FR

EE SLOTH POSTER INSIDE THIS ISSUE!

TM

SHARK EXCLUSIVE
OFFER

MYTH
RSPB WILDLIFE
POCKET BOOK

BUSTED!
What movies get wrong about
these misunderstood predators

10 WEIRD WAYS SKUNK AND

ANIMALS DISORDERLY
The truth about this smelly mammal

KEEP COOL

BADASS SHOOTING KEEPING WILDLIFE OF

BEETLES SKIPPY JAGUARS THE FYNBOS ISSUE 062

EUROPE’S HIDDEN
Meet the tiny bugs Is the kangaroo an Should a wild cat be Explore this
with incredible powers Aussie icon or a pest? raised by humans? unique habitat

PLUS LADYBIRDS BABOONS IBERIAN LYNX JAYS HORSES WILDLIFE TREASURES

 Get World
Of Animals
every week!
Sign up for our free newsletter
at www.animalanswers.
co.uk/newsletter/ to receive
amazing animal facts
every Friday!

Welcome Sharks get a really bad rap! Did

Meet the team…
Lauren Debono-Elliot
Senior Designer
Animals have some pretty
you know that an estimated
creative ways of keeping
100 million sharks are killed byy
cool (page 12). With
humans every year, whereas on n temperatures soaring,
average only six humans are perhaps we could learn a
killed by shark attacks? So who thing or two – maybe not
the spit bath though!
are the real blood-thirsty killers?
In this issue, we bust 10 shark Charlie Ginger
myths and discover what the movies get wrong Production Editor
about these amazing apex predators (page 66).
While the UK views
It’s not only sharks that suffer from a negative kangaroos as harmless
reputation. Sloths are not as lazy as you may think hoppers, many down
(see page 42), there’s more to skunks than their under see them as pests.
We examine the plight
stench (see page 54), and beetles are not just
of these marsupials on
insects - they have incredible powers (see page 26). page 76.
Turn the page to uncover the truth about species
IR
big and small and let us know what surprises you!
3 things we learnt this issu
issue... Victoria Williams
Kangaroos give themselves a spit bath when it’s hot. Staff Writer
Zara Gaspar Tiger
iger beetles run so fas
fast they temporarily go blind. Domestic cats can be quite
Editor Thee gastric broo
brooding frog ate its eggs to protect them. a handful to look aer,
so imagine sharing your
© Getty; Damocean

home with a wild predator

like the jaguar! Find out
Follow us at… @WorldAnimalsMag worldofanimalsmag what it’s like by turning to
page 34.

3
What’s inside... NEXT ISSUE
ON SALE 30/08/18
06 Amazing animals 54 Skunk and
disorderly
12 Keeping cool Does this critter really deserve
From sweating to spit baths, its rotten reputation?
when it comes to beating the
heat, animals have it licked 59 Bizarre: oilbird
The noisy bird that acts
20 Restoring South remarkably similar to a bat
Georgia’s birdlife
How an island overrun by rats 60 Fauna or flora?
for over 200 years was saved in The exotic plant species that
only a decade look like animals

25 The lifecycle of 66 10 shark

the silkworm myths busted!
The life of these intriguing What the movies got wrong
insects is always short, and it’s about these apex predators
often brutally ended
76 Shooting skippy
26 Badass beetles Is the iconic kangaroo
Meet the bugs that make other really a national pest?
insects look positively puny
with their incredible powers
82 Explore the
33 Lost forever: gastric Earth: elephants
The best places around the
brooding frog globe to see these gentle giants
The Australian amphibian that
ate its own young to survive, 90 Nature diaries:
but still went extinct
Bears and bustards Subscribe
Sub
bssc
cri
riib
be to
t
34 Keeping jaguars James Lowen’s guide to
Europe’s best wildlife secrets
WOA now
Is hand-rearing such a powerful Head over to
predator the right thing to do?
94 Meet the jays page 92 for
There are around 50 species great deals!
38 Wildlife of classed as jays, but here are
the fynbos some of our favourites
Meet the unique inhabitants
of one of the world’s most 96 Readers’ Q&A
biodiverse biomes

42 All about sloths 98 Quiz 54

Test your animal knowledge!
Learn the truth about sloths,
the not-so-lazy mammals that
everyone has come to love

THE IUCN RED LIST

42
Throughout World of Animals you will see symbols like
the ones you see here. These are from the IUCN Red
List of Threatened Species, the most comprehensive
inventory of the global conservation status of animal
species in the world. Here’s what they mean:

EXTINCT
EXTINCT IN THE WILD
CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
ENDANGERED
VULNERABLE
NEAR THREATENED
LEAST CONCERN

4
 Future PLC Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill
Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 6EZ

Editorial
Editor Zara Gaspar
zara.gaspar@futurenet.com
01202 586220
Senior Designer Lauren Debono-Elliot
Production Editor Charlie Ginger
Staff Writer Victoria Williams
Group Editor-in-Chief James Hoare
COVER Senior Art Editor Duncan Crook
Photographer James Sheppard
FEATURE
Page 66 Contributors
Matt Ayres, Rachael Funnell, Amy Grisdale, James Lowen,
Laura Mears, Adam Millward, Mike Simpson, Sasha Wallen
Cover images
Alamy, Alex Bondarenko, Barcroft Media, Blickwinkel, EyeEm,
Getty, NaturePL, Imagebroker, The Big Cat Sanctuary

Photography
Alamy, FLPA, Getty, Nature PL, The Art Agency, Peter Scott,
Sandra Doyle, Shutterstock, James Lowen, Alan Batley
All copyrights and trademarks are recognised and respected
Advertising
Media packs are available on request
Commercial Director Clare Dove
clare.dove@futurenet.com
Regional Advertising Director Mark Wright
mark.wright@futurenet.com
Account Manager Jagdeep Maan
jagdeep.maan@futurenet.com
01225 687 353
International
World of Animals is available for licensing. Contact
the International department to discuss partnership
opportunities
International Licensing Director Matt Ellis
matt.ellis@futurenet.com
Subscriptions
Email enquiries contact@myfavouritemagazines.co.uk
UK orderline & enquiries 0344 848 2852
Overseas order line and enquiries +44 (0) 344 848 2852
Online orders & enquiries www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk
Head of subscriptions Sharon Todd
Circulation
Head of Newstrade Tim Mathers
Production
Head of Production Mark Constance
Production Project Manager Clare Scott
Advertising Production Manager Joanne Crosby
Digital Editions Controller Jason Hudson
Production Manager Vivienne Calvert
Management
Managing Director Aaron Asadi
Commercial Finance Director Dan Jotcham

“Sharks play a vital role in Editorial Director Paul Newman

Head of Art & Design Greg Whitaker
Managing Director of Hobbies Alastair Lewis

maintaining the health Printed by Wyndeham Peterborough, Storey’s Bar Road,

Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE1 5YS

of marine ecosystems”
Distributed by Marketforce, 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf,
London, E14 5HU www.marketforce.co.uk Tel: 0203 787 9060
ISSN 2053-7727

Page 66 We are committed to only using magazine paper which is derived from
ȸƺɀȵȒȇɀǣƫǼɵȅƏȇƏǕƺƳًƬƺȸɎǣˡƺƳǔȒȸƺɀɎȸɵƏȇƳƬǝǼȒȸǣȇƺ‫ٮ‬ǔȸƺƺȅƏȇɖǔƏƬɎɖȸƺِ
The paper in this magazine was sourced and produced from sustainable
managed forests, conforming to strict environmental and socioeconomic
standards. The manufacturing paper mill holds full FSC (Forest Stewardship
!ȒɖȇƬǣǼ٣ƬƺȸɎǣˡƬƏɎǣȒȇƏȇƳƏƬƬȸƺƳǣɎƏɎǣȒȇ

Editor’s pick All contents © 2018 Future Publishing Limited or published under licence. All
Beetles are some of the rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used, stored, transmitted or
reproduced in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher.
most underappreciated Future Publishing Limited (company number 2008885) is registered in
animals on the planet. I 0ȇǕǼƏȇƳƏȇƳáƏǼƺɀِ«ƺǕǣɀɎƺȸƺƳȒǔˡƬƺ‫ي‬ªɖƏɵRȒɖɀƺًÁǝƺȅƫɖȸɵً ƏɎǝ ‫׏‬
1UA. All information contained in this publication is for information only and
mean, imagine being able is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. Future cannot
to carry the equivalent accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. You
weight to an elephant! are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard
to the price of products/services referred to in this publication. Apps and
websites mentioned in this publication are not under our control. We are
not responsible for their contents or any other changes or updates to them.
ÁǝǣɀȅƏǕƏɿǣȇƺǣɀǔɖǼǼɵǣȇƳƺȵƺȇƳƺȇɎƏȇƳȇȒɎƏǔˡǼǣƏɎƺƳǣȇƏȇɵɯƏɵɯǣɎǝɎǝƺ
26 companies mentioned herein.

If you submit material to us, you warrant that you own the material and/
or have the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material and
you automatically grant Future and its licensees a licence to publish
your submission in whole or in part in any/all issues and/or editions of
publications, in any format published worldwide and on associated websites,
social media channels and associated products. Any material you submit
is sent at your own risk and, although every care is taken, neither Future
nor its employees, agents, subcontractors or licensees shall be liable for
loss or damage. We assume all unsolicited material is for publication unless
otherwise stated, and reserve the right to edit, amend, adapt all submissions.

Future plc is a public Chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne

company quoted on the Non-executive chairman Peter Allen
London Stock Exchange !ǝǣƺǔˡȇƏȇƬǣƏǼȒǔˡƬƺȸ Penny Ladkin-Brand
(symbol: FUTR)
www.futureplc.com Tel +44 (0)1225 442 244

5
The amazing world of animals

6
The amazing world of animals

Swans will usually protect their nests and family

fiercely, but this group of mute swans are so used
to having people around them that visitors can get

© Richard Austin/REX/Shutterstock
up close to newly hatched cygnets

Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset, England, is the world’s only managed

nesting mute swan colony. For centuries over 100 pairs have flocked to
the lagoon for breeding season, and every other year they’re rounded up
for a health check by people in canoes.

7
 The amazing world of animals

It looks like someone’s just told a great joke as

this male cracks a smile, but being the silverback
in a troop of gorillas is serious business
© Getty; Alan Tunnicliffe Photography

Gorilla troops usually consist of females and their offspring led by a

single adult male. At maturity, males develop a set of large canine teeth
and the characteristic patch of grey hair down their backs. A silverback
decides where the group goes and uses his size and strength to keep the
troop safe from harm.

8
The amazing world of animals

Swallowing its own feathers, the horned grebe

builds up a filter in its stomach that holds bones
until they’ve been digested, allowing it to safely eat
fish whole as it dives for food
© S & D & K Maslowski/FLPA

In winter the only colour on the horned grebe is its red eyes. Come
breeding season, however, both sexes sprout a tu of yellow feathers
behind each ear. Horned grebes catch insects flying over the water and
use their large feet to swim down in search of fish and arthropods.

9
The amazing world of animals

10
The amazing world of animals

When mums are away, the pups play, as proved

by this cute young pair of sea lions keeping each

© Kevin Schafer/Minden Pictures/FLPA

other entertained by playing together in the sand
while their mothers are off finding food in the ocean

Galápagos sea lion pups are born between May and January and are fed
by their mothers for around a year, so there are always youngsters on
the islands. Pups play and nap together on the beach in groups known as
rookeries until mothers and offspring reunite by barking to each other.

11
Keeping cool
While we can break out the fans, iced drinks and
air conditioning, animals have had to come up
with more creative ways of coping when they
start feeling the heat
Words Victoria Williams

12
 Keeping cool

13
© Getty; Gilitukha
Keeping cool

Blood circulates
through a butterfly’s
wings, and the large
surface area acts like
an elephant’s ear to
maximise heat loss
on hot days.

Acting shady
For many animals, the best way to
cope with heat is simply to avoid it
Some animals – known as ectotherms – are
unable to regulate their body temperature
internally. These species have to use the heat of
the Sun to warm themselves up but then need
to change their behaviour before they overheat.
Lizards, toads and salamanders will dig
themselves into dirt, sand or leaves in search of
cool patches, while butterflies and dragonflies
can use dark patches on their wings to shade
their bodies if they’re in a sunny patch. If that’s
not enough, they’ll take off in search of shade,
which brings the added benefit of a cool breeze.
As a mammal, the Cape ground squirrel is
able to control its temperature to an extent,
but it still folds its bushy tail over to use it like a
parasol under the hot African Sun.

14

No sweat
For those that don’t perspire, there are alternatives
Many animals wade, but few seem to relish their time
in the water quite as much as the moose. Moose have
been known to stand in water for hours at a time,
enjoying the chance to cool down.
Getting sweaty
It’s our main method of thermoregulation when we get too
hot, but sweating is rare in the animal kingdom
When we get too hot, we sweat. As the
liquid evaporates from our skin heat
energy is drawn away from our body.
Some animals, like cats and dogs, sweat
a little between the pads of their feet, but
heavy perspiration is something we only
share with monkeys, apes and horses.
A horse’s primary method for cooling
down is panting, and its long nose makes
it an efficient mechanism when it’s at rest
or moving slowly. When it’s galloping at
high speed, however, panting is no longer
effective and it starts sweating.
They don’t sweat, but kangaroos are able to produce a
similar effect by giving themselves an elegantly named
‘spit bath’. They lick their forearms to cover them in
saliva, which then evaporates in the heat of the Sun.
Keeping cool
It’s thought that sweating allowed early
humans to become endurance hunters,
just as it lets horses travel at high speed
over long distances. While we perspire
for the same reason, the composition
of our sweat is different. Human sweat
is almost entirely made of water and
salt, but a horse’s sweat glands secrete
a mixture of water, fats and proteins –
this protein-rich recipe seems to help it
lather and flow past the animal’s thick
waterproof hair to the surface where it
can evaporate.
Just like us, horses
have armpits
packed with a high
concentration of
sweat glands.
© Getty; Stefan Meyers; Jami Tarris; Agencja Fotograficzna Caro / Alamy; Flower Garden and Spa
If you thought a spit bath was bad, you won’t like the
alternative to sweating used by storks and turkey
vultures. It’s called urohidrosis, and it involves the birds
releasing their waste all over their legs.
15
Keeping cool

Sleeping through it
Aestivation – the hot weather equivalent of
hibernation – is just as critical in extreme heat
Snails
By sealing the opening of their shells with mucous
and slowing their metabolism, land snails can avoid
drying out when a hot spell arrives.
Playing it by ear
Along with the elephant, several animals rely
on their ears to help them keep their cool
An elephant’s ears are one of its most
famous features, but they’re not just
there for decoration. Jackrabbits,
fennec foxes and elephants all
have highly sensitive hearing, but
thermoregulation is likely to be the
main reason they evolved huge ears.
These animals live in harsh climates,
and their big ears provide a vital service
in hot weather. The large, thin areas of
skin are full of blood vessels running
close to the surface. If things start to
get uncomfortably warm, the vessels
dilate – muscles relax so blood flow
near the surface increases, maximising
the amount of heat lost from the blood
to the air.
This tactic is especially useful in the
desert as it doesn’t cost any valuable
water. Elephants waft their ears back
and forth and spray them with water to
enhance the effect.

“Thermoregulation is likely to be the

main reason they evolved huge ears”

Fat-tailed dwarf lemur

The fat-tailed dwarf lemur is the first primate found
to aestivate, spending up to seven months avoiding
hot weather in a dormant state in a small tree hole.

Water-holding frogs
Filling their bladders with water, burrowing
underground and secreting a mucous cocoon, this
species can stay dormant for over five years.

Jackrabbits are actually

hares, not rabbits. The
West African lungfish first part of their name
The strange-looking lungfish has a primitive lung comes from ‘jackass’, a
as well as the usual set of gills and survives heat by reference to the similarity
between their ears and
digging itself into mud. those of a donkey

Ladybirds
Ladybirds in hot regions congregate and undergo
summer dormancy as plants dry up and the
number of sap-sucking insects drops.

16
 Keeping cool

By combining water and

flapping, elephants can
cool the blood in the
vessels of their ears by
as much as ten degrees
Celsius (50 degrees
Fahrenheit).

Oscar Sánchez Photography; Paulo Oliveira; Minden Pictures; Frans Lanting Studio; AfriPics.com
© Getty; Fred Bruemmer; DeepDesertPhoto; Tambako the Jaguar;

To protect them
from the burning hot
sand, a fennec fox’s
feet are covered in a
layer of thick fur

17
Keeping cool

Breathing it out
With all their exuberance and energy, dogs need A dog normally
takes around 20–40
a way of getting rid of heat as quickly as possible breaths in a minute,
but this can increase
If you’ve ever been around a Lizards don’t exactly pant,
to 400 when they’re
dog on a hot day or after an but they do use their mouths
panting heavily.
enthusiastic game of fetch, you’ll to lose heat. From tiny reptiles
have seen it panting. Sticking up to huge crocodiles, all will
their tongues out, dogs will pant sit with their mouths wide open
quickly to expel hot breath and in a behaviour called gaping.
replace it with cooler air. It’s a Reptiles are ectotherms, relying
behaviour they share with foxes, completely on external factors to
wolves and coyotes, but there control their body temperature,
are some surprising species that so after basking in the Sun to
pant too, including cats, birds warm up they can gape to stop
and rodents. themselves getting any hotter.

