By: David Meisel

Burchell’s Zebra
Latin name: Equus burchellii
Lifespan: Both the males and the females live up to 35 years of age
Weight: 300 to 320 kg for both sexes (661 to 705 pounds)

Sexual differentiation
The male and female are similar in size. The male’s genitals are not always visible, making it very difficult to see the difference. One clear difference is the black vertical stripe between the buttocks. The male has a very narrow stripe about 1 inch wide and the female has a stripe about 2 or 3 inches wide.

Social grouping
The collective name used for a group of zebras is called a “dazzle”. There are two different groupings that zebra live in. The first is the harem. A harem consists of 1 dominant male, 5 or 10, sometimes more females and their young.

The second social grouping is the bachelor herd which varies in size from 3 individuals and up. The bachelor herd consists of only males which often follow the different harems around at a safe distance. Males will occasionally leave their bachelor herds to join up with the harem to challenge the dominant male for his females.

Fighting between the males involves a lot of kicking and biting until the one or the other gives up. Once the previous male is forced out the new dominant male will often kill all young foals that are still dependent on their mother’s milk by kicking and biting them too death.

The reason for the male doing this is that the females that are still suckling young will not be on “heat”, but soon after losing its youngster will be ready to mate with.

After a successful mating the female is pregnant for 12 months. After giving birth the newborn foal will be dependent on its mother’s milk for almost 1 year before totally weaning. The females can give birth at any time of the year.

Feeding
Zebras are grazers, often feedings along with wildebeest. Wildebeest prefer to feed of the shorter grasses whereas zebra prefer the longer grasses. After the zebra has chewed off the long grass tufts, the wildebeest will often follow after the zebra to chew off the shorter tufts left behind.

Many other herbivores such as giraffe, impala and even warthog can be seen feeding close to zebra. Besides also feeding off grass, this may be a form of safety as zebra have a very keen sense of smell, hearing, sight and are extremely alert of their surroundings which makes it rather difficult for predators to get close to them without been seen. The more other animals there are, the safer it is for the zebra as there is a lesser chance of a predator picking them out in a hunt.

The zebra’s closest relative
Besides horses being direct relatives of zebra, the next close relative strange enough is the rhino. They have the same dentitional formula, a similar bone structure and at one stage in their lives had similar shaped feet, the rhino having more horse-like shaped feet.

Health
It is rather difficult to see if a zebra is in a good condition or not as they always have round bellies as a result of all the gasses bloating their stomachs. When there is a shortage of grass or even a drought, zebra still look well fed with their large gas-filled bellies.

A clear sign of bad health is to look at the mane-hair on the zebra’s neck. If the mane-hair is stiff and upright, then the zebra is generally in good condition. If the mane-hair flops, then there might be something wrong with the animal. When a zebra falls ill it starts to lose the fat around its neck first. The fat in the neck holds the mane-hair up and if it burns away the mane starts to flop.

Domestication of zebra
It is possible to domesticate zebra and through the years zebra have been used by farmers for pulling carts and farm machinery as well as for pulling coaches and carriages. It is also possible to ride zebra like one would ride a horse. It is not possible to race on a zebra as there would be a risk of breaking its back. The backs of most horses have a very deep arch making a comfortable fit for the saddle where as the zebra’s back is more level. The horse’s back bones are loser fitting into one another, makings its back more flexible to allow for more impact on the back while running fast. The zebra’s back bones are tighter fitting thus less flexible making it risky to ride hard without breaking its back.

I am an ex-game ranger from South Africa. I have 2 awesome blogs packed with information on all sorts of wildlife in Africa. I also talk about encounters with dangerous game while doing bush walks. Visit my Blogs to find out more: www.safari-stories.blogspot.com and www.southafrican-wildlife.blogspot.com

By David Meisel

Latin Name: Panthera pardus
Weight: Females up to 60 kg (132 pds). Males up to 90 kg (198 pds)
Lifespan: 20 years
Gestation: 110 days

Habitat
The leopard is one of the most adaptable predators in Africa. They are able to survive in many different types of habitats, taking preference to savannah, woodland, riverine vegetation and mountainous regions. They can also be found living close to human settlements where domestic animals become a source of prey. Of all predators, the leopard is the most likely to become a man-eater as many of them have established territories close to human settlements, resulting in regular encounters with people.

