Arctic
It seems impossible that in places where the temperature is almost always below 0 animals can live and reproduce.However, even in the coldest and inhospitable parts of the Earth some of the animals, during their long evolution, in a special manner adapted it to limit the loss of body heat.All polar animals have a thick layer of fat under the skin, and white bears have thick and waterproof fur . Arctic is a vast territory that extends around the north pole. Is mostly covered with a mass of accumulated ice, which floats on the surface of the sea.
Polar Bear, also known as White bear is the largest carnivore in the space surrounding the North Pole. It is an animal that loves solitude. Only rarely happens that two or more individuals get together, as in the case when they find a prey trapped between ice floes, so they can share it without having to hunt. Or when is to cold , so they need to dug a warm borrow in the snow which becomes a common hideout for some males and females without cubs.The polar bear is a very skilled swimmer and even out of the water it has no difficulty with mobility due to large paws, equipped with a hard, rough pads that stick to the ice and do not sink into the snow. Its basic nourishment is made of seals ruthlessly hunted by it.
When it sees a seal, sprawled in the sun, it lays low like a cat before it can see it, then it gets closer crawling on its stomach, and suddenly attacks it.
That seal has no time to dive into the sea, where it's faster and has a good chance to escape it.But if it smells one under water, it's changing tactics.Bear knows that seal, before it dive opens a hole in the ice to serve it out to take a breath:So it closes all exits except one, patiently waiting to seal put its head out of the only remaining open hole and grab it with one swift swing of his paw.
interesting thing
The polar bear, who can experience up to 30 years, is a true giant: when it stands on the hind feet, which it often does, it can overrun even the height of an elephant.Adult male is in average two and a half meters long and weighs between 150 and 500 kilograms; there are also instances of exceeding 700 kilograms and a length of 3.30 m.
It is so strong that it is able to pull out from water even a seal of 90 kilograms and break its spine with one hit.But the polar bear is adapted to eat all: bird eggs, kelp, the corpses of dead animals and in the summer when it swims to shore it'll eat grass,lichens, berries, small mammals.At the end of autumn, when the female feels that the time for labor is approaching ,she goes to the land where she digs a burrow in a pile of snow.The shelter consists of a tunnel, which will close later by the falling snow, and a cavity in which, between December and January, the young fawn, each time only two.Newborns, 18-30 inches long, weigh barely 700 grams and are protected from the cold by there mother's fur and warmth of there den in which they remain all winter.
The mother bear manages to achieve as many as 140 days not eating and can offer young ones a nutritious milk because fat reserves, accumulated over the summer.When in March or April she comes out of den, she has lost almost half of her weight, but the cubs , who are now 3 months, weigh 10 pounds and are strong and vibrant.Cubs can move with confidence and learn to survive by imitating her mother, they began to swim and learn to set traps. The game, which takes hours, plays an important role in the life of a bear, so adults play also , they climb on icy slopes and slide down.At the end of a long summer mother leaves the young ones, who, by then they will have to fend for themselves.
Walrus is a mammal with long canines that lives in the Northern Arctic seas. The male is huge, he can weigh up to 1500 kg, while the female always remains below 1000 kg.Walrus has a stocky body wrinkled with not many bristles. It makes a penetrating sound that resembles the roar of a lion and at the same time the one of a bull.It has a bad temper, grumpy and lazy nature,but does not withdraw in case itself or one of its own is in danger.Walrus spends many hours sunbathing. Beneath its skin is a thick layer of fat that has a double role, to protect itself from the cold and to use it as a backup during periods when there's not enough food.Long fangs-his characteristic tusks, are essential in life of this animal: it uses them for protection from the enemy, to dig the seabed, to get out onto the coast and to move on ice and land.
interesting thing
Mothers breastfeed small walruses for about two years, and then spend two more with them.
Walruses often start fighting among themselves, raising head in a threatening way, pointing fangs at each other and roaring. However, there are very few cases of injuries. Because of their weight and lack of legs , these animals are difficult to move around the land.When out of the water, they are napping in the sun in large groups, which occupy all potential space. They often argue among themselves, and the one that is more intrusive gets a better place than the one that is less aggressive.
