Environmental organizations, national parks, and wildlife shelters in Africa are gearing up for the worst. The borders are closed, there are no tourists, which means that most of the projects for the conservation of rare and endangered species of animals were left without money, Izvestia reports.
The rhinoceros shelter in the southern African province of Limpopo remained virtually without personnel due to the pandemic.
Mostly foreigners worked here, changing every three months, but because of the coronavirus their visas were canceled. Four full-time employees had to withstand 72-hour shifts, sleeping only 2-3 hours per night.
Caring for little orphaned rhinos is hard work. They demand milk at any time of the day or night and scream loudly, calling on the mother, who was killed before their eyes by poachers.
The founder and shelter manager, 66-year-old retired teacher, Arri van Deventer, had to look for local volunteers through social networks.
Of the several hundred who responded, he chose only two. The location of such shelters is kept secret in order to avoid attacks by poachers. Mokgopong facility has been attacked twice already.
Mapimpi was orphaned when he was seven days old. Poachers killed his mother to cut off the horn, which is used as medicine and for jewelry.
His body was very dehydrated, his skin was dry, he tried to eat sand. The baby was fed milk mixture from a bottle. At the age of five, like other grown rhinos, he will be released into the wild.
Dozens of visitors usually gathered to feed an orphan elephant from a bottle in a David Sheldrick shelter near Kenyan Nairobi.
Now he eats alone: on March 15, the institution was closed, after the country revealed the first case of coronavirus.
The shelter lives on online donations and from ticket sales. Before the pandemic, up to 500 people visited its territory daily, each paying about $ 5 for entry.
Now you can attend the elephant calf feeding procedure or watch how he sleeps, only online. On social media, live broadcasts are at 11:00 and 17:00 local time.
Elephant calves in East Africa very often remain orphaned by poachers. The smallest most often die without breast milk.
The David Sheldrick Foundation has special teams to combat poachers and several mobile veterinary teams that patrol the area from air and land. These events were organized thanks to tourists and donnors.
According to the UN, last year Africa was visited by about 70 million tourists. In order to survive in a pandemic, reserves, shelters, national parks throughout Africa suspend all third-party projects, stop building infrastructure and cut staff salaries
The Shawn Davis family lives in a crowded area in the state of Illinois, but due to the coronavirus, they were forced to stay at home like all the neighbors. A family of foxes became interested in the empty backyard of the Americans and for several months rested under the windows of Sean's house.
While people were quarantined in their homes, animals began to return the suddenly vacated territories to their legal possessions. This happened with the garden of the American Sean Davis - the backyard of his family was first chosen by a couple of foxes, and then they brought their kids there. The foxes in the courtyard liked it so much that for several months the animal family spent right under the windows of Sean and his relatives, for whom the life of the foxes turned into a real series.
The American noticed that the foxes liked his yard and installed a camera that filmed their life. American Sean Davis was very surprised when in May he saw a red couple in the courtyard of two foxes. The Sean family lives in a crowded area in the state of Illinois, where besides them there are other houses, so this place can hardly be called quiet. However, the presence of people did not scare the animals at all, but rather the opposite, because over time, the foxes in the courtyard of Sean became more and more.
Over time, seven animals at once occupied the courtyard of the Sean family - mother, father, and 5 deprive them. Animals began to use secluded territory as their playground and shelter. In the afternoon, they curled up and slept under trees, games in the morning and evening. And sometimes, due to inattention of people, the yard turned into a dining room. Since the human family almost never left the house due to quarantine, the life of foxes became a real series for them.
People are most often concerned about the strength of other people, and they, as a rule, forget about animals, and in vain, since their capabilities far exceed human ones. Bemorepanda has compiled a list of the 10 most powerful animals on the planet, whose power cannot fail to impress. You can hardly guess who is at the bottom of the list, so get ready to be amazed!
Grizzly bear
Can lift objects over 500 kg, which is ~ 0.8 times their average body weight.
Green anaconda
This snake can squeeze someone to death, equal to its average weight of 250 kg.
Elephant
Elephants are the strongest mammals and the strongest land animals. The African elephant can weigh up to 6.35 tons, while it can carry up to 9 tons, which is the weight of 130 adults.
Musk ox
A musk ox can carry an object of about 900 kg, which is 1.5 times its average weight.
Tiger
A tiger can drag an object weighing about 550 kg onto a 3-meter tree. This is roughly double their average body weight.
