Komodo Dragons, Mongolian Horses and River Hippo arrive

Welcome to the Dehiwala Zoo

Last week the zoo was busy getting ready to welcome three new pairs of animals. They arrived last Thursday and were put in their ready-made enclosures so that visitors would be able to see them. Together with River Rhinos and Mongolian Wild Horses there was a pair of Komodo Dragons – first time residents at the
Dehiwala Zoo.

It was night when the special cargo plane C-130 Hercules belonging to the Sri Lanka Air Force landed safely at Katunayake last Thursday. The plane came from the Czech Republic. The plane had on board six, huge boxes with ‘live’ cargo. These craters had a pair of Komodo Dragons, a pair of Przewalski’s Wild Horses and River Hippopotamus.
The animals came directly from the Prague Zoo of the Czech Republic. The animals would have been tired after the journey as well as going through jet lag as they had to travel over 20 hours, barring two stopovers en route. A veterinary surgeon and some caretakers from the Prague Zoo accompanied the animals on their journey to Sri Lanka.
Once the documentation was completed at the airport, the animals were transferred to the Dehiwala Zoo, accompanied by staff of the zoo. It was reported that the animals were transported to the Dehiwala Zoo with the driver taking much care during the journey to ensure that the already tired animals will have a trouble free journey to Dehiwala. 
At the zoo, another group of workers and animal caretakers were anxiously waiting to welcome the newcomers. Their enclosures had been cleaned and prepared to receive the animals as they start their new life at the Dehiwala Zoo. A group of Young Zoologists’ Association (YZA) members too had been supportive once the animals arrived at the zoo. On arrival, the animals were found to be examining their new enclosures – similar to newcomers in a home.

Komodo Dragons
It is the first time in the history of the Dehiwala Zoo that it has welcomed Komodo dragons. Komodo dragons are found in Indonesia’s Komodo Island and some other nearby areas, hence its common English name. Dragons are gigantic and in legends, breathe fire, but these Komodos are like the over-sized local kabarayas or water monitors. But they have a voracious appetite – they eat much more than our kabaraya and sometimes lay in ambush to hunt. It is said the buffalo or deer would be the preferred diet of a grown Komodo dragon but they even eat carrions if opportunity strikes for an easy meal.
The Komodo dragon is special as it is the largest lizard that lives on earth. The yellow colour of the Komodo’s long, forked tongue reminds people of mythical dragons that spit fire according to legend. The tongue is special for them as it is used to taste the air to pick up the smell of the prey. It is recorded that they can pick up smell over a mile; so when there is a victim, the Komodo’s in the vicinity gather to feed on the carcass.
An adult dragon will hide along a trail and wait for an unsuspecting creature to walk by. Using its long claws and short, sharp teeth, the dragon will attack. If the prey manages to get away, the dragon will simply follow at a leisurely pace as a dragon’s bite contains deadly bacteria that will eventually kill its intended meal. The Komodo dragon is known to have 50 different types of toxic bacteria in their saliva that thrive on traces of flesh, causing bite-wounds to become quickly infected. Recent research however indicates that the real reason for such a high success rate in poisoning the prey could be due to the fact that the Komodo dragon may have a venom gland in its mouth.
In Komodo Islands, their habitats are been destroyed and they are pushed closer to human settlements. There are records the Komodo dragons have attacked humans as well. Even in captivity, they can be dangerous and there are records of attempted escapes. So in the Dehiwala Zoo, the Komodo dragon has an enclosure which is reinforced to the ground as well. Komodos are burrowing animals, so there would be a chance that they keep digging a tunnel under the enclosure so as to slip out.
To prevent this, a metal mesh has been fixed on the ground with sand placed on top of it. But it is better to keep your distance when you visit the zoo to have a closer encounter with these animals.
Class       : Reptilia
Order       : Squamata
Suborder  : Lacertilia
Family       : Varanidae
Genus       : Varanus
Species       :
Varanus komodoensis
IUCN threatened
category : Vulnerable

River Hippos

The Dehiwala Zoo has many Pigmy hippos that are smaller in size, but the River hippopotamus – a very larger cousin of the pigmy, died few years back. The female died attempting to give birth and the male died some time later. The hippo’s enclosure is near the new elephant arena that is being built in a corner of the zoo. Nile hippopotamuses grow up to 15 feet long. Males are heavier than females, weighing up to 8,000 pounds. Nile hippos stand at four and a half to five and a half feet tall.

Class    : Mammalia
Order    : Artiodactyla
Family    : Hippopotamidae
Genus    : Hippopotamus
Species    : Hippopotamus amphibious
IUCN threatened category : Vulnerable

Przewalski’s Horse

Mongolian Wild Horse or Przewalski’s horse is special for any zoo as they are saved by the conservation efforts that zoos take. They had gone ‘extinct in the wild’ in the 1960s and only the horses in the zoos remained. The Zoological Gardens had conducted a special programme to breed these horses. After the captive population grew, the Wild Horses were reintroduced back into the wild. Now they have made a comeback and jumped two steps to the positive side of IUCN Red List category to end up in the “Endangered” level.

