1.
Oakland Zoo (cheering section)
–
The Oakland Zoo is the student cheering section for the University of Pittsburgh mens and womens basketball teams. The Zoo cheers on the Panthers from the tier of the stands at the Petersen Events Center, primarily across from the teams benches. The Pete holds a rowdy crowd of 1,500 students that are typically clad in gold t-shirts. The Oakland Zoo is named after Oakland, the neighborhood in which the university is located, the name Oakland Zoo is used for the basketball cheering sections only, the football cheering section has often used the title, The Panther Pitt. The Oakland Zoo has been noted as being one of the most formidable student cheering sections in college basketball. According to a poll of league players published by Sports Illustrated. Anonymous players in the article were quoted describing the Oakland Zoo with the following descriptions and its like a zoo. and The student section is next to the court, and the fans there say some creative stuff. In 2013, the Petersen Events Center, with mention of the Oakland Zoo, was ranked as the nations second best game atmosphere arena by USA Today. In 2011, Pitt debuted custom Nike Hyper Elite jerseys featuring an aerographic with the Oakland Zoo logo on the back, Pitt described this as the first NCAA basketball jersey to ever showcase their respective student section. In December 2011, ESPNs Eammonn Brennan and Dana ONeil solicited feedback regarding the best student sections in all of NCAA Division I. They later listed their top-5 in a podcast discussion, naming the Oakland Zoo the second best in the nation, behind only Duke, during the 2011-12 season, the Oakland Zoo, in collaboration with universitys student radio station WPTS-FM, created The Oakland Zoo Show. Broadcast live locally on WPTS and streamed over the internet, the show starts 30 minutes before every Pitt mens basketball home game and is cohosted by the entire Oakland Zoo student section. During the broadcast of the game follows, game stoppages also include live check-ins with the Zoo. Elite high school running back prospect LeSean McCoy credited the Zoos warm reception for him during a 2007 visit in helping to cement his decision to sign the University of Pittsburgh, gateway High School linebacker, Shayne Hale, also credited the Zoo with his recruiting. Hale attended a game with high school teammate and friend Cameron Saddler, to the cheers of the Zoo, Hale put on a Zoo shirt and joined the Zoo for a portion of the game. The Oakland Zoo was independently formed by Pitt students in the winter of 2001, the initial idea for the Zoo came from Matt Cohen and Zach Hale during the January 6,2001 basketball game against Syracuse where they determined the Pitt student section was too calm. The name Zoo was meant to represent a bunch of kids in a zoo acting crazy whereas Oakland is the neighborhood of Pittsburgh in which the university resides. Students adopted gold t-shirts and eventually grew to consume the majority of the student section at the home court then inside Fitzgerald Field House
Oakland Zoo (cheering section)
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A small sampling of the Oakland Zoo in January 2008
Oakland Zoo (cheering section)
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The eleventh iteration of the logo that appears on the front of Oakland Zoo
T-shirts for the 2012-13 season. The logo incorporates elements from the
University of Pittsburgh 's seal.
Oakland Zoo (cheering section)
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"Tiger" Paul Auslander, an unofficial cheerleader for Pitt basketball in the 1970s and early 80s, was well known by fans for his sideline antics
Oakland Zoo (cheering section)
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The early minutes of a game against number one ranked
UConn in
2009. A portion of the Oakland Zoo can be seen at the bottom. Pitt won the nationally televised game 70-60.
2.
