ears Archives - Page 37 of 59

Bleat

The name Klipspringer is the Afrikaans for ‘rock jumper’ and alludes to the animal’s ability in rocky territory where it can be seen moving freely, seemingly on tiptoe. Weighing 11-13 Kg and standing 500-600mm high at the shoulders, this is a small and stocky antelope. Ewes are slightly larger than the rams. Only rams have short horns, which are ringed only at the base. Klipspringers have smallish rounded ears positioned far back on the head, and with noticeable dark inner markings. The coarse-haired coat is variable in colour with shades of grey, yellow, brown or red, with marked white underparts, chin and lips. A prominent feature is the large, black pre-orbital gland.

25 June 2018Picture of the day, Wildlife

Quenching

A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of any big cat species. Black panthers in Asia and Africa are leopards and those in the Americas are black jaguars. Close examination of the colour of these black cats will show that the typical markings are still present, but are hidden by the excess black pigment melanin, giving an effect similar to that of printed silk. This is called “ghost striping”.

20 April 2018Picture of the day, Wildlife

Snacking

Because of their very long necks, giraffes are able to feed on the foliage of trees that is not accessible to other herbivores. The long prehensile tongue is used to pull pods and leaves into the mouth which are then stripped from the stems with the spatulate incisor teeth. Adult males generally reach a height of about 5 meters and females about 4,5 meters. Big males can weigh a massive 1 200 kilograms while females usually weigh some 800 to 900 kilograms. Their skin color is tan with light brown patches on females and dark brown patches on males. Both males and females have short horns covered in skin.

11 April 2018Picture of the day, Wildlife