Order          : Perissodactyla
Family             : Equidae
Genus          : Equus
Species          : Equus ferus
Subspecies : Equus ferus przewalskii
IUCN threatened category : Endangered

Jumbo Shipment

The military plane from Sri Lanka didn’t go to Czech Republic ‘empty-handed’ either. The plane carried a pair of elephants to the Prague Zoo. They were Janitha (8 years) and Amara (7 years) – male and female elephants from the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. It was a promise made by the Sri Lanka government to donate elephants to the Prague Zoo to support their Asian Elephant Breeding programme. This is therefore different from a normal animal exchange programme, commented the director of the Prague Zoo in reply to a query by a local newspaper in the Czech Republic. The elephants however had to travel nearly 30 hours with three transits to reach Prague, said officers of the zoo. The military plane has been prepared for this long flight, and it was a good experience for all those who were involved in the exercise of transporting the animals on the plane. 

Published in LakbimaNews on 21.10.2012 http://www.lakbimanews.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7282:welcome-to-the-dehiwala-zoo&catid=41:mag&Itemid=12http://www.lakbimanews.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7282:welcome-to-the-dehiwala-zoo&catid=41:mag&Itemid=12

Joy and Sorrow of a Rhino Mother

the Zoo records a Black-rhino birth... which dies few hours after...!! 
 Last week it was time for joy, and later sorrow, at the zoo. The Rhino couple had been blessed with a baby, but it died after a few hours of birth..

Giving birth to the first baby is always a special occasion to a mother. They prepare for childbirth many months before the day the baby is due – for example buying a cot, and other necessities.   Not only the mother to be but her parents and others too assist in this regard. Presently, even technology assists the parents to check whether the baby conceived is a boy or girl, taking away the suspense about the sex of the baby to be.
There are doctors who check all aspects of the child and mother to make sure they are healthy. The first time a mother would receive lots of advice from the elders and help as well to look after the new born baby.

Anula’s pregnancy not known

But the Zoo’s only female rhino – Anula didn’t have these luxuries. Sadly, no one knew that she was pregnant even though she would have been carrying the baby for over a year as a rhino pregnancy lasts for about 16 months according to literature. It was only on September 9 morning that the keeper had detected that Anula had given birth to a baby rhino and had alerted the veterinary surgeons and zoo authorities about this rare birth.
Mother Anula would have been the most happiest. She would have shown their new born baby to the father rhino – Kosala, who is in the adjacent enclosure. As rhino mothers are careful with their babies, Anula, though inexperienced as it was her first baby, would have licked the female baby rhino. That is the best treatment it could have been given.
The mother and baby were kept separately for better care. After few hours, a zoo keeper who had gone to see the mother and baby was aghast by seeing the lifeless baby rhino in the enclosure. He immediately alerted everyone – and they had rushed to the enclosure. The veterinary surgeons reached the scene quickly but it was too late for the baby rhino.
Everybody in the zoo was sad. The director has called for an investigation. An independent veterinary surgeon from outside had been called to do the necropsy (post mortem) of the baby. It was found out that the baby was too weak and it had weighed only 16 kg whereas the normal weight of a baby rhino is 30-35 kg. The post mortem had revealed some internal bleeding in the head of the baby rhino. It is not clear how the head of the baby rhino was hurt but one theory that the zoo authorities are working on is the possibility that the internal bleeding could have been caused by a kick from the mother who could have been in a panic for some reason. Delivering a baby for the first time, she would have also felt disoriented.

Mother without morning sickness

It isn’t too hard to detect the pregnancy of a human female. The first thing that helps to detect pregnancy is morning sickness, and subsequently the size of the stomach as it gets bigger. But being gentle giants, the rhinos anyway have big bellies, so experts say that it is very difficult to identify pregnancy by just looking at a rhino. Rhinos are short-tempered, so it is also dangerous for vets to get close to the animal to conduct the required tests. If it was known that Anula was pregnant, more care could have been given. “We accept that the death of the new born rhino baby is a great loss to the zoo. An investigation is underway to find out whether there are any lapses,” said the new director of the Zoological Gardens, Anura de Silva.

Rhinos from Japan

The Dehiwala Zoo got down the pair of Black rhinos as a result of a successful animal exchange programme with Japan’s Higashiyama Zoo in Nagoya, in 2007. In exchange, Sri Lanka sent a pair of Asian elephants – namely Kosala and Anula, whose names were transferred to the Rhino couple. The Black rhino is a Critically Endangered animal in the world that is been hunted for its prized horns. In the 20th Century, the Black rhino was considered to be the most abundant in the Rhino species. But by the latter half of 20th Century, the population of Black rhinos reduced drastically. In the early 1990s the number dipped below 2,500, and in 2004 it was reported that only 2,410 Black rhinos remained in the wild. According to the International Rhino Foundation, the total African population had recovered to 4,240 by 2008. It is believed some subspecies of these Black rhinos are already extinct.
According to the web-resource ehow, female rhinoceroses come into estrus once every 21 days which means they can successfully mate during that time. Females spray urine on dung piles or bushes to alert males that they are in estrus and are ready to mate. Males may come along and spray over the female  urine to ward off potential competition. Females also raise their tails in order to signal that they are ready for mating. After some fighting among the males, the female will select the most dominant male available to mate with.
After winning over the female, the rhinoceros bull will then mate with her. These mating instances can last over an hour as per observations. Males and females have little to do with each other  when no mating takes place and that could be the reason why Kosala and Anula do not bother too much about each other during other times. Once the act of mating is over, the male will usually leave the female, so it is not as intimate as love making by humans.
It is said that calves are usually born within rainy seasons in Africa and Asia – it was raining in Colombo too when the baby rhino was born, so this could have triggered the rhino’s birth in the zoo. Calves are usually born around 2.5 to 4 years apart. Shortly after birth, rhinoceros calves are mobile and can keep up with the herd.