Polar Bear, also known as White bear is the largest carnivore in the space surrounding the North Pole. It is an animal that loves solitude. Only rarely happens that two or more individuals get together, as in the case when they find a prey trapped between ice floes, so they can share it without having to hunt. Or when is to cold , so they need to dug a warm borrow in the snow which becomes a common hideout for some males and females without cubs.The polar bear is a very skilled swimmer and even out of the water it has no difficulty with mobility due to large paws, equipped with a hard, rough pads that stick to the ice and do not sink into the snow. Its basic nourishment is made of seals ruthlessly hunted by it.
When it sees a seal, sprawled in the sun, it lays low like a cat before it can see it, then it gets closer crawling on its stomach, and suddenly attacks it.
That seal has no time to dive into the sea, where it's faster and has a good chance to escape it.But if it smells one under water, it's changing tactics.Bear knows that seal, before it dive opens a hole in the ice to serve it out to take a breath:So it closes all exits except one, patiently waiting to seal put its head out of the only remaining open hole and grab it with one swift swing of his paw.
interesting thing
The polar bear, who can experience up to 30 years, is a true giant: when it stands on the hind feet, which it often does, it can overrun even the height of an elephant.Adult male is in average two and a half meters long and weighs between 150 and 500 kilograms; there are also instances of exceeding 700 kilograms and a length of 3.30 m.
It is so strong that it is able to pull out from water even a seal of 90 kilograms and break its spine with one hit.But the polar bear is adapted to eat all: bird eggs, kelp, the corpses of dead animals and in the summer when it swims to shore it'll eat grass,lichens, berries, small mammals.At the end of autumn, when the female feels that the time for labor is approaching ,she goes to the land where she digs a burrow in a pile of snow.The shelter consists of a tunnel, which will close later by the falling snow, and a cavity in which, between December and January, the young fawn, each time only two.Newborns, 18-30 inches long, weigh barely 700 grams and are protected from the cold by there mother's fur and warmth of there den in which they remain all winter.
The mother bear manages to achieve as many as 140 days not eating and can offer young ones a nutritious milk because fat reserves, accumulated over the summer.When in March or April she comes out of den, she has lost almost half of her weight, but the cubs , who are now 3 months, weigh 10 pounds and are strong and vibrant.Cubs can move with confidence and learn to survive by imitating her mother, they began to swim and learn to set traps. The game, which takes hours, plays an important role in the life of a bear, so adults play also , they climb on icy slopes and slide down.At the end of a long summer mother leaves the young ones, who, by then they will have to fend for themselves.
Walrus is a mammal with long canines that lives in the Northern Arctic seas. The male is huge, he can weigh up to 1500 kg, while the female always remains below 1000 kg.Walrus has a stocky body wrinkled with not many bristles. It makes a penetrating sound that resembles the roar of a lion and at the same time the one of a bull.It has a bad temper, grumpy and lazy nature,but does not withdraw in case itself or one of its own is in danger.Walrus spends many hours sunbathing. Beneath its skin is a thick layer of fat that has a double role, to protect itself from the cold and to use it as a backup during periods when there's not enough food.Long fangs-his characteristic tusks, are essential in life of this animal: it uses them for protection from the enemy, to dig the seabed, to get out onto the coast and to move on ice and land.
interesting thing
Mothers breastfeed small walruses for about two years, and then spend two more with them.
Walruses often start fighting among themselves, raising head in a threatening way, pointing fangs at each other and roaring. However, there are very few cases of injuries. Because of their weight and lack of legs , these animals are difficult to move around the land.When out of the water, they are napping in the sun in large groups, which occupy all potential space. They often argue among themselves, and the one that is more intrusive gets a better place than the one that is less aggressive.
Puffins are small birds. Because of high-colored beaks, these sea divers are also called sea parrots.
Are their beaks always so colorful ? No. The colors yellow, red and blue intersperse on their beaks only during mating.Afterwards,the beautiful colors disappear,and for most of the year their beaks are gray.
Puffins have a specific, very useful technique for fishing.Their short wings are not particularly convenient for take-off, and the birds are literally throwing themselves from the cliff into the abyss.They fly until they discover a flock of fish, and then descend steeply into the water and fill beaks with small fish.