“Sticking their tongues out, dogs

pant quickly to expel hot breath
and replace it with cooler air”

18
 Keeping cool

Taking a mud bath

Having a flutter From piglets to rhinos, some animals
wallow to keep their bodies comfortable
They might not have big ears to flap,
but these birds have a neat trick up
their sleeves – or rather, down their
throats – when the weather is warm
For some birds, panting just isn’t enough; species
including owls, doves, nightjars, pelicans and herons
ramp up their efforts to stay cool with a tactic
known as gular fluttering.
Opening their mouths, the birds vibrate the
muscles inside their throats. Similar to the flapping of Warthog
an elephant’s ears, this movement exposes the moist Some animals, like warthogs, will choose mud
membranes within to the air and encourages cooling over a splash in clean water. The moisture in mud
by evaporation. takes longer to evaporate from the skin, leaving the
Although it might look like a lot of effort, the animals feeling cooler for longer.
vibrations are small and don’t use much energy.
For birds that roost in the open and are constantly
exposed to sunlight and high temperatures, gular
fluttering is a lifesaver.

Pig
Pigs only have a few sweat glands, but they are not
much use for dissipating heat, and they’re almost
completely unable to pant. They can only cool down
by finding shade and wallowing in mud.

Rhino
Wallowing does more than just keep animals cool;
a good coating of mud provides a natural sunscreen
and deters parasites. Sumatran rhinos spend hours
a day wallowing to keep their skin healthy.
© Getty; Richard Theis / EyeEm

Water buffalo
Splayed hooves allow water buffalos to wade
through mud in search of the best patch before they
submerge themselves. Domestic buffalo are taken
to wallows to rest during the hottest part of the day.

19
Restoring South Georgia’s birdlife

20
 RESTORING
SOUTH GEORGIA’S
BIRDLIFE
The South Georgia Heritage Trust and the Habitat
Restoration Project team tell us how they were able to
rid an entire island of invasive rats in just over a decade
Words Rachael Funnell
The island of South Georgia was once a haven
for wildlife living on the edge of the harsh Atlantic
waters. Untouched by humans, it provided shelter
for fur seals, elephant seals, two species of
endemic land birds and a wealth of seabirds.
All this changed in 1775 when the island was
discovered by Captain Cook, the adventurous
British explorer immediately recognising the
sealing and whaling potential of the island. Soon,
hunters from across the globe were flocking
to South Georgia to exploit the abundant
resources. Each boat brought with it a chance
for opportunistic stowaways to invade,
and soon the island was infested with
rats. Once an uninhabited oasis, South
Georgia was now a rich hunting
ground that at its peak played host to over 2,000
human residents.
From the arrival of Cook, predatory brown rats
(Rattus norvegicus) began to exploit the ground-
nesting behaviours of the island’s native birds,
causing devastation to their populations for over
200 years. Commercial whaling came to an end
in 1966, but the threat posed to the island’s birds
remained, with brown rats by now an established
species on South Georgia.
In 2005, the South Georgia Heritage Trust
(SGHT) was founded to conserve indigenous flora
and fauna, as well as the island’s historic heritage.
As concern grew for the future of the Georgia
pintail and South Georgia pipit, which doesn’t exist
anywhere else on Earth, plans for an ambitious
© Getty
21
Restoring South Georgia’s birdlife
Habitat Restoration Project “The great thing about South Georgia is that it’s broken
BROWN RAT The passive devices
began in 2008 with the aim up by ice fields and glaciers, which act as a barrier to consisted of a wax tag,
Rattus norvegicus of returning the ancestral rodents going laterally along the island,” explains Mike. a chew board and chew
Class Mammalia
habitat to the island’s native “So, what we had to deal with was a number of islands stick and were laced
with a delicious incentive
wildlife. Mike Richardson, within the island, which meant that we could sequentially of oils and peanut butter
trustee of SGHT and bait in different phases or different areas confident in
chairman of the Habitat the knowledge that eradicated areas would not later be
Territory Worldwide
Diet Omnivore
Restoration Project Steering inhabited by rats from elsewhere.”
Lifespan 2 years Committee, explains. Unfortunately, these isolated habitats also meant
Adult weight 140–500g “The main culprit was monitoring the island would require a considered
(4.9–17.6oz)
Conservation Status
the brown rat, which is approach in order to transport the necessary fieldworkers
a nuisance and a vermin and equipment to the remote and inhospitable locations.
but also a very voracious Furthermore, remote teams would require specialist kit to
LEAST CONCERN predator. One of the most withstand the gruelling conditions that can last for days at
adaptable and successful a time in South Georgia.
animals on the planet, it can live virtually anywhere and “It was an extremely audacious endeavour,” says Mike.
eat virtually anything. On the island of South Georgia, “We knew from the outset that it would be a huge project,
where there isn’t such a thing as trees, all the birds are far bigger than anything that had been attempted before.
either nesting on the ground or in burrows, meaning their The Australians had already achieved successful results
chicks are very vulnerable to such predation.” in eradicating rats from Macquarie Island, but this was
As the SGHT began planning Phase I of their four- roughly an eighth of the size of South Georgia. We would
stage approach, the first consideration was the unique also be dealing with a very hostile environment, and
geography of South Georgia. Long and narrow in shape, above all we knew we would need an awful lot of money.
it is a mountainous and glaciated landscape consisting Eradicating [rats from] an island the size of South Georgia
of two ranges – Allardyce and Salvesen – which form the does not come cheap.”
backbone of the island. This protects the northern-facing Phase I, the trial baiting phase, commenced in 2011 and
habitats from adverse weather, which sweeps in from required two helicopters and 50 tons of bait, which had to
Antarctica to the south and Drake Passage to the west. be imported from the United States. Each baiting phase
Three-quarters of the island is covered in glaciers and would distribute a third-generation rodenticide across the
snowfields, which creates a geographical barrier meaning island, executed using a similar technique to spreading
populations of rats, while prevalent, were isolated. fertiliser in agriculture. A hopper containing the bait would

South Georgia’s Habitat Restoration Project in numbers

10 200
302tn YEARS 600 3 2,420km £10 4,600
years HOURS
Amount of bait Amount of time Number of Distance MILLION Total number
Time it took for used to eradicate rats were le to Total helicopter fly rodent- travelled by Money raised of detector
the project to rats from the spread throughout time in the largest detector dogs detector dogs to complete devices
be completed. whole island. South Georgia. baiting phase. needed. (1,503.7mi). the project. deployed.

“Three rodent-detector dogs

traversed the equivalent distance
of summiting Everest 12.9 times
searching for signs of rats”

22
 Restoring South Georgia’s birdlife

South Georgia’s
affected birds
Ground-dwelling bird species were the worst
affected by the invasion of non-native brown rats
South
Georgia pipit
Anthus
antarcticus is a
small, ground-
nesting bird
that produces
just four eggs
per year,
meaning the
predation of
even one is a
huge loss.

South Georgia
pintail
Anas georgica
georgica is a
duck endemic to
South Georgia. It
nests in tussock
grass and is
omnivorous,
having been
witnessed
feeding on seal
carcasses.

Albatross
There are four
breeding species
of albatross
on South
Georgia; the

© Getty; Oli Prince; Tony Martin

black-browed
albatross, sooty
albatross,
wandering
albatross and
grey-headed
albatross.

Why are rats so successful?
Throughout history rats have been associated with mass devastation, in
part due to their sheer numbers. What makes these rodents so prolific?
Rapid reproduction
Brown rats reach sexual
maturity at five weeks, aer
which they can have litters
of up to 14 with a gestation
period of just 21 days.
Lack of competition
On South Georgia,
brown rats were free
from predation by
other land species,
meaning their numbers
increased exponentially.
be slung beneath a helicopter with a spinner to project the
bait. The width of the area covered in pellets could then be
controlled by altering the helicopter’s height and speed.
Phase II began in 2013, this time covering a larger
surface area and requiring 157 tons of bait. At this time, a
workforce of 25 people made up ‘Team Rat’, comprising
of four pilots, two engineers, three chefs, two doctors and
field staff members.
Fierce predators In 2015, the final baiting season was completed. “Each
Omnivorous brown rats
will eat anything, and their phase was spaced two years apart, in part because we
affinity for burrowing makes needed to find more money,” Mike explains, “but also
them particularly dangerous to allow us to learn from the experience of the previous
for ground-nesting birds. phase in terms of methodology and results. After three
phases of baiting we knew we had to go back and make
sure it had worked. We were on tenterhooks waiting to
find out what had been found. Would there be signs
of one rat? Would there be an enclave of survivors
Highly adaptable
Rats are found in
somewhere in the large area that we tried to eradicate? Or
every continent would in fact a whole area now be inhabited by rodents
except Antarctica, once more?”
making them one of To obtain the most accurate results, monitoring took
the most widespread
mammals on Earth.
place two years after the final baiting phase. In that
period of time any small groups of rodents – even just one
pregnant female – would have been able to breed up to
huge population quantities. Brown rats can have multiple
litters in a year, each one giving rise to more litters, which
results in exponential population size growth.
“To find one rodent is
very difficult, but after
two and a half years, if

23

ABOVE The brown rat first invaded the
island of South Georgia as a stowaway
on the visiting whaling ships
BELOW South Georgia is also an
important breeding site for fur seals,
albatross and king penguins
© freevectormaps.com; Paula O Sullivan; Oli Prince
24
they were there, we were going
to be able to find them,” says
project director Dickie Hall.
The search for evidence of
rats involved a combination
of detection devices. Passive
devices were deployed across
the island, the most common of
which was a combination of a
wax tag, chew board and chew
stick. Designed to be an attractant
to rodents, they were laced with oils
and peanut butter. A sub-sampling
procedure was established to identify
target areas for monitoring, with 4,600
devices deployed.
“Penguin colonies are a huge attractant to
rodents for eggs, chicks and dead animals, so
we focused on areas that would draw [them] in. If
any were to have encountered [a monitoring device]
there would have been very clear tooth marks.
“We also used more targeted tracking devices such as
camera traps and ink boards, which leave footprints if the
rodents walk through. Our camera traps captured plenty
of footage of fur seals, but no rats.”
The active monitoring devices took the form of three
‘sniffer’ dogs trained to detect the presence of rodents
and able to catch a scent from tens of metres away. Each
dog walked a series of transects in search of signs of
rodents, but after six months none were found.
The qualitative evidence of the success of the
restoration project came in the form of the population
boom of native species that followed as Dickie explains.
“When we began the eradication, anywhere where there
The Habitat
Restoration
Project: Baiting
and monitoring
The four-stage approach
involved three baiting phases
and a final monitoring phase
spanning ten years and costing
£10 million ($13.2 million).
were rats present the South Georgia pipit generally wasn’t,
as they couldn’t nest or breed successfully. Following the
eradication, every single site we went to we found pipits –
in many cases breeding successfully.”
“The sound of calling pipits was now drowning out the
roaring of elephant seals,” adds Mike. “The eradication
is complete, but this is just the start. As South Georgia
begins to return to its natural state, other changes to its
ecosystem mean precise change is very difficult to predict,
and this should continue to be monitored.”
The landscape is changing, with glaciers and ice fields
retreating further each year. The most marked difference
has been observed in the Neumayer Glacier, which has
retreated by a distance of 4.4 kilometres (2.7 miles) since
1957. The significance of this is that, should a rat infestation
reoccur, it’s unlikely that a similar eradication effort would
be successful again. The future of the native wildlife of
South Georgia now rests in the efficiency of biosecurity
measures put in place to prevent a reoccurrence.
Lord Gardiner, parliamentary under-secretary for the
Department for Environment, Food, Agriculture and Rural
Affairs, said, “The successful eradication has underpinned
South Georgia’s reputation as a jewel in the crown of the
British overseas territories, but the focus now moves to
biosecurity measures to ensure the 10,000 visitors to the
island each year preserve the legacy of South Georgia.
“Overseas territories contain 90 per cent of our wildlife,
and invasive, non-native species continue to be one of
the biggest threats. Enormous lessons need to be learned
from what happened [here] and the example of what the
SGHT have achieved must be taken advantage of. This
restoration has taken South Georgia back to pre-Cook
times and is a victory in proving our ability to reverse the
effects caused by human interference.”
Key
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
 Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lifecycle of…
the silkworm
DOMESTIC SILKMOTH Natural silk has been produced
Bombyx mori
Class Insecta from silkworm cocoons since
around 4000 BCE. It’s a
controversial industry because
Territory Originally from China
Diet Mainly white mulberry
3,000–6,000 silkworms are killed
leaves
Lifespan 2–3 months
to produce a kilogram (2.2 pounds)
Adult weight Up to 5g (0.2oz)
Conservation Status
of silk, but the process by which
the caterpillars create the fibres is
NOT EVALUATED
undeniably amazing.

Head - view from the bottom

4. Moth
Cocoons not used for silk hatch to
Antennae Antennae
reveal pale moths. Unlike the wild
species they were developed from, Simple eyes Simple eyes
domestic silk moths are unable to
sustain flight, so they’re introduced to
their mates. Maxillary
palps

The moth’s future wings Spinneret

cover the three pairs of legs (silk-spinning organ)

Because 1. Eggs
manufacturers Female silkmoths lay up to 800
need the silk threads eggs before dying a few days
to remain intact, around later. The eggs hatch into small
black larvae aer ten to 14 days.
99 per cent of silkworms
Top view Bottom view are killed before they
can break out of the
cocoon and 2. Caterpillar
3. Chrysalis mate. Silkworms increase
Aer about two weeks a thousands of times in size over
caterpillar uses its salivary five instars (stages), shedding
glands to spin a cocoon from their skin between each one.
300–900m (984.3–2,952.8) They eat leaves voraciously to
of raw silk. fuel this rapid growth.

First instar
Weight: 0.0006g
(0.0002oz)
The Chinese
developed the silk- Second instar
making process thousands Weight: 0.007g
(0.0002oz)
of years ago, and they’re still
the world’s biggest producers, Third instar
spinning the vast majority of the Weight: 0.08g
Interior anatomy (0.002oz)
world’s silk. Around 150,000 tons
Silk-producing glands of thread and edible waste
Salivary glands produce and gather long products is produced in the
silk fibres. They lie on either side of the
body under the gastrointestinal tract. country every year.
Fourth instar
Silk fibres
Weight: 0.5g (0.01oz)
exit the body
through a
Head Thorax Abdomen
small tube.
© Sol90; Puttipong Bunon / Alamy

The silk
begins to Sericin – a glue-
take shape Fifth instar
like protein –
and form Fibroin proteins are Weight: 5g (0.2oz)
covers the silk
consistent produced – these and helps to
fibres. form the core of silk. make it sticky.

25
 From humble garden ladybirds to rainforest-
inforest-
dwelling titans, the beetle family includes some
seriously impressive species – badass bugs that
make other insects look positively puny
Words Matt Ayres

The rate at which the global human population continues

to increase is a serious cause for concern to many
scientists, but when it comes to sheer numbers, we are
firmly put in the shade by beetles. To put it bluntly, the
world is crawling with them – about 400,000 species and
counting to be precise.
Accounting for around 25 per cent of all known life on
Earth, each one is a member of the order Coleoptera,
a name that is derived from the Greek words koleos,
meaning ‘sheath’ and pteron, which translates as ‘wing’,
and while they may be small, they make up for their size in
a myriad of ways. These beetles put the ‘bad’ in ‘badass’.

26
 Badass beetles

Rhinoceros beetles possess super HERCULES BEETLE

Dynastes hercules

strength and fight with giant horns

Class Insecta

Rhinoceros beetles are as tough as they look.
Proportionate to their size, these tough little creatures are
ranked among the strongest animals on Earth, able to
lift objects over 100 times their own weight. To put this
in perspective, a human would need to lift a fully grown
African elephant to even come close to matching it.
But it’s not just muscles and armour that make the
rhinoceros beetle a force to be reckoned with – males Territory Central and South
have huge horns that are used for fighting in a similar America
manner to the mighty mammals they’re named after. They Diet Wood, bark, stems and
fruit
also use their horns for digging, burrowing themselves in Lifespan Up to 3 years
the ground to hide from the few predators big and scary
© NaturePL; Jen Guyton

Adult weight 45g (1.6oz)

One of the secrets behind the rhinoceros beetle’s brawn enough to eat them. Conservation Status
is its body construction. Their exoskeletons mean they are In Japan, gamblers often bet large amounts of money
built like tanks, with thick armour covering their muscles on rhinoceros beetle fights, in which two beetles try to
NOT EVALUATED
and bolstering their anatomies. push one another off a log.

27
 Badass beetles

Powered by poop, dung

beetles roll impossibly
heavy objects
Like their rhinoceros relatives, dung beetles
are seriously strong. A single dung beetle can
roll a ball of animal faeces more than 1,000
times its own body weight – a human would
need to drag six double-decker buses down
the road to achieve a similar feat!
Despite their incredible strength, dung
beetles are probably better known for their
unsavoury habit of eating faeces. It may seem
disgusting to us, but the unfussy insects are
actually benefitting from undigested food
that has previously been consumed by much
larger creatures.
Outside their dung-based antics, these
beetles perform impressive mating bouts,
vying for a female’s attention by locking horns
in violent bug-to-bug contact.