Oakland, California
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Oakland /ˈoʊklənd/ is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. The city was incorporated in 1852, Oaklands territory covers what was once a mosaic of California coastal terrace prairie, oak woodland, and north coastal scrub. Its land served as a resource when its hillside oak and redwood timber were logged to build San Francisco. In the late 1860s, Oakland was selected as the terminal of the Transcontinental Railroad. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many San Francisco citizens moved to Oakland, enlarging the citys population, increasing its housing stock and it continued to grow in the 20th century with its busy port, shipyards, and a thriving automobile manufacturing industry. Oakland is known for its sustainability practices, including a top-ranking for usage of electricity from renewable resources, in addition, due to a steady influx of immigrants during the 20th century, along with thousands of African-American war-industry workers who relocated from the Deep South during the 1940s. Oakland is the most ethnically diverse city in the country. The earliest known inhabitants were the Huchiun Indians, who lived there for thousands of years, the Huchiun belonged to a linguistic grouping later called the Ohlone. In Oakland, they were concentrated around Lake Merritt and Temescal Creek, in 1772, the area that later became Oakland was claimed, with the rest of California, by Spanish settlers for the King of Spain. In the early 19th century, the Spanish crown granted the East Bay area to Luis María Peralta for his Rancho San Antonio, the grant was confirmed by the successor Mexican republic upon its independence from Spain. Upon his death in 1842, Peralta divided his land among his four sons, Most of Oakland fell within the shares given to Antonio Maria and Vicente. The portion of the parcel that is now Oakland was called encinal—Spanish for oak grove—due to the oak forest that covered the area. In 1851, three men—Horace Carpentier, Edson Adams, and Andrew Moon—began developing what is now downtown Oakland, on May 4,1852, the Town of Oakland incorporated. Two years later, on March 25,1854, Oakland re-incorporated as the City of Oakland, with Horace Carpentier elected the first mayor, the city and its environs quickly grew with the railroads, becoming a major rail terminal in the late 1860s and 1870s. In 1868, the Central Pacific constructed the Oakland Long Wharf at Oakland Point, a number of horsecar and cable car lines were constructed in Oakland during the latter half of the 19th century. The first electric streetcar set out from Oakland to Berkeley in 1891, at the time of incorporation, Oakland consisted of the territory that lay south of todays major intersection of San Pablo Avenue, Broadway, and Fourteenth Street. The city gradually annexed farmlands and settlements to the east and the north, Oaklands rise to industrial prominence, and its subsequent need for a seaport, led to the digging of a shipping and tidal channel in 1902. This resulted in the town of Alameda being made an island
Oakland, California
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Oakland skyline, with the old eastern span of the
San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge in background
Oakland, California
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1857 Map of Oakland
Oakland, California
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One day's output of 1917
Chevrolet automobiles at their major
West Coast plant, now the location of
Eastmont Town Center
Oakland, California
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In 1924, the
Tribune Tower was completed; in 1976, it was restored and declared an Oakland landmark.
3.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
California
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A forest of redwood trees in
Redwood National Park
California
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Flag
California
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Mount Shasta
California
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Aerial view of the
California Central Valley
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
5.
Association of Zoos and Aquariums
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The AZA is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland. In October 1924, the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums was formed as an affiliate of the American Institute of Park Executives, in 1966, the AAZPA became a professional branch affiliate of the newly formed National Recreation and Park Association. In January 1994, the shorter name American Zoo and Aquarium Association was adopted, in 1998, there were 134 million visits to North American zoos and aquariums. Ten years later, in 2008, there were 175 million visits to AZA-accredited zoos, the organization is active in institution accreditation, animal care initiatives, education and conservation programs, collaborative research and advocacy in order to achieve this goal. It serves as a body for zoos and aquariums and ensures that accredited facilities meet higher standards of animal care than are required by law. Institutions are evaluated every five years in order to ensure standards are met, the association also facilitates both Species Survival Plans and Population Management Plans, which serve to sustainably manage genetically diverse captive populations of various animal species. In addition, the association sponsors the scientific journal Zoo Biology, the association has established a computerized database called the Annual Report on Conservation and Science. It provides a model for a database to help track research projects worldwide. The database can be searched by key word, name of researcher, topic, country or region, name of institution, conservation program title, name of cooperating institution, type of research, or date. In 2000-2001, member institutions reported that they participated in over 2,230 conservation projects in 94 countries and they published 1,450 books, book chapters, journal articles, conference proceeding papers, posters and theses or dissertations. The publications can be searched using keywords, name of author, type of publication, institution name, or date. Depending on the animals they exhibit, the activities of zoos are regulated by laws including the Endangered Species Act, the Animal Welfare Act, additionally, zoos in North America may choose to pursue accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. They shall further be defined as having as their business the exhibition, conservation and preservation of the earths fauna in an educational. Inspection is performed by three experts and then reviewed by a panel of experts before accreditation is awarded. This accreditation process is repeated every five years. The AZA estimates that there are approximately 2,400 animal exhibits operating under USDA license as of February 2007, list of AZA member zoos and aquariums Official website
Association of Zoos and Aquariums
6.
