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When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?
Tigers are the largest cat species in the world and the third-largest carnivore on land--only polar and brown bears are larger. An adult Amur or Siberian tiger (the largest subspecies) can weigh up to 660 pounds. The Sumatran tiger is the smallest, with males only weighing up to 310 pounds.
The eyes of cats contain primarily rods. Tigers have circular pupils and yellow irises (white tigers have blue irises). Due to the lack of cones in the eye these see depth rather than colour.
In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
Royal Bengal Tigers are the largest amongst other wild cats The male Tigers weigh up to 300 kilograms. That’s like weighing a group of six average human. All they have to do is sit on top of you licking their paws, you’d be dead instantly.
The saddest part is that Tiger cubs are born blind and only a few survive. Literally, the newborn cubs can't see anything, they only follow the scent of their mother. Since they are born blind and can't keep up, most of them die of hunger or cold.
Its Their World Too They Have a Right To Live- Save Tiger
When experts say that the population of tigers in the wild is small, it isn’t an exaggeration. There are less than four thousand specimens, and some subspecies are already extinct in the wild.
People’s fear of tigers have made them be depreciated and accused of attacking men, which has contributed to some extent to their current situation. Also, they continuously face threats such as poaching and habitat loss, which has put them in a grave danger of extinction.
From the six subspecies, three are “Endangered, ” and three are “Critically Endangered” being the southern Chinese tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis) the most threatened of all since for more than 25 years there have not been records of sightings in the wild.
– Panthera tigris tigris (Bengal Tiger) – Endangered (EN)
– Panthera tigris altaica (Siberian tiger) – Endangered (EN)
– Panthera tigris corbetti (Indochinese tiger) – Endangered (EN)
– Panthera tigris jacksoni (Malayan tiger) – Critically Endangered (CR)
– Panthera tigris amoyensis (South China tiger) – Critically Endangered (CR)
– Panthera tigris sumatrae (Sumatran tiger) – Critically Endangered (CR)
White tigers are not a separate subspecies of tiger. There is only one tiger species and only two recognized subspecies in the world—the Continental (Panthera tigris tigris) and the Sunda (Panthera tigris sondaica). The color of the white tiger's fur is the result of a genetic mutation called leucism. In fact, this white coat would be a hindrance in the wild, as it doesn’t provide a tiger with any camouflage, which greatly reduces their chance of survival.
The white tiger is a result of a rare genetic mutation and the most efficient way to breed them is by using two tigers who have the recessive genes needed to produce offspring with a white coat. In captive breeding facilities these two individuals are often related, making inbreeding common. In the US, all white tigers originate from a single male white continental tiger which was imported to the country decades ago.
Unlike most members of the cat family, tigers like water. They are good swimmers and often cool off in pools or streams. When a tiger wants to be heard, you’ll know about it, because their roar can be heard as far as three kilometres away. They may be big and heavy, but tigers are by no means slow movers. In fact, at full speed they can reach up to 65km/h!Today, there are five subspecies of tiger: Bengal, South China, Indochinese, Sumatran and Siberian. Sadly, three subspecies of tiger have become extinct – Caspian, Bali and Javan.
Like humans, tigers have binocular vision. This enables them to be able to use their sense of depth perception to judge distances, giving their pouncing and jumping actions a distinct accuracy.If they were not able to judge distances as well as they can, they could injure or lose their prey, rather than catching and killing it swiftly.The eyes of the tiger are situated on the front of its head, and not to the sides. This helps with three-dimensional perception and depth perception, since both eyes look ahead.
Tigers hunt mainly during the evening and night times, when the vision of their prey is compromised. For this reason, their night time vision is excellent; about six times better than that of humans. There are several adaptations within the actual eye that allow for this:
1.It has a wide, rounded pupil that allows maximum light to enter into the eye, when necessary.
2.The anterior chamber and lens of the eye are also larger for the same reason.
3.The tigers retinas comprise mainly rod receptors, which are cells that are sensitive to low light levels and can perceive very slight movements. There are some cone cells (colour receptors) in each eye, but these are used more for day vision, and not to perceive a range of different colours. In fact, it is thought that some tigers likely only see dull greens, blues and reds, while others see in black and white.