Zoo’s effort in rhino breeding

The Black rhino is the most valuable animal in the world. Any zoo in the world dreams of having a rhino, so it is an honour for the Dehiwala Zoo to have a pair of rhinos. It wasn’t easy to get them down all the way from Japan. They had got themselves wounded when they were being transported and the vets had to take care of them during the initial days. But they had settled down in Sri Lanka and developed an appetite for local food.
Anula and Kosala though shipped from Japan were not from the same zoo. As such, they were strangers.  Considering their size, a fight between them for even a short period can turn fatal. Therefore, the zoo authorities had been very careful in match-making between Kosala and Anula a few years ago. After observing that Kosala and Anula were rubbing their heads, and showing other friendly gestures while being in their respective enclosures, the authorities had quietly opened the gates. Prior to that they had placed a few piles of sand in case they got into a fight so that the loser can get a little time to retreat, and also giving time for the veterinary surgeon and animal keepers to act.
To the joy of all, the match making went well. Kosala and Anula fell in love  and had mated on a few occasions. But though vets were vigilant, the pregnancy could not be detected.
A new enclosure too is been built for the rhino couple and it is dearly wished that Anula and Kosala can become parents to a cute rhino baby, in the foreseeable future.

PLakbimaNews on 23.09.2012 published on LakbimaNews http://www.lakbimanews.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6955:joy-and-sorrow-of-a-rhino-mother&catid=41:mag&Itemid=12

Otter - Swimming legend in the wild

Swimming took a lot of shine at the Olympics 2012 in London, with Michael Phelps, becoming the most decorated Olympian in history. Competitive swimmers train hard and develop their bodies, for competition, while the greatest swimmer in the natural world - the otter, does so for its very survival and appears to do so with pride and joy. ZooLander this week reports on the otter in the Dehiwala Zoo... There is a well known sports club in Colombo named ‘Otters’, which has taken its name after these delightful creatures of the water and master swimmers, making known the clubs special affiliation to swimming. The agile otters are famous for an amazing ability to conquer the river habitats in Sri Lanka. In the wild, it is difficult to observe otters at a close range, as they are naturally shy; yet they are some of the most charismatic  animals you can find in the zoo, where you can observe them closely, and photograph their antics, in captivity. The Otter family has 13  species with 5 otter species recorded in Asia. The species found in Sri Lanka is called the Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra). As the name indicates a European part, it might convey that this species is found m0re prevalently   in Europe, which is not the case, but is very widely distributed. They are also known as the Common Otter and Old World Otter. The Eurasian Otter is also tagged as the least social animal. Otters are semi-aquatic; and lives both in water and land. Otters are usually solitary and relatively  nocturnal. When not fishing, they like to sleep. Master swimmer Though clumsy when walking on land, the body of the otter is well designed for an aquatic lifestyle. This swimmer and diver, moves in water by strong undulations of its body and tail and strokes of its hind feet. While human divers use artificial fins, the otter’s feet are webbed in a manner which gives it power to push the water more efficiently. (Webbed feet are common in ducks)The Otter can close its nostrils and ears, when in water, so there is no issue about water going in from these body holes. Its body shape helps the otter to reduce the water resistance when it swims and maintain the speed. Its fur is short and dense and keeps the skin dry by trapping a layer of air around the body. Unlike other marine mammals, otters don’t have blubber and rely on thick fur to keep warm, but this double coat also helps them to keep afloat. It is mentioned that the bubbles of air trapped in their fur give them  a silvery appearance underwater. The Eurasian otter’s nose is about the smallest compared with the otter species and has a characteristic shape, described as a shallow ‘W’. The strong whiskers on their face are believed to be used for locating prey. Fishing for a living The otter’s staple diet is fish. But it also doesn’t mind some unwary frog or occasional water bird. Some studies show that otters have a preference for eels. Being opportunistic feeders, otters do not show preferences for one fish species over another. They will feed on in relation to their locale and seasonal availability. Otters can give a high speed chase to catch a fish, unlike many other animals that silently wait and ambush when the prey  swims towards them. Otters in the wild catch and feed predominantly on live animals; there are only a few recorded instances where it was found to have eaten dead fish. While that is the case in the natural world, the otters in the Zoo have to depend upon the dead fish provided by their keepers. If you visit during an evening, you may also be able to witness the zoo’s otters getting a feast of fish to dine on. Their average daily consumption of food in captivity is about 1.5 kg per day. Blind babies Otters live in burrows on the banks of waterways called Holts. These are usually only accessible from underwater, hence very successful at keeping out the land based predators and gives protection to their babies. The main mating season is from February to March and July. After a gestation period around 60 to 70 days, the females give birth to a litter of usually 2-3 cubs, each weighing about 100-120g. Baby otters are born blind; will open their eyes after one month; will leave the nest at around two months; and are weaned by 3 months. The young stay around their mothers for up to 14 months and reach sexual maturity at 2 or 3 years. It is mentioned that an otter has a lifespan of 10-12 years. Sea going cousin Our otter species which live in river ecosystems have a few cousins that live in the sea. The sea otters inhabit offshore environments, where it dives to the sea floor to forage. The otters are just as happy in salt water as they are in fresh water, often diving down 20 metres and for up to two minutes at a time, although records show that otters can go as deep as sixty or seventy metres and stay under for up to four minutes. They must, however, have access to fresh water to clean themselves with, as the salt water clogs up their fur and inhibits insulation. The Sea Otters prey  mostly on marine invertebrates such as sea urchins, various molluscs and crustaceans, and some species of fish. They develop special techniques to open up tightly  shut shells. First, it uses rocks to dislodge prey and to open shells making it one of the few mammal species to use tools - indicative of how brainy the otter can be. Near threatened Eurasian Otters had been a common species decades ago, now their populations are declining all over the world. The IUCN which publishes the Red List of Threatened Fauna and Flora indicates that many local populations of otters have become extinct.  In their list it is stated that water pollution as the major threat to Eurasian Otters, mentioning that water pollution in fact has caused recent local extinctions from which Western European populations are only  now recovering as a result of environmental improvements and focussed conservation efforts. The IUCN says agrochemicals such as DDT or Mercury affect the otter physiology directly. Pollution also reduces their food supply  due to nitrate-induced eutrophication from agricultural run-off and untreated sewage, and acidification from atmospheric pollutants. Oil spills threaten coastal populations. In parts of the range, illegal hunting is a major issue, and the rise of fish farming has led to conflict, resulting in some countries in licenses to kill otters being issued by authorities. Road traffic accidents too have been recorded commonly when the otters are trying to move from different parts of habitats. Conservation actions Artificial otter Holts are a good way of encouraging breeding among wild otters by providing them with a ready-made safe place to bring up their young.Conservation actions have helped Eurasian Otters to show some signs of recovery, and to halt being classified under extinct. Otters were once common in Sri Lanka too. But habitat loss and pollution have contributed to a decline in their wild populations. So, whenever you visit the zoo and see the otters, think, it is another animal that has been pushed to the limits of extinction due to human activities and that we should be mindful when engaging in development activity and do so carefully without compromising the natural world.