DUNG BEETLE
Scarabaeus ambiguus
Class Insecta

Territory Botswana, Namibia

and South Africa
Diet Mainly dung, but will eat
mushrooms, fruit and leaves
Lifespan 3–5 years
Adult weight 21.3g (0.75oz)
Conservation Status

LEAST CONCERN

“The unfussy
insects are
actually
benefitting from
undigested food”
© NaturePL; Jussi Murtosaari; Kim Taylor; Getty; Kristian Bell

28
 Badass beetles

Great diving beetles can

survive underwater
Great diving beetles are among the largest insects in the UK
and boast a fierce set of fangs that they’ll fearlessly use on
bigger creatures, including frogs and fish.
As its name suggests, the great diving beetle is a prolific
swimmer that spends
most of its time in water.
GREAT DIVING BEETLE Tiny hairs on the beetle’s
Dytiscus marginalis
Class Insecta body prevent water from
reaching its respiratory
openings, which are
known as spiracles. Since
Territory Europe and northern
its whole body is covered
Asia in these hairs, the beetle
Diet Tadpoles and small fish is able to create a thin
Lifespan Up to 5 years
“It is able to create a thin
Adult weight Up to 30g (1.1oz)
layer of air between
Conservation Status its body and the water
known as a plastron,
which effectively allows layer of air between its
body and the water”
NOT EVALUATED the clever insect to
breathe underwater.

Tiger beetles run blindingly

fast to catch their prey
Tiger beetles are master assassins. From infancy to
adulthood, these carnivorous critters are focused on the
pursuit of prey, and they use various methods to catch it.
As larvae, the tiger beetle hides in a deep burrow and waits
for passing insects to wander by, grabbing at creatures much
larger than themselves to secure a meal. The hardy grubs are
incredibly patient – they can go for weeks at a time without
eating and can even survive floods.
The adult tiger beetle is a speed demon, capable of
running down prey at velocities so fast that it temporarily
becomes blind. This is due
TIGER BEETLE to the fact that its eyes don’t
Manticora scabra have time to collect sufficient
Class Insecta
photons to create an image of
the beetle’s intended victim.
Luckily, it has a handy pair of
antennae to help it detect and
Territory Mozambique,
avoid obstacles. It will also stop
Transvaal and Zimbabwe
Diet Insects on occasions to reorient itself.
Lifespan Up to 4 years A member of the same
(during larval stage)
family, Cicindela hudsoni is
Adult weight Unknown
Conservation Status so fast that, once body size
is considered, for a human
to match it over 200 metres
NOT EVALUATED they would have to cover the
distance in under a second!

29
Badass beetles

Fogstand beetles are one of

nature’s most innovative survivors
The fogstand beetle is one of the animal kingdom’s
most resourceful survivalists. It lives in the Namib
Desert in southern Africa, where water is incredibly
hard to come by. But where most animals would
die of thirst, this unassuming insect thrives, and it’s
all thanks to an amazing evolutionary trait.
Fogstand beetles collect tiny water droplets from
the wind and fog, catching them on their bumpy
backs. The small protrusions on the beetle’s body
are hydrophilic, actively attracting water to cling
to the insect. Simultaneously, hydrophobic (water-
repelling) troughs next to the bumps prevent the
collected water from escaping. By standing at a
45-degree angle the fogstand beetle adeptly rolls
each miniscule droplet down its back and into its
gaping mouth.
This phenomenal survival strategy has inspired
scientists to look for ways to capture moisture
from thin air. Mimicking the beetle’s combination of
hydrophilic and hydrophobic bumps has allowed
researchers to extract water from the air to create
self-filling water bottles in arid regions.

FOGSTAND BEETLE
Stenocara gracilipes
Class Insecta

Territory Southern Africa

Diet Vegetation
Lifespan Up to 10 years
Adult weight 0.37–1g
(0.01–0.03oz)
Conservation Status

NOT EVALUATED

Burying beetles perform bloody

burials to benefit their babies
Burying beetles are the undertakers of the
animal kingdom, named after their habit of
burying the carcasses of larger animals. But
their burial service doesn’t come for free: the
deceased animal becomes a valuable asset
for the six-legged gravediggers, who use
buried corpses to feed their developing –
and utterly ravenous – larvae.
Upon finding a suitable carcass, beetles
will battle it out to decide which pair gets
to use the deceased animal. The triumphant
duo will then begin to dig a hole beneath
the body. During the burial, the beetles strip
the corpse of fur and feathers and use the
materials to line the crypt. The dead animal is
also covered in an antimicrobial secretion that
prevents the body from rotting and attracting
other animals.
Eggs are laid in the soil around the body,
allowing the beetle larvae to emerge and feed
on it. Both parents stick around to take care of
their young and protect them from competing
creatures, a level of care that’s rarely seen
among insect species.

30
Bombardiers mix deadly
chemicals inside their bodies
While you might think of chemical weapons as a
human invention, insects have been using deadly
substances to overwhelm their opponents for
millennia. The bombardier beetle’s arsenal is a
lethal testimony to this fact.
These carnivorous creepy crawlies use a
noxious chemical spray to destroy any insect
foolish enough to attack them. The weapon
works by combining two chemical compounds
(hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide) stored
in the bombardier’s abdomen. When the beetle
“The spray irritates the respiratory system
and frequently kills predators”
BOMBARDIER BEETLE
Brachinus explodens
Class Insecta
Territory Worldwide (except
Antarctica)
Diet Small insects
Lifespan Around 6 weeks
Adult weight Unknown
Conservation Status
NOT EVALUATED
Ladybirds bleed toxic blood
As insects go, ladybirds are pretty
popular with humans. Most people
enjoy seeing them, particularly
gardeners, who revere this bright-
coloured bug’s appetite for aphids.
Yet beneath the ladybird’s rosy
carapace and apparently friendly
demeanour lies a beetle that means
business. Their red-and-black bodies
aren’t merely for show – they’re a signal
feels under threat it opens a valve to combine
the two substances, causing a chemical reaction
that raises the temperature of the mixture to
near boiling point. It then expels it powerfully
through the abdomen with a loud popping
sound. The spray irritates the respiratory system
and frequently kills predators.
Some African bombardier beetles have
the ability to direct their chemical spray with
incredible accuracy, swivelling their abdomens to
aim their natural weapons at a potential threat.
ABOVE The heat of the
bombardier beetle’s
toxic spray is so intense
that one-fih of the
substance is vaporised
© NaturePL; Solvin Zankl; Alex Hyde; Stephen Dalton; Nature Production; Getty
to predators not to mess with them.
So why shouldn’t a bird eat this bug?
For one thing, ladybirds taste
disgusting. Then there is the ladybird’s
ability to emit a toxic fluid through
the joints of its exoskeleton. When
attacked by a predator the bugs squirt
this foul alkaloid substance, sending
their assailants flying in search of
easier, tastier prey.
31
 Badass beetles

This regal
beetle is one
of five species
of giants
Measuring up to 25
GOLIATH BEETLE
Goliathus regius centimetres (9.8 inches) in
Class Insecta length, the Goliath beetle
is one of the largest and
heaviest insects on the
planet. Despite its imposing
Territory Burkina Faso, Ghana, size, this beetle is a gentle
Guinea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria giant – it prefers to feed
and Sierra Leone
on tree sap and fruit rather
Diet Wood, bark, stems and
fruit than other animals.
Lifespan 1 year The larvae of Goliath
Adult weight 50g (1.8oz)
beetles are particularly
Conservation Status
gargantuan, growing up
to 100 grams (3.5 ounces)
NOT EVALUATED in weight. When a larva
reaches its maximum size it
will construct a cell out of
sandy soil in which to pupate, eventually transforming into
an adult and emerging into the world once more.
In captivity, these protein-hungry insects are often fed
commercial dog or cat food in order to attain the weight
they need to reach before pupation. As adults, the beetles
possess sharp claws, which they use to grip tree trunks
while feeding.

“Goliath beetles prefer to

feed on tree sap and fruit”

Titan beetles have jaws

strong enough to tear
into human flesh
Although they’re giants of the insect
world, titan beetles are incredibly hard
to find. That’s because these elusive
bugs live deep in the thick rainforests
of South America.
Titans possess a fearsome set of
jaws, which are strong enough to snap
a wooden pencil in half and tear into
human flesh. Thankfully, they’ll only
bite if provoked, and they do warn
their enemies with a loud hissing noise
before attacking.
Intriguingly, titan beetles don’t eat as
adults. Instead, they use stored energy
that they gained while feeding as larvae.
Titan grubs have never been seen,
but they’re thought to be enormous –
boreholes found on dead trees in their
habitat suggest each baby bug could
be up to a foot (0.3 metres) long!

“Titan grubs have never been seen,

© blickwinkel / Alamy

but they’re thought to be enormous”

3322
Gastric
brooding frog
This Australian amphibian would eat its own young
to keep them out of the mouths of hungry hunters
Skin colour
Their upper bodies
Unique birth Baby bump were mottled
Froglets emerged from The stomach would brown and green,
the mouth aer being become more and with lighter
expelled from the more bloated as the underparts.
stomach. young grew inside it.

Australia

Hiding underwater
They are thought to have
preferred to sit on rocks
with only their heads above
the water.

The Jurassic Park-inspired idea of recreating

dinosaurs from preserved DNA is a fantasy,
but Australian researchers believe they can
resurrect the more recently extirpated gastric
brooding frog. Scientists have experimented with
inserting genetic material from frozen tissues of
the extinct frog into eggs of a related species.
If they succeed in producing an embryo it will
be a fitting milestone in the natural history
of an animal that had its own extraordinary
reproductive habits.
The gastric brooding frog was first definitively
identified in mountainous rainforests in southern
Queensland, Australia, in 1972. Just 12 years
endd up in
i the
th stomachs
t h off predators.
d t Female
F
gastric brooding frogs, however, pre-empted
l
Lastt seen…
L
Date: 1985
fate by swallowing their eggs themselves shortly
Location: Eungella National Park
after laying them. Over the next six to seven
The speed with which southern gastric
weeks the developing tadpoles would grow in the
brooding frog populations declined is as
female’s gut while she suppressed the production
surprising as the frog itself. The last recorded
of digestive acids and went without food. Only
sighting in the wild was made in Queensland’s
around half of the offspring survived this process,
Conondale mountain range just seven years
but when it was time for them to emerge the
aer researchers found the species in 1972,
juvenile frogs came into the world through their
while the last known captive specimen died in
mother’s mouth.
1983. The northern species had a much more
Unfortunately, herpetologists didn’t have
restricted range and was last seen in Eungella
much time to study this behaviour because both
National Park in northeast Queensland in
species were gone by the mid-1980s. No one
© freevectormaps.com; Alan Batley

1985, just a year aer it was discovered.

later, a second species was discovered in similar knows what caused them to die off, but possible

habitats further north. Both southern and
northern gastric brooding frogs, as the species
were named, lived in rivers and pools and might
have hibernated under rocks in winter.
In the classic frog lifecycle, the female lays her
eggs in water and leaves to chance how many
“Researchers
culprits include logging, water pollution, fire and
the chytrid fungus. This might not be the end
of the story though, because if the Australian
scientists achieve their goal the gastric brooding believe they can
resurrect the frog”
frog might become the first extinct species that
isn’t lost forever.

33
 KEEPING
JAGUARS
Maya the jaguar cub
found a loving home when
she came to the Big Cat
Sanctuary in Kent, but is
raising such a powerful
wild predator by hand the
right way to go?
Words Victoria Williams

Maya the black jaguar stole thousands of hearts

earlier this year when she appeared as the star of BBC
documentary Big Cats About The House. Viewers followed
every step of her journey as she was hand-reared by Giles
Clark, director of the Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent.
Giles has decades of experience raising and caring for big
cats, so he was the obvious choice when another wildlife
facility needed help with a struggling jaguar cub.
“By day five mum was paying less attention to little
Maya, and they thought, combined with the fact that she
was already showing signs of becoming dehydrated, for
whatever reason mum was not as engaged as she should
have been. Maybe she was aware that something wasn’t
quite right with Maya at the time; what happens in the
wild is that mums won’t invest energy and resources into
a cub that wouldn’t make it anyway.”
When it became obvious that Maya wouldn’t make
it if she remained with her mother, Giles made a big
commitment by agreeing to provide the cub with round-
the-clock care for the next 12 weeks. She was tiny, but the
little lady had big demands.
“When I’ve hand-reared cubs in the past, very rarely
have I had one on its own – it’s either with siblings or I’ve

34
 Keeping jaguars

35
© The Big Cat Sanctuary
Keeping jaguars
been able to introduce it to another cub of a similar age.
Jaguars are very intense anyway, and that’s even evident
as a young cub, but being on her own as well meant if she
was awake she demanded your undivided attention. It’s
quite intense and somewhat repetitive making up formula
and constantly meeting all of her health needs, but to look
at her now, every second was ultimately worth it.”
Maya is now a year old and approaching her full size.
Although sharing a home with Giles for her first few
months has created a strong bond between the pair,
they’re going to have to spend less time together as she
becomes a powerful, solitary adult.
“We’ve already started to implement a strategy where
we are reducing the frequency with which she gets
contact, and over the next four to six weeks we will go
to completely protective contact with her the same way
any other zoo or facility would. If we’d pulled back and
stopped going in with her too soon I think it would have
caused some anxiety and stress; I truly believe that all
baby animals require that intensive level of affection and
companionship. As she gets closer to when she would
naturally disperse from her mum, hormonally she’ll go
through that change anyway and you won’t get that
stress. She’ll still have an incredibly close bond with the
people that have been there while she was being hand-
reared, but we will start to step up more of the traditional
training and conditioning processes.”
While most of the responses to Maya’s story were
positive, some people objected to the idea of a jaguar
36
being raised in captivity and believed she should have
JAGUAR
been in the wild. Panthera onca
Giles explained, “I’ve done hundreds of talks and Class Mammalia
presentations and one of my opening lines is exactly
that – in an ideal world I would not want to see animals in
enclosures. It’s only because at the moment it’s a complete
necessity given the situations that many of these species Territory Central and South
face in the wild. The reason I chose to rear her in the house America
Diet Jaguars prey on over 85
was because that’s where I could give her everything she different species, including
needed, physically as well as mentally. But she’s a wild tapirs, deer, caimans, turtles,
animal at the end of the day – she has her instincts and I snakes, birds, porcupines,
capybaras and fish
would never want to take that away from her, nor would Lifespan 11–12 years
I be able to even if I tried. I would never suggest that wild Adult weight 45.4–113.4kg
animals make good pets.” (100-250lb)
Conservation Status
Since she first arrived at the sanctuary, Maya’s life has
been shared with people across the world through social
media. Her journey has been an unusual one, but the
NEAR THREATENED
huge amount of interest she’s garnered could prove to be
incredibly valuable for her wild relatives.
“What she’s done is help generate this interest by
becoming a real ambassador for her species and
the wider issues of cat conservation in the wild.
She’s far exceeded everyone’s expectations in
terms of positive engagement. Thousands
of children have been inspired because
of her story and are now wanting to
engage and further support us or
conservation organisations. The
amount of times I hear ‘Oh, we
didn’t know that jaguars were in that much trouble or big
cats were in that much trouble’ and ‘We can’t let these
animals disappear’ – that to me is a real testament and is
really inspiring.”
For some species of big cat, the situation is becoming
critical. It’s thought that the jaguar has a healthier
population, but they’re still in danger.
“Out of the big cats, they are not faring too badly in
terms of numbers. At the moment the jaguar is listed as
Near Threatened, but that is under review and very shortly
that could turn to Vulnerable in terms of their status. We
hear numbers all the time and sometimes I think that’s
dangerous. I think the true reflection is if you look at the
habitat where they used to be in comparison to where
they are now – the jaguar, for example, has lost over 40
per cent [of its former range].
“When we talk about saving some of these large
carnivores we need to be protecting large-scale habitats,
and that’s not easy because the population of humans is
ever growing and the demand for resources that causes
is also ever growing. A lot of the time jaguars are killed
because of human-wildlife conflict, and that’s exacerbated
because the population of people continues to climb, and
at the same time the habitat is being fragmented and we
are putting pressure on their natural prey. The challenge
is twofold; we need to save large-scale landscapes that
are connected across the range, while at the same time
addressing the needs of the communities.
“The good news for jaguars is that it is by no means too
late, and I think they could potentially represent one of the
true success stories when it comes to big cat conservation
because they still have that vast chunk of habitat available
in South America. In theory, the vast majority of jaguars
across their range are still potentially connected via habitat
to one another, whereas when you look at a map of a tiger
or a lion range you’ll see just how incredibly fragmented
that [population] is.”
It’s easy to feel helpless hearing that big cats are in such
trouble, but Giles believes everyone can make a change
“The good news for jaguars
is that it’s by no means too
late, and I think they could
potentially represent one of
the true success stories”
Living her life in
the spotlight, Maya
has launched a new
wave of interest in
jaguars and big cat
conservation
for the better. “Being a conscious consumer would
probably be one of the most important steps that
people could make. Talk to people; the more that we
can spread the word and create awareness that these
species do matter and that they are teetering on the
edge of extinction the better.
“If you have disposable resources you can support
conservation organisations by making a donation or
volunteering your time, getting on board and beating
that drum.” That is certainly a beat that we at World Of
Animals can march to.
Jaguars face
many threats
They might only be listed as Near
Threatened, but life is certainly
not easy for jaguars in the wild
Habitat loss
There are currently still large areas
of forest for jaguars to live in, but
they’re being encroached on more
and more as land is developed. If
jaguars become isolated, they’ll be
unable to find mates.
Reduction in prey
As jaguars lose their habitat, so too
do the species that they prey on, such
as wild boars, capybaras and tapirs.
With smaller fragmented areas of
forest and fewer animals, hunting
becomes ever harder.
Conflict with humans
As their range is reduced and
their prey dwindles, jaguars will
occasionally take livestock from
local farms. To try and protect their
animals, some farmers and ranchers
harm or hunt down the cats.
© The Big Cat Sanctuary; Getty; Leonardo Prest Mercon Ro;
Mint Images; Frans Lanting; Danita Delimont; EronZeni
Poaching
The jaguar’s beautiful coat is one of
its most captivating features, and
sadly there are people who would
rather see it as a rug decorating
their home than on the animal, so
poaching can be profitable.
37
 The wildlife
of the fynbos
Found only in a narrow belt on South Africa’s
Cape Peninsula, this shrubland is one of the most
biodiverse biomes in the world
Words Victoria Williams