While most cats despise water, tigers love taking baths to help keep themselves cool during the hottest parts of the day. They'll submerge themselves in nearby lakes and streams, soaking for up to an hour, but neck deep only. Tigers don't like getting water in their eyes, to the point that they'll actually enter the water backwards to prevent this from happening.
Once they return to dry land, the combination of the wetness and the wind has a pleasant cooling effect on the tiger's body and if it starts to wear off, no problem - they just repeat the process. And thanks to their webbed feet, tigers are also powerful swimmers, and have been known to cover up to 20 miles in a single outing!
Superman may be faster than a speeding bullet and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but tigers can hold their own when it comes to heightened senses and amazing abilities. Their most developed sense is hearing, but they have excellent binocular and color vision, including the ability to see six times greater at night than a human can. In the sound department, though they don't purr due to a modification of their larynx. They do, however, have a mighty roar that can be heard as far as two miles away!
That's a pretty mighty bark, but in this case, it's not worse than their bite - a tiger's canine tooth can grow up to three inches, which is about the length of your middle finger. But with 30 of those suckers in its mouth, don't be flipping the bird to this predator anytime soon. A chomp of a tiger's jaws can generate pressures of up to 10,000 pounds per square inch, which is enough to crunch through the vertebrae of any creature on the earth!
While most cats despise water, tigers love taking baths to help keep themselves cool during the hottest parts of the day. They'll submerge themselves in nearby lakes and streams, soaking for up to an hour, but neck deep only. Tigers don't like getting water in their eyes, to the point that they'll actually enter the water backwards to prevent this from happening.
Once they return to dry land, the combination of the wetness and the wind has a pleasant cooling effect on the tiger's body and if it starts to wear off, no problem - they just repeat the process. And thanks to their webbed feet, tigers are also powerful swimmers, and have been known to cover up to 20 miles in a single outing!
White Bengal tigers have pink noses, white-to-creme coloured fur and black, grey or chocolate-coloured stripes. White Bengal tigers eyes are usually stunning blue, but may be green or amber. There are several hundred captive White Bengal tigers worldwide (this number increases annually), all of whom can trace their ancestry back to ‘Mohan’, a White Bengal tiger caught in Rewa, India in 1951.
The Latin name for the tiger is ‘Panthera tigris‘. They can live up to 26 years in captivity and in the wild. Tigers prefer to inhabit forests, grasslands and mangrove swamps. There are six distinctive tigers: Bengal, Indochinese, Malayan, Siberian, South China and Sumatran. White tigers are caused by recessive genes and inbreeding. There are as few as 30 Golden Tigers in captivity. There are three extinct breeds: Bali, Caspian and Javan. They can measure up to 11ft, including tail.
They can weigh up to 670lbs. The stripes that a tiger has are as unique as human fingerprints. Tigers are generally solitary creatures, but are seen as highly social able.
COMMON NAME: Bengal Tiger
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Panthera tigris tigris
TYPE: Mammals
DIET: Carnivore
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD: 8 to 10 years
SIZE: Head and body: 5 to 6 feet; tail: 2 to 3 feet
WEIGHT: 240 to 500 pounds
Easily recognized by its coat of reddish-orange with dark stripes, the tiger is the largest wild cat in the world. The big cat's tail is three feet long. On average the big cat weighs 450 pounds, about the same as eight ten-year-old kids. It stands three feet tall with teeth four inches long and claws as long as house keys.
A female tiger gives birth to a litter of three or four cubs, who she will care for until they are a year-and-a-half old. These cubs quadruple in size during their first month!
The powerful predator generally hunts alone, able to bring down prey such as deer and antelope. Tigers wait until dark to hunt. The tiger sprints to an unsuspecting animal, usually pulling it off its feet with its teeth and claws. If the prey animal is large, the tiger bites its throat to kill it; smaller prey is usually killed when the tiger breaks its neck. Tigers have been known to eat up to 60 pounds of meat in one night, but more often they consume about 12 pounds during a meal. It may take days for a tiger to finish eating its kill. The cat eats until it's full, and then covers the carcass with leaves and dirt. The tiger comes back to feed some more.
Tigers live far apart from each other. A tiger knows if it is in another tiger’s territory based on the trees around him. Each tiger marks the trees in its area with urine and special scratches.