http://www.lakbimanews.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6527:otter-swimming-legend-in-the-wild&catid=41:mag&Itemid=12

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

IT’S Black-naped ...AND Lanka’s ‘hari hawa’ is a hare

Mating Dance of a Hare couple (c) Susan Yeomans

Hawa hari Hawa’ the Sinhala version of Bugs Bunny is a popular cartoon character even today. This animated cartoon character was created in the 1930s in America and  won the hearts of Sri Lankan children with the transmission of the of the Sinhala dubbed version created by Titus Thotawatte, on Rupavahini in the 1980s. Then there was also the Russian adaptation of the cartoon character of a rabbit in ‘Just You Wait’ based on a battle between  a bad wolf outwitted by a smart rabbit; a cartoon character created in 1969, which still frames the rabbit as a popular hero ...

Rabbits have a very close affinity to our culture and they are even mentioned in the Jathaka stories and other folklore. In Sasa Jathakaya the Bodhisathva had been born as a rabbit and had sacrificed himself in offering its body and flesh to provide nourishment to a hungry beggar. In another story, a sleeping rabbit  awakened by the sound of a palm leaf falling on to a pile of dried palm leaves had  started running assuming that the sky is falling. And the story goes that the rabbit  continued running shouting that the sky is falling and all the other animals in the jungle joined in, until a wise lion had decided to verify the story; it’s testimony to the rabbits’ easily frightened nature.

Rabbits are also known to have inspired poets in ancient times, where the patterns of craters on the moon as seen at ground level on earth had been compared to a rabbit – and this rabbit on the moon legend still lives on, particularly for children’s amusement.

A Black-naped Hare at Yala NP (c) Susan Yeomans

A popular animal in legends and folklore, it is also known to be a gentle harmless creature of the animal kingdom which has to run for its life most of the time, being hunted by many predators. Their cute and cuddlesome appearance adds strength to a distinctive nature as an innocent creature that does not harm anyone. But do we have rabbits in Sri Lanka? Well, we have bunnies that hop around on the grasslands, but they are called ‘hare’ - to be precise, and the species is the “Black-naped Hare”.

It owes its name to the blackish patch that can be seen on its neck or the nape. The hare has a grayish-white coat and a short and grayish tail. The under parts are whitish. The Black-napped hare measures about 40-50 cm which is quite large for a member of the rabbit family. Hares like to live solitarily or in pairs, but they can also be present in groups. When ever they move in a group, it is called a “drove”.

Good Runners and Good breeders

The Black-naped hare is on the lower level of food chains, where many predators would like to hunt it; with predators not confined to land, but also in the sky, such as the flesh eating raptors - eagles and kites.  It is a precautionary habit of rabbits to flee whenever there is an apparent threat. As the hares’ eyes are positioned on the sides, their vision covers larger areas, and they can even see behind, without turning their heads. Their long ears too help in taking in danger signals around them.
Hares generally move by hopping around, but when the need arises, can be very fast-moving. Some of the European hares, when necessity demanded have clocked speeds of up to 72 km/h (45 mph).
A prolific breeder, hares, generally give birth to 4 to 8 litters each year. This helps them  compensate for the high level of predation.

Rabbits and Hares
There are differences between rabbits and hares even though in Sinhala we call both - ‘Hawa’. Both belong to the same family, but there are prominent differences. One of the major differences is that hare babies are born with their eyes open and with a fur coat for protection and safety, from day one. But rabbits give birth to blind naked babies that do not have a fur coat. The babies born with their eyes open and who can fend for themselves are called precocial and the blind and hairless at birth are called as altricial.

Nests of the hare and the rabbit are also notably different. Hares do not have underground hideouts - burrows as do other rabbits, but rather give birth to the young in a shallow depression or flattened nest of grass called a ‘form’. Hares adapt to the lack of physical protection, relative to that afforded by a burrow, in being born fully furred and with eyes open.