Are their beaks always so colorful ? No. The colors yellow, red and blue intersperse on their beaks only during mating.Afterwards,the beautiful colors disappear,and for most of the year their beaks are gray.
Puffins have a specific, very useful technique for fishing.Their short wings are not particularly convenient for take-off, and the birds are literally throwing themselves from the cliff into the abyss.They fly until they discover a flock of fish, and then descend steeply into the water and fill beaks with small fish.
In the northern polar regions there are large numbers of birds ,they are all migratory that take food from the sea- an inexhaustible source of food for many animals.They arrive in this region at the end of the long polar night, which lasts throughout the winter and a part of spring. In early fall they again fly south.In mid-March, puffins gather into large colonies to explore the ground, looking for a place to nest. Couple of puffins dig in earth , whit their beaks and legs, a long tunnel that ends whit one room. There the female lays a single egg. Sometimes in the nest come to live some other animals, like wild rabbits.
Antarctica
Located on the far south, Antarctica is a continent of about 14 million square kilometers, 98% of the area is covered in ice cover, which is building for 1000 years, and the average thickness is 1500 meters.
Penguins live along the icy shores of Antarctica. These are birds that during evolution, while retaining some characteristics, such as fins and beaks, gone through major changes.Their body lengthened becoming hydrodynamic, therefore appropriate to move easily in the water, and the wings were cut so that they almost take form of fins.So they are unable to fly, but are very skilled and fast swimmers. |
But there's more: as their feet are near the tail, penguins are the only birds that on the firm can stand upright.all kinds of penguins, though related to water for food (consisting of fish and krol, a group of small crustaceans that float on the surface of water), they prefer to create their own colonies of hundreds of thousands of individuals, in places distant from the sea.On the shores of Patagonia and Chile, where the smallest penguin species live, in the mating season, male wins over hen officially bringing her, one after another, many stones which are needed to build nests.The female lays two eggs which, on shift, are heated by both parents.
Young hatch around the same time, and because the parents are forced to supply food both of them are away, leaving them under the supervision of another adult, that defends them from predators.
Among the various types, stands out the Emperor Penguins, who reaches meter high and is more than others adapted to live in the eternal ice of the South Pole.In fall, it migrates from coast of Antarctica to the pole, crossing over a hundred kilometers.In a new place colonies, formed in couples: female lays an egg, and then returns to the sea.males are the ones that warm the egg on their feet,with the heat of feathers on their bellies.Since from beginning of the migration until hatching passes four months, males for all this time surviving due to fat reserves.Females return in the spring, at the time of hatching and males only then can go back to the sea, and finally eat. |
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Adult males visits them and force to enter their territory and be a part of their harem (which consists of as much as forty "wife"). In the first week after arrival, females give birth.usually one offspring is born, but if it happens to be the two other is being abandoned and becoming a victim of birds like seagulls.During the first fifteen days, the mother is not separated from the calf: cleans , hugs and breastfeeds it while not moving and eating.Two weeks after birth, it comes the moment to push it into the water and teach it to swim.At first offspring does not want to learn, but later realizes that it likes to stay in it.After several days it swims good and dares to go into deeper water, but without losing sight of the mother on the beach, which it returns to when hungry.
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In the following days arrive males, whose sole purpose is to create a harem.Therefore are confronted with one another raising at each other and trying to overcome mutual.Then they line up chest to chest, and trying to push each other out of the territory, to get the other one to lose his balance, and to be forced to flee.After mating sea elephants indulge in sweet laziness: males and females are stretched at the beach all day sleeping or dozing, and throwing on themselves pebbles or sand.Youngsters, however, are very active. As soon as the newborn's hair is replace with bristly and resistant skin, they go into the water.Under the watchful eye of the mother, the first they learn to swim in pools that the sea leaved, where they try to hold their breath.Then they dare to go out to the open sea, where they quickly reach lightness and skills of their parents.