38

Fynbos makes up a large part of the Cape floral
kingdom, one of just six floral kingdoms in the
world. Over 9,000 plant species grow here, more
than 6,000 of which can’t be found anywhere
else on Earth; this small area at the tip of Africa
is more botanically diverse than the Amazon
Rainforest, known for its lush greenery.
Three types of plant – the proteas with their
huge blooms, the ericas (heathers) and the
grass-like restios – are characteristic of this biome.
Residents of this unique habitat have evolved to
The wildlife of the fynbos
live with the frequent fires that tear through the “Over 9,000 plant
region. In fact, many plant species here actually
rely on fire to add nutrients to the soil and to help species grow here,
kick-start seed germination.
Despite the huge diversity of plant life, fynbos more than 6,000
isn’t especially rich in insects; for many plants,
small birds and even rodents are the most of which can’t be
important pollinators. Large mammals like
leopards and black-backed jackals occasionally found anywhere
else on Earth”
stalk through the fynbos, but smaller animals like
mice and lizards are much more common.
© Cathy Withers-Clarke / Alamy
39
The wildlife of the fynbos

Flourishing fynbos
The fynbos is absolutely teeming with all manner
of animal and plant life, meaning it’s just as busy
and bustling as the city of Cape Town below it

Cape sugarbird
Unmistakable thanks to the
yellow patch under its tail and
the incredibly long feathers of
the males, the Cape sugarbird
is a favourite sight for visitors
to the fynbos. It’s one of the six
species found only in this biome
as its diet mainly consists of the
nectar of proteas. Long tongues
help the birds reach the sweet
liquid, and sharp claws enable
them to hang on in strong winds.

Chacma baboon
Chacma baboons are one of the
world’s largest monkeys and
are a common sight in southern
Africa. Troops sleep in trees
Protea for safety, descending in the
morning to forage. At the Cape
they eat everything from seeds
and fungi to small vertebrates
and shellfish, and some troops
raid homes and bins for food.

Cape rain frog

The Cape rain frog aerates
the soil in the fynbos as it
burrows under the ground
with its strong legs, venturing
out just before rain arrives.
Unlike other frogs, this
species doesn’t breed in
water – in fact, it can’t even
swim. When distressed, this
angry-looking amphibian
swallows air to inflate its body
and make itself look bigger.
Black-backed
jackal

Striped mouse
Monkey Striped mice are unusual among
beetle small rodents because they’re active
in the morning and evening. These
omnivores can go without drinking as
they get enough water from their food;
their ability to adapt allows them to
live throughout southern Africa.

40 Restio
 Rock kestrel Rock
Rock kestrels are a danger to many animals, from insects kestrel
to rodents. Aer scanning the area from a perch, they
can hover over their prey until the time is right to drop
and strike. The cunning predators have also been spotted
trailing baboons and catching the insects they flush out
of the fynbos.

Mountain pride butterfly

Erica
Orange-
breasted
sunbird

Cape
grysbok

Cape
skink

Hottentot mole-rat
Less famous than their naked relatives, Hottentot
mole-rats share the same insect-like social structure;
they live in an underground colony with a single breeding
pair. Using their talent for digging, the mole-rats feed on
geophytes – the underground storage organs of plants –
and modified underground stems called rhizomes.
© The Art Agency/Peter Scott

Geometric tortoise
It would be easy to overlook this tortoise were it not
for its brightly patterned shell, because it’s only 15
centimetres (5.9 inches) long. The geometric tortoise
is restricted to lowland fynbos in one corner of South
Africa’s Western Cape Province, and it’s estimated
that there are only a few thousand le, making this
one of the most endangered tortoises on the planet.

41
 the sloth
All about sloths

42
 Sloths

All About
o
sloths
These charismatic creatures have a
reputation as nature’s laziest animals,
but their slow approach to life helps to
keep them safe in a dangerous world
Words Laura Mears

BROWN-THROATED
THREE-TOED SLOTH
Bradypus variegatus
Class Mammalia

Territory Central and South

America
Diet Fruits, leaves, twigs and
flowers
© NaturePL; Lucas Bustamante

Lifespan 30–40 years

Adult weight 2.3–6.3kg
(5–13.9lb)
Conservation Status

LEAST CONCERN

43
44
Inside a three-toed sloth
A series of clever adaptations minimise the amount
Feet for dangling
of energy sloths use and maximise the amount of Depending on the species,
energy they take in. Life in the slow lane would not sloths have two or three
toes, which form hook-like
be possible without their unusual body plan. structures adapted for hanging
from trees. The ends of their
toes and their claws are rigid,
so they rely on their flexible
All about sloths

wrist joints for movement.

Upside-down
adaptation
Sloths have sheets
of fibrous tissue that
link their liver and
stomach to their ribs
and their kidneys to
their hips. This stops
the organs pressing
on their lungs when
they’re hanging upside
down in trees. Large eye
sockets
Sloth teeth don’t have enamel and continue to grow Sloths have
throughout the animal’s lifetime. They emerge as cylinders large eyes but
and get their shape as they wear against other teeth. poor eyesight.
They are most
active at night.

Chambered stomach
Sloths have enormous stomachs
with four separate chambers. Low muscle
The organ takes up most of the Sloths have around
space in their abdomen. Bacteria 30 per cent less
ferment their food, which can muscle than other
take up to a month to digest. animals, helping
them to save energy.
Radius
Ulna
Low temperature
Keeping a constant body
temperature costs energy,
so sloths let theirs vary
with the air temperature.
 Humerus

Tibia
Fibula

Femur

Ribs

Long intestines
It can take up Mobile ecosystem
to a week for a Lots of organisms live in sloth
sloth’s food to fur, including moths, beetles
move through its and fungi. Birds, like brown
intestines. This jays, use sloths as a moving
helps it to extract buffet, landing on their backs
as much nutrition to eat the insects.
as possible from
the leaves. Closest family
Sloths are part of the Xenarthra superorder

Anteaters Armadillos Ground sloths

Algae These incredible Like anteaters, All the sloth species
The green colouring on a animals don’t have these armour-plated alive today live in
Pelvis
sloth’s fur isn’t dirt or pigment any teeth. Instead, animals use their trees, but thousands
– it’s living algae. The organism they rely on a massive tongues to trap of years ago there
Parasite defence tongue and lashings insects. They have were dozens of
Colon and rectum thrives in the damp, sheltered of sticky saliva to a bony covering species that hung out
Sloth fur is dense and fine environment and helps keep the trap ants, which they that protects them, on the ground instead.
Sloths only go to the toilet
on the inside and long and sloth camouflaged. swallow whole. They but despite their Ground sloths shared
once a week. Up to 30 per cent
cracked on the outside. dig into nests using reputation only one the huge claws of their
of their body weight is food large, curved claws species – the three- tree-dwelling relatives
Antibacterial fungi live in
and waste, which is stored up and lap up the insects banded armadillo – but were around the
the outer layers, providing that are inside. can curl into a ball. size of elephants.
between trips to the ground.
protection against disease.

INFANCY JUVENILE MATURITY

Aerial birth High-fat milk Going upside down Reaching for leaves Independence Ready to mate First pregnancy Raising young Death
0 days 0–4 weeks 3–4 weeks 1–6 months 6 months–2 years 3–5 years 2+ years 3–10 years 10+ years
Sloths give birth upside Sloth milk is around seven Aer around four weeks For the first six months Sloths can reach Females reach sexual Pregnancies last between six Sloths mate throughout Sloths can live for
down. The baby clings to per cent fat, providing all the the infant sloth is ready to baby stays on mum and independence from six maturity at three. Males and 11 months. The female the year, having one baby between ten and 40
Sloths

its mother’s stomach. nutrition an infant needs. try hanging upside down. grasps at nearby leaves. months to two years. follow suit at four or five. raises her young alone. around every 15 months. years in the wild.

45
© The Art Agency/Sandra Doyle; NaturePL; Roland Seitre
 All about sloths

Sloths in danger
Life in the rainforest is far from easy
Don't let their laid-back attitude fool you – life for sloths is hard.
All six species live high among the leaves of Central and South
American rainforests, where harpy eagles rule the skies. These
birds are some of the most powerful in the world, with legs
thicker than bananas and claws larger than a bear’s. Almost
silent in spite of their size, they sit stock still on branches and,
with a wingspan the length of an adult man, they swoop under
the canopy at speeds of up to 80 kilometres (49.7 miles) an
hour. When they strike, their talons clamp shut with a force
that can even shatter bone. To counter this threat sloths rely
on camouflage to remain hidden from predators. They keep
incredibly still during the day, using the algae in their fur to blend
in with the leaves.
It’s not unusual for a sloth to spend its whole life in the same
tree. They prefer wide, overlapping canopies and tend to choose
places where lianas grow up from the forest floor. These woody
vines tangle among the foliage, linking the trees together. Not
only do they provide highways in the air, they also give the sloths
much-needed cover, shielding them from view.
However, there’s only so long a sloth can spend hidden in the
leaves before it needs to make a trip to the toilet. This involves
an arduous trek to the ground. Travelling down makes an eagle
attack less likely, but a different set of predators lie in wait on
the floor. Central and South America are the hunting grounds of
ocelots, pumas, jaguars and anacondas, which can grow to the
length of a bus. Sloths don’t move well on all fours, so outpacing
an agile cat is impossible.
Mother sloths spend around six months preparing their young
for the challenges of forest life, but there’s one threat that’s hard
to train for – us. We cut down trees, build farms and roads and
take young sloths from their homes to sell as bush meat. Sloths
are independent animals, but they need joined-up forests so that
they can find one another when it’s time to mate. To ensure their
survival, we need to protect their trees.

Where to find them

Pygmy three-toed sloth
Maned sloth
Pale-throated sloth
Brown-throated sloth
Linnaeus’ two-toed sloth
Hoffman’s two-toed sloth

In our culture
They might be known as lazy, but sloths
have worked their way into our hearts
Movie stars
From Ice Age to The Croods,
extinct giant ground sloths
have been making a name for
themselves as lovable cartoon
characters on the silver screen.

Meme generators
With a relatable sleepiness
matched by no other animal,
sloths oen find their way into
Monday morning memes that
can brighten up your week.
Nature’s YouTubers
These slow movers make for
unlikely YouTube stars, but their
smiley faces, cuddly looking fur
and clumsy movements have
taken the Internet by storm.

46
 Sloths

Nearest
neighbours
The cloud forests of South
America are bursting with life

Howler monkey
These gregarious primates are one of
the largest monkeys in South America
and they aren’t shy when it comes
to communication. Named for their
whooping cries, they howl together at
daybreak and nightfall.

Resplendent quetzal
A smooth coat of iridescent green
feathers makes this bird one of the
world’s most admired avians. Males
are easily recognised by their long,
delicate streamers that trail behind
their tails during the breeding season.

Sloths and humans

Sloths and humans have a history that Baird’s tapir
dates back thousands of years, back to These enormous animals stand over
a time when giant ground sloths roamed a metre (3.3 feet) tall at the shoulder
and measure up to two metres
the Earth. The largest species – the (6.6 feet) from nose to tail. Despite
megatherium – was six metres (19.7 feet) their size they can be hard to find,
tall and weighed more than an African preferring to hide in the undergrowth.
elephant. They disappeared towards the
end of the last Ice Age around 11,000
years ago, and our ancestors may have
been responsible for their demise.
The sheer muscle power of these
animals would have made them a
© Seaphotoart / Alamy; Getty; freevectormaps.com

challenge to kill, but traces in the fossil

records reveal that humans may have
tried. Fossilised footprints uncovered
in New Mexico in 2017 show the outline
of human feet inside sloth tracks. This Ocelot
means that people followed behind while These small spotted cats can climb,
the mud was still wet. There aren’t any jump and swim, using their powerful
legs to move gracefully among the
sloth bones with cut marks le by human
trees. They hunt on the ground,
tools, so we can’t know what happened using a combination of leaf cover and
for sure, but it’s possible that hunters shadow to sneak up on their prey.
were on the beast’s trail.

47
 All about sloths

The life of a sloth

Sloths might move slowly, but there is more to these fascinating animals than meets the eye
Sloths spend their lives high in the trees,
travelling from branch to branch in search of
buds and leaves. Two-toed sloths sometimes
like to add some dietary variety in the form of
fruit and flowers, but they’re in no hurry to find
the perfect meal.
Sloths take life at a slow pace, and when
they’re not eating they’re usually resting. They
move so little that each individual only needs
around 0.02 square kilometres (0.007 square
miles) of forest to survive. It’s rare to find more
than one sloth in a tree, unless they’re getting
ready to mate.
Sloths wake up after the Sun sets, slow
down over night and then become active
again before dawn, but they aren’t as lazy as
they first appear. A study monitoring brain
activity in captive three-toed sloths found that
they snoozed for two thirds of the day, but
wild sloths were different. They only slept for
between nine and ten hours, just a little more
than humans.
When it comes to reproduction, the males
put in extra effort, travelling away from their
home range to find a female. Scientists have
even spotted them fighting for the chance to
mate. They use the hooked claws on their front
legs as weapons, sometimes leaving scars on
the face of their opponent. For the most part
though, the life of a sloth is quiet and solitary.
The air in the branches can be cool, and
the higher up sloths live, the thicker their fur
is. The coat of a sloth has two layers: a warm,
fuzzy undercoat close to their skin, and a long,
shaggy outer coat that grows upside down
and hangs towards the floor. This outer coat
traps water, attracting a whole ecosystem of
insects, which use it as a home and therefore
depend on the sloth for their survival.
One animal can have nearly 1,000 critters
living in its fur. These include common
parasites like mosquitoes, sandflies and ticks,
and an unusual community of beetles and
moths. Sloth fur provides a ready-made
habitat for these insects, and they’ve evolved
together over generations. Scarab beetles
burrow into the fur at their elbows and knees,
while moths make homes all over their bodies.
The insects even lay their eggs in sloth dung.
During the wet season sloth fur is often
coated with algae, which grows in the cracks
on the hair shafts. This may provide a source
of nutrition for the insects and even for the
sloths themselves.

Why do sloths poop

on the ground?
Sloths spend their lives in the trees, but once or
twice a week they make the slow, dangerous
journey to the floor. The reason? They need
to poop. Three-toed sloths even dig a hole in
the ground with their tail before covering it
over again when they’re done. This unusual
behaviour puts sloths at risk, bringing them
close to ground-based predators like cats and
© Alamy; Suzi Eszterhas/ Minden Pictures

snakes, but they make the trek up and down

the tree trunks anyway. Scientists are unsure
of the reason, but they have a few possible
explanations. One of the most convincing is that
sloths can’t get all the nutrients they need from
leaves alone. Scientists think that they eat soil
when they're on the ground, supplementing
their diet with essential salts.

48
 Love in the air
Sloths do almost everything in the
branches, including mating and
giving birth. Females let other Ready to go
sloths know they’re in the mood Life in the trees can be hard for
for love by making loud calls that a newborn, so sloths are born
attract males from nearby trees. ready to take up the challenge.
They keep a tight grip on mum’s
fur and emerge with open eyes
and sharp teeth. They start to
eat leaves in their first month.

The slow
lane
Sloths take life’s challenges
at a leisurely pace

Just resting
Sloths do most of
their moving at night,
travelling at the
breakneck speed of
about 0.2kph (0.15mph).
During the day they rest,
hanging quietly from
the branches without
moving at all. Staying safe
Sloths don’t have many predators
in the trees, so they aren’t well
equipped to defend themselves.
The biggest threat is the powerful
harpy eagle. Sloths keep hidden
by staying very still, disappearing
from view among the leaves.