COMMON NAME: Bengal Tiger
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Panthera tigris tigris
TYPE: Mammals
DIET: Carnivore
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD: 8 to 10 years
SIZE: Head and body: 5 to 6 feet; tail: 2 to 3 feet
WEIGHT: 240 to 500 pounds
Easily recognized by its coat of reddish-orange with dark stripes, the tiger is the largest wild cat in the world. The big cat's tail is three feet long. On average the big cat weighs 450 pounds, about the same as eight ten-year-old kids. It stands three feet tall with teeth four inches long and claws as long as house keys.
A female tiger gives birth to a litter of three or four cubs, who she will care for until they are a year-and-a-half old. These cubs quadruple in size during their first month!
The powerful predator generally hunts alone, able to bring down prey such as deer and antelope. Tigers wait until dark to hunt. The tiger sprints to an unsuspecting animal, usually pulling it off its feet with its teeth and claws. If the prey animal is large, the tiger bites its throat to kill it; smaller prey is usually killed when the tiger breaks its neck. Tigers have been known to eat up to 60 pounds of meat in one night, but more often they consume about 12 pounds during a meal. It may take days for a tiger to finish eating its kill. The cat eats until it's full, and then covers the carcass with leaves and dirt. The tiger comes back to feed some more.
Tigers live far apart from each other. A tiger knows if it is in another tiger’s territory based on the trees around him. Each tiger marks the trees in its area with urine and special scratches.
Tigers are the largest cat species in the world and the third-largest carnivore on land--only polar and brown bears are larger. An adult Amur or Siberian tiger (the largest subspecies) can weigh up to 660 pounds. The Sumatran tiger is the smallest, with males only weighing up to 310 pounds. Females generally weigh less than males in all subspecies.
Tigers are the only cat species that are completely striped. They even have stripes on their skin.Stripe density varies by subspecies. The stripes on a Sumatran tiger are closer together than those on any other subspecies. No two tigers have the same stripes. Like human fingerprints, their stripe patterns are unique to each individual. Stripes range in color from light brown to black and are not symmetrical on both sides of the tiger.
The white tiger or bleached tiger is a pigmentation variant of the Bengal tiger, which is reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal and Bihar in the Sunderbans region and especially in the former State of Rewa.They're not albinos. They're simply tigers that are born with white fur. White fur is a very rare genetic mutation. It occurs in the wild possibly in as few as 1 in 10,000 wild tiger births.
The lowland nyala or simply nyala, is a spiral-horned antelope native to southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus Tragelaphus, previously placed in the genus Nyala. It was first described in 1849 by George French Angas. The body length is 135–195 cm, and it weighs 55–140 kg.
The tiger (Panthera tigris) is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus Panthera. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ungulates such as deer and wild boar. It is territorial and generally a solitary but social predator, requiring large contiguous areas of habitat, which support its requirements for prey and rearing of its offspring. Tiger cubs stay with their mother for about two years, then become independent and leave their mother's home range to establish their own.
The tiger was first scientifically described in 1758 and once ranged widely from the Eastern Anatolia Region in the west to the Amur River basin in the east, and in the south from the foothills of the Himalayas to Bali in the Sunda Islands. Since the early 20th century, tiger populations have lost at least 93% of their historic range and have been extirpated from Western and Central Asia, the islands of Java and Bali, and in large areas of Southeast and South Asia and China. Today, the tiger's range is fragmented, stretching from Siberian temperate forests to subtropical and tropical forests on the Indian subcontinent, Indochina and Sumatra.
The tiger is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. As of 2015, the global wild tiger population was estimated to number between 3,062 and 3,948 mature individuals, with most of the populations living in small isolated pockets. India currently hosts the largest tiger population. Major reasons for population decline are habitat destruction, habitat fragmentation and poaching. Tigers are also victims of human–wildlife conflict, particularly in range countries with a high human population density.
The tiger is among the most recognisable and popular of the world's charismatic megafauna. It featured prominently in the ancient mythology and folklore of cultures throughout its historic range, and continues to be depicted in modern films and literature, appearing on many flags, coats of arms and as mascots for sporting teams. The tiger is the national animal of India, Bangladesh, Malaysia and South Korea.
The wild tiger has been roaming the planet for over two million years.