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In the Arctic and Antarctic seas, lives the largest mammal with flippers, See elephant.It's that named because of one type of trunk long about thirty centimeters which males have on the muzzle, and on which are nostrils: they willingly inflate and deflate it in a sign of irritation or to use as a sounding board when they roar.In water, in which spends most of his life, sea elephant is quite skilled.However on the land, where it returns to mate, moves with difficulty, because it moves not using the front flippers, but it raises the rear of the body by putting pressure on the legs.On the land, first females place themselves in the place that most appeal to them and after a week they give birth.
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In the icy deserts
Tundra is the flattened part of the territory that lies between the frozen Arctic Sea coast and the borders of northern region continents.
It has a cold and dry climate and is rich in lakes and wetlands with standing water: cold air prevents evaporation, and at the same time is always iced the bottom layer of the soil does not absorb water. |
In the far north of American continent,in Canada,in Alaska and Greenland, lives Musk ox, mammal with large horns and very long coat, adapted to the harsh temperatures of those regions.It lives in small herds and feeds on the Arctic scant vegetation: lichen, mosses and shrubs.Its natural enemies are bears and wolf packs.It is an aggressive animal and often are fierce struggles between individuals of the same species.When attack by wolves, musk oxen are placed in a circle, side by side, in order to stand against the enemy and to protect the youngsters the middle of the group.Usually one female brings to the world per one young every two years.
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Arctic wolf fur color is adapted to environment in which it lives. Namely, sinking in the whiteness of snow, pack can, without being noticed, get close to prey, which consists of large herbivores as musk ox and moose, but also smaller animals like beavers, hares, rabbits and mice.Wolves hunt in groups: behind pack leader approaching the victim away from the wind and attack suddenly.
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Saiga antelope is ruminant that lives in the tundra of Central Asia. Its nose is long and movable, almost like a trunk. Yet its sense of smell is pretty weak,as well as hearing, while vision is very sharp.
Lives in small herds, but in periods when there is little food unites into groups of a thousand individuals that migrate in search of more suitable areas for survival.For centuries, it was hunted, but for about eighty years, it's a protected specie. The female Saige normally brings to world two calves that breastfeeds a few months. While little they remain hidden in the grass to hide from predators. |
Interesting thing:
According to one legend lemmings commit mass suicide by throwing themselves into the water in order to maintain a constant number of individuals. In fact this is not true: the legend is derived from the fact that, during the spring migration to north, lemmings try to swim even in long rivers and many drown trying to swim across. But those who remain, because of their fertility are able to rapidly restore the previous number of individuals.
According to one legend lemmings commit mass suicide by throwing themselves into the water in order to maintain a constant number of individuals. In fact this is not true: the legend is derived from the fact that, during the spring migration to north, lemmings try to swim even in long rivers and many drown trying to swim across. But those who remain, because of their fertility are able to rapidly restore the previous number of individuals.
European mountains
Hooves and horns ensure the survival, in the mountains, lots of animals called ungulates.
Ibex is a big ungulate with a short beard and long horns, which with males can reach a length of one meter. Some time widespread throughout Europe, but now lives in the Alps, in the park Gran Paradiso.
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Chamois lives above the forest vegetation, therefore above 2000 meters. In winter comes down into the lower areas and visits the most inaccessible parts of the forest. Lives in small herds. The female brings to the world only one youngster, which after a few hours is able to follow her.
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Mouflon is the only wild sheep that exist in Europe. The male has characteristic horns, wide at base, sometimes spiral, which are constantly growing.Sometimes it nibbles and bark of young trees, thus causing their death, since the liquid that is inside is no longer able to get to the leaf.. It lives in herds of 50 to 100 individuals, from which females move away when it comes time to give birth.
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The Groundhog is a rodent whose weight varies, depending on the season, from 4 to 8 kilograms. Like all rodents, it has a highly developed incisors that continue to grow throughout its life. When they are small incisors are white and in adults acquire yellowing color. During the winter it sinks in hibernation in its den, after filling it with food which it will eat during short awakenings.Re going to come out in the spring. Under the skin it has a thick layer of fat which, in addition to protecting it from cold serve as a reserve power. Groundhogs spend a lot of time near the den, sitting on its hind paws observing ground around.
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If they see the danger,they warn others, likeness,with a distinctive whistle.