© The Art Agency/Peter Scott

Having a swim
Sloths are most at home in the trees,
but they are surprisingly agile in the
water. Cameras even captured three-
toed sloths swimming during filming
for Planet Earth II, revealing that their
long limbs make excellent paddles.
50
Meet the sloths Pygmy three-toed sloth
All about the sloth

Linnaeus’ two-
toed sloth

Pale-throated sloth
 Hoffmann’s
two-toed sloth

Brown-throated sloth

Maned sloth
Sloths
© The Art Agency/Peter Scott

51
© Suzi Eszterhas/Minden Pictures/FLPA
 SKUNK
AND DISORDERLY
Although renowned around the world for their
stupefying stench, there’s far more to these
misunderstood mammals than meets the nose…
Words Adam Millward

54

Being known as the ‘King Pong’ of the animal
kingdom is a mixed blessing. On the one
hand, having such a redolent reputation
protects you from many dangers. Often,
just the sight of that black-and-white coat
and bushy tail is enough to send a potential
predator packing in the opposite direction!
On the other hand, skunks’ noxious
notoriety has also led to their vilification. For
many pest controllers they are enemy number
one, and people will go to great efforts to
deter these creatures from entering their
neighbourhood or even eliminate any deemed
to have ventured too close to their homes.
There are 12 different species in the
extended Mephitidae family, which fall into
five distinct groups: striped, spotted, hooded,
hog-nosed and ‘stink badgers’. All of these
are based in the Americas, bar the last
group; stink badgers (definitely skunks rather
than badgers, despite their name) reside on
tropical islands in Southeast Asia.
Skunks are adaptable creatures, living in a
range of habitats including woodland, grassy
plains, scrubland, streambeds, ravines and
even rocky mountain slopes. Many skunks
seem to favour ecotones – areas where two
types of biome meet, for instance, where a
Skunk and disorderly
forest edges onto marshland – most likely
because such zones offer a greater variety of
food sources.
The entire family is, of course, distinguished
by its back-end bio-weapon, a pungent
secretion that they can fire with surprising
range and accuracy to defend themselves
against predators. Another family trait are
© Don Johnston_MA / Alamy
distinctive markings, which, while coming
in different patterns and shades, all serve
as a clear warning to stay away. For anyone
who’s had the misfortune to have been on the
receiving end of a skunk attack, you can’t say
they didn’t try to warn you!
55
Skunk and disorderly

What is that smell?

How stink helps skunks to stay alive
From armour in the form of shells and spikes to
weapons such as poison and claws, self-defence
is crucial to the survival of many animals on the
lower rungs of the food chain. However, few
have evolved a strategy quite like the skunk to
keep enemies at bay – but that’s not to say it
isn’t effective. Quite the contrary!
The skunk’s foul spray is a potent cocktail of
volatile sulphur-hydrogen compounds, known
as thiols and thiocyanates. While the former
generate the initial astringent stench that can
induce nausea, tears and even temporary
blindness (thiols are also present in raw onion
and rotting organic matter), it’s the latter
that makes a skunk’s musk so enduring. This
is because contact with water in the days –
or even weeks – after its release animates
thioacetates, converting them into the more
pungent thiols. The odour is so pervasive it can
be detected more than a mile away. Couple this
noxious substance with a precise deployment
system and you’ve got a serious weapon.
The musk is stored in two glands at the base
of the skunk’s tail. Muscles surrounding these
glands give the animal a great degree of control
over how the liquid is released; it can either
be fired as a stream towards a specific target
as much as three metres (9.8 feet) away with
unerring accuracy or diffused over a larger area
as a mist. Passing through this stink-bomb cloud
generally puts off even the most persistent of
predators, which range from the great horned
owl to wolves, foxes and badgers.

Anatomy of a skunk DID YOU

Discover how these mammals’ bodies
have adapted to keep them safe KNOW?
Not everyone can smell skunks’
funky bio-weapon. In fact,
STRIPED SKUNK
Mephitis mephitis around one in 1,000 people are
Class Mammalia immune to it. The serendipitous
condition, known as specific
anosmia, makes a person
unable to detect a
Territory North America particular odour.
Diet Birds, small mammals,
amphibians, reptiles, fish,
eggs, carrion, insects, seeds,
grains, nuts and fruit
Scent glands
Lifespan 6–7 years
Adult weight 1.2–5.3kg
The skunk’s odoriferous bio-weapon
(2.6–11.7Ib) is stored in two glands in its rear
Conservation Status end. Surrounding muscles enable
the stinky secretion to be fired over
several metres or released as a mist.

LEAST CONCERN

Markings
Bold black-and-white colouration is an
immediate warning to any passers-by
to keep on passing. A skunk’s stripes
oen point straight to its back-end,
further emphasising the danger zone.

Eyes
Many nocturnal animals have
superior vision, but shortsighted
skunks can only see about 3m
(9.8) ahead. They rely instead on
their senses of smell and hearing.

Sharp teeth
A set of 34 teeth,
including four particularly
pointy canines, means
that wild skunks are
definitely not for stroking!

Claws
Skunks use their
strong front feet
and elongated
claws for digging
in search of prey
such as grubs
and worms.

56
 Skunk and disorderly
Stink isn’t their only defence…
Skunks are one of a handful of mammals to evolve built-in anti-venom
Given their formidable spray, most predators, understandably, give skunks a
very wide berth. The main threats they face come from above, from the likes of
eagles and owls, which have a fairly weak sense of smell. However, skunks have
some additional biological aces up their sleeve that help them to capture prey of
their own: namely, a very high tolerance of venom.
It’s not uncommon to see skunks scratching at the nests of honeybees to lure
out the angry occupants. Unlike most beehive burglars they’re not aer the
sweet honey inside, but rather the bees themselves. They can chew through
hundreds in a night and barely seem to bat an eyelid at the insects’ stings.
Even more impressive, toxic serpents are also on a skunk’s menu. In a battle
between a skunk and a rattlesnake, it’s generally the former that will come out
on top thanks to a natural resistance to the snake’s own chemical weapon.
There’s been little research into how skunks specifically endure bites that could
be lethal to much larger animals, but in fellow venom-resisting species – such
as mongooses, opossums and hedgehogs – there are two main explanations.
Either their bodies naturally produce proteins that neutralise the effects of
venom, or their cells have adapted to prevent venom neurotoxins from binding.

“In a battle between a skunk and

a rattlesnake, it’s generally the
former that will come out on top”

It’s not all black and white

Here are three skunk myths that need busting
Skunks are purely pests
Okay, so they do have their not-so-good
points, but it’s important to remember
that these animals will only use their
spray in self-defence. What oen gets
overlooked are the benefits that skunks
offer: they eat many unwanted critters,
including nuisance insects and rodents,
as well as carrion and fallen fruit.

They spray with impunity

There’s a common perception that
skunks are ‘trigger happy’ when it
comes to firing their whiffy weapon.
However, they give plenty of signals,
including raising their tails, stamping
their feet, growling, making mini-
charges and even doing ‘handstands’ in
the case of spotted skunks.

Tomatoes eliminate the odour

© Getty; GlobalP; Getty; hkuchera

Juice from tomatoes or citrus fruit may

temporarily mask the offending smell
that skunks give off, but they don’t
get rid of it. You’d be better off using a
combination of baking soda, washing
liquid and a little hydrogen peroxide to
combat the odour with chemistry if you
haven’t managed to avoid it.

57
 Reeky relations

RIGHT A natural
Hog-nosed skunks resistance to venom
Hog-nosed skunks, of which there means that skunks
are four species, are so-named for aren’t afraid to take on
their distinctive broad snouts. The intimidating animals
striped hog-nose (pictured) is native such as rattlesnakes
to Central and South America.

Hooded skunk
Similar in colouration to the
striped skunk, hooded skunks are
distinguished by longer fur around
the neck, resembling a ruff. They also
tend to have longer, bushier tails. RIGHT
Hollow logs
are a favourite
hidey-hole
for skunks
to make
their den

Spotted skunk
Easily identified by a white spot on
their forehead and a more complex
pattern of broken lines and patches of
black and white, spotted skunks live
throughout the Americas.

Albino skunk
Sometimes, due to genetic mutations,
Skunks are serial squatters
Why have one home when you could have ten?
© Minden Pictures / Alamy; Rolf Nussbaumer Photography; John Cancalosi / Alamy

there are skunks whose pigment-

producing cells are ‘switched off’,
resulting in a white coat and red/pink
eyes. They are not their own species.
While skunks are equipped with the tools to dig their
own burrow, including strong front feet and elongated
claws, they’d much rather move into an abandoned
home or a pre-made shelter. Their favoured haunts
include holes dug by foxes and groundhogs, hollow logs
and log piles, and in more urban areas, the gaps beneath
decking or inside accessible outbuildings.
Most skunks will have multiple dens – occasionally
as many as ten and sometimes even more. This means
they have several options should they need a safe place
to bolt during a night forage. Certain dens are better
suited to particular seasons, so they will often have
different winter and summer homes. In winter burrows
skunks have been known to share their residence with
their own kind and even other species, such as raccoons
and rabbits. These communally minded animals gain
the mutual benefit of social thermoregulation during the
colder months.

Stink badger
Stink badgers are New World skunks’
“Their favoured haunts include holes dug by foxes and
closest relatives and part of the wider
Mephitidae family. The Sunda stink groundhogs, hollow logs and log piles, and in urban
badger (pictured) is found on several
islands in Indonesia and Malaysia. areas, the gaps beneath decking and inside buildings”
58
Bizarre!
SS
The noisy bird that acts
remarkably similar to a bat
Known for its eerie shrieking calls, the nocturnal oilbird lives its life in
darkness and clings to the walls of caves when it’s not out flying
It’s not just bats
that echolocate
The oilbird is one of just two species of
bird known to echolocate, emitting rapid
clicks to help it fly at night and navigate
dark caves. While bats produce calls
too high for us to hear, oilbirds click at a
frequency audible to humans.
They produce
unsettling calls
The oilbird’s Spanish name is guácharo,
which means ‘whining’, and in Trinidad it’s
sometimes referred to as ‘diablotin’, French
for ‘little devil’ – these are in reference to
the bird’s eerie shrieking and screaming
calls that carry far through the trees.
Their chicks get
dangerously fat
Young oilbirds gain so much weight before
fledging that they end up considerably bigger
than their parents. Because a lot of their
diet consists of regurgitated oil palm fruit,
indigenous people used to catch the plump
squabs to render oil from their fat.
OILBIRD
Steatornis caripensis
Class Aves
Territory Central and South
America
Diet Oil palm and tropical
laurel fruits
Lifespan Up to 12 years
Adult weight 350–475g
They rarely touch (12.3-16.8oz)
Conservation Status
the ground LEAST CONCERN
Because they’re either flying or roosting,
oilbirds have small feet that can grip
onto cave walls but aren’t much use for
standing or walking. When the birds are in
the air they’re very agile, twisting between
obstacles, and they are even able to hover.
They never get to They build unusual
© FLPA/Bob Gibbons/REX/Shutterstock
see sunshine nests in caves
Oilbirds live their lives in darkness. They’re the In a communal roost there’s no shortage of
world’s only nocturnal, fruit-eating flying bird, droppings. Oilbirds make use of their situation
travelling many kilometres each night in search by using the accumulated waste to build their
of food for themselves and their young. When nests. Females lay two to four small white eggs,
dawn arrives the birds return to communal and chicks remain in their dropping nests for
roosts in caves and remain there until nightfall. about four months after hatching.
59
 Flora
or
fauna?
From parrots to primates, nature has produced
some intriguing plants that look remarkably like
members of the animal kingdom
Words Victoria Williams

This orchid has some

familiar features
The aptly named monkey orchid
only grows wild in the mountains
of Peru and Ecuador. It belongs to
the genus Dracula, named for the
cape and two ‘fangs’ surrounding
its face. You’d hope that a flower
so closely resembling a monkey
would smell of bananas, but it’s
said to have a strong orange scent.

60
 Flora or fauna?

© Danita Delimont / Alamy; Getty; Andrew Smith / EyeEm

61
 Flora or fauna?

Fįŵāįś¦āĆ¹šā‡ƟÅéįƠĤ
into people’s hearts
Around 60 species make up the moth
orchids, one of the most popular orchid
© imageBROKER / Alamy; Getty

groups. This plant is native to Southeast

Asia and northern Australia, and its
blooms bring colour to shady parts of the
forests. The flowers are said to resemble
both birds and moths, and their bright
petals attract all sorts of flying pollinators.

62
 This rare plant is staying put
© Shisanu Tongchim / Alamy; Getty; Ger Bosma

The parrot flower, or parrot balsam, is a rare

Southeast Asian plant that was first discovered
in Burma at the end of the 19th century and
initially named the cockatoo balsam. You’re
unlikely to come across this flower in anyone’s
greenhouse because the Thai Government has
banned its export to protect the species.

63
 Flora or fauna?
© James Peake / Alamy; Getty

gāÅéƦĆĤô¹Ɔ¦Ēįś¦āĆ¹ĆšĤŘŵ
just appealing to us
Caleana major, or the flying duck orchid, has
an astonishing flower that to human eyes
looks like a duck on the wing. Apparently
that’s not what insects see – flying insects
like sawflies pollinate the orchid when they
mistake if for a member of their own species
and attempt to mate with the flower.

64
 Flora or fauna?

This plant’s status is

as delicate as its petals
The white egret flower often shares
its habitat with the bird it’s named
after. Although it’s admired for its

© John Glover / Alamy; Getty; Zen Rial

unusual frilled flower, the species
is in trouble; overcollection by
horticulturists and traders and
the development of its marshland
habitat into rice paddies have
greatly reduced its wild population,
and it’s a difficult flower to grow.

65
 10 things the movies got wrong

With their dark eyes, sharp teeth and fearsome

reputation, all sharks are ruthless killers… aren’t they?
Words Victoria Williams

66
 Shark myths

The Meg
The shark film set to terrify
cinemagoers this year is The
Meg. Inspired by Steve Alten’s
novel of the same name, it
employs the common theme
of a man-eating shark but with
one big difference: the villain in
question is 23 metres (75.5 feet) long!
The megalodon is probably the largest
shark ever to swim the oceans. While the
film exaggerates its size, it could still reach 18
metres (59 feet) in length – three-times bigger
than the largest recorded great white shark.
Fossil records suggest megalodons roamed
Earth’s waters chomping on adult whales with
17.8-centimetre (seven-inch) teeth until around
1.6 million years ago. Most scientists believe the
species was completely wiped out, but some
people believe it could still be lurking in waters
too deep for us to explore.

© Getty; Barcroft Media

67
Shark myths
The world’s
biggest fish,
the whale
shark, lives
on a diet of
plankton.
1. Sharks will
target swimmers,
divers and surfers
Thanks to the movies, sharks
are thought of as ruthless killers
targeting any human foolish enough
to get in the water. You might find
it reassuring to know just a few of
over 400 species are considered
dangerous, and you’re far more
likely to be killed by a cow than a
shark. There are around 16 shark
attacks each year in America, but
just one fatality every two years.
The Shark Trust believe the
‘monster’ image is not one sharks
deserve. Conservation officer Cat
Gordon says, “Sharks need to be
treated with respect, like any wild
animal. Even a typically ‘harmless’
68
filter feeding shark like a basking
shark is capable of breaching clean
out of the water, so it’s wise not to
get too close.
“When humans are bitten, these
incidents are inevitably high profile
due to their traumatic nature, but
they are usually the result of an
exploratory bite to see if the target
would be suitable prey. The number
of reported shark bites is relative
to the number of people entering
the marine environment each
year, with increased popularity of
ocean-based recreational pursuits
and technology allowing people to
remain in the water for longer.”
 Shark myths

2. You can hide from

sharks among jellyfish
In the 2016 thriller The Shallows, the main character
finds herself stranded in water with a great white
shark determined to eat her. The film follows her
efforts to escape from the giant predator, including
hiding among a group of jellyfish.
If you ever come face to face with a shark, don’t
waste your time looking for jellyfish. Sharks have
really thick skin covered in tooth-like scales, so stings
would be no more than a tickle. The only vulnerable
parts are their eyes, but membranes can be lowered
to protect them.
If you’re heading to British beaches this summer, the
Shark Trust stresses that you’re extremely unlikely to
get into a situation that requires outsmarting a shark
in the first place, as Cat explains.
“White sharks stalking British beaches stories have
almost become an annual fixture of the summer.
There has never been enough evidence to confirm the
presence of white sharks in British waters, yet certain
sections of the media oen run with sensationalist-
style reporting when dorsal fins are glimpsed or a
dolphin strands on a beach.
“Facts are ignored and unnecessary public concern
is oen created - far from informing the public, this
style of journalism has a detrimental impact on
sharks and shark conservation.”

“Sharks have really

thick skin covered in
tooth-like scales, so
stings would be no
more than a tickle”

3. Sharks can smell a

drop of human blood
A swimmer scratches their hand and a single drop
of blood falls into the water. A few bars of ominous
music later, a hungry shark appears to claim their
free meal. It’s a classic image, but is a shark’s
sense of smell really that good?
Not quite, according to the Shark Trust. “Sharks
have a highly complex and acute sense of smell.
Their highly evolved olfactory organs allow them
to detect the blood of potential prey, pheromones
© Getty; Leopoldo Palomba / EyeEm; torstenvelden; National

from a potential mate or the scent of a predator

from a great distance - one part of blood to one
million parts of water. That’s equal to one teaspoon
in an average-sized swimming pool,” adds Cat.
For blood to reach the shark’s olfactory system
it first has to dissolve and travel through the water,
Geographic Creative / Alamy

which would take more than seconds. As we’re

not their normal prey, sharks following the scent
of blood aren’t targeting humans – they’re either
investigating or, in the case of ocean whitetips and
silky sharks, following their instinct to look for
thrashing wounded animals.