Behaviour
Unlike lions, which are usually found in family groups, the leopard lives a more solitary life. Individuals seen together are most likely to be a mother with cubs, a male and female mating or encounters on the boundaries of their different territories. The collective name for a group of leopard is a “LEAP”.

Both males and females are territorial. The sizes of the different territories vary quite considerably. The males tend to have larger areas up to 100 km² and sometimes more, with several female territories overlapping within.

Leopard mark their territories by spraying urine onto trees and bushes that they periodically return to, to remark.

The leopard also advertises its presence within its territory vocally, by making a series of grunts described as the sound of a saw cutting through wood.

Their beautiful colouration consists of dark-brown to black spots, which form the shape of rosettes. The edges of their eyes are lined with a white colour which may aid their nocturnal vision by amplifying light that is reflected off its surroundings.

Along with its superb camouflage, it is a very silent and stealthy predator with a very high success rate in kills made on hunts. Pound for pound the leopard is the strongest cat in the world, capable of climbing a tree whilst carrying prey that is more than twice its own body weight. If the prey is too large to climb up with, it will often feed on the ground until carcass is light enough to hang to a tree.

They are very opportunistic hunters, sometimes having 2 or more kills at the same time. The leopard is not fond of eating fur, so before opening a carcass to feed on the softer meat, it plucks out the animal’s hair.

Many young and inexperienced leopards don’t drag their kills up into trees often resulting in lions or hyenas stealing it from them. A carcass strung high up in a tree is a lot safer, allowing the leopard to can come and go as it pleases and feed at leisure. In areas with few scavengers, they will sometimes leave the kill on the ground and cover it grass and leaves or drag it out of sight into thick vegetation.

Of all the large predators in Africa it is the second fastest sprinter after the cheetah, reaching speeds of up to 85 km/hour in just 3 seconds!

Diet
Their diet consists of mainly small to medium sized antelope such as impala, bush buck, steenbok and duiker. They will also prey on kudu, warthog, baboons, vervet monkeys, hares, guinea fowl and francolins. A leopard will even eat insects if it is struggling to hunt for some reason.

Breeding
Mating takes place at any time of the year. The male locates a female in “heat” by taste testing the urine she leaves behind on the vegetation, after scent-marking her territory. A female that is ready to mate is very vocal, often calling throughout the night to find a possible mating partner. Once a suitable male is located, the pair may remain together for a week while mating.

The female gives birth to 2 or 3 cubs which she hides in thick vegetation, rocky outcrops or even in caves. Every 3 or 4 days the female moves the cubs as the smell of their urine and feces becomes very prominent, often attracting unwanted visitors such as lion and hyena that would almost certainly kill the cubs.

Cubs start eating meat at around 6 to 8 weeks of age but still suckle off the female for up 3 or 4 months until weaning. At 12 months of age the cubs keen hunters and by 16 to 18 months they are too large for the mother to feed so she chases them off to be on their own. Cubs of the same litter that are independent of their mother will often keep together for a few months before parting ways.

I am an ex-game ranger from South Africa. I have 2 awesome blogs packed with information on all sorts of wildlife in Africa. I also talk about encounters with dangerous game while doing bush walks. Visit my Blogs to find out more: www.safari-stories.blogspot.com and www.southafrican-wildlife.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://www.articles4reprint.com

By Rusty Johnson

As if sleeping, she lay peacefully on her side. Her legs were tucked in close to her body, and she still felt warm as I gently patted her on the head. Half-closed, her eyelids partially covered her ocean blue eyes and her soft creamy white fur tempted me to cuddle up next to her. She was a 350-pound white tiger, and during the night she had peacefully died in her sleep. With approximately only 200 white tigers in the United States, an autopsy was being conducted to determine the cause of her death.