Zoo
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A zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also breed. The term zoological garden refers to zoology, the study of animals, the abbreviation zoo was first used of the London Zoological Gardens, which was opened for scientific study in 1828 and to the public in 1857. The number of animal collections open to the public around the world now exceeds to 1,000. In the United States of America alone, zoos are visited by over 180 million people annually, London Zoo, which opened in 1826, first called itself a menagerie or zoological forest, which is short for Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society of London. The term zoological park was used for more facilities in Washington, D. C. and the Bronx in New York. Relatively new terms for zoos coined in the late 20th century are conservation park or biopark, adopting a new name is a strategy used by some zoo professionals to distance their institutions from the stereotypical and nowadays criticized zoo concept of the 19th century. The term biopark was first coined and developed by the National Zoo in Washington D. C. in the late 1980s, in 1993, the New York Zoological Society changed its name to the Wildlife Conservation Society and rebranded the zoos under its jurisdiction as wildlife conservation parks. The predecessor of the garden is the menagerie, which has a long history from the ancient world to modern times. The oldest known collection was revealed during excavations at Hierakonpolis, Egypt in 2009. The exotic animals included hippopotami, hartebeest, elephants, baboons, King Ashur-bel-kala of the Middle Assyrian Empire created zoological and botanical gardens in the 11th century BCE. In the 2nd century BCE, the Chinese Empress Tanki had a house of deer built, other well-known collectors of animals included King Solomon of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah, queen Semiramis and King Ashurbanipal of Assyria, and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. By the 4th century BCE, zoos existed in most of the Greek city states, the Roman emperors kept private collections of animals for study or for use in the arena, the latter faring notoriously poorly. The 19th-century historian W. E. H. Lecky wrote of the Roman games, first held in 366 BCE, At one time, a bear, four hundred bears were killed in a single day under Caligula. Under Nero, four hundred tigers fought with bulls and elephants, in a single day, at the dedication of the Colosseum by Titus, five thousand animals perished. Lions, tigers, elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotami, giraffes, bulls, stags, even crocodiles, charlemagne had an elephant named Abul-Abbas that was given to him by the Abbasid Caliph. Henry I of England kept a collection of animals at his palace in Woodstock, which included lions, leopards. The most prominent collection in medieval England was in the Tower of London and it was opened to the public during the reign of Elizabeth I in the 16th century. During the 18th century, the price of admission was three half-pence, or the supply of a cat or dog for feeding to the lions, the animals were moved to the London Zoo when it opened
Zoo
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The entrance of the
San Diego Zoo, California, May 2007.
Zoo
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Giants of the Savanna Exhibit at the
Dallas Zoo, Texas, October 2011
Zoo
–
The
Tower of London housed
England 's royal menagerie for several centuries (Picture from the 15th century,
British Library).
Zoo
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The
Versailles menagerie during the reign of
Louis XIV in the 17th century
7.
Elephant
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Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are recognised, the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the surviving family of the order Proboscidea, other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths. Male African elephants are the largest extant terrestrial animals and can reach a height of 4 m, all elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk or proboscis, used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects, Elephants large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight, African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs. Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts and they prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be keystone species due to their impact on their environments, other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and wild dogs, usually target only young elephants. Females tend to live in groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by a known as the matriarch. Elephants have a society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Males leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males, calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild and they communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound, elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans and they appear to have self-awareness and show empathy for dying or dead individuals of their kind. African elephants are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature while the Asian elephant is classed as endangered, one of the biggest threats to elephant populations is the ivory trade, as the animals are poached for their ivory tusks. Other threats to elephants include habitat destruction and conflicts with local people. Elephants are used as working animals in Asia, in the past, they were used in war, today, they are often controversially put on display in zoos, or exploited for entertainment in circuses. Elephants are highly recognisable and have featured in art, folklore, religion, literature
Elephant
Elephant
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Asian elephant
Elephant
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African forest elephant
Elephant
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Mounted skeleton of early proboscid Moeritherium in Japan
8.
