The Tallest Animals on Earth

~I wonder why I didn't think of this animal before now!~

What is yellow-brown, has spots, and an EXTREMELY long neck? This should be easy: the giraffe! Although the giraffe is probably not usually the first animal you think of when I say "African Migration," let me give you some news--they are still part of it! Giraffe just don't run around as much as zebras and wildebeests, since they wander around in groups on grasslands, so I guess we don't automatically make the connection between them and the Migration. But they are still a prey species of the African Migration (because the Migration occurs year-round, or in other words, ALWAYS). Have fun refreshing your giraffe knowledge!

Giraffe

Classification: Mammal
Size: 14-19 ft / 4-6 m
Weight: 1750-2800 lb / 794-1270 kg
Diet: Herbivore
Lifespan: 25 years in the wild
Appearance: tan color body; brown patches; extremely long neck and legs.
Status: (numbers decreasing)
They are still rather stable, but we need to watch out. There food supply and homes are being lost due to human settlement and cleared land for agricultural uses.


Where should I start? I think I'll start from the bottom and work my way up. Giraffe's legs are very long, sometimes reaching up to 6 feet tall, so unless you're a relatively tall person, I doubt your head will go any higher its hips (or hindquarters). Here's a picture that gives you an idea of the size of a giraffe relative to a 6-ft tall man:

Courtesy: National Geographic

These long legs serve an important purpose: to run. A giraffe's long legs can help it "sprint" up to around 35 miles per hour (56 kilometers) according to National Geographic. Running at an easygoing pace, they can "jog" comfortably at around 10 kilometers for quite a long time. Wow. I wish I could do that...

Now let's talk about their necks. I think everyone knows the main purpose of their long neck, right? For eating leaves! Because their long neck makes them so tall, they are able to reach into the high and deep branches of trees to pick out the juiciest leaves in the tree. And like humans, giraffe have favorite dishes as well; they love acacia. Also, due to their height, giraffe can see from a long distance, which helps them keep a lookout for predators and possible signs of danger.

Courtesy: National Geographic

The giraffe also has an extremely long tongue. It can reach up to 21 inches long! (That's 53 centimeters). What's that for? Well, after they reach high up into the branches with their neck, they reach even deeper into the leaves and stick out their tongue to look for the juiciest one. Then they pluck it out with their tongue and gobble it up.

Courtesy: Giraffe Boards
I don't know if a giraffe prefers to clean their ears like this,
but they definitely could if they wanted to!

If you take a really close look, you can see that all giraffe have little horn-like structures on the top of their head. They are actually called "ossicones," because they are made of ossified cartilage. Giraffe are born with ossicones detached from their head, and it fuses with their skull when they get older. Female giraffe have ossicones with little black tufts at the top, while the ossicones of males are balded, usually due to fights with other males (wacking each other on the neck with their head hurts...but with the horns I bet it hurts even more!) 

Despite all the perks giraffe have of being tall, long-legged, and "long-necked," there is one big disadvantage. Because of their long legs and tall overall height, it is extremely risky and dangerous for a giraffe to drink water or bend down at all. In order to do so, they have to spread their legs out (especially front legs) extremely wide so they can drink from a water hole while standing. If they fall over, their chances of standing up in a short a mount of time is pretty slim. So if a giraffe falls when they are being chased by a predator, then they are in really bad luck. 

Giraffe Fights

Yes, giraffe fight. Giraffe will fight for territory and possible mates. However, they are almost never fatal. Usually, after extensive neck wacking and long-legged wobbly dances, one giraffe will submit and walk away. In some cases, giraffe will fall over, but unless they are about to die or have very short time, they will just manage to get up and walk away. The winner of a giraffe fight is usually the younger giraffe, since they have less experience and are not as "bulked up" yet. 

Here is a video of a giraffe fight, probably the most violent a fight will ever get:

From Youtube, ABC News

Here is the link to the original video on Discovery of the giraffe fight

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I hope you liked this post on facts about the giraffe! My biggest hope is to educate and let everyone know how amazing and beautiful our planet's wildlife is, so we can all realize that killing these animals is wrong. 

I'm going to start wrapping up the African Migration in a couple of weeks. Because this topic got dragged on for so long, I probably missed some animals that you were expecting me to cover. Since I'm not exactly sure what the next theme will be yet, I can still take suggestions on what animals to do. Currently, my plan is to cover hyenas next week (10/31~11/1) and gazelles the week after that (11/7~11/8). If you want me to make a post on another animal, feel free to email me at weforwildlife.c@gmail.com with your suggestions, and I add it onto my list of animals to post on (if possible).  I hope to see you all in next week's post about hyenas!