It is a sad fact that there are now more tigers in captivity than there are in the wild. In 1900 there were 100,000 tigers in the wild. Today, there are fewer than 3,200 remaining across 13 countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.
Of the world's remaining tigers, there are six existing subspecies:
The Amur Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) - occur in the Russian Far East and north-eastern China
The Northern Indochinese Tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) - occur in Indochina, north of the Malayan peninsula
The Malayan Tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni) - occur in Peninsular Malaysia
The Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) - occur in Sumatra, Indonesia
The Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) - occur on the Indian sub-continent
The South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis) - this subspecies has not been directly observed in the wild since the 1970s and is now possibly extinct.
The Caspian, Balinese and Javanese subspecies have all become extinct in the past 70 years.
Tigers are the largest of the Asian big cat family and rely on their senses of sight and sound, rather than smell. Typically, they will hunt alone and stalk their prey - consuming up to 88Ibs of meat at any one time.
The largest species of tiger is the Amur, with the Sumatran being the smallest. Typically, female tigers will give birth to 2-3 cubs every two years.
As Apex predators, tigers can shape the ecosystem in which they live. They limit herbivore numbers which in turn prevents overgrazing and helps maintain the ecological balance of an ecosystem. They also have large home ranges which means by protecting their habitat we are also protecting the habitat of a large number of other species and maintaining forests which secure water and help mitigate climate change. This is what we call an ‘Umbrella species’.
www.flickr.com/photos/184806716@N02/52258226820/in/pool-i...
COMMON NAME: Bengal Tiger
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Panthera tigris tigris
TYPE: Mammals
DIET: Carnivore
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD: 8 to 10 years
SIZE: Head and body: 5 to 6 feet; tail: 2 to 3 feet
WEIGHT: 240 to 500 pounds
Easily recognized by its coat of reddish-orange with dark stripes, the tiger is the largest wild cat in the world. The big cat's tail is three feet long. On average the big cat weighs 450 pounds, about the same as eight ten-year-old kids. It stands three feet tall with teeth four inches long and claws as long as house keys.
A female tiger gives birth to a litter of three or four cubs, who she will care for until they are a year-and-a-half old. These cubs quadruple in size during their first month!
The powerful predator generally hunts alone, able to bring down prey such as deer and antelope. Tigers wait until dark to hunt. The tiger sprints to an unsuspecting animal, usually pulling it off its feet with its teeth and claws. If the prey animal is large, the tiger bites its throat to kill it; smaller prey is usually killed when the tiger breaks its neck. Tigers have been known to eat up to 60 pounds of meat in one night, but more often they consume about 12 pounds during a meal. It may take days for a tiger to finish eating its kill. The cat eats until it's full, and then covers the carcass with leaves and dirt. The tiger comes back to feed some more.
Tigers live far apart from each other. A tiger knows if it is in another tiger’s territory based on the trees around him. Each tiger marks the trees in its area with urine and special scratches.
COMMON NAME: Bengal Tiger
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Panthera tigris tigris
TYPE: Mammals
DIET: Carnivore
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD: 8 to 10 years
SIZE: Head and body: 5 to 6 feet; tail: 2 to 3 feet
WEIGHT: 240 to 500 pounds
Easily recognized by its coat of reddish-orange with dark stripes, the tiger is the largest wild cat in the world. The big cat's tail is three feet long. On average the big cat weighs 450 pounds, about the same as eight ten-year-old kids. It stands three feet tall with teeth four inches long and claws as long as house keys.
A female tiger gives birth to a litter of three or four cubs, who she will care for until they are a year-and-a-half old. These cubs quadruple in size during their first month!
The powerful predator generally hunts alone, able to bring down prey such as deer and antelope. Tigers wait until dark to hunt. The tiger sprints to an unsuspecting animal, usually pulling it off its feet with its teeth and claws. If the prey animal is large, the tiger bites its throat to kill it; smaller prey is usually killed when the tiger breaks its neck. Tigers have been known to eat up to 60 pounds of meat in one night, but more often they consume about 12 pounds during a meal. It may take days for a tiger to finish eating its kill. The cat eats until it's full, and then covers the carcass with leaves and dirt. The tiger comes back to feed some more.
Tigers live far apart from each other. A tiger knows if it is in another tiger’s territory based on the trees around him. Each tiger marks the trees in its area with urine and special scratches.