69
 4. Some sharks go rogue and
get a taste for human flesh
Many films, from Jaws to The Reef, feature a
single ‘rogue’ shark as their villain. The book
Jaws was written at a time when some people
believed sharks could develop a taste for humans
and choose to hunt them instead of their natural
prey. This theory has largely been dismissed but, as
Cat explains, the rogue shark concept gripped film
fans and refused to let go. “Shark films have morphed
into a new film genre, with sharks filling the sort of
‘villain’ slots occupied by aliens and zombies.”
For a carnivorous shark to switch to a diet of
humans would make very little sense at all. Not only
are we far less common in the oceans than fish, seals
and seabirds, but we also provide much less energy
than an insulated animal like a sea lion. Given the low
percentage of people who are actually killed in attacks,
some scientists even argue that we taste bad to
sharks; most bites to humans are exploratory, and the
sharks move on when they realise they’ve mistaken a
swimmer for a seal.

5. Sharks leap from the

water to attack boats
The glimpse of a fin sliding through the waves,
then the huge creature launching itself at people
on a beach or a boat – it’s a common theme
in movies with sharks as antagonists. Of the
hundreds of species, just a few come close
enough to the surface to expose their fin, and
most people claiming to have seen a great white
off the coast of the UK were actually looking at a
basking shark, dolphin or porpoise.
As for the idea of a shark leaping from the ocean
aer a human, it’s not something that’s ever been
seen in the real world. The great white shark can
jump 2.4 metres (eight feet) out of the water to
grab seals and birds, but a boat doesn’t look like
prey. It will sometimes wait in the shallows for
seals as they head out to sea, but launching onto
land is the speciality of the orca.
One shark that does (accidentally) land on boats
is the shortfin mako. As well as being the fastest
species, this shark is capable of leaping nine
metres (30 feet) above the surface, and these
record-breaking jumps sometimes put them on
a collision course with passing vessels.

Peter Benchley,
the author of the
novel Jaws, felt
terrible about the
repercussions of his
story and has been
promoting shark
conservation for
decades.

70
 Shark myths

Small sharks
The big sharks might get all
the attention, but about half
of the species are under a
metre long

Dwarf lanternshark
The world’s smallest shark is just
21 centimetres (8.3 inches) long
when fully grown. They live off the
coast of Venezuela and Colombia
and use bioluminescence to catch
their prey.

Smalleye
pygmy shark
Just a centimetre bigger than the
shark above, the smalleye pygmy
shark is another tiny species. It
spends its days in deep water,
migrating towards the surface
when the Sun goes down.

Pocket shark
Pocket sharks have large pocket
glands behind their pectoral fins.
Their purpose isn’t understood,
but they might release
pheromones or a luminous fluid
into the water.

Spine pygmy shark

To avoid being eaten,
spined pygmy sharks have
bioluminescent organs on their
undersides, making it hard for
predators below to see them
against the light from the
water’s surface.

Granular dogfish
Very little is known about this
dogfish shark. It’s only ever
been found around the Falkland
© Getty; USO; Fuse

Islands, and practically nothing

has been observed of its life.

71
Shark myths

6. Sharks live for thousands of years

Investigating the deaths of the great white’s
victims in Jaws, police chief Martin Brody reads
that sharks can live for 2,000 to 3,000 years.
He should probably have checked a different
book, because no shark species has a lifespan
even close to that. Although it’s been found to
live longer than previously thought, the great
white shark’s average life is still a modest 70
years long.
It may not meet movie expectations, but one
shark does claim the record for longest-living
vertebrate on the planet. Greenland sharks,
residents of the cold waters around the Arctic
Circle, have been found with up to 400 years
already behind them. It’s thought that their
large size combined with the low temperatures
they live in result in a slow metabolism and a
drastically reduced ageing rate.
These sharks are still something of a mystery;
their long lives were only discovered a few
years ago, and little is known about what they
do with their centuries in the sea.

7. Sharks have tongues

As a great white shark launches at
its potential victim in Jaws 3-D,
a huge pink tongue flaps in its
gaping mouth. But while sharks
do have something similar
to a tongue, it doesn’t look
anything like ours.
The shark equivalent
of a tongue is called the
basihyal, and it’s something
they share with the other
bony fish. While four-limbed
vertebrates have long,
flexible tongues used for
tasks like manoeuvring food,
the basihyal is the front section of a bar
of cartilage running from the chest to the
mouth. Its primary function is to support
the bones associated with the gills, so it’s
pretty rigid.
In a few species, including bullhead and
carpet sharks, the basihyal is bigger and
more flexible, and it can be teamed with
strong throat muscles to help suck prey
into the mouth. The cookiecutter shark,
a small dogfish shark, makes the best
use of its ‘tongue’, earning its name by
taking cookie-shaped chunks of flesh out
of its prey with its sharp teeth and then
vacuuming them up.

“The shark equivalent... the basihyal’s

primary function is to support the
bones associated with the gills”

72
 Shark myths

8. Sharks can
swim backwards
Jaws 3-D, the third instalment in the Jaws franchise, centres
on a pair of great whites that sneak into SeaWorld. In one
sequence, the larger shark backs out of a filtration pipe at
enough speed to break through the grille trapping it there.
That really should have been the end of the story for the
man-eating shark, because sharks can’t swim in reverse.
They’re propelled by their tails and use their pectoral fins for
balance and turning, and their anatomy simply doesn’t allow
them to go in any direction other than ahead.
While many sharks are able to pump oxygen-rich water
through their bodies using their pharynxes as they lie on the
seabed, some species – including the great white – lack this
ability and have to swim forward constantly to keep water
flowing over their gills. ABOVE Sharks
swim slowly to avoid
detection before
darting forward
when they get close
to their prey

© Getty; Alessandro De Maddalena; Getty; Image Source; Steve Bloom

Images / Alamy; imageBROKER

73
Shark myths

9. Sharks
seek revenge
The great white shark in Jaws: The Revenge is so
determined to wreak havoc on the Brody family that it
follows them from the northeast coast of America to
the Bahamas. As perfect as it would be for filmmakers,
sharks aren’t really capable of holding grudges – their
main motivation is always just getting enough to eat.
Sharks are intelligent fish, and it’s been shown
that they’re capable of learning. When tour boats
repeatedly feed them they begin to associate people
with food, but vengeance doesn’t enter their minds.
If sharks were capable of revenge, it would arguably
be justified; we’re much more dangerous to them than
they are to us. While they kill less than one person a
year, in the same amount of time 100 million sharks
are killed by humans. Many of these are victims of
the shark fin trade, their fins cut off for soup and
traditional medicine and their bodies thrown back into
the sea, but others are killed in the hope that it will
make the oceans safer. Not long after the release of
Jaws shark hunting became popular, and in 2014 the
Australian Government began a controversial (and
short-lived) cull of sharks around the west coast.

Spare some love for sharks With some help from The Shark Trust, here are six reasons sharks deserve our admiration

As apex predators, sharks control the “Sharks have been around for over 400 million Studying sharks inspires inventions like
populations of fish, seals and seabirds, helping years, longer than dinosaurs and even existing swimsuits to reduce drag and renewable energy
to keep the delicate ecosystem in balance. before trees.” mechanisms based on their tails.

74
 Shark myths

10. Sharks can roar

As they launch their attacks, sharks in
several movies let loose huge lion-like
roars. The ocean is no stranger to loud
noises, from cheery dolphin clicks to
haunting whale song, but there’s no risk
of ever coming across a roaring shark;
they lack the vocal chords needed to
produce such a sound. Sharks have
evolved bodies for stealth. Not only do
they produce no vocalisations, their
scales are the ideal shape for sliding
silently through the water.
The only exceptions come in the form
of the draughtsboard shark and the swell
shark. These species quickly force water
into their stomachs if they’re threatened,
puffing up to several times their normal
size in an attempt to deter their assailant.
If they’re successful, the sharks relax and
the water rushes back out. If fishermen
accidentally catch either of these sharks,
they gulp air instead of water – they
can’t hold on to the air for long, so it
gets expelled with a loud bark.

© Getty; Rodrigo Friscione; Franco Banfi; cuppyuppycake; Brendon Thorne / Stringer; Matt
Jelonek; wildestanimal; WaterFrame; Credit: Dr. Klaus M. Stiefel - Pacificklaus

Sharks pick old, weak prey, and deepwater “Sharks play a vital role in marine ecosystems After decades of being feared, persecuted and
species scavenge dead animals on the seabed, and are valuable for both tourism and overfished, it’s about time we began to respect
clearing up the ocean and reducing disease. wellbeing, as they provide enjoyment for many.” and appreciate the magnificence of sharks.

75
Shooting Skippy
Seen the world over as emblematic of the land down under,
Australia’s love of kangaroos is far from universal, with
many regarding them as nothing but pests. A controversial
new film has stoked the fires of a national debate
Words Charlie Ginger
Australia. Land of beaches, Neighbours, Vegemite and,
of course, kangaroos. In fact, nothing quite says Australia
like the sight of these loping marsupials bounding across
the outback. Any country would be proud to call these
imperious jumpers their own. Well, not quite.
While many Australians do indeed cherish their national
animal (of which there are reported to be between 47 and
50 million), a film that is currently premiering across the
globe has lifted the lid on one of the country’s darkest
secrets: kangaroo culling. Simply titled Kangaroo, it has
proved to be the spark that has ignited a national debate
now raging from Geraldton to the Gold Coast. We spoke
to the film’s directors, Kate McIntyre Clere and Michael
76
McIntyre, prior to attending the London premiere in early
June, and we started by asking them why they decided to
focus on the plight of kangaroos in the first place.
“Kangaroos are one of the most recognisable symbols
in the world and have always held a fascination for us. No
film had explored this icon before. We set out to make
a story that celebrated this magnificent animal but soon
discovered that the kangaroo was at the heart of a bitter,
complex and divided situation in Australia. We were
shocked to learn that millions of kangaroos are shot each
year as so-called pests and sold for profit.
“To find out where it started and why it still happens
today, we needed to investigate the origins of an industry
 Shooting Skippy

© Hopping Pictures; Radius Images / Alamy

RIGHT At the time of this

feature going to print,
Kangaroo has been screened
94 times in locations including
London, Berlin, Rotterdam,
Wellington and Sydney

77
Shooting Skippy

ABOVE Directors Kate McIntyre Clere and Michael McIntyre get up close and
personal with a young roo during filming at a kangaroo sanctuary

and government partnership that has become the largest

wildlife slaughter in the world. Where had the ideology
come from that a native animal that has lived in Australia
for millions of years could be a national problem? How and
when did Australians start believing kangaroos were a pest
and therefore must be eliminated?”
Incredibly, this wide-scale culling has, until now,
remained largely in the shadows, with the general public
seemingly unaware of what has been happening, a view
reinforced by the McIntyres.
“When we started work on the film, an early interview
with a government scientist revealed that the killing of
kangaroos in Australia was the largest terrestrial wildlife
slaughter in the world. As Australians we found this
alarming and had never heard this mentioned before
across any media. As storytellers we wanted to find out
what was going on.” Yet this would prove no mean feat.
“One of the biggest issues we faced in making this
film was examining the population figures that the
Australian Government publishes every year about how
many kangaroos there are,” explained McIntyre. “So we
unpacked the survey methodology that the government
uses to get those numbers. To our surprise we discovered
how flawed the methodology is, and so we got expert
testimony on how inflated the Government estimates are.
“On the subject of how many are killed, we discovered
that with the growth of the commercial kangaroo industry,
so-called pest mitigation, recreational and illegal shooting,
as well as road-kill and other accidental/collateral death, ABOVE Able to clear 7.6m (25) in a single
leap and reach a height of 1.8m (6), red
there is no data collected on the number of kangaroo kangaroos are perfectly built for navigating
deaths that occur daily and how many kangaroos remain. the Australian outback
Some scientists and conservationists are reporting both
local and regional extinctions.” RIGHT In a bid to reduce the kangaroo
population some females are given a
While the film has certainly uncovered many talking contraception, which to date has proved
points that are now rightly being discussed across 100 per cent successful

Kangaroos by numbers
A$
27
The value of a 30kg
(66.1Ib) kangaroo
2 to 1 3,000
TN
Kangaroos
outnumber the
Australian population
The amount
of kangaroo
3m Height a red
kangaroo can
5
million
Roos killed annually
70
KPH
The top speed a red
at 90c per kilo of 24.9 million by meat produced jump (equivalent according to a kangaroo can reach
(equivalent to £15). almost two to one. annually in Oz. to 10). Government source. (equivalent to 43.5mph).

78

One big
hoppy family
Red
Standing at up to 2.1 metres (6.9
feet), the red kangaroo is the largest
marsupial in the world. Oen seen
bounding through the deserts and
Australia and in parts of the wider world, it has also
come in for some stiff criticism from those in the
kangaroo meat industry who feel it is too one-sided
in its approach. And although the directors spoke to a
wide range of people while shooting the film, it would
be fair to say that it does not lend much screen time
to the other side of the argument, which seems like
an oversight given the lengths the directors went to in
order to gather a host of opinions.
“We knew we would have to immerse ourselves in all
aspects of the story, and we worked to get interviews
from the many differing stakeholders,” said McIntyre.
“We interviewed indigenous Australians, scientists,
commercial shooters, farmers, politicians, artists, wildlife
carers, chefs and activists so we could unpack this
cultural paradigm.
“Most people were keen to get their side of the story
heard. As the issue is so polarised in Australia there has
Shooting Skippy
trade for a living, some of whom have labelled the film
a ‘beat up’ on the industry and point to the monetary
reasons behind keeping wild populations in check.
Kangaroo farming is estimated to generate $200
million (approximately £150.7 million) annually for the
Australian economy and creates over 4,000 jobs, including
2,000 kangaroo harvesters. In 2010, kangaroo meat was
exported to 55 countries around the world, a number that
has since risen to over 60. These figures help (in the eyes
of many) to form a robust economic argument for the
continuation of culling, and this is before the environmental
benefits of doing so are considered.
Research conducted in 2014 suggests that reducing
the number of roos may well help other members of the
outback. Published in the scientific journal PLOS One, the
findings revealed that in areas of low kangaroo grazing
reptiles were three times more abundant: in territories
that are heavily cropped by these marsupials no reptile

© Hopping Pictures; Stephanie Jackson - Australian wildlife

grasslands of the outback, this
powerfully built mammal can deliver
a kick estimated at 850psi.
been lots of shouting and resistance on social media
and across the press since the film’s release. The film
certainly struck a nerve.”
Many of the nerves on which this film is getting
belong to the people who rely on the kangaroo meat
collection / Alamy Juniors Bildarchiv GmbH; Rafael Ben-Ari
of any kind was prevalent. Then there is the damage
to agriculture that kangaroos cause. While some may
argue that they were there first, the fact that roos will
often trample over crops and rival livestock for water and
grazing cannot be ignored when Australian farmers export

“Some who rely on the meat trade have labelled

the film a ‘beat up’ on the industry and point to the
monetary reasons for keeping populations in check”
Eastern grey
Shorter than its red cousin at 1.3
metres (4.3 feet), this roo lives in mobs
of up to ten and prefers to graze in
scrubs and forests. If threatened it will
emit a loud, guttural cough.

Western grey
Also known as the black-faced
kangaroo, this western subspecies
is actually widespread throughout
southern Australia. Known for its
finely haired muzzle, male western
greys have a distinctive curry scent.

Antilopine
Occurring in the savanna woodlands
of Australia’s tropical north, these
considerate creatures perform
allogrooming, with both males and
females tending to each other’s fur.
© Picture credit

Overseeing a range of up to one

kilometre (0.4 miles) square, males
will hiss and stamp their feet before
engaging in a brawl.

79
 Shooting Skippy

“The killing of kangaroos in

ABOVE A powerful voice on Australian
wildlife and the owner of Australia Zoo
in Queensland, Terri Irwin (wife of the
late Steve Irwin) features in the film
RED KANGAROO
Macropus rufus
Class Mammalia
Territory Australia
Diet Grass, shrubs, flowering
plants and foliage
Lifespan 20–30 years
Adult weight Females:
18–40kg (39.7–88.2Ib)
Males: 55–90kg (121.3–198.4Ib)
Conservation Status
© Hopping Pictures
Australia is the largest terrestrial
wildlife slaughter in the world”
77 per cent of what they produce, a fact that
generated $60 billion (£45.3 billion) for the
Australian economy in 2016–17.
While the idea of shooting these beautiful animals
understandably upsets many people, it is worth noting
that in order to kill a roo one must be in possession of
a permit – downing a kangaroo without one can result
in a A$10,000 (around £5,500) fine. It is also important
to consider exactly how many kangaroos are culled
annually. According to Federal Agriculture Minister David
Littleproud just three per cent of the kangaroo population
is harvested, which, if true (the directors do not agree
with this figure), does seem to punch a serious hole in the
film’s claim that kangaroos are in danger of disappearing.
Even so, this may not have been the main point that the
McIntyres were driving at when filming, as is perhaps
revealed in their answer when we asked what they hoped
their film would achieve.
“With breathtaking footage of kangaroos in the wild,
we hope this film will give the audience an up-close
experience of this unique species and bring to the table a
Other hard-hitting
documentaries
Blackfish
This 2013 documentary focused on the tragic plight
of Tilikum, a male killer whale kept in captivity at
SeaWorld Orlando who killed three of his trainers as a
result of the stress brought about by his incarceration.
Aer the film’s release SeaWorld experienced a huge
profit loss of 84 per cent.
The Cove
This controversial documentary won an Oscar in 2010
for its hard-hitting expose of dolphin hunting in the town
of Taiji in southern Japan. Although generally received
positively, the film was accused of portraying the
Japanese as a brutal people. Either way, this film makes
for a difficult watch and brings to the surface an industry
that has oen remained in the depths.
Earthlings
Known as the ‘vegan maker’, this utterly harrowing
film was released in 2005. Presented in five chapters

(pets, food, clothing, entertainment and scientific

conversation that Australians seem reluctant to have. It’s research) and narrated by three-time Oscar nominee
time people in Australia and across the world know what is Joaquin Phoenix, this documentary pulls no punches
LEAST CONCERN going on and ask the question: why is no one responding in exposing humanity’s hideous treatment of animals.
to the barbaric treatment of this magnificent wildlife?”