For these animals whistle is not only a warning that something approaching may be risk, but also as a means of mutual contacts.In case of emergency, as soon as they hear a warning, all groundhogs immediately flee to the den, without checking the type of hazards. Looks like chamois recognize groundhog whistle as a sign of danger and even they start to scrupulously.Among the enemies of groundhog is crow, skilled hunter who threatens small rodents, and an eagle. While crows attacking in numerous groups, the eagle arrives quietly and alone.
For these animals whistle is not only a warning that something approaching may be risk, but also as a means of mutual contacts.In case of emergency, as soon as they hear a warning, all groundhogs immediately flee to the den, without checking the type of hazards. Looks like chamois recognize groundhog whistle as a sign of danger and even they start to scrupulously.Among the enemies of groundhog is crow, skilled hunter who threatens small rodents, and an eagle. While crows attacking in numerous groups, the eagle arrives quietly and alone.
the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains are in the western part of North America. It extends in a north-south from Alaska to New Mexico, and are 5,000 kilometers long.
Nutrition of Snowy goat is very various: it feeds on willow, conifer, grass, and loves salt so much that sometimes exceeds one kilometer until it finds salt deposits which it then greedily licks.To protect itself from the enemy, snow goat always climbs to highest peaks, almost inaccessible places.
According to The Northern legends, Wolverine is the embodiment of cruel devil. Similar to small bear, lives alone and keeps wandering, never creates a permanent den, but is more satisfied with digging a temporary sleeping den or barely a little more comfortable when it needs to raise youngsters.It follows prey using sense of smell great, both in dry land and in the snow, using his gift of tireless walking,fast running and skilled climbing. It is a carnivore, threatening and attacking any animal that got in its reach of paws, whether small lemming or large lynx. |
It is able to be immobile for hours at a branch, waiting for the victim, at which it suddenly assaults from above. However, it loves more the remains of animal carcasses, victims of other predators. If by chance comes by while the real owner eats prey, rather than waiting for owner to finish its meal and satisfy with remains, Wolverine attacks them so violently that manages to get them on the run.Then, when it finds no better, robs small vaults of acorns and pine seeds, that squirrels as usual hide in the woods.
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On the mountains of South America
In the western part of South America extends from Venezuela to Tierra del Fuego, the longest mountain range in the world: Cordillera.
The inhabitants of the Andes grow llamas, kind of a camel that was long ago domesticated, at the time of the Inca Empire. Llama is useful for meat, milk and fur thick and very soft, and as pack animals on inaccessible mountain trails and altitudes at which other mammals would not survive.
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Guanaco is a very agile animal, of very sharp vision, a distant ancestor of the lamas. For a while widespread, was hunted for its fur, but survived in the wild in the Andes in small herds-led by strongest male. Today it is a protected species.
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Vicuna is the smallest species of camels and lives in the wild in the high Andean steppes in the two types of herds: those familial, with males, females and youngsters and those that consist only of males. It is gentle animal, sensitive to changes in temperature and climate. In Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador are grown because of the very fine and soft wool which already ancient Indians knew the art of processing.
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Asian tableland
Asia is not only the largest continent but also has the highest mountain system. Between the central steppes and India rises wreath of the Himalayas.
Himalayan bear fur is black, with distinctive stripe of lighter fur that resembles a necklace. It feeds on plants, berries and fruits, small crustaceans it finds in the rivers, and invertebrates. It lives in the woods, where there is plenty of food and deftly manages to climb on trees.
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Golden Pheasant has a colorful plumage and very long tail with a characteristic golden color. Lives in the mountains, at an altitude of 2000-3000 meters, in dense bamboo forests whose buds are its food.
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At a high mountains of Tibet is situated, although on road extinct, wild yak. With its two-meter height is the largest mammal that lives in cold terrain of this region. However the domestic has strong patient and is calm as cattle whose cousin is,it is much smaller and hardly reaches a height of one meter. However, for people living in harsh and difficult mountain environment highlands, at altitudes between 4,000 and 6,000 meters, is a valuable aid.