Hares are also generally larger and faster than rabbits. The large feet of the hare compared to those of the rabbit, makes them faster runners. The prominent ears of the hare are also longer than those of the rabbit.

Fecal Pellet
Though they tend to run-away whenever they spot you, the presence of the black-naped hare is not hard to determine, as they leave their trace, with unmistakable fecal pellets wherever they have fed on. When you step on the lawn, it is not hard to find out who the trespasser is. Presence of these fecal pellets is used even by scientists to determine the presence of rabbits and hares. On one occasion researchers on the Seychelles island had studied the habitat use and feeding ecology of the introduced Indian black-naped hare with a view to assessing the impact of the hares on vegetation –  and vicariously on several other rare endemic land birds and on some seabird species. By studying fecal pallets present in an area, the number and abundance of hares had been determined.

In addition, they had also analyzed these fecal samples to determine the kind of plants the bunnies feed on. Analysis of fecal pellets showed that at least 24 of the 130 plants recorded in these remote islands were eaten by hares. They also determined that, the hare aids in plant seed dispersal, and browsing may prevent the regeneration of some invasive trees, but which are also  important foraging for several rare endemic land birds and is used as nest sites by some seabird species. So a little bunny that grazes innocently can impact ecology in a big way.

A Black-naped Hare at Yala NP (c) S.Davis

IUCN Listed ‘Least Concern’

Black-naped hare is distributed throughout Sri Lanka except in high altitudes. They are also present in India and are also called the Indian hare. The Black-naped hare is still common in many parts of Sri Lanka, even outside protected jungles. It was not a long time ago that many lawns of suburban gardens around Colombo were feeding grounds for these black-naped hares. Even today they are recorded in some areas very close to the capital city, but their population has declined with the rapid urbanization.

The black-naped hare is not threatened and is listed as of ‘least concern’ in the red list of IUCN. But lately, this abundant species has become the target of poachers, making the animal’s life vulnerable and hastily raising concern for the future of the animal. You would also wonder how the hares in your areas are no longer a common sight. Perhaps, your pet animals like cats and dogs too could have helped to wipe out the black-naped hare population from your area. Cats and dogs which are introduced animals can be disastrous for hare populations, especially by hunting their young ones.

Differences between Hare and Rabbit

Differences in Physical features

l    There are several differences in the physical features of hares and rabbits that allow us to distinguish between the two.
l    Hares are generally larger and faster than rabbits.
l    Hares have longer ears and larger feet than rabbits.
l    Hares have black markings on their fur.
l    Rabbits are altricial i.e. their young are born blind and hairless. In contrast, hares are generally born with hair and are able to see (precocial). Young hares are therefore able to fend for themselves very quickly after birth.
l    A young hare is called a leveret and a young rabbit is called a kitten, kit, or, the least correct but very commonly- a bunny.
l    Hares have very long and strong hind legs, more  than the rabbits.
l    Rabbits and hares both molt and then grow new hair. This happens in both spring and in fall. Rabbits’ brown summer fur is replaced with fur that is more grey. Hares, especially those living in cold, snowy regions, turn white in the winter.
l    Hunters say that the hare has a much stronger, gamier flavour than rabbit (which actually does taste like a milder version of chicken).
l    Both rabbits and hares have short tails.
Comparison of Lifestyle and Behaviour
l    Hares have not been domesticated, while rabbits are often kept as house pets.
l    All rabbits (except the cottontail rabbit) live underground in burrows or warrens, while hares live in simple nests above the ground (as does the cottontail rabbit). Rabbits also have their litters underground. Hares rely on running rather than burrowing for protection.
l    Rabbits are very social animals; they live in colonies. Male rabbits even fight within a group to become the dominant male. The dominant male rabbit then mates with most of the females in the area. In opposite, hares live most of the time by themselves. They come together in pairs for mating only. There is almost no fighting among hares - they just pair off.
l    Rabbits prefer soft stems, grass or vegetables; hares eat more hard food: bark and rind, buds, small twigs and shoots.

Similarities

l    Both rabbits and hares breed prolifically, bearing four to eight litters each year.
l    A litter of rabbits generally has three to eight young. The gestation period is  about a month, and are sexually mature in about six months, and live in the wild for about six years.
l     Although rabbits and hares are valued as game by hunters, both for their food and fur, they are also pests to farmers and gardeners. They can destroy crops and trees.

Trivia

l    A male rabbit is called a buck, a female
- a doe, babies - kittens.
l    Rabbit’s eyes remain black when reflecting a bright light. In comparison human eyes appear red, cats and dogs - green, and deer eyes turn orange.