80
 FEED YOUR MIND
www.howitworksdaily.com

Available
from all good
newsagents and
supermarkets
TM

ON SALE NOW
• MEGASHARKS • BUILDING SUPERYACHTS • FINDING EARTH 2.0
SCIENCE UP CLOSE INSIDE GADGETS COOLEST TECH ILLUSTRATIONS AMAZING FACTS

BUY YOUR ISSUE TODAY

Print edition available at www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk
Digital edition available at www.greatdigitalmags.com
Available on the following platforms

facebook.com/howitworks twitter.com/@howitworksmag
 Explore the Earth

ENCOUNTER
WILD ELEPHANTS
Magnificent in every way, the world’s largest land
mammal is also one of the animal kingdom’s
most intelligent creatures, and you can see it with
your very own eyes
Words Amy Grisdale

82
 Travel expert
Justin Francis is the co-founder of Responsible Travel and is one of The Timess 50 most influential
The experience of seeing these huge, intelligent
and untamed creatures in their natural habitat is
breathtaking, and you’ll learn far more in just a few
minutes with a wild herd than you would from days
with a captive elephant as you observe their [natural] behaviour.
Seeing one of the world’s largest land mammals move across
the African savannah or shuffle through an Asian forest is
infl people in travel
unforgettable; the way an entire herd protects a tiny baby, the
care with which desert elephants treat the scant vegetation, or
the heart-stopping mock charges if your vehicle separates a herd
crossing the road.
Another option is to volunteer, for instance, working with
elephants rescued from logging or riding and given sanctuary in
large enclosures rather than those that offer rides or performances.

Borneo pygmy
Map key
elephant
1 Karnataka Elephant Reserve
300,000 years of
2 Kameng Elephant Reserve
evolution separate this
3 David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
species from other
4 Elephant Jungle Sanctuary
elephants, leaving it as
the smallest elephant in
Asia. It roams Borneo’s
forests, and there are only
around 1,500 remaining.

Sumatran elephant
African There are now less
bush elephant than 3,000 of these
Found on the open
elephants in the wild,
savannah, this is the
and 85 per cent of their
species safari-goers
habitats are outside of
are most likely to
protected areas.
spot wandering in
large family groups or
gathered near water.
Sri Lankan elephant
African forest elephant This subspecies of the Indian elephant
These animals are smaller and darker Asian elephant has suffered This elephant’s range is not limited to the
in colour than their plain-dwelling from colonisation and is country after which it is named – Indian
relatives and navigate Congo’s dense now mostly found in just a elephants graze on over 100 different plant
forests in groups of around four. handful of pockets of land. species throughout parts of mainland Asia.

Travel guide
When to go
Elephants may be easiest to
locate during or shortly after the
wet season as their footprints
will be most visible then.

How to get there

You’re most likely to need to
fly to see elephants in the wild,
and it’s best to travel with a
responsible tour company.

What the weather will do

Wherever you go, it’s going to
be very hot. If you visit during
rainy season prepare to get wet
on a daily basis.

What to take
© freevectormaps.com; Getty; Tamara Malesevic / EyeEm

Sun cream, insect repellent and

a good hat for protection are
the most essential things to
take on an elephant trek.

When the babies arrive

Elephants are year-round
breeders, so there’s no set
time to visit to see newborn
calves. It’s down to pure luck.

83
83
 Explore the Earth

Witness unbreakable bush elephant bonds

5 elephant
l ffacts
you’ll never forget
Blaring noise
An elephant’s trumpet sound can travel
over ten kilometres (6.2 miles). It denotes
aggression, distress or excitement to other
animals in the not so local vicinity.
Elephants experience perhaps the strongest
relationships on Earth, and herds stay
together for their entire lives. African
bush elephant families comprise of up to
50 females of several generations, and
the closely bonded animals graze, travel
and search for water together. Males are
expelled from the group once they reach
sexual maturity to avoid inbreeding.
Adult males were once thought to be
solitary, but in fact they form their own
herds of bachelors when not in season.
Males ready to mate will impregnate
females before resuming their lives without
the ladies.
Related elephants babysit for their
siblings, and all the herd’s adults pitch in to
help raise the calves. The oldest and largest
female takes charge, and her hard work
strengthens the family unit. She defends
the younger members of the group from
predators and makes decisions about where
to search for food and water.
When looking for elephants on safari, it
is worth noting that they are often heard
before they come into view. Adults crash
through dense vegetation to allow the
youngsters to follow and they produce low-
frequency rumbles in order to communicate
over distance.

Incredible incubation
Elephant pregnancies last 22 months, just
eight weeks shy of two years! This means
elephants calves are advanced and can walk
within ten minutes of birth.

Long friend lists

Like humans, elephants can recognise other
individuals from their voices alone. Each
animal can distinguish over 100 different
friends by the sounds they make.
Ride denied
Elephants are enormous, but they aren’t the load-
bearers one might think. Elephant spines are
comprised of sharp, angular bones that protrude
upwards and the tissue between the vertebra and
the outer layer of skin is extremely vulnerable to
excess weight. Pressure from above can cause
the animal extreme discomfort, and over time
this can result in permanent spinal injury. If
seeing wild elephants really isn’t enough for you,
there are walking and washing interactions at
rehabilitation centres that don’t involve riding or
deviating from natural elephant behaviour at all.

Staying sober
Elephants don’t eat fermented fruit to get
drunk as they don’t search for food in the
same areas in which rotting marula fruit
lies on the ground. Even if they did it would
take almost 1,500 pieces of the fruit to get an
elephant drunk.

Delicate touch
An elephant’s trunk is so dextrous it is able to
pick up a single grain of rice. The trunk’s tip is
around as sensitive as human lips.

84
84
 Encounter wild elephants

© Getty; Alain Mafart-Renodier/Biosphoto/FLPA

85
 Explore the Earth

Revere a real-life
Indian deity
The elephant Hindu god Ganesha
represents intellect and wisdom and is
said to remove obstacles. Indian elephants
embody these values and have become
an intrinsic aspect of Indian life. Elephants
have been domesticated over centuries
and live alongside humans. This has been
known to cause conflict between farmers
and hungry heffalumps, but planting
particularly fragrant crops or locating
beehives around fields is enough to get
elephants to look elsewhere.
Elephants are used in celebrations and
festivals in India, but those wishing to see
elephants in their natural surroundings are
in luck. Around 60 per cent of Asia’s wild
elephants are in India, and they are most
densely populated in the southern tip of
the country. However, their population
has reduced by 50 per cent over the last
three generations due to human land
use. If you can stand the heat, see these
massive mammals in their native habitat
before their home ranges shrink any more.

Watch Sri Lankan

elephants taking a dip
Whether it’s the salty sea or an inland reservoir,
water is extremely important to elephants. There
have been cases where elephants taking a dip in
the ocean have had to be rescued 16 kilometres
(9.9 miles) from shore after getting caught in
a current – thankfully these animals are able to
breathe through their long trunks just like a built-
in snorkel.
When they aren’t riding the waves, Sri Lankan
elephants can often be seen squelching around
in muddy ponds and coating their skin with
Sun-repelling clay to cool down. This allows the
animals to spend maximum time foraging in
grassland under the hot Sun.
It’s important to avoid supporting elephant
captivity masquerading as rehabilitation. Tourism
is an extremely lucrative industry in Sri Lanka
and a great number of visitors are satisfied with
paying for an elephant selfie. Animal welfare
advocates stress the importance of watching
elephants in the wild rather than so-called
‘orphanages’ that exist purely to make money.

86

Glimpse Sumatran elephants gardening
Indonesia’s island of Sumatra is home to a huge
array of endangered species, including tigers,
orangutans and the Sumatran elephant. As a
huge herbivore, these giants are responsible for
depositing seeds around this fragile ecosystem.
Not only do plants get to spread their roots as a
result, but dropped seeds are mixed into a ready-
made fertiliser in the form of elephant droppings.
Elephant dung also supports countless species
of insects, providing a food source and a safe
place for creepy crawlies to lay their eggs. Every
animal in the food chain is extremely important,
Encounter wild elephants
and allowing just one species to disappear could
have huge repercussions for those that remain.
Sumatra has seen a human population surge
in recent years, accompanied by a high demand
for palm oil. This ‘miracle’ ingredient makes its
way into thousands of products on Western
supermarket shelves, but procuring it requires
clearing native trees to make way for animal-
unfriendly oil palm trees. Along with supporting
ethical tourism to see wild elephants in Sumatra,
you can help out at home by avoiding products
with palm oil or ensuring they are sustainable.
Trudge through
the jungle with
pygmy elephants
The origin of this subspecies is the
subject of some debate, but it is
generally accepted that captive
elephants were introduced to Borneo
by the Sultan of Sulu in the 18th
century. As a result of descending from
domesticated animals, they are much
tamer than other wild elephants, yet
they still like to venture far and wide.
While they would usually range across
a territory spanning up to 400 square
kilometres (154.4 square miles), in
fragmented areas of jungle they can be
forced to wander across 600 square
kilometres (231.7 square miles) of terrain
to find food.
Visitors to Borneo should travel with
experienced guides. The island has
overwhelming biodiversity that not
everybody will be fortunate enough
to encounter, but it’s no walk in the
park. Trekking the Bornean jungle is an
exhausting and dangerous pursuit that
should not be taken lightly. It’s also very
© FLPA; Jurgen & Christine Sohns; Nicolas Cegalerba; Getty; JMWScout
important to keep your distance from
the friendly animals in order to prevent
the elephants from losing their fear of
humans entirely.
“Pygmy elephants
are much tamer
than other species
of wild elephant”
87
87
 Explore the Earth

Spy forest elephants

through the trees
The straight, white tusks of this magnificent
species help uproot trees and strip bark from
trunks. These are both important food sources
for this elusive elephant, along with leaves and
various fruit. All of this roughage wears down
their tough teeth, so these elephants grow six
replacement sets throughout their lives.
Though concealed within thick woodland,
predation is still a problem for elephants. Lions
and hyenas will target a young calf that has
strayed away from the family, and they will
even attack a sickly adult. However, aside from
these threats, forest elephants coexist with
other species peacefully and provide important
services for other woodland creatures.
Elephants dig for water when it is scarce,
benefitting a great number of other animals,
and their propensity to charge through
vegetation creates corridors for the rest of
the forest’s inhabitants, disperses seeds and
fertilises the environment with their immense
piles of dung.
Even elephant footprints are useful to Africa’s
ecosystem, with divots driven into swampy soil
being able to hold up to 200 litres of water.
Up to 61 different species have been recorded
occupying these little lakes, which elephants
provide simply by existing.
This species occupies four west African
countries and can be spotted by the lucky few
adventurous enough to explore the forests. This
should only be attempted with reputable guides,
as armed rangers patrol the woods to protect
the animals from illegal poaching.

Who to travel with

These tours are tried and tested to provide an unforgettable elephant experience

Eco-friendly Family Luxury

Responsible Travel Audley Travel Elephant Hills Thailand
WWW.RESPONSIBLETRAVEL.COM WWW.AUDLEYTRAVEL.COM WWW.RAINFORESTCAMP.COM
Laos elephants and colonial cities Self-drive Botswana safari Jungle Lake safari
From £1,475 per person, excluding flights. From £4,820 per person. From £475 per person, excluding flights.

88
 WIN!
A COPY OF BEASTLY JJOURNEYS
This anthology
hology of stories
storie about
travelling with animals comes from
authors as revered as Sir David
Attenborough. For your chance to win
just email animals@animalanswers.
co.uk and tell us what beastly journey
you’d like to go on.

Warning signs
Chains
Elephants should never be shackled. If
an elephant poses a danger to another
animal or a human when it is not
chained it should not be in captivity.
Don’t hand over money to a facility that
chains up its animals.

Rides
It’s best to avoid tour operators that
offer rides, even if you choose not to
take a turn. Make a statement with
where you put your cash, and don’t
reward anyone taking advantage of
endangered elephants.

Touching
Wild elephants should be just that –
wild. Elephants are perfectly capable
of injuring or even killing a human if
one strays too close. Touching wild
elephants also sends the message
that all humans are harmless, which is
definitely not the case.

Feeding
Elephants spend up to 16 hours
a day finding food, and being the
middleman robs the animal of its daily
drive. Nature provides everything an
elephant needs, and while it may be
an enjoyable experience for you, the
animal won’t thank you for feeding it.

Concrete
The wilderness is a place free from
human-made objects, and there is no
room for hard cement in an elephant’s
life. Stamping those giant feet is a form
of elephant communication that the
animals rely on to stay in contact.

Why elephant
tourism matters
Travelling to a country to see elephants
sends a strong message to the nation’s policy
makers. Your money is an economic incentive
to protect elephants from poaching and provide a
sustainable future for endangered animals.
It is our responsibility to prove that species like
elephants are much more valuable alive than dead.
The ivory trade is still a threat. When a resource is
scarce it becomes more coveted. Laws will tighten
© Ariadne van Zandbergen; FLPA

and eventually private collections of ivory will

make their way into the hands of authorities.
It’s simply a matter of time. Hopefully
elephants will survive long
enough to bounce back.

89
89
 Bears and bustards:
EUROPE’S BEST
WILDLIFE
EXPERIENCES
Not flush enough to go on safari? Haven’t got time to
explore the Amazon? No problem says the author of a
new guidebook; Europe’s packed with spectacular animals
Gargantuan walruses lounging on Arctic
icebergs. Barbary apes peering towards
Africa from atop the Rock of Gibraltar.
Rare Azores bullfinches singing on
forested volcanoes in the mid-Atlantic
Ocean. Brown bears lolloping through
Italian mountains. How rich, how varied,
how thrilling is Europe's wildlife? And in
such spectacular landscapes too!
Ah, yes, brown bears. This was the creature that
arguably inspired my nature-oriented journey throughout
Europe – from Italy to Iceland, from Trujillo to Tallinn.
Having written guides about the glamorous wildlife of
Antarctica and South America, I returned to the UK
and immersed myself in penning books starring British
animals and plants, but wanderlust eventually bettered
me, beseeching that I again expand my horizons. With a
young child, months photographing Africa's ‘Big Five’ or
escorting people around polar regions were impractical
options. Short breaks within a few hours flight, however,
were eminently feasible. So what amazing creatures
might it be possible for me – or you – to see on a wildlife-
watching weekend somewhere in Europe?
And so, properly this time, to those brown bears. Why
travel to Alaska to see grizzlies when Europe offers so
many different ways to experience half a ton of ursine
heft? It was during a May dusk in Romania’s Transylvania,
the gloaming bristling with anticipation, that I finally
clasped eyes on a brown bear. Failing light made for
frustrating photography, but such modest disappointment
was more than outweighed by the ease of travel. In three
days – barely a long weekend – we watched bears and
90
Words James Lowen
enjoyed the wondrous water world of the Danube Delta.
This got me thinking… where else could you see brown
bears in a weekend?
In several places, it transpired. A night in a comfy hide
in the Finnish taiga would provide near guaranteed views,
with the added bonus of grey wolves. During a spring
evening in a spartan Estonian construction, raccoon dogs
provided complimentary excitement. But why not shun
hide-based observation altogether in favour of sitting in
the open? In Spain's Somiedo or Italy's Abruzzo you can
easily scan favoured hillsides for bears exploiting autumn’s
berry bonanza. And it's not just Ursus arctos that you can
see in an easy weekend. Thanks to the advent of low-cost
flights and ever-improving information about where to see
special creatures, you can enjoy ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ wildlife
experiences all over Europe – every weekend of the year.
This is the precise conceit of my new book, 52 European
Wildlife Weekends. It proposes a year’s worth of superb,
animal-and-plant-packed short breaks, each carefully
timed and packaged to maximise efficiency for the time-
poor traveller. So shun the New Year blues and head to
Poland to watch herds of European bison browsing in the
snow. Escape the winter by gawping at houbara bustards
prancing around a desert in the Canaries. Alternatively,
embrace the snow by venturing north of the Arctic Circle
to be mesmerised by Varanger's ‘king eider vortex’.
You could treat the family to a weekend break to
Sardinia for remarkable cave-dwelling amphibians, or head
“Enjoy ‘once-in-a-lifetime’
experiences all over Europe”
 Europe’s best wildlife experiences

52 European
Wildlife
Weekends: a Year
of Short Breaks for
Nature Lovers

Celebrating
Europe’s

52 abundant
European
Wildlife
Weekends
wildlife riches,
A Y E A R O F S H O RT B R E A K S F O R N AT U R E L OV E R S

this novel book

highlights
James Lowen

52 brilliant
wildlife-watching weekends,
one for each week of the
year, which encompass
21 European countries.
With practical information
including places to stay, GPS
co-ordinates to aid navigation
and ideas to extend each
weekend into a wildlife-
filled week, this guide has
something for experts and
novices alike.
£15.99. World of Animals readers
can get a 20% discount by
visiting the Bradt Travel Guides
website at https://tinyurl.com/
ASummerOBW and entering code
52EWW at checkout.

