Polar bear
Polar bear facts:
- Polar bear is the largest predator animal on land. Also polar bear is the largest of all bears.
- Polar bears evolved about five million years ago from brown bears. Polar bears adapted to survive in the Far North and also over sea ice.
- Adult male polar bears weigh from 800 to 1,200 pounds. Adult female polar bears normally weigh from 320 to 650 pounds.
- Polar bears sit on the top of the food chain in the Arctic. They prey primarily on ringed seals.
- Polar bears live along shores and on sea ice in the icy cold Arctic. When the weather is exceptionally cold - sea ice forms over the ocean, and many polar bears, except pregnant females, head out onto the ice to hunt seals.
- Polar bears live over five countries: USA (Alaska), Russia, Canada, Norway and Greenland.
- After failing to catch a seal, a frustrated and angry polar bear may kick the snow, slap the ground or hurl chunks of ice. But polar bears do not use any tools, neither blocks of ice, to kill their prey.
- Female polar bears usually bear two cubs. The baby polar bears stay with their mothers for up to two and half years, learning how to hunt and survive in the harsh arctic environment.
- Polar bears have fur and skin that allow them to absorb sunlight and to keep their internal temperature high enough. The fat below their skin insulates them in cold water.
- The polar bears are not left-pawed. Scientists observing the animals have noticed that polar bears seem to use their right and left paws equally.
- Polar bears could swim up to 100 miles (161 kilometers) when they search for food.
- In fall, pregnant polar bears make dens in earth and snow-banks, where they are going to stay through the winter to give birth.
Giraffe
Giraffe interesting facts:
- Giraffes inhabit open grasslands in they move in small groups of about half a dozen.
- Giraffe is the tallest animal in the world. Male giraffes stand 16-18 feet, female giraffes are usually about 15 feet tall.
- Male giraffes weight is up to two thousand pounds and the females are a little bit lighter.
- Giraffe has the longest tail of any land mammal. The tail could be up to eight feet long. This includes the tuft at the end.
- Giraffe has very long legs and use them to run as fast as 56 km. (or 35 miles) an hour. Giraffe runs only to reach short distances.
- The favorite food of the giraffe are Acacia Leaves.
- Even the tongue of the giraffe is very long – it is about 18 inches.
- Giraffe has four chambered stomach and it will usually regurgitate the food by chewing it additionally, just like the cows do.
- Giraffe spotted coats patterns are never the same for two different animals.
- The usual sleep time of the giraffe is only five minutes.
- Giraffes could rest while they are standing.
- Giraffes sleep on the ground with their front legs tucked under itself and the head placed over the croup.
- It is dangerous for giraffe to drink water, because it needs to spread its legs and bend down becoming vulnerable to big cats predators and other animals.
- Giraffe only need to drink water just once in a week as most of the water it uses comes from the plants it eats.
- Male giraffes sometimes battle one another by butting their long necks and heads. Such battles are not dangerous and end when one of the giraffes walks away and accept the loss.
- Female giraffe give birth while standing up.
- The young giraffe baby falls more than one meter to the ground at birth.
- Just after half an hour the baby giraffe could stand up and run with the rest of the herd.
- Giraffe heart is two feet long and weighs about 25 pounds. The heart beats up to 170 times in a minute.
- Giraffe has the highest known blood pressure of any mammal in the world. It could go up to 280/180mm Hg – and is twice that of an average human being.
- Giraffe is only found naturally in Africa and its tongue is black.
Liger - rare animal
Liger facts:
- Liger is a possible result of breeding a male lion with a tigress.
- Tigon is a possible result of breeding a male tiger with a lioness.
- Lions and Tigers do not exist in the same areas on Earth, this is not something that happens in the wild. It is mainly done in captivity.
- Ligers are usually larger than their parents.
This fact puts the tigress at great risk in carrying the young and
may require C-section deliveries or the Tigress could even die.
- Ligers have the best qualities of the Tiger and the best of the Lion. Liger fact is that they like to stay in the water (and this is specific Tiger trait) but also are very social animals (specific Lion trait).
- Ligers have the best qualities of the Tiger and the best of the Lion. Liger fact is that they like to stay in the water (and this is specific Tiger trait) but also are very social animals (specific Lion trait).
- But also these cats
suffer from many birth defects and most of the time die young.
- The head of a Liger
looks more like Lion's head. Also, the tail is more like the tail of
a Lion.
- The exact life span of Ligers is unknown. A female Liger called Shasta, was born at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. Shasta died at the age of 24. A male Liger – named Nook - who lived in Valley of the Kings animal sanctuary in Wisconsin died at the age of 21.
- For a long time, both Ligers and Tigons were thought to be sterile. But in 1943, a fifteen-year-old hybrid between a Lion and an Island Tiger, was successfully mated with a Lion at Munich Hellabrunn Zoo. Although the female cub had delicate health, it was raised to adulthood.
- The exact life span of Ligers is unknown. A female Liger called Shasta, was born at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. Shasta died at the age of 24. A male Liger – named Nook - who lived in Valley of the Kings animal sanctuary in Wisconsin died at the age of 21.
- For a long time, both Ligers and Tigons were thought to be sterile. But in 1943, a fifteen-year-old hybrid between a Lion and an Island Tiger, was successfully mated with a Lion at Munich Hellabrunn Zoo. Although the female cub had delicate health, it was raised to adulthood.
- Ligers weight about a thousand pounds (450 kg.)
each, they typically devour 50 pounds (23 kg.) of raw meat in just
one meal.
- Lion-Tiger mating occurs in captivity. Probably for the same reason humans do not breed with monkeys like gorillas or chimps.
- However, historically, the Asiatic subspecies of Lion had a much greater range of inhabited areas that overlapped with that of the Tiger. So it is possible, though unlikely, that Ligers might have sometimes occurred in the wild.
- Lion-Tiger mating occurs in captivity. Probably for the same reason humans do not breed with monkeys like gorillas or chimps.
- However, historically, the Asiatic subspecies of Lion had a much greater range of inhabited areas that overlapped with that of the Tiger. So it is possible, though unlikely, that Ligers might have sometimes occurred in the wild.
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