Tibetans use its meat, milk, wool of its long hair, bone, instead of processed wood and dried dung, which is used for fuelwood. They use it for transportation and as pack animal, which can deal with inaccessible rocky passages and snowstorms. |
Irbis is also called Snow Leopard: it is an animal of the genus cats up to two meters long, including the tail. Its fur is thick and paws wide to avoid sinking into the snow. Color helps it to drown in the rocks among which it lives. It is skilled at monitoring the animals that feeds on among the peaks, only between cats can jump up to 15 meters. In the past, man hunted them for their fur, but today it is protected animal . The female usually brings into the world two cubs. After it stops breastfeeding them it takes them with it in the hunt, setting it on high to be able to have a good view of the surroundings. During the summer it lives at high altitudes in winter descends to bottom of the valley.
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Asian steppe
Asian steppe consists of monotonic semi-desert plain covered with mostly grasses.
Australian steppe
Most of the Australia is leveled, with hillocks. In the endless central region there are grassy savannas which are gradually giving way to the great steppe called shrub.
Sahara
The largest desert in the world is the Sahara. Located in north Africa and covers an area of nine million square kilometers.
Dromedary, that is to say the Arab camel has a single hump, and the people of warm deserts of the Middle East and North Africa use it as pack animal.Due to the long and thin legs, it is useful as a rapid and robust transport. It is an animal adapted to the area where it lives : toes (there are two) are connected to one pad that helps in the movement on the sand.Muscle that can close the nostrils and long eyelashes, protect its nose and eyes from sand.
During the rains, males who are mainly still, become aggressive and fight among themselves and compete for females.A year after mating the female gives birth to one calf nursing and watching it three or four months. Calf is very lively after only several hours after birth and may follow its mother even on a long trip. |
Fennec, also known as the Desert Fox, is a lovely little animal that weighs only kilo and a half. It has 15 centimeters long ears and a big tail, similar to fox's. Fur, thick and soft, is brown on the back and white on the belly with an almost black-tipped tail. Thick hair is adapted to harsh weather at night, when fennec gets out of the den and goes in the search of food. Mainly feeds on insects and other small animals, even some plants, especially dates, which it specifically likes.
The desert gerbil, typical for dry regions, has developed back paws, which allow him to advance in leaps and bounds. And the tail is very long and it uses it as a support to stand up and glance around. It lives in a dry riverbed of Sahara, where there is sufficient moisture for plant growth which feeds on.These plants are very savory and desert gerbil, after it eats them, gets rid of the excess salt by expelling it with the urine, which is four times saltier than sea water. |
North African desert
In the Sahara there are mountains that reach considerable heights. Over millions of years the sand, which is inflicted by a strong wind at high speed on the rocks, shaped them and made round and smooth. Often are real sandstorm with wind that moves faster than a hundred kilometers an hour. Humidity is low, but when the air is inflicted by wind encounters a mountain, the air humidity rises and condenses in the raindrops.When a little rain allows vegetation to grow a bit, immediately is the landscape populated with animals.
Serval is an animal barely two feet high, and a little more than one long, including the tail. Its fur is similar to the leopard, yellowish gray with lighter and darker patches, but can vary from individual to individual primarily by number, size and appearance of patches.Serval primarily lives in rocky areas where crevices and natural caves offer a great place to hide during the day. It hunts at dusk or at night, but unlike the other cats does not follow prey: waits for it in the ambush, for example in tree, it then surprise It by jumping on its back. Serval captured in the youth are easily tamed.Then it behaves like a cat: endears herself to the owner, plays with him, purrs and adapts to eating cat food and drinking milk.
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Gemsbok is the size of a deer. Its horns are straight or slightly bent. It can survive without water several weeks during which moves in greatly migration in search of more suitable areas for survival. These animals are going to places where they have little opportunities to hide, so it easy to be noticed by hunters. Therefore, they seek the safety of the group and become active during the evening and night.The White Gemsbok adorn with very long and beautiful, spiky horns that are worth hunting trophy. At one time prevalent throughout the Arabian Peninsula in Palestine today is a species that has only a few hundred individuals.
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North American desert
In Mexico and south region of the United States there is a large desert region, where only some species of cacti and some bushes grow.