Source: http://www.diffen.com/difference/Hare_vs_Rabbit

Published on LakbimaNews on 03.06.2012 

Grizzly Brown Bears

Last Sunday, the cover story of Mag, was about Sri Lanka Premier League T20 Cricket Tournament. Have you noticed that all the teams have names of animals -- Ruhunu Rhinos, Kandurata Kites, Uthura Oryxes, Uva Unicorns, Wayamba Wolves, Neganahira Nagas and Basnahira Bears. Interestingly, except for the wolves and the bears, the others have been been featured in Zoolander. This week Zoolander writes on the Bear the mascot and symbol of the Basbnahira Bears.
Brown bears of the Dehiwala Zoo are rather interesting animals to watch. Being large and furry, they should surely have a problem these days with the prevailing heat and the hot and humid weather pattern. Luckily for them there is a small water moat at the zoo, where they can take a dip and cool down. Usually after splashing in water they would lie lazing on the cement floor. But that is not for long; after a few minutes, they would be back to their restless routine moving from corner to corner within the den.
A pair of brown bears brought down as a part of an animal exchange program was earlier kept in a den near the auditorium of the zoological gardens, but of late, they have been moved to a new den. On your next visit to the Dehiwala zoo, you can meet brown bears near the ‘walking-aviary’. Many major zoos like to have at least one brown bear among their resident animals, as they are interesting animals to observe. They are rather big and look majestic but fierce. The sense of fear that is felt on encountering a brown bear heightens the thrill of the experience for many.
In the wild, bears are found in forests and mountains of North America, and in Europe, and Asia. There are many members in the bear family spread across different parts of the world and the brown bear is said to be the most widely distributed bear in the world. There are several recognized sub-species within the brown bear species. In North America, two types are generally recognized, the coastal brown bear and the inland grizzly bears. But there are other sub-species too and generally a well grown bear can weigh between 300 and 680 kilograms. The Grizzlies are notorious, as they have been responsible for human attacks. With their sheer power and strength, the brown bear is the top predator in these jungles.
Adult brown bears are indeed powerful, top-of-the-food chain predators, but they are lazy hunters and much of their diet consists of nuts, berries, fruits, leaves and roots. Bears also eat other animals, from rodents to moose, but the brown bear like other members of its family is categorized as an ‘omnivorous’ animal.

Feast of Salmon  
Brown bears, often called ‘Grizzlies’,  are also famous due to an annual spectacle, in Alaska. TV documentaries such as those featured on the Discovery channel feature these dramatic  gatherings at prime Alaskan fishing spots, when the salmon swim upstream for summer spawning. The Salmons make this upstream journey to breed and the brown bears gather around these rivers waiting for an easy meal. Sometimes the jumping salmon dives straight into the gaping mouth of brown bears waiting in strategic locations.
Bears use different fishing techniques, as observed by zoologists who say there are three steps. They first get familiar with the place and movement of the fish and then approach; the skilful capturing comes next, either by picking direct with the mouth or by using the paws. Sometimes dozens of brown bears line-up in a stretch of river. This spectacle has been described among the 10 most spectacular wildlife experiences in the world by LonelyPlanet - the travel magazine.
This feast of fish is also very important for the survival of brown bears during winter. The salmon they feed on, stores as fat and converts to energy that will sustain them through the long winter. It is said that during a season, a brown bear may eat as much as 40 kilograms of food each day, and will weigh twice as much, before hibernation, as it will in spring.

Hibernation
The regions where brown bears are found usually record very harsh winters and  these animals have to resort to different mechanisms to face the freezing cold, and the brown bears choose to hibernate. During hibernation, the breathing and heart rates slow and they allow their body temperatures to drop, in some cases even below freezing. They stop eating and in many cases stop excreting too. All of these things happen, so the animals can use less energy – and bears in these regions often employ hibernation as the main strategy to face harsh winters.
Researchers have found that the brown bears use particularly dig dens for winter hibernation, often holing up in a suitable hillside. Brown bears have a large hump of muscle on top of their shoulders and long front claws which makes them powerful diggers.
A pregnant female bear or a sow, gives birth during the winter rest and usually delivers a pair of cubs and the cubs nurse on their mothers’ milk until spring – and stay with her for some two and a half years. Because of this protective nurturing, the females only reproduce once every three years, recording a slow breeding rate for brown bears. The bears spend four to six months a year curled deep in sleep in a den. That’s one-third to one-half of their lifetime.
In the wild, brown bears live alone as solitary animals. But the females, like all good mothers, stay with their cubs protecting them from danger. Despite their enormous size, brown bears are fast runners, and have even clocked  speeds of 30 miles per hour (48 kilometers per hour). They can be dangerous to humans, particularly if taken by surprise or if a person gets between a mother bear and her cubs.

Brown Bear Facts

l The tips of the hair on a brown bear look grayish or grizzly.
l Brown bears prefer forested mountains, meadows, or river valleys.
l Brown bears are around seven feet tall.
l Male bears may weigh up to 700 pounds.
l Female bears may weigh up to 350 pounds.
l Brown bears eat mostly grass, roots, and berries. They also eat fish, insects, and ground
squirrels, or larger mammals if they can catch them.
l Bears are commonly silent, but can communicate with grunts, roars, or squeals.
l Hibernation is a way of adapting to short food supplies in winter.
l During the fall, brown bears eat practically around the clock, stocking up for the
next four to seven months. They can eat around 90 pounds of food per day.
l Bears dig their own den or sometimes hibernate in natural caves.
l One to five cubs are born during hibernation. The mother bears nurse the cubs
during winter. The cubs live off the mother’s milk for the first year of life.
l Nearly 50 percent of all brown bear cubs die before they are one year old.

Source: http://www.kodiak.org/hibernation.html / http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/


Published on LakbimaNews 27.05.2012 

Meet Captain Cook’s Kickboxers

A recent addition to the Dehiwala Zoo are two kangaroos from Japan’s Nagoya Higashiyama zoo. Initially shy, this pair is now fully acquainted with their new environment. ZooLander this week reports about the Zoo’s new residents.