White tigers are not their own species of tiger; they are white-colored Bengal tigers. They are not albinos either; they have a pink nose, creamy white fur with black/brown stripes, and blue eyes. White tigers only occur when two tigers mate and both carry the gene for white coloring. I assisted the veterinarians in stretching out her nine-foot long body as the chief veterinarian made a small belly incision in order to explore her vital organs. While examining the tiger, the doctor prepared several of her vital organs for testing by sealing them in small sterilized containers. As I sat next to the tigers head, the doctor looked up from his patient and said, “Hold this.” As if he was holding a Ming vase, the doctor carefully rested a warm fleshy sphere into my palm. You are holding over a thousand white tigers in your hand. He said.

While continuing his examination he added, “That is one of her ovaries, and it may one day save this entire species from extinction.” Mammals such as the tiger have thousands of surplus egg-cells in their ovaries, and males have millions of sperm cells in their testes. If accessed, these gametes as they are scientifically called, can be utilized to radically increase the breeding potential of an individual animal.

This is the future of endangered species recovery and survival. Assisted Reproduction Technology is a new conservation tool that has the potential to play a decisive role in reversing the plight of our most endangered wildlife species. Assisted reproduction technology such as artificial insemination, embryo transfer and invitro, or test-tube fertilization represent is a powerful means for the recovery, storage and use of viable gametes from both live and recently deceased animals. Embryos produced by invitro fertilization, test- tube tigers for example, can be transferred to recipients of the same or closely related species, or cryopreserved; frozen and stored for later use. Essentially, the endangered animals are able to breed long after they die.

Organizations such as Gamete Recovery International aim to recover gametes and other biomaterials from animals which die in captivity as a conservation tool for research purposes and the maintenance of genetic diversity within threatened populations. A network (of participating institutions such as national parks, reserves, zoos and breeding farms), has established access to the genetic material of rare and endangered species that die in their facilities. Several South African wildlife organizations have already collected and banked biological material from cheetahs, black and white rhinos, dolphins, wild dogs and sable antelope. Through this project, viable genetic material from dead endangered wildlife is recovered and recycled back into the wild. This technology minimizes the impact that the loss of an individual member can have on the rest of its already thinning population.

Assisted reproduction technology not only has the potential of saving endangered populations, but it also preserves genetic diversity. When an animal is rescued from extinction at the last perilous minute, only a fraction of its genetic diversity remains. Genetic diversity is what makes every individual different. Every animal that sexually reproduces contains its own personal mix of genes. To quote E.O. Wilson in Biodiversity (1988. Washington, DC: National Academy Press).

The number of genes range from about 1,000 in bacteria and 10,000 in some fungi to 700,000 or more in many flowering plants and a few animals. A typical mammal such as the house mouse has about 100,000 genes. …If stretched out fully, the DNA would be roughly one meter long. But this molecule is invisible to the naked eye….The full information contained therein, if translated into ordinary-size letter of printed text, would just about fill all 15 editions of the Encyclopedia Britannica published since 1768.

This tremendous variation within a species allows its populations to adapt to changes in climate and local environmental conditions. In addition, genetic diversity can be critical in controlling disease.

Genetic diversity boosts American farms total crop values by over $500 million a year. Without a constant blend of new resilient genes into our crop species, pests and diseases could quickly become rampant. Genetic diversity provides a constantly evolving defense against invaders, more so than pesticides can provide. Over 400 species of crop pests have already developed a resistance to one or more of the pesticides used to control them.

Due to human overpopulation, many wildlife populations are becoming fragmented and spread over wide distances. Highways, fences, and buildings constructed to make our lives easier, divide animal territories.The Florida panther, for example, is at a genetic bottleneck. Due to fragmented territory and population loss, the immigration and emigration from neighboring subspecies of mountain lions has stopped. This isolation creates little or no genetic exchange between them. Unable to refresh the gene pool, the only diversity is mutation. Mutation can be important to genetic diversity but it rarely produces positive results.

