rapidly calling for more exploitation of its resources.
Since 20 years from the original earth summit, this earth summit has been convened and in this backdrop, many believe the RIO + 20 is a ‘need of the hour’ summit to save Mother Earth. The main summit was held on 20, 21 and 22nd in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro – and all the nations that are part of the United Nation’s family were in this city discussing and debating on how to move forward.

RIO + 20
Over 100 world leaders gathered in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro to participate in the RIO + 20 summit, that has been set up as a follow-up to the original Earth Summit which was convened in the same city. The Earth summit held 20 years ago aimed to make human actions take on the sustainability path with the realization that we will deplete the earth’s natural resources if we proceed in a scenario of ‘business as usual’. Many pledges were made and nations agreed to take measures on sustainability to protect the environment. But though some effort has been taken to protect the environment, the Earth’s environment continues to be depleting.
It has been a debated that the 2012 summit would not be as successful as the summit held 20 years ago, but it did provide a forum for many parties to get together and interact, setting up common goals to protect the earth. The role of governments is very crucial in protecting the earth, but the political will of the leaders is often being questioned as decisions are made in many different blocs of power. As an attempt to push the need to act in a different way, another summit for legislators too was set up at RIO+20 as the participating legislators continue to push their governments forward.
The Rio+20 Summit had nearly 50,000 participants and the main theme was the Green Economy.  Natural Capital was another subject discussed.Civil society and private sector too were represented  and they too made pledges to seriously heed the need to protect the environment.

What is Natural Capital?

Natural capital is the extension of the economic notion of capital (manufactured means of production) to goods and services relating to the natural environment. Natural capital is thus the stock of natural ecosystems that yields a flow of valuable ecosystem goods or services into the future. For example, a stock of trees or fish provides a flow of new trees or fish, a flow which can be indefinitely sustainable. Natural capital may also provide services like recycling wastes or water catchment and erosion control. Since the flow of services from ecosystems requires that they function as whole systems, the structure and diversity of the system are important components of natural capital.
What is Green Economy?

The green economy is one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. Green economy is an economy or economic development model based on sustainable development.

Published on LakbimaNews on 23.06.2012 www.lakbimanews.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5895%3Amother-earth-overloaded&Itemid=56