Wild animals

1. Wild animals By Louise Cracknell and Sian Floyd gunner

2. When the moment is right a cheetah will sprint after its quarry and attempt to knock it down. Such chases cost the hunter a tremendous amount of energy and are usually over in less than a minute. If successful, the cheetah will often drag its kill to a shady hiding place to protect it from opportunistic animals that sometimes steal a kill before the cheetah can eat. Cheetahs need only drink once every three to four days.Female cheetahs typically have a litter of three cubs and live with them for one and a half to two years. Young cubs spend their first year learning from their mother and practicing hunting techniques with playful games. Male cheetahs live alone or in small groups, often with their littermates.Most wild cheetahs are found in eastern and south-western Africa. Perhaps only 12,000 of these big cats remain, and those are under pressure as the wide-open grasslands they favour are disappearing at the hands of human settlers. The Cheetah

3. Favourite food – Acacia Leaves Tongue is 18 inches long Have a four chambered stomach and will regurgitate their food for additional chewing – similarly to a cow. Typically get most of their water from the Acacia leaf, but will drink up to 10 gallons of water per day. Horns are called Osicones Although rarely heard, Giraffes can moo, hiss, roar and whistle to communicate with one another Have the longest tail of any land mammal – up to 8 feet long, including the tuft at the end. Giraffes at the San Diego zoo enjoy raw onions as a special treat Ancient Romans and Greeks thought that the Giraffe was a mix between a camel and a leopard. This is where their scientific Genus name of "camelopardalis" comes from. Giraffe

4. Dingoes cannot bark - but they can howl. A dingo can turn its head through almost 180 degrees in each direction. Dingoes have permanently erect ears. Dingoes live in Australia and Southeast Asia, mainly Thailand. Australian dingoes are larger than Asian dingoes. Wild dingoes can live for up to ten years but usually live for more like five or six years. Dingoes cared for by people can live up to 15 years or more. Domestication of dingoes has been difficult. Dingoes are intelligent animals. They are more independent and harder to train than other dogs. The plural of dingo is dingoes, not dingo's. Male dingoes are larger than females. Males weigh 26 to 43 pounds (12 to 20 kg) and females weigh 21 to 35 pounds. Most Australian dingoes are ginger-coloured or sandy coloured with white chests. There are also dark coloured dingoes. The Dingo

5. Leopards are not unlike other carnivorous animals when it comes to hunting. A leopard must expend precious energy in the pursuit of capturing its prey, whether the hunt ends successfully or not. Source: Biological Science, Third Edition, by William T. Keeton of Cornell University, page 532. The Leopard

6. Loss of habitat and persecution by Humans are leading factors in the Wolves "Endangered Species Status". The weight of the North American Wolf can be as little as 40 pounds or as large as 175 pounds. The length of the North American Wolf varies between 4'6" and 6'6" from muzzle to tip of tail. The height of an average Wolf is between 26 and 32 inches at the shoulder. Wolves have large feet, the average being 4 inches wide by 5 inches long. Wolves can live up to 13 years in the wild but the average is only 6 to 8 years. Wolves in captivity have been known to live up to 16 years. Wolves have 42 teeth. Wolves breed once a year, December through March, depending on latitude, the gestation period is 63 days. Wolf pups are born in northern climates as late as early June and in southern climates as early as late February The average litter size is 4 to 6 cubs. The wolf

7. The horse starts as a foal (male) or filly (female).  During the first 12 months the foal/filly  has long legs compared to its body.  After two months the foal/filly sheds its milk hairs.  Two months later it would stop drinking milk from its dam (mother).  After it has passed drinking milk from it's dam, it is considered a horse. A 12 month becomes a Yearling on January 1.  At 12 months the baby horse is still uncoordinated in movements,  and quite leggy, but their frame is beginning to fill out.  This is an ongoing process until maturity, when it's hind quarters, or croup, are in line with it's withers, the part right below the neck.  The last parts of growth are the epiphyses or the growth plates on the very long bones of the legs.  Until these are closed, the horse isn't able to keep working because they are too weak.  This happens particularly when they are under weight, without the risk of the legs being damaged.  The epiphysis is located at the end of the cannon bone, over the fetlock joint, an\ usually is closed in the middle of nine and twelve months.   The horse [black beauty]

8. As one of the great survivors, Zebras have excellent eyesight, a keen sense of smell and are capable of running 40 mph. Every zebra has its own pattern of stripes (which makes it easier for researchers). Zebra belong to the family Equidae, hoofed animals characterized by one toe. This includes all horses and horse-like animals of the world. This single hoof is probably an adaptation for fast motion on hard ground. The stripes help them confuse predators by making it hard for them to single out any one of them while in motion.  They also interfere with the depth perception of predators. Although there is no color variation between the sexes, plains zebras do vary in color and pattern across their range. Moving from the north to the south of this specie's range, there is a tendency for the stripes on the hindquarters to become less well defined. They have long jaws, so that when they are grazing, their eyes are still high enough to watch for predators. With eyes located on the side of their head, zebras have a much wider field of vision. They require constant water supplies and they need to drink every day. The zebra