Eagle
The eagle is the most powerful bird, capable of lifting something 4 times its own weight during flight. Moreover, they weigh up to 6 kg.
Gorilla
Gorillas can lift about 2 tons (about 30 people can lift the same amount), which is more than 10 times their average weight.
Leaf cutter ant
These ants carry things in their jaws that weigh 50 times their average weight (about 0.5 grams). It's like trying to lift a truck with your teeth.
Rhinoceros beetle
These small beetles can lift things 850 times their own weight. For comparison, if a person had the strength of a rhinoceros beetle, he could lift a 65-ton object. And if an elephant had the same strength, it could carry 850 elephants on its back.
Dung-beetle
The dung beetle is not only the most powerful insect in the world, but also the most powerful animal on the planet compared to its body weight. They can push objects 1,141 times their own weight. In the case of humans, this is how the average person would push six double-decker buses packed with people.
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As the coronavirus crisis changes the rhythms of urban life, there are some early signs that animals are feeling emboldened to explore.
Not only dolphins are returning to Venice, Kangaroo to the city center in Australia or deers to London streets. Recently, owls are returning back to the capital of Belarus, Minsk.
People have started to make gunny comments about the recent event:
"A letter from Hogwarts to you"
"The Soviet Union was not reborn from such a clean environment."
"At night I saw a rabbit in the city. A was shocked!"
At the same time, there are reports that lions in South Africa are taking a nap on the road by one of Kruger National Park's lodges
Deers running down the street of Boissy-Saint-Leger, a suburb of Paris, France
Popular among tourists, the beach of Ventilla, Mexico is now packed with crocodiles
Italy, the country with the most cases in Europe and under a severe lockdown in place, also observed a strange phenomenon - wild pigs are being seen around the main streets.
These animals deserve to know them better and learn more about their features, lifestyle, and character. Take, for example, the fact that their stripes, like human fingerprints, are unique - could you imagine this?
What do we know about zebras other than they are striped?
The facts we at Bemorepanda have collected for you will tell you many exciting things about zebras, these great representatives of the African continent.
So, could you get acquainted: with zebras?
1. If you've ever wondered if there are crossbreeds between a horse and a zebra, the answer is yes. These are the so-called Zorses, descended from a zebra stallion and a mare. This hybrid was mentioned several times in George Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels. Like most hybrids, Zorses are sterile.
2. Zebras have a strong sense of community and are not afraid to stand up for their fellow herds. When one of them is injured due to a predator attack, other zebras immediately come to the rescue, circling the injured fellow and helping to drive away the attacker.
3. All zebras come from Africa, but depending on their species, they have their specific habitat. Plains zebras can be found in East and South Africa; Grevy's zebras live in Ethiopia and Kenya; mountain zebras usually live in South Africa, Namibia, and Angola.
4. Zebras can communicate both verbally and non-verbally. The most striking example of non-verbal communication is the expression of the muzzle, in particular, the ears. They prick their ears and stretch their muzzles forward when greeting each other. Feeling threatened, they press their ears to their heads.
5. Along with horses and donkeys, zebras are the only living animals with only one toe.
6. Fossils from China and Uzbekistan and a two-million-year-old fossil found in South Africa suggest that the ancestors of Grevy's zebras once roamed Africa and Eurasia.
7. There are albino zebras in Mount Kenya's forests, and their dark stripes are light.
8. Mountain zebras live on slopes and plateaus at an altitude of up to 2000 meters above sea level.
9. Zebras have a habit of rubbing against various objects and even rolling in mud. Rolling coats their fur with sand and earth, which helps zebras keep themselves clean by rubbing off dead skin and removing mites, biting insects, and pests. Zebras also help keep each other clean.
10. In 1882, the government of Ethiopia, then known as Abyssinia, sent a zebra as a gift to French President Jules Grevy. In the same year, the French naturalist Émile Ustale named this species of zebra "Grevy's zebra" in honor of the president.
11. Zebras have evolved the ability to sleep standing up, and they do it most of the time. If predators attack, they can immediately run away and not waste precious seconds getting up.
12. Zebras are herbivores. In particular, they feed on grass, leaves, and stems of shrubs. Chewing wears down their teeth, so these teeth continue to grow throughout their lives. When the dry season arrives, zebras go elsewhere in search of food; this is why most species are considered nomadic.
