Did you know? Human beings in their conceit think ‘god’ made them in his—isn’t it always his?—image. But many of our fellow members of the club called Kingdom Animalia are gifted with abilities that human beings cannot replicate even with all the technology at their disposal. The series Did You Know? is an attempt to find and share such amazing information that the world of fauna is replete with. If you have an interesting nugget of verifiable information and wish to share it with a wider audience, please send an email to connect@thesnout.in to with a short, crisp write-up and the reference. If it passes muster, it will find place in this series, with your name and location.
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Today is World Elephant Day. There are just over 45,000 elephants in the wild on the Asian continent, according to estimates. And 60% of them, or about 27,000, live in India, as per the latest elephant census figures. At one time, in the early years of the 20th century, there were believed to be more than 100,000 on the Indian subcontinent alone.
The other countries in Asia that continue to host elephants are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Cambodia, China (Yunnan province), Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. The animal is now extinct in Pakistan.
The Asian elephant has been classified as “endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species since 1986. The Sumatran species is classified as “critically endangered”.
According to the IUCN Red List, the Asian elephant population has halved over the past three elephant generations, or 75 years, estimating 25 years to be one elephant generation. This assessment is based on the degradation and fragmentation of the animal’s former range. According to an assessment carried out in the early 2000s, nearly half of the Asian elephant’s range, spanning 873,000 sq km across 13 countries, comprised habitats that are fragmented and affected by pressures created by human activity.
The Asian elephant’s larger cousin, the larger African elephant, is in only slightly better shape. There are an estimated 400,000 elephants in the wild in Africa currently, though some experts believe the number may be an overestimation. The animal is currently classified as “vulnerable” by the IUCN Red List.
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Did you know? Some sharks can have babies without a mate
July 24, 2024: Women may feel at moments of intense frustration that the world would be a much better place without men, but, of course, that is not an option, at least not yet, because without either of the sexes, the human species itself would die out. But there are some species in the Animal Kingdom that possess the superpower of reproducing without a mate. And we are not referring to simpler life forms such as amoeba.
Also Read: California condor Xol-Xol fathers his 41st chick, San Diego zoo’s 250th
Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis), a reptilian species from the Indonesian archipelago, and California condors (Gymnogyps californianus), North America’s largest extant birds, have been found to have the ability to reproduce by a process known as parthenogenesis, which results in offspring that are exact clones of the mother. Females of these and a few other species are able to create embryos from unfertilized eggs. The offspring in such cases tend to be all of the same sex—male or female. Or, as in the case of the brahminy blind snake (Ramphotyphlops braminus), only females, since no male of the species has ever been found.
Virgin births have also been recorded in some species of sharks, such as the bonnethead, zebra and smooth-hound sharks. (Arya Dangre)
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Did you know? A hummingbird’s heart can beat 1,200 times a minute
July 20, 2024: The heart rate of top athletes at maximum exertion can reach 150 beats per minute. At rest, their heart rate can fall to as low as 40 beats per minute. Of course, an unfit person exerting himself may find his heart rate rising close to 200 beats a minute, but that would be cause for alarm, not celebration.
Like top athletes, birds are built for a high-energy lifestyle. Their hearts are larger, in relation to body size, than those of mammals, and they pump more oxygen-rich blood per minute, because flight requires that kind of energy, even with their aerodynamic and ultra-light bodies. Moreover, they have extremely efficient cardiovascular systems.
An active hummingbird’s heart can pump at 1,200 beats per minute, eight times faster than a top athlete’s. Even the heart of a flying pigeon beats 600 times a minute. Next time you see those birds commonly dissed as ‘flying rodents’, think about it. (Nauman Shaikh)
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Did you know? NYC Audubon is now NYC Bird Alliance
July 15, 2024: The renowned New York birders’ society, NYC Audubon, formally changed its name to NYC Bird Alliance early last month, to distance itself from its 19th century founder, J.J. Audubon, self-taught ornithologist and illustrator who was once seen as the patron saint of birders. The reason: Audubon had a darker side—who doesn’t?—that has become increasingly hard to ignore. He was a slave owner who held strongly racist views.
In the past few years, the Audubon Naturalist Society has changed its name to Nature Forward, and some local chapters of the National Audubon Society, including those in Seattle and Chicago, have followed suit. The society itself voted last year to keep its name. Audubon, who lived from 1785 to 1851, documented birds and illustrated them for his master work The Birds of America.
“We wouldn’t be where we are without John James Audubon,” admitted Jessica Wilson, who was executive director of NYC Audubon and holds the same position with NYC Bird Alliance. But, she added, Audubon was “overtly, vocally racist” and “his actions and his views were harmful at the time and continue to be harmful today”.
Curiously, while organizations that might legitimately have sought to remember Audobon are changing their names, prominent areas in Manhattan, where he lived in his final years, continue to commemorate him. (Sandy Pawpaw)
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Did you know? The camel is king of hydration
July 14, 2024: The distinctive silhouette and impressive size of the camel, once famed as the “ship of the desert”, mask the real physiological marvel: its ability to consume and store water. A parched camel can gulp down a whopping 200 litres of water in just three minutes. That’s right, the animal can drink at a rate of more than a litre a second. This ability allows the camel to thrive in environments where water is scarce and finding a reliable source can be a matter of life and death.
A typical Camel can drink 200 liters of water in 3 minutes pic.twitter.com/wCPZAbZrdi
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) July 12, 2024
However, it is a misconception that the camel stores water in its hump. In fact, the hump is a fat deposit that serve as a vital energy source, giving the camel the fuel it needs to endure long journeys and harsh conditions.
So, where does the incredible amount of water imbibed in a camel’s rapid drinking session go? The answer lies in the animal’s super-efficient digestive and circulatory systems. When a camel encounters precious water, its body prioritizes rapid hydration. Specialized adaptations in its nasal passage allow it to inhale large volumes of water vapor while drinking, minimizing water loss through evaporation. The ingested water then swiftly enters its bloodstream, replenishing lost fluids and hydrating the animal. In addition, camels possess a unique stomach structure with specialized compartments that allow them to store a significant amount of water for several days, even weeks. (Romana Shaikh, Panvel)