Thank you for reading,

~Cheri

Sources:

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/giraffe/

http://www.giraffeconservation.org/giraffe_facts.php?pgid=1

The Illegal Ivory Trade: Part 2~The Ivory Trade

Merriam-Webster defines ivory as "(n.) a hard white substance that forms the tusks of elephants and other animals." How do you use this product? Sculptures in your backyard? An expensive piano? An antique chess set? Jewelry, perhaps? No matter what the uses are, human demand for ivory has devastated the elephant population. Here is a quick timeline summary of how all this happened in just a couple hundred years (and how drastically it has worsened in the past century)

17th Century
Demand for ivory began as early as the 1600s. Back then, ivory was used for sculptures and other luxury items. When the piano was invented in the 1700s, ivory then became a popular material for piano keys. This is when the population of elephants started to decline unnaturally.

Ivory piano keys
Courtesy: Early American Industries Association

Mid 1900s
Fast forward to around the 1950s. More ivory is used for luxury items but the sport of elephant hunting became popular around this time, too. Imagine hunters with rifles or arrows (or whatever weapon they preferred), spreading out across Africa and shooting elephants, removing the tusks, then leaving the carcasses where they were. Pretty scary, right?

Have you guys seen the Jurassic World movie? If you have, recall the scene where brachiosaurus or apatosaurus (the long neck dinosaurs) lay dying on the hills. Owen had said the Indominus Rex was "killing for sport." This is similar to what was happening back then.

"She's killing for sport" -Owen, Jurassic World
Courtesy: The Wrap (covering Hollywood)

1978
The African Elephant is officially declared as "threatened" on the U.S. Endangered Species List.

African Elephant
Courtesy: (Foreign) Wikipedia

Late 1900s
A drastic drop in elephant population. According to IFAW, their numbers went from 1.2 million down to 600,000. All in a span of about 10 years.

Elephant Population stats from 2005 (could not find 1900s, sorry!)
Courtesy: Speak Up For The Voiceless

1989
The Conference on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) bans the trade of ivory.
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/17/science/ivory-trade-is-banned-to-save-the-elephant.html
Here is a link to a real New York Times article published in 1989 describing the ban.

1999
CITES gave permission for 3 countries in Africa to sell to Japan 55 tons of ivory. (Wondered why though....)

Early 2000s (around 2008 or so)
CITES let 4 more countries sell a whopping 120 tons to China and Japan! With so many "legal" ivory being sold, many illegal trades started (because they could get away with saying their ivory was "legal")

2011
Officials seize more than 26 tons of ivory (according to IFAW). Elephants are having an EXTREMELY bad year. "Worst year for elephant poaching since the 1989 ban took effect"(IFAW).

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So now you know how bad the elephants have it. From an article which I read a few years ago, I remember that there was a law (or something similar) passed saying that we could NOT sell ivory from after an auction in the mid 1900s (I'm not 100% sure about what happened to this law later, though). However, this caused controversy because many people were claiming their ivory was from before the auction, even if they were not. This further encouraged elephant poaching. (If you like science, I can tell you that was when radioactive dating became really useful in helping illegal ivory trade. And no, not that dating, but the "estimating age of rock or ivory" dating)

The saddest part is that just 200 years ago there were around 26 million elephants--now there are less than a million. If we do not stop, elephants WILL go to extinction. And we will have to live in this world without those majestic, beautiful, amazing creatures. 

Don't worry, it's not completely hopeless. Elephant numbers have now started gradually rising thanks to repeated encouragement on wildlife conservation and discouraging elephant poaching. They are now labeled as "vulnerable." We're making progress, and let's not stop making progress! Let's hope that in the next few years or decades, we can bring their population back up to a !  

Courtesy: World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

Now that you know about the unfortunate history of the African elephants of the Great Migration, I will resume my normal formatting for the next post. However, since I am having trouble posting on Wednesdays, I have decided to move my posting days to the weekend. I've decided I'm going to try that for a few weeks, and see if it works out. So from now on, please expect posts on weekends instead of Wednesdays.

Cheers!