In addition to auto collisions, which account for 49% of documented Florida panther deaths, inbreeding within the species has added to the population reduction. Low semen quality, lowered fertility, and a decrease in cub survival have played a huge role in limiting the Florida panther population to only 50-60 individuals. This has also happened to the cheetah population in Africa. The effects of Florida panther inbreeding are also clearly visible. Many panthers have kinked tails and a cowlick, or whorl of hair in the middle of its back. These are believed to be results of recessive genes being expressed through inbreeding. Assisted reproduction technology may be one solution to the Florida Panthers problem. Breeding the Florida panther with other cats of the species, thus freshening the gene pool, might increase their reproductive potential. This has been tested on some panthers with limited success but the potential still remains.

As for the white tiger, when the veterinarians concluded their examination they were still unable to find her cause of death. Her organs were immediately sent to a laboratory for further testing, while her ovaries were prepared for safe storage. After my final goodbye, I gently slid my hand over the tiger’s soft face, forever closing her ocean blue eyes, while her countless future offspring slid into a foggy cryogenic chamber awaiting the day of their birth.

About the Author

Rusty Johnson provides custom tailored Amazon guide services and “detours”. He specializes in ecotourism, adventure travel, research, documentary filming, environmental and humanitarian projects. He is married to an Amazon native and has developed a strong connection with the local people which provides his travelers with a one of a kind life changing experience.

By Graeme J. Olsen

The United States has a diverse ecosystem that allows for many species of plants and flowers to grow. The native flowers of the United States vary in location as well as color and shape. Some of these flowers can grow in extreme climates while others need specialized moderate climates to live. Most of these plants just bear beautiful flowers while others, like the prickly pear cactus, bear fruit. All of them can be found growing wild in the United States.

The Prickly Pear Cactus is a resilient plant that often lies flat on the ground, and under excellent conditions in a garden, can grow to one to two feet in height. It will also propagate large pads and produce beautiful yellow flowers. This meandering cactus produces red, bristle-covered, pear-like fruit giving it the name “Prickly Pear”. It is a native flower of the United States just east of the Rocky Mountains in the southwestern U.S. The plant grows well in dry soil in open pine forests and prairies, as well as pastures, but also does well as a potted plant or in a rock garden.

Another flower that is native to the United States is the Echinacea purpurea, or Eastern Purple Coneflower. They are an ornamental flower used in most native gardens. The blooms have an orange center and dark pink petals that surround it. Butterflies find this flower quite attractive, as do small birds. It is famous for is medicinal uses in alleviating rashes as well as boosting the immune system. This flower prefers moist and well-drained soil, but can tolerate dry conditions and are good for shade gardens. It can grow between three and five feet tall. It can be found wild in open woods and low lying areas, as well as prairies and roadsides. It inhabits the areas between Georgia to Louisiana and Oklahoma, as well as Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, and has been introduced eastward.

A beautiful flower common to the sandy, well drained soil of Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska is the purple beard tongue. It has very rich violet flowers measuring two inches long that bloom in tight clusters on twelve to thirty inch stems. This native flower can provide terrific color contrast if planted with Missouri Primrose. Phlox paniculata is a native flower common to the eastern United States. It is known more commonly as perennial phlox. It is usually found along streams as well as open woods. They form in colonies usually standing thirty to thirty-six inches tall and is covered in rosy-lavender or soft pink flowers that are about one and a half inches in size. It is a favorite in wild gardens because of its beautiful fall flowers, and requires little to no maintenance. They are usually covered in butterflies.

The United States is covered in diverse terrain and extreme climate ranges that range from tropic to arctic. It is also covered with different landforms like mountains and plains, even deserts and swamps. It is because of these significant terrain and climate ranges that the United States can carry a variety of plant life. Everything from flowers that only bloom at night, to plants that only bloom in the harsh desert, this country has it all. There are many native flowers to the United States and we should enjoy them all.

Graeme Olsen is a senior contributor at the Discount Flowers Blog. Read more of his articles at http://www.usaflowersonline.com.

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