The long-tailed widowbird is a medium-sized bird and one of the most common in the territories it inhabits. Adult breeding males are almost entirely black with orange and white shoulders (epaulettes), long, wide tails, and a bluish-white bill. Females are rather inconspicuous, their feathers streaked tawny and black with pale patches on the chest, breast and back, narrow tail feathers, and horn-coloured bills.
Info sourced from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-tailed_widowbird
Photo capture date & Location: 2017-11 Rietvlei Nature Reserve
COMMON NAME: Bengal Tiger
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Panthera tigris tigris
TYPE: Mammals
DIET: Carnivore
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD: 8 to 10 years
SIZE: Head and body: 5 to 6 feet; tail: 2 to 3 feet
WEIGHT: 240 to 500 pounds
Easily recognized by its coat of reddish-orange with dark stripes, the tiger is the largest wild cat in the world. The big cat's tail is three feet long. On average the big cat weighs 450 pounds, about the same as eight ten-year-old kids. It stands three feet tall with teeth four inches long and claws as long as house keys.
A female tiger gives birth to a litter of three or four cubs, who she will care for until they are a year-and-a-half old. These cubs quadruple in size during their first month!
The powerful predator generally hunts alone, able to bring down prey such as deer and antelope. Tigers wait until dark to hunt. The tiger sprints to an unsuspecting animal, usually pulling it off its feet with its teeth and claws. If the prey animal is large, the tiger bites its throat to kill it; smaller prey is usually killed when the tiger breaks its neck. Tigers have been known to eat up to 60 pounds of meat in one night, but more often they consume about 12 pounds during a meal. It may take days for a tiger to finish eating its kill. The cat eats until it's full, and then covers the carcass with leaves and dirt. The tiger comes back to feed some more.
Tigers live far apart from each other. A tiger knows if it is in another tiger’s territory based on the trees around him. Each tiger marks the trees in its area with urine and special scratches.
Rhinoceroses are some of the largest remaining megafaunas: all weigh at least one tonne in adulthood. They have a herbivorous diet, small brains (400–600 g) for mammals of their size, one or two horns, and thick (1.5–5 cm), protective skin formed from layers of collagen positioned in a lattice structure. They generally eat leafy material, although their ability to ferment food in their hindgut allows them to subsist on more fibrous plant matter when necessary.
Info sourced from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros
Red-collared Widowbird. The breeding male is jet black and develops a 20-centimeter floppy graduated tail and, in some areas, a crimson collar and/or crown. The female and non-breeding male has dark-streaked upperparts, pale unstreaked underparts, and a yellowish eyebrow and face, and lack the long tail. Pairs breed in open grassland, savanna, scrub, and cultivated areas. The species may flock, often with other seedeaters, and move locally when breeding is over.
Info source URL: ebird.org/species/recwid1
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Photo capture date & Location: 2017-11 Rietvlei Nature Reserve
#greece #ig_greece #wu_greece #animalia #chordata #aves #phasianidae #galliformes #pavo #pavone #zoo #attikoparko #lovelymoment #instaanimals #birds #peacock #colorfulbirds #birdssofinstagram #nature #naturephotography #naturegram
The King Cheetah, also known as Cooper's Cheetah, was once thought to be a separate sub-species. But it is actually an African Cheetah exhibiting a rare fur pattern mutation. A recessive gene must be inherited from both parents in order for this "blotchy" pattern to appear. First discovered in Zimbabwe in 1926, this very rare animal has been seen in the wild only 6 times. It has been known to exist in Zimbabwe, Botswana and in the northern part of South Africa's Transvaal province. The De Wildt Cheetah Research Centre in South Africa specializes in breeding this cat in captivity.
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The photo was taken during October 2017 at Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre, De Wildt, Pretoria, South Africa.
Info source URL: www.cheetahspot.com/king.php
One of nature's great mysteries is why the Zebra has stripes. One theory is that the stripes help the zebra cool down. On hot days the black stripes get a lot hotter than the white area of the zebra and under the black stripes there are special layers of fat for protection. Hot air then rises off the black stripes forcing colder air down around the white areas thus cooling the zebra down. The stripes are also used as camouflage to confuse predators when zebras huddle in great numbers or mingle with herds of antelopes.