~Cheri

Sources:

http://www.ifaw.org/sites/default/files/education-publications/us/us-aae-tfk-ivory-history-worksheet.pdf

Picture sources are linked in the captions

The Illegal Ivory Trade: Part I~Elephants

Hello everyone! Sorry it took me so long to pull this post up. However, I promised 2 posts this week, and I'm keeping my word! I've come up with a pretty neat topic for the next two posts, and since the topic is so broad and widely-discussed, I've decided to split it into two parts.

I'll be talking about the ivory trade and and the elephants that have to pay the price for them. The first part, as you've probably seen in the title, will be all about elephants, so you guys become familiar with these majestic animals.

To get us started...
There are actually two types of elephants: Asian and African. I'll be telling you guys a little bit about both, and the next post will be all about specifically the illegal ivory trade.

Asian Elephant

Courtesy: National Geographic

Classification: Mammal
Size: 6.6-9.8 ft / 2-3 m
Weight: 2.25-5.5 tons / 2041-4990 kg
Diet: Herbivore
Lifespan: (up to) 60 years in the wild
Appearance: long trunk (nose), tusks, relatively small ears (compared to the African elephant), bigger head (compared to the African elephant)
Status: 
Endangered because too many of them are killed for their ivory tusks, also their habitat is destroyed for "agricultural use" (as stated by National Geographic)


I know the theme is the "African Migration" which Asian elephants do not take part in, but since I will be talking about the ivory trade in the next post (which is a real issue in Africa), I feel like you should know about both types of elephants that are killed in this trade.

The Asian elephant, as you probably have guessed, lives in Asia. They are now only found in a few parts of Southern Asia, as shown by the map below:

Courtesy: National Geographic

Their size is relatively small compared to their cousins, the African Elephants. Normally you would think elephants have large ears. Scientifically, that is correct, because the elephants use their large ears to stay cool. However, the Asian elephants' ears are smaller in proportion to their body; but their large head makes up for that, I guess. Their trunks are also a bit longer and thinner, and only some male Asian elephants have tusks. Their forehead is also very smooth, while the African elephant has a wrinkly face.

Asian elephant size compared to human
(Courtesy: National Geographic)

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African Elephant

Courtesy: National Geographic

Classification: Mammal
Size: 8.2-13 ft / 2.5-4 m
Weight: 5,000-14,000 lb / 2,268-6,350 kg
Diet: Herbivore
Lifespan: (up to) 70 years in the wild
Appearance: shorter trunk (nose), long tusks, large "Africa-shaped" ears , smaller/wrinkly head (compared to the Asian elephant)
Status: 
Threatened because they are killed for their ivory. The trade is banned now, but completely gone, leaving them kind of endangered.


African elephants, although threatened, can be found in many parts of Africa. They roam in the jungles and savannas, searching for water and traveling with their young.

Courtesy: National Geographic

African elephants are a lot larger than Asian elephants. Their ears are larger, too. In fact, one extremely easy way to distinguish between the two elephants is to look at their ears. African elephants' ears are in the shape of the African continent--like an upside down triangle. Their ears are also extremely large; sometimes a bit bigger than their face. Asian elephants have smaller, rounded ears that are small compared to their face. African elephants also have long, big tusks, which both females and males have. Their trunks are shorter and a bit thicker than Asian elephants as well.

African elephant size compared to human
(Courtesy: National Geographic)

Here is a diagram depicting how to differentiate from African and Asian elephants

Courtesy: Thomson Safaris

The most magical part of an elephant is their trunk, in my opinion. According to National Geographic, their trunks contain 100,000 muscles and is used for smelling, breathing, drinking, "trumpeting," and picking up food. (Trumpeting is the blasting sound elephants make) 

Ivory is wanted from both elephants, which plays a part in the reason for both types of elephants' unstable population. The main reason for Asian elephants is due to habitat loss, while ivory trade is responsible for the plummeting population of African elephants. But no matter what the reason is, these elephants will slowly die out if it doesn't stop, and they need our help. Ivory trade is now officially made illegal, but still not completely eliminated (meaning there are probably a few black markets out there that still illegally trade). In the next post I will be talking about the ivory trade itself. But while you are waiting, here is a short video for you to watch:

You can find the original video here: History of the Ivory Trade

This video was taken from Youtube, uploaded by Garrus Franklin

See you soon!

~Cheri

Sources:

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/african-elephant/

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/asian-elephant/

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/media/history-ivory-trade/

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/10/ivory/christy-text

http://www.thomsonsafaris.com/blog/difference-african-asian-elephant/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEHOdHUxNWE

A Quick Notice

Hello!

