Animals

Male weight is 123-138 lb, height 32-34 inches; female weight is 147-165 lb, height 34-35 inches. They have a sturdy build, long neck, high shoulders, and long muscular legs, with the forelegs longer than hind legs and four toes on each foot with non-retractile claws. The head is massive with rounded ears and robust teeth adapted for chewing bones. The coat is rough, comparatively short, and ranges in color from reddish-brown to tan, growing lighter and less spotted with age. Spots are black and rounded. Tail tip, muzzle and lower parts of limbs are dark brown. A slight mane may be present on neck and shoulder. Uses an ambling walk or a tireless lope, and can gallop up to 31 miles an hour for a couple of miles (top speed 37 mph). Has at least 11 different, intergrading calls, ranging from groans, grunts, growls and squeals to lowing and hooting.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Estes, Richard. The Behavior Guide to African Mammals. 1991. University of California Press, pp. 336-344.

Largest bird inhabiting Australia (5.7 feet tall, 110-120 pounds in weight). Flightless; wings are only 1/10th the length of its body. Brown in color; after molting, new feathers may seem nearly black, fading to pale brown with age. Bases of feathers are white. Each feather has two shafts, with barbs so widely spaced that they do not interlock to form firm vane as in most birds; they form a loose, hair-like body covering. Feathers growing near base of spine differ from those covering rest of bird; they have longer barbs and are set wide apart, giving appearance of a mop-like tail. Skin on head and neck often free of feathers and has a bluish tinge. Intensity of this color varies pursuant to: (1) season of year; (2) changes in surroundings; and (3) behavior of nearby birds. Sexes are similar in plumage except for period prior to egg laying when female's head and neck are covered with black feathers.

This is a small (35-41 cm) white cockatoo with a strong pink (or reddish-orange) splodge on the face and breast, a short square-ended tail, pointed wings, and a large rounded head with a very short crest and an elliptical pale blue eye-ring. The iris is dark brown and bill and legs are gray. There is a imperceptible yellow suffusion on the underwing and a strong yellow suffusion below the tail. The extremely long upper jawbone which is distinctive to the species almost appears deformed. Vocalizations include a quavering contact call (wirup)), some squeaky dialog and a high-pitched alarm screech.
Diet: Seeds, nuts, fruits, berries, roots and bulbs as well as insects and their larvae. They will also take newly sown grain and ripening crops, including sunflower seeds.

The omnipresent coyote is found throughout North America from eastern Alaska to New England and south through Mexico to Panama. It originally ranged primarily in the northwest corner of the US, but it has adapted readily to the changesovers caused by human occupation and, in the past 200 years, has been steadily extending its range.
The coyote is a member of the dog family. Coyotes found in low deserts and valleys weigh about 20 pounds, fewer than half of their mountain kin, who can weigh up to 50 pounds. Desert Coyotes are light gray or tan with a black tip on the tail.
Coyotes of high elevations have fur that is darker, thicker and longer; the under parts are nearly white, with some specimens having a white tip on the tail. In winter the coats of mountain coyotes become long and silky.

Elephants live in a complex matriarchal society normally composed of 8 to 15 related members and led by a dominant cow. Three or four generations of cows and calves spend their entire lives together with the exception of males, who leave the group at puberty. Groups of related families stay in fairly close range of each other and communicate often; these are called “kin groups”. In times of danger, kin groups will mass and form “clans” of 200 or more. Gestation is approximately 22 months. The birth is usually a single one; twins are born only 1.35% of the time. Birth weight is 175 to 250 pounds. The mother is often assisted by another cow during birthing. Calves will nurse well into their third year and are very dependent on their mothers for eight to ten years. Most physical growth is reached at 20, but growth continues throughout life. Top mental ability is at age 30 to 45. Death comes at 65 to 70 years of age when the last set of teeth wear out.

The adult male is much larger than the adult female. Head and body length including trunk: 19-24 feet. Shoulder height: 10-13 feet. Weight: 5.5 - 7 tons. Tail: 4 feet. Brownish gray skin has folds and may be one inch thick in places. The African Elephant has a marked dip between its fore and hindquarters giving a concave curvature to its back. Ears are large and fan-like. The trunk has two prehensile protrusions at the tip. Large tusks are present in both sexes. Elephants are digitigrade with pads of fibrous tissue to cushion toe bones.
Elephants have an inefficient digestive system and digest only about 40 per cent of what they eat. They eat enormously. Estimates in the wild range from 100-1000 pounds of vegetation per day (a 16 hour period). Zoo elephants are estimated to eat approximately 50 pounds of food per ton of elephant per day. Working elephants need 300 to 600 pounds of food per day. The wild elephant is a destructive eater, uprooting and scattering as much as is eaten, often breaking down whole trees. Elephants eat almost anything green, but green grass, shoots and buds of trees and shrubs are preferred. Farms are often raided for fruits and vegetables of all types. Average daily consumption of water for full-grown animals is between 30 and 50 gallons.

Massive head and forequarters covered with long, dark brown woolly hair. Short broad forehead, short neck, and high humped shoulders, with tufted tail. Long hairs of chin form long beard. Hips and hindquarters are much smaller and without long hair thus forming a distinct slope from hump to tail. Some stand six feet at the shoulder and weigh as much as a ton. Have short, sharp, upcurved horns. Shaggy winter coat falls off in patches in spring; color is dark brown in winter, lighter in summer.
Now found only in parks and reserves.
Bison came to North America during the Pleistocene Epoch via the Bering land bridge. Eventually they ranged from Canada’s Great Slave Lake to Mexico and from eastern Oregon almost to the Atlantic. They especially thrived on the Great Plains where some 30 million formed the biggest mass of large mammals ever to tread the globe. Early French settlers who saw herds living near the East Coast called them bison because they looked like a European cousin. A later English naturalist described them as buffalo which name stuck, even though the term is more correctly applied to other types of wild oxen found in Asia and Africa. Bison are susceptible to tuberculosis, anthrax, and brucellosis. Since these diseases theoretically can be transmitted to domestic livestock, ranchers (near Yellowstone Park for instance) become upset when buffalo wander onto private land.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Nowak, Ronald. 1991. Walker’s Mammals of the World, Vol II, 5th Ed, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.
Turbak, Gary. 1986. “When the Buffalo Roam”, National Wildlife, June-July, pp. 30-35.