The cheetah is superficially similar to the leopard, but the leopard has rosettes instead of spots and lacks tear streaks. Moreover, the cheetah is slightly taller than the leopard. The serval resembles the cheetah in physical build, but is significantly smaller, has a shorter tail and its spots fuse to form stripes on the back. The cheetah appears to have evolved convergently with canids in morphology as well as behavior; it has canine-like features such as a relatively long snout, long legs, a deep chest, tough paw pads, and blunt, semi-retractable claws. The cheetah has often been likened to the greyhound, as both have similar morphology and the ability to reach tremendous speeds in a shorter time than other mammals, but the cheetah can attain higher maximum speeds.
Info source URL: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheetah
Photo capture date & Location: 2017-10 Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre
The blue crane, also known as the Stanley crane and the paradise crane, is the national bird of South Africa. The species is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN. This crane is pale blue-gray in color becoming darker on the upper head, neck, and nape. From the crown to the lores, the plumage is distinctly lighter, sometimes whitish. The bill is ochre to greyish, with a pink tinge. The long wingtip feathers which trail to the ground.
Info source URL: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_crane
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Photo capture date & Location: 2017-10 Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre
The Natal Spurfowl is found in woody areas and hilly areas and likes river bank regions. It is a bird about the size of a Francolin, now called Spurfowl. The height of the Natal Spurfowl is about 38 cms and its weight is about 500 gms.
The giant plated lizard is the second largest lizard species found in South Africa, after the monitor lizard, and they are known to attain a body length of approximately 690 mm. Giant plated lizards are rupicolous, which means that they live among rocky outcrops, mostly on the upper slopes of granite hills. Giant plated lizards are shy and hard to approach – an individual will often retreat into rock crevices at the slightest disturbance and inflate its body, effectively wedging itself into the crevice and making it very difficult for anything to dislodge it.
Ice Drops, Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, Segovia, Castilla y León, Spain, Europe
FELIZ NAVIDAD
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Weavers are named for their intricately woven nests. The nests come in various sizes and shapes, with different materials used to build the nests. From the giant nests of the sociable weavers, housing up to 500 weavers in a single nest, to the untidy communal nest of the buffalo-weaver, to the elaborately woven nest of the masked weavers, each species has an individual structure to its nest. The most intricate nests are built by the males and he will build many nests before the female will accept the nest and breed.
Info sourced from southafrica.co.za/weaver-birds.html
Photo capture date & Location: 2017-10 Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre
The cheetah is a large cat native to Africa and Southwest Asia. It is the fastest land animal, capable of running at 80 to 98 km/h, and as such has evolved specialized adaptations for speed, including a light build, long thin legs, and a long tail.
Elephants are officially hooved mammals, so a group is technically known as a herd. However, the collective noun for elephants – perhaps more fittingly, is a memory. A group of elephants can also be called a parade, although this is far less common. It is likely that elephants evolved trunks as they grew in size and bulk. Their pillar-like legs and naturally heavyset heads and shoulders would be major obstacles to feeding and drinking without their trunks, which enable them to forage and drink with minimal head movement.
Like normal cheetahs, king cheetahs also have tall and slim bodies. Although they look similar, the king cheetah has a fur pattern mutation (caused by lack of genetic diversity) which results in its large connected black patches – differing from the smaller and more plentiful spots found on the common cheetah. Communicates mainly through high- pitched chirping calls, marking territory through urine or saliva (through cheek rubbing). Female cheetahs are solitary, unless when raising young where mothers usually stay close together, otherwise they only come into contact with other cheetahs when mating. Males will, however, form coalitions (mostly between brothers) of about 2-3 to defend more territory. They are not territorial towards each other but are towards other male coalitions. Cheetahs prefer to live in open grassland and savanna-type regions. This habitat type accommodates their way of hunting, which is running to capture prey. Cheetahs’ claws do not retract and remain exposed. Their claws protract with every step in order to assist with grip. The ridges on the pads allow efficient movement by preventing slipping. They have digitigrade foot posture, where the heel and instep are raised so that only the digits touch the ground.
Info source: hesc.co.za/species-hesc/king-cheetah/
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The photo was taken during November 2017 at Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre, De Wildt, Gauteng, South Africa.