I know some of you are anticipating the double-post I promised this week. Don't worry, I ran out of time yesterday so it wasn't finished. However, it will be released by Friday, Saturday latest. I promise this week's topic is something we will all enjoy discussing about!

~Cheri

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Sneak Peak:

Courtesy: National Geographic
Photo taken by Joe Amon

Fastest Animal On Earth

As promised, here is the weekend post. (By the way, you can start expecting weekly posts on Wednesdays again) So this week I will be talking about the world's fastest land mammal...any guesses? (Although it should be super easy). The Cheetah! Yeah, if you didn't know that then I don't know where you've been.....but don't worry! This post should have you all caught up, and hopefully you'll have a newfound respect for cheetahs by the end, too!

Cheetah!

Courtesy: National Geographic

Classification: Mammal (feline)
Size: 3.5-4.5 ft / 1.1-1.4 m
Weight: 77-143 lb / 35-65 kg
Diet: Carnivorous
Lifespan: 10-12 years in the wild
Appearance: Golden yellow fur; black circular spots on the body; a black "tear trail" from the inner eye corner down to by the snout

Status: 

They are now vulnerable due to mass habitat loss!




If you raced a (regular) car with a cheetah who would win? The cheetah. And not only would it win, but it would win by A LOT. That's because cheetahs accelerate faster than any old automobile can. According to National Geographic, cheetahs can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles/hour (95 km) in just a matter of 3 seconds! Their powerful burst of energy is released instantly. However, because all that energy is burned within a few seconds, their fast speed can only be maintained for a short period of time. After that, they have to slow down and rest, or they will tire out.

Cheetahs rely on their fast speed to catch their prey. They can run more than 30 meters in just 5 seconds! Here is a video I taped of the famous "Cheetah Run" at San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

[technical difficulty; video will be uploaded as soon as the problem is fixed]

Wasn't that amazing? Fast speed is only one way it survives. The spotted coat helps it camouflage in the tall grasses of the savannah, so it can stealthily stalk its prey. They are also daylight hunters. Their method of hunting is particularly interesting. Once they have spotted their target, they will try to get as close as possible, then leap-pounce into the high-speed chase. When chasing its prey, the cheetah won't attempt to bite the animal. Instead, it will try to knock the prey down, and kill it from there. Here is a video of a mother cheetah teaching its cubs how to chase and bring down a gazelle (so keep in mind you will not see the mother pounce on the gazelle, but you will see the cubs learning to do so)

video from Youtube, by BBCWorldwide

Cheetahs are solitary animals, meaning they don't live in packs, and after the male mates, it often leaves the female, leaving the mother to raise the cubs alone. Most female have a litter of up to around 3 cheetah cubs, and will stay with her cubs for around two to three years. She will, to the best of her ability, train and show her cubs how to properly hunt and chase down prey.

Courtesy: National Geographic Photography
Photography by Chris Johns

In a way, it is extremely difficult for cheetahs to catch their prey. This is because they have to have very keen senses of hearing and sight. As they are secretly stalking and inching toward their prey, they will have to immediately freeze or crouch down at any sign of movement. If the prey sees the cheetah, it will immediately sprint away, and it is up to the cheetah to try and catch up, or leave and hope for a luckier catch next time. As seen in the video above, the mother cheetah always freezes the moment the gazelle shows any hints of looking up or moving. Her reaction is probably faster than any human, not to mention those soundless footsteps that not even a gazelle can hear! 

The next time you decide to visit the San Diego Zoo area, be sure to check out Safari Park and watch the Cheetah Run--the experience is priceless and you'll get to see a cheetah run at full speed in person! Or, if you want to see a wild cheetah chase a real prey animal in nature, head down to South Africa during the Great Migration season (check out my first Great Migration post to find the right time for you) and watch Mother Nature at its best. 

Cheetah Run, San Diego Zoo Safari Park (sorry it's blurry)
Courtesy: San Diego Zoo

I'm sorry this post was probably not as good as the others, and I'm probably a bit rusty from taking a 2 week break because of school, but I promise the next post will be better! And since I released this before the end of the weekend, guess what? You guys get TWO posts next Wednesday instead of one! I'm still deciding which animals to write about (there are so many good ones), so I'll surprise you guys with my decision next week.

Oh,  and if you ever do decide to go see wildlife in action for a vacation, be careful what you buy for your souvenir there, because maybe, just maybe, an animal had to pay the price.

Sources:

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/cheetah/