British explorer James Cook landed in the then unknown lands of Australia, in 1770, on his voyage to find a new continent in the southern seas. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef had damaged his ship, and they had to move inland and anchor it in a river. While the ship was being repaired, Captain Cook and a team decided to explore the hitherto unvisited new paradise in the company of the locals - the indigenous Aborigines who spoke a language named Guugu Yimithirr.
Suddenly Captain Cook had seen a strange looking creature hopping fast, scared by the people that had penetrated its territory. It had a long tail, strong hind legs but small fore limbs – and the animal had to bend awkwardly to touch the ground (in a manner touching it with all 4 legs.) Puzzled by the strange animal, Captain Cook asked the Aborigines “what is this animal..?”. The native replied kangaru which in his language meant ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I don’t understand’. Driven by excitement the explorer failed to realize that the Aborigine had not understood his question and the name has been kept since then.
This is the common myth about the origin of the name “kangaroo” and this story has become  Australian legend. Other fictions  behind the origin of the name includes variations of the above. Explorers are said to have mistaken the Aboriginal word for go that way (kangaroo) when an Aborigine pointed in a direction that a kangaroo happened to be headed. Another story says that when explorers asked the indigenous people what the first kangaroo they saw was, pointing at it, the natives replied “kangaroo!” meaning “That’s your index finger!”
However, these stories are only myths and later language experts conclude that the word “kangaroo” has been derived from the Aboriginal word gangurru, a Guugu Yimidhirr word referring to the Grey Kangaroo. Whatever the reality is, the legend surrounding  how the ‘kangaroo’ got its name is as fascinating as the pair of kangaroos now resident at the Dehiwala Zoo, and which you have the opportunity to closely observe.

Shipped from Japan
This pair of kangaroos has been shipped from Japan’s Higashiyama Zoo located in Nagoya.
The Kangaroos were very shy on the first few days in their enclosure at the Dehiwala Zoo. They had rarely come out from their cage to the open area, though they have been given a fairly large enclosure to play around in. It had taken few weeks for them to gain confidence. Now it is a pair of different kangaroos that hops around the enclosure. The large male also likes to rest in the shade during the hot afternoons and  would remind you of a celebrity laying on a beach. The female is smaller in size and more energetic and wants to keep on exercising, hopping around the enclosure unlike the lazy male.

Hopping for a living
You would have seen lots of small animals hopping as a way to move around, but kangaroos are the only large animals who hop as a means of locomotion. Kangaroos can continue hopping for about 20-25 km/h (13-16 mph), and can reach of speeds of up to a 70 km/h (44 mph) when it is running to escape from impending danger to its life. Hopping is largely energy efficient for kangaroos because of the way its body is designed and zoologists believe this fast and energy efficient method of travel has evolved because of the need to regularly cover large distances in search of food and water – rather than the need to escape predators.
The kangaroo has a very strong tail and it can stand on its tail like a tripod. Also when the kangaroo moves at slow speeds, it uses the tail to form a tripod with its two forelimbs then raises its hind feet to move forward. It is said that kangaroos can also swim in emergencies. Many have witnessed kangaroos jumping into waterways and swimming away to escape predators. If pursued into the water, it is also said that a kangaroo might use its forepaws to hold the predator underwater so as to drown it.
The pouchy mom kangaroo is indeed a distinctive animal and is also a marsupial - which has a pouch on its belly to rear its baby. A kangaroo carries its baby in its pouch and usually have one young annually. The young kangaroo, or joey, is born alive at a very immature stage; after a gestation period of 33 days an embryonic young weighing about  one gram is born. This ‘jellybean’ will then crawl up from its mother’s cloacae into the pouch where it will attach itself to a vacant nipple and there it will stay for around the next 34 weeks. After emerging from the pouch the young will continue to suckle from its mother for a further four months.  After several weeks, little joey becomes more active and gradually spends more and more time outside the pouch, which it leaves completely when its about 7 to 10 months of age.
Even when quite large the joey still drinks milk from a teat in its mother’s pouch and will jump into its mother’s pouch head first when frightened. Even after they grow up, they sometimes jump into the pouch with utter difficulty, to try to fit into it - luckily the mother tolerates the young.
The kangaroo can have three young simultaneously, all at different stages of development, one in diapauses, one pouch young and an at-foot joey. Mating occurs at any time of the year but only with receptive females. Kangaroos also have a reproductive adaptation called “delayed implantation.” The fertilized egg will cease development and wait.
Depending on the growth of the joey in the pouch or the weather that season, the fertilized egg will begin development when the mother kangaroo is ready. Kangaroos raise on average three young every two years.
The kangaroo is a herbivore that mainly feeds on grass. They are more active at dusk when the environment is cooler. It is said that on the Australian coat of arms the emu and the kangaroo were selected as symbols to represent the country  because they are always moving forward and never move backwards – indicative of progress.
There are 47 varieties of kangaroo, ranging in size from the two-pound Rock Wallaby to the 6-foot, 300-pound Red Kangaroo. When the Europeans first arrived in Australia, the Red Kangaroo was the biggest mammal on the continent. With the settlers came foreign species that pushed the indigenous  kangaroo down the list, to rank 13, behind the introduced camels, buffalos, bantengs, cattle, horses, donkeys, pigs and several species of deer. The kangaroo doesn’t have a natural predator in Australia, but people have introduced animals such as dingo dogs that have started hunting kangaroos.
Male kangaroos often “box” among themselves, playfully, for dominance, or in competition for mates. The dexterity of their forepaws is used in both punching and grappling with the foe, but the real danger lies in a serious kick with the hind-leg. The sharpened hind claws can disembowel an opponent, so it can also be dangerous to go closer to a kangaroo as an accident can happen anytime. But in the wild, it is fascinating to watch the kangaroo opponents fight each other in the way human opponents do ‘kick boxing’.