to Corsica for endemic birds and flowers. If you’re feeling

romantic, why not escape on a city break to an Italian
hilltop town that throngs with lesser kestrels. And so on
across the year until you spend Christmas in the Camargue
watching shockingly pink greater flamingos and being
astonished by wallcreepers, a cliff-hugging creature that
appears to be half-bird, half-butterfly.
So what of the other cover stars from the book? Can
you really see such exotic creatures (Arctic foxes, two-
tailed pashas, little bustards and sperm whales) in just a
weekend? The answer is short and unequivocal: yes.
For Arctic foxes, head to Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen.
Even in the outskirts of this frontier town this caramel-
and-chocolate-coated canid sniffs the ground for barnacle
goose eggs. While you are in the Norwegian Arctic you
can take a trip to marvel at walruses and bearded seals.
© Winfried Wisniewski/Minden Pictures/FLPA; Frederic Desmette/Biosphoto;
With a multitude of vibrant colours adorning massive
wings, two-tailed pashas looks like a butterfly that would People often think they have to travel thousands of
be more at home in tropical rainforests than in Europe, miles to go whale watching – to New Zealand's Kaikoura,
and that wouldn't be too far from the truth. This winged for example. Few realise you can have a thrilling oceanic
wonder is a largely African species that scrapes into excursion closer to home. Take a boat trip off southern
J.-L. Klein and M.-L. Hubert; Arik Siegel/Nature in Stock

Mediterranean Europe. To find it, try Extremadura in
central Spain in late May: Monfragüe Castle – which also
has vultures floating overhead and white-rumped swifts
careering past – is as good as anywhere.
On your Extremadura weekend it would be rude not
to pop to the grassy plains of Cáceres and enjoy another
cover star. Male little bustards attract females by making a
call that sounds like someone blowing a raspberry. Shortly
after dawn, they accompany this delightful sound with an
eye-catching display of dance – their own salute to the Sun
– flashing white wings above crimson poppies.
Ireland in late autumn for fin whales, or snorkel with orcas
in Norway, with the aurora borealis as a support act. All of
which brings me to our final cover star, the sperm whale.
Perhaps no animal illustrates more clearly why we would
be daft to shun Europe in favour of far-flung destinations.
Sperm whales are Kaikoura's main draw, yet you can easily
gasp at this giant much closer to home on a weekend in
the Azores or Madeira, or in Norway's Versterålen, or even
by taking a ferry ‘mini-cruise’ from Portsmouth to northern
Spain. It’s never been easier to witness Europe’s wildlife.
So, what are you doing next weekend?

91
 Subscription offer
TM

Worth
£16

Free RSPB Wildlife

Pocket Book
when you subscribe by 31st October
From the humming-bird Hawk moth to the False Deathcap Fungi, spot
common British animal, plant and fungi species with this pocket-sized
guide. Maps show you what animals, plants and fungi to find where and
species are categorised so you can plan your spotting and make the most
of your surroundings, whether you are on a holiday browse or serious quest.
An ideal guide for all the family.
Zara Gaspar Editor
 Subscription offer
TM

Reasons to
subscribe …
sä9OULLäNEVERäMISSäANäISSUE
ä
sä)TSäDELIVEREDäDIRECTäTOäYOURäDOORä
sää"RILLIANTäVALUEänäSAVEäMONEYä
on the cover price

Subscribe now
www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/WOAAUG18
or call 0344 848 2852 & quote WOAAUG18

£26 £35
PRINT &
PRINT DIGITAL
Six month Six month
subscription to subscription
World of to World of
Animals Animals in print
in print plus & digital plus
RSPB Wildlife RSPB Wildlife
Pocket Book Pocket Book

*Terms and cond

conditions: This offer is only available for new UK subscribers. Gift is subject to availability. Please
se allow up to 60 days
da
days for the delivery of your
yo gift. In the event of stocks being exhausted we reserve the right to replace with items of
similar value. Prices and savings quoted are compared to buying full-priced print issues. You will receive 13 issues in a year. You u can write to us or call us to cancel your subscription within 14 days of purchase. Payment is non-refundable after
the 14 day cancellation period unless exceptional circumstances apply. UK calls will cost the same as other standard fixed line numbers (starting 01 or 02) or are included as part of any inclusive or free minutes allowances (if offered by your
phone tariff). For full terms and conditions please visit: www.bit.ly/magterms. Offer ends 31st October 2018.
 Meet the family
Jays Although not all closely related, there are
around 50 species classed as jays, and
they have loud voices, bright colours
and impressive intelligence in common
Florida scrub jay
The local celebrity
As its name might suggest, this jay these jays are intelligent and
is native to Florida – in fact, it’s lived inquisitive and have sometimes been
STELLER’S JAY
there for at least 2 million years and seen approaching and flying off with Cyanocitta stelleri
is the only bird endemic to the state. shiny objects. Class Aves
Because it can’t be found anywhere Living in such a small area has its
else, keen birdwatchers travel long downsides though. The Florida scrub
distances for a glimpse of the jay is under threat as development
among Florida’s sand pine scrub. continues in the state and large trees Territory Western North
These birds live in flocks, and have been allowed to take over some America
Diet Seeds, nuts, fruit,
helpers assist breeding pairs with areas, and the jay is now the focus of In many anim
animal species features invertebrates, eggs, rodents,
their offspring. Like other corvids, several conservation projects. like crests are exclusive to one reptiles
sex, but both male
m and female Lifespan Up to 16 years
Steller’s jays have
h tall black Adult weight 100–140g
feathers on their
th heads. (3.5–4.9oz)
FLORIDA SCRUB
CRUB
B JAY Conservation Status
Aphelocoma coerulescens
Class Aves

Steller’s jay
Stel LEAST CONCERN

The sh
shady species
Territory Florida,
da, US This distinc
distinctive bird occupies the forests along America’s
Diet Seeds, fruit,
uit, nuts, grains, northwest c coast, where its dark blue plumage helps it to
insects, reptiles,
es, frogs, mice
Lifespan 4.5 years blend into tthe shadows. Outside of the breeding season
Adult weight 66–92g Steller’s jay
jays live and forage in flocks, and they can be spotted
(2.3–3.2oz) travelling ac
across clearings and glades in neat single file.
Conservation Status
Using the
their strong beaks, these jays smash open hard seeds
and nuts an and crunch invertebrates like beetles and wasps.
VULNERABLE
In spring and
an summer they’ll also tuck into berries, eggs and
fruit, with males
m feeding their partners while they incubate
clutches of eggs in nests made from twigs, grass, pine
© Getty; Panther Media GmbH / Alamy; Mike Truchon; Robert C. Paulson; age fotostock; GlobalP

needles anda even paper. Steller’s jays have a wide repertoire

Juvenile Florida scrub jays can
easily be distinguished
uished from the of sounds,
sounn including imitations of other birds, and they
adults because their heads are become
beco om especially loud if any animal gets too close to
brown – the bluee cap appears as their
theei brood.
they mature.

Because the colour of the blue

BLUE JAY
Cyanocitta cristata
Blue jay jay’s feathers comes from
the structure and air spaces
within them, a crushed
Class Aves The bold blue bird feather would appear black.
As they dart through the forests of Canada and
the US hiding acorns ready for winter, blue jays
produce flashes of colour between the trees.
Territory Canada, US and The bright blue doesn’t come from a pigment;
Mexico it’s caused by the complex inner structure of the
Diet Nuts, seeds, fruit, feathers scattering the light reflecting off them.
invertebrates and small
vertebrates The small crest on the blue jay’s head lies
Lifespan 7 years flat when the bird is feeding and resting but
Adult weight 65–110g becomes raised when it’s excited or agitated. This
(2.3–3.9oz)
Conservation Status jay is known for being loud and bold, fighting
viciously with rivals and screaming when it spots a
predator. It’s worth trying to ward off an attacker,
LEAST CONCERN because blue jays aren’t very fast flyers and are
easy to catch for swift birds like hawks.

94
 Jays

Inca jay
The parents with their nests full
Once thought to be a subspecies
of the green jay, the Inca jay is
INCA JAY
Cyanocorax yncas now often classed as a separate
Class Aves bird. This tufted species lives in the
Andes in South America. Breeding
pairs build nests in dense bushes
and work together to care for their
1. Smallest 2. Fanciest
Territory Andes Mountains, chicks. Offspring often remain
South America
Dwarf jay Black-throated
with their parents for several years,
Diet Seeds, fruit, insects, small At just 40g magpie-jay
vertebrates
helping to raise their siblings.
(1.4oz), the Over half of its
Lifespan 10–11 years Unfortunately, all of this effort
Adult weight 66–110g
dwarf jay is the length comes
There are can be exploited by giant cowbirds;
several (2.3–3.9oz) smallest of all from its ornate
Conservation Status
these brood parasites have been
subspecies of the corvids. It’s tail feathers. In
seen laying their own eggs in Inca
Inca jay, each endemic to the case that didn’t
with different jay nests so that the hardworking
montane forests make it striking
length bristles LEAST CONCERN teams will raise the planted chicks
over their beaks. of Mexico, where enough, it also
alongside their own.
its population is has a curving
threatened. black head crest.

3. Most 4. The
endangered original
White-throated jay Eurasian jay
SIBERIAN JAY
Perisoreus infaustus
Siberian jay According to
the IUCN this
This was the
first species to
Class Aves The jay dressed for winter species, which be named ‘jay’.
Smaller than other corvids and more similar is threatened First described in
in shape to songbirds, you’d be forgiven for by habitat loss, the 18th century,
not identifying this species as a jay. The potentially has its Latin name
Territory Northern Europe Siberian jay lives throughout coniferous the smallest references its
and Asia
Diet Seeds, berries, forests in Scandinavia, Russia and remaining loud call and love
invertebrates, eggs, lizards, some northern parts of Asia, where population. of acorns.
mammal carcasses fluffy plumage helps it to cope with
Lifespan 7 years
Adult weight 75–95g the extreme winter temperatures.
(2.6–3.4oz) Siberian jays live in small groups
Conservation Status with a single breeding pair, some
of their offspring and some
unrelated birds. They’re Not a jay...
LEAST CONCERN
monogamous and will stay
in the same territory with
Black
Siberian jays are awkward fliers
in the open, but in their preferred
habitat of dense forest they can
their partner for life.
They mostly eat
magpie
hide and dodge between trees to seeds, berries and The black magpie, native to Southeast Asia,
avoid predators. small invertebrates. was long classified with the jays. Closer
analysis later revealed that it didn’t belong
in this group and, confusingly, nor was it a
magpie. It finally found its home with the

Eurasian jay treepies, a group of long-tailed Asian corvids

that spend almost all of their time in the trees.
The oak tree’s assistant
Eurasian jays occupy a huge range from The 33 subspecies of Eurasian
EURASIAN JAY Western Europe to Southeast
utheast Asia. Across jay vary hugely in colour,
Garrulus glandarius this vast area of highly varied conditions there pattern and crest, but they all
Class Aves share the characteristic black
are multiple subspeciess that have evolved to
‘moustache’ markings and
look quite different from
m one another. In the blue wing patches.
UK there’s no confusion;n; the Eurasian jay is the
only jay to inhabit the country, so this species is
Territory Western Europe, simply known as the jay.y.
northern Africa, Asia
Diet Seeds, fruit, invertebrates, Eurasian jays hoard up to 1,000 acorns a
eggs, young birds, bats and year and inevitably forget
get about some; before
rodents people started planting g them the birds were the
Lifespan 5 years
Adult weight 140–190g most important distributors
utors of the English oak.
(4.9–6.7oz) However, it’s not only
y the oak that the
Conservation Status Eurasian jay has a special
ial relationship with. In
order to keep their feathers
thers free from parasites
the birds lie down on anthills
nthills so that the
LEAST CONCERN
startled residents sprayy them with formic acid.

95
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Animal
answers
Send your animal questions to us at:
questions@animalanswers.co.uk
The coyote’s Latin
name of Canis
latrans translates
as ‘barking dog’, a
nod to its repertoire
of vocalisations

Do coyotes chase
roadrunners in real life?
Both coyotes and roadrunners share their habitat, being
prevalent in northern America, the Canadian deserts, Mexico and
northern California. Despite this, the concept of coyotes chasing
roadrunners (derived from Looney Tunes) is a highly unlikely
predator-prey situation. There is minimal documentation of such
an event in the wild; instead, coyotes show a preference for
other prey, such as bison, rabbits, deer, lizards, insects and fish.
Roadrunners are also surprisingly opportunistic predators, known
to hunt small mammals, reptiles, insects and even rattlesnakes.
Even so, considering that a coyote can reach speeds of to
64.4 kilometres (40 miles) per hour, while a roadrunner can only
achieve a speed of 32 kilometres (19.9 miles) per hour, if a chase
did occur the coyote would catch its target easily. Such speed
can be attributed to their differing sizes, with an adult coyote
reaching up to 22.7 kilograms (50 pounds) and a roadrunner
only reaching 230–430 grams (8.1–15.2 ounces).

Why do some animals have webbed feet?

An array of species have webbed feet – toes
connected through a piece of skin. This
interlinking structure has primarily evolved for
aquatic locomotion, allowing an animal to swim
efficiently to capture prey or flee predators. The
webbing structure increases the surface area
of the foot, therefore pushing against a greater
amount of water, aiding speed and navigation.
LEFT Dog breeds Such a structure is equally as important above
including the water, as webbing eases walking on unstable
Newfoundland surfaces, preventing sinking or loss of balance.
(pictured) and
dachshund all Most aquatic animals have webbed feet,
have webbed feet including ducks, frogs, penguins and puffins.
Puffins reach depths of up to 61 metres
(200 feet) when hunting fish, using their
webbed feet as a rudder to navigate,
whereas swans simply use their
webbed appendages to swim while
feeding at the surface.
Some mammals have also evolved
with this structure, including beavers,
capybaras and even canine species. For
example, Newfoundlands were bred to
work in the cold waters of Canada, relying
on their webbed feet, muscular build and thick,
water-resistant fur.

Follow us at... @WorldAnimalsMag worldofanimalsmag

96

Why do squirrels chase each other?
Squirrels chasing each other can be
attributed to three factors: dominance,
reproduction or fun. Most commonly, the
behaviour is associated with establishing
territories, as squirrels will chase others to
assert their dominance. Territorial species
include American red squirrels. However,
this territorial trait is not displayed by some
species, an example being the grey squirrel.
Another reason for chasing is reproduction.
Studies have indicated that male squirrels
What kind of animals eat eggs?
Ovivores are animals that consume eggs
as part of their natural diet due to their high
nutritional value. Examples of these animals
include snakes, birds, squirrels, deer,
cougars, lynx, baboons and skunks.
This dietary choice is fundamental to
survival, which is reflected in species
expending ample energy to locate eggs.
Animal answers
will give chase to determine the reproductive
state of a female, which is indicated through
her scent. This behaviour can be witnessed
throughout the year, as mating can occur
between December and February and
between June and August depending on the
species of squirrel.
A final explanatory factor is simply that
scuttling aer each other is fun; juveniles will
chase as a form of play-fighting, as is also
seen in puppies and kittens.
© Mike Raabe / Design Pics; Getty; Jon Boyes; Chris McLoughlin; PeskyMonkey; Adam Hester
Aer eating the egg
whole this snake
will regurgitate
the eggshell
Baboons scavenge by the ocean while the
tide is low to hunt for shark eggs; snakes
swallow reptile eggs whole; and gull-like
birds known as skuas steal penguin eggs.
While many animals will strive to protect
their eggs from such predators, cuckoos
Q. Do cows
will lay their eggs in another bird’s nest,
discarding the nurturing responsibility. fart methane?
Find o
out
ut a
at…
t…
animalanswers.co.uk
 Animal trivia
Test your animal knowledge
1. BATTY BIRD 3. KEEPING COOL
What is the Spanish name for the oilbird? How does this animal stay cool in the heat?

2. MEET THE JAYS

Name the smallest, fanciest, most endangered a. b.
and original jay?

a. b. c. d.

4. HOW MANY ARE ROO?

How many kangaroos are there in Australia?
a. Around 50 million b. Around 500,000

c. d. c. Around 50,000 d. Around 5,000

5. BADASS BEETLES
Match the bug to the correct phrase
a. b. c. d. e.
“I can lift “I run
“I am the “I use a chemical “I bleed toxic
objects over 100 blindingly fast
ultimate desert spray to destroy blood to deter
times my own to catch my
animal.” enemies.” predators.”
weight.” prey.”
©Alamy; Getty; NaturePL

Tiger beetle Bombardier beetle Rhinoceros beetle Ladybird Fogstand beetle

Rhinoceros beetle b. Fogstand beetle c. Tiger beetle d. Bombardier beetle e. Ladybird

big ears help it thermoregulate c. It uses a technique called gular fluttering d. It wallows in mud 4. a. Around 50 million 5. a.
Answers 1. Guácharo 2 a. Dwarf jay b. Black-throated magpie jay c. White-throated jay d. Eurasian jay 3. a. It sweats b. Its

98
9000
9021