13. Although zebras are not very fast (they can run at about 64 km per hour), they are incredibly dynamic and rely on their agility and endurance to outwit faster predators. They can zigzag to confuse attackers and evade most predators.
14. Have you ever wondered why zebras have stripes? There are many reasons for this, but the most interesting is the phenomenon of disruptive (torn) coloration. To a lion, a herd of zebras does not look like a bunch of individual animals gathered together but rather like a vast camouflaged striped mass, which makes it difficult for a predator to choose a specific zebra to attack.
15. Zebras are not picky eaters. Instead of just chewing short grass, they eat a wide variety of herbs, leaves, and young trees. As a result, they can roam much further than many other species, often venturing into wooded areas. They are known as pioneer animals, preparing the plains for other herbivore species that require shorter, more nutritious grasses.
16. Grevy's zebras have a low calf survival rate. Habitat loss, competition for resources, and hunting by humans have reduced the species' population by 54% in 30 years. Grevy's zebras are listed in the Red Book of Threatened Species, the most comprehensive archive of data on the global conservation status of biological species.
17. Zebra stripes can make them unattractive to some smaller predators, such as blood-sucking horseflies, which can spread disease.
18. The dominant stallion in the herd guards the group and is the first to sense danger, uttering a high-pitched snort to warn his comrades. He then quickly takes a defensive position at the group's rear while the mare (usually the mother of the youngest foal) leads the rest of the herd away.
19. Zebras are among the mammals with the most extended gestation period. Females can carry cubs for 12 to 14 months.
20. Zebras are considered mature at 3 to 6 years, and their average lifespan is 25 years.
21. Despite belonging to the same family as horses and donkeys, the independent nature of zebras makes them impossible to tame. They panic easily and have a much more aggressive nature than horses. They are known for attacking people.
22. Just as no two people have the same fingerprints, no two zebras have the same stripes.
23. Zebras use bites and kicks to protect themselves.
24. Zebras have completely black skin under black and white fur.
25. Night vision of a zebra is about the same as that of an owl.
26. Zebras were the subject of rock art in South Africa, dating from 28,000 to 20,000 years ago.
27. Unfortunately, it is well known that humanity is responsible for the disturbance of the natural habitat of many species. Agriculture, grazing, hunting, and habitat loss are the leading life-threatening causes for plains zebras.
28. Plains zebras regularly travel from the Serengeti plains in Tanzania to Kenya in search of food and water. Their annual migration leaves them vulnerable to various dangers, including attacks from lions, hyenas, wild dogs, and crocodiles.
29. Grevy's zebras are fast learners: newborns can be seen running just an hour after birth.
30. Adult mountain zebras can be 116 to 150 cm tall and weigh 240 to 372 kg.
31. Plains zebras usually have a height of 1.1 to 1.5 m and weigh up to 350 kg.
32. All zebras are close to their mothers, but males also form strong bonds with their fathers.
33. Grevy's zebras often live in harmony with other herbivores - wildebeests, ostriches, and antelope - nibbling off-dry, hardened grass tips that other herbivores cannot digest.
34. Grevy's zebras spend 60% of their day eating. In the dry season, when food is scarce, the percentage increases to 80%.
35. Newborn foals only take six minutes to stand on their own.
36. Mountain zebras are considered crepuscular animals, primarily active in the early morning and late afternoon until sunset.
37. Today, three zebra species roam the Earth: Grevy's, plains, and mountain zebra.
38. Zebras are born with brown and white hair, but brown turns black with age.
39. Plains zebras have been recorded to cover the 500 km between Namibia and Botswana, the longest land migration of a mammal in Africa.
40. Grevy's zebras can go without water for almost a week, but if possible, they will drink every day.
41. The plains zebra is the official national animal of Botswana.
42. When it's cold, mountain zebras take refuge in forests or caves and warm themselves in the morning sun, heading for the slopes facing east.
43. The main predators attacking Grevy's zebras are lions, cheetahs, hyenas, hunting dogs, and leopards.
44. Hunting is the main reason for the decline in the number of Grevy's zebras in Ethiopia.
45. Plains zebras are the most common type of zebra.
46. At birth, foals weigh between 25 and 40 kg.
47. Each species of zebra has its general stripe pattern.
48. Mountain zebras are skilled climbers and have sharper hooves than other zebras and horses.
49. Unlike plains zebras and horses, Grevy's zebras do not form long-term bonds. The composition of their group can change hourly.
50. In total, Grevy's zebras have about 80 stripes.