Published olakdbimaNews on 28.04.2012

Day of the Jackal - Canis aureus naria alias Naria

Last Sunday 1st of April was Fool’s day. Got snared by a cunning joke last Sunday..? On the 1st of April, ZooLander visited the zoo to meet the Jackal family
– most famous for fooling others..!!

Jackals are some of the most difficult animals to photograph and the ZooLander team’s experience was not easy either. These creatures  walk from one corner to another restlessly, without waiting in one place, fooling those who attempt to photograph them, resulting in our photo shoot attempts most often ending up with blurred images or capturing only Jackals in part  - sometimes only the tail, though we clicked while the Jackal was in full frame. But last Saturday, quite unusually the Jackal duo was out of their enclosure and in a playful  mood.
Perhaps Jackals were in a thinking mood, getting ready to celebrate the next day– the 1st of April - April Fool’s day. Interestingly the Jackals performed in front of us, as if chiding us for wasting our time in trying to snap them, so many times (rasthiyadu). Perhaps, the Jackals had decided, to be featured in LakbimaNews on the ZooLander page to mark their day - April fool’s day, them being the best in the animal kingdom to fool others..!
Whatever the reason this gave the Zoolander team an opportunity to take good photographs of the Jackals.
Here are some interesting facts about these great cheaters of the animal kingdom.Jackal known scientifically as canis aureus naria is the only wild canine found in Sri Lankan forests.  Have you noticed the third part of that scientific name..? Yes, it wasn’t a mistake, and as the name indicates ours is a sub species of the golden jackal, and to recognize that it is a subspecies, it was named  canis aureus naria.
They are also called the Sri Lankan Jackal and are also known as the Southern Indian Jackal as they can also be found in India. On the Asian mainland, the Sri Lankan jackal is found in most southern parts of the Indian Peninsula. The golden jackal (canis aureus), also known as the common jackal is indigenous to the north and north east Africa, south eastern and central Europe according to popular web based Wikipedia.

Social Species
Jackal is a social species. They usually live in pairs in the wild. Sometimes the current offspring or offspring from a former litter can also be associated with them making them a perfect jackal family. However, sometimes they can also be found alone roaming around Sri Lanka’s wilderness areas mostly in the dry zone. It is also said that jackal pairs are good lovers and their courtship rituals are remarkably long, during which the breeding pair remains almost constantly together - sometimes about a month. Though they are cunning to outsiders they are perfect partners as both should be cunning enough to keep the other with them.
After a gestation period of 60 - 63 days, golden jackals give birth to a litter of 1 - 9 young. They are weak  and after a few weeks, the parents start giving regurgitated food  in addition to the milk. Young jackals reach sexual maturity between 1 and 2 years of age.

Masters in adaptability
The jackals are adaptable to changes in their environment and can be found on the edges of villages, sometimes intruding into poultry farms to grab a chicken at night and getting caught. Jackals are carnivores: usually hunting  on small birds, eggs, and rodents. They  are also omnivorous and opportunistic foragers feeding on fruits and vegetables too.
Jackals are in the habit of hiding food when they get more than what they can feed on. This also helps them build a store which helps them to eat at times food is scarce. In areas where jackals have access to beach land, it is said that they also dig turtle nests looking for tasty eggs to feed on.
Jackals could be seen even in isolated patches in Colombo suburbs. In a recently published book The diversity of Sri Lankan Wildlife’ authored by Jayantha Jayawardane, there is an account about a group of jackals being spotted in a garbage dump in the Piliyandala area.
The jackal’s howl is the unmistaken sign that betrays  its presence, but is getting silenced as most areas are getting urbanized.

Trickster in the wild
Cunning is the most apt description for this little canine. Folklore gives many examples of their smartness, but sometime back a famous environmentalist reported a clever trick played by a jackal in Yala. Jackals being opportunistic feeders most often steal food from the prey of other predators such as leopards. The leopard is in the habit of eating enough to satisfy its hunger and guarding the carcass for a few days with the aim of eating the balance some other time. A hungry jackal who found an unattended carcass carefully approached it, but being greedy  had forgotten to pay attention to the surroundings.
The leopard had appeared from nowhere, and becoming angry on seeing the jackal getting a free meal out of the its hard earned kill, had charged towards the jackal and easily caught it. But that isn’t the amazing part. Not trying to flee, the jackal had played dead. The leopard had shaken the apparently lifeless jackal and as no movement was sensed, left its grab, thinking the jackal dead. Then, the jackal looking around suddenly starts running and escapes from the leopard, fooling the powerful predator...! Such is the cunning of the jackal.

Jackals, Foxes, Coyotes, Wolves and Dogs - all confusing..?
Canidae is the biological family of carnivorous and omnivorous mammals that includes wolves, foxes, jackals, coyotes, and domestic dogs. A member of this family is called a canid.Canids form one of the most prominent families of carnivores, with 36 interesting taxa in 13 genera that occur throughout most of the world. Foxes, dholes, dingoes, wolves, jackals, coyotes and various dogs comprise the family, and they find human raised livestock irresistible prey. As a family, canids occupy every continent except Antarctica. The grey wolf, alone, was originally the most widely distributed terrestrial mammal; its successor to the throne is another successful canid, the red fox. Thus, canids have borne a high proportion of the conflict between humans and carnivores.

Published on LakbimaNews on 08.04.2012 

The Chipmunks

Published on LakbimaNews on 29.01.2012

Anne: The Sri Lankan Elephnat in England

Published on 01.01.2012