Downtown Oakland
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Downtown Oakland hosts the only celebration of its kind in the nation in memory of the black cowboys who helped settle the American West. The annual parade typically begins on an early October weekend at DeFremery Park in West Oakland en route to Frank H. Ogawa Plaza where judging booths are set up, after an awards ceremony, the parade returns to DeFremery Park, for a celebration. Downtown includes a portion of the oldest part of the city, the Oakland Museum is located on Oak Street near the southeastern edge of Downtown. Laney College, with more than 12,000 students, is located on Fallon Street near the Lake Merritt BART station, other educational institutions include Lincoln University, a small business school catering mainly to international students, and a downtown office of Cal State East Bay. Oaksterdam University, a college which prepares students for medical cannabis work, is located on 15th Street in an area referred to as Oaksterdam. The original campus of UC Berkeley was located between Franklin, Harrison, 12th and 14th streets, and the University of California system is headquartered in Downtown. Lincoln Elementary School, one of the few public schools in the downtown of a major US city, is on the edge of downtown. The Oakland School for the Arts, a school, is building a new facility surrounding the Fox Oakland Theatre in Oaklands Uptown Oakland. City Hall Plaza is a city park and a plaza which includes what was once the terminus of San Pablo Avenue where it met Broadway at 14th Street. Motor vehicle traffic has also excluded from where former city streets, Washington street. Today the area features a retail mall with pedestrian streets laid out to replicate the original street grid. Several routes operated by AC Transit pass by or end at Downtown Oakland and these include, Local Routes 1 - International Blvd. 51A - Rockridge BART via Broadway-Downtown-Fruitvale BART via Santa Clara Ave. 72/72M - San Pablo Ave. / MacDonald Ave. 72R - San Pablo Ave, Rapid 88 - Market Street Transbay Route NL - MacArthur Blvd. Limited All-Nighter Routes 800 - Transbay 801 - International Blvd. /Mission Blvd,802 - San Pablo Ave.805 - MacArthur Blvd. These stations host local service, Rapid service, Transbay Express, a Translink Add Value Machine is located at AC Transit Headquarters on Franklin Street. The transformation of the 1 line into a full scale bus rapid transit corridor is years into the planning process. Three underground BART stations are located in Downtown, 12th Street/Oakland City Center, the Downtown Oakland and Lake Merritt/Uptown District Associations are community benefit districts that were formed in February 2009. The associations meet and function jointly, in June 2013, the districts were recognized by the International Downtown Association and named the IDA’s June Downtown of the Month
Downtown Oakland
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Aerial view of Downtown Oakland and Lake Merritt
Downtown Oakland
–
Lionel J. Wilson / Broadway Building
Downtown Oakland
–
Detail of the
Romanesque Revival Tribune Tower. The building serves as a quintessential Oakland landmark, timepiece, and navigation aid, as its unique green roof and massive red neon sign and clock can be seen for miles.
9.
Joseph R. Knowland
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Joseph Russell Knowland was an American politician and newspaper publisher. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from California and was owner, editor and he was the father of United States Senator William F. Knowland. Knowland was born in Alameda, California to Joseph Knowland and Hannah Bailey Russell and he had two sisters, Sadie and Lucille, and one brother, Hollis, who died in infancy. JR, as he was known to his friends, attended Alameda Park Street Primary School, Hopkins Academy, a school in Oakland. During this time Knowland also spent summers working at the Oakland Enquirer and he entered with the class of 1895, the California Wesleyan College at San Jose. The school was later renamed College of the Pacific of Stockton, from an early age he had an interest in journalism and history. His father being from New York and his mother from Maine and he wrote stories for the Alameda Argus and Oakland Enquirer on California history and Republican politics. At 18, Knowland joined the Native Sons of the Golden West and he organized the California Historical Landmarks League and was its chairman from 1902 to 1906. He was chairman of the Landmarks Committee of the Native Sons of the Golden West from 1902 to 1962 and he became engaged in his fathers wholesale lumber and shipping business. Knowland was sent by his father in 1888 to Oregon to rebuild the Gardiner Mill and he went to Jackson, Amador County, serving as an envoy of his father. Joseph R. Knowland managed the Kennedy Mining and Milling Company, in the fall of 1891, he left the Sierra to help his ailing father in Alameda. In 1893, he was appointed to a committee to create a panorama of Alameda County for the California Midwinter Exposition of 1894, Knowland joined the Alameda Good Government Club in early 1895. He was appointed, in 1896, to the Alameda Library Board of Trustees and he was sought by the Alameda County Central Committee of the Republican Party to run for the State Assembly in 1898. Asked later in life why he entered politics, Knowland would reply and he was a member of the State Assembly from 1899 to 1903. Knowland chaired the Assembly committee to investigate the conditions of the Chinese slave women in San Francisco, President Theodore Roosevelt had appointed Metcalf to be Secretary of Commerce and Labor. Knowland was reelected to the Fifty-ninth and to the four succeeding Congresses and his 3rd Congressional District included Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties. The U. S. Armys Benicia Arsenal and the U. S. Naval Shipyard at Mare Island were located in his district, Knowland had a keen interest in the military, most especially the U. S. Navy. He worked in Congress for capital ships to be built on the West Coast and he was an advocate for a two-ocean battleship fleet
Joseph R. Knowland
–
Jos. R. Knowland, 3rd Congressional District California Blue Book 1909
10.
Joseph Knowland State Arboretum and Park
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Joseph Knowland State Arboretum and Park is a park located in the Grass Valley neighborhood of Oakland, California. It was formerly a park, and is now the property of the City of Oakland. The Oakland Zoo occupies the western lowlands of the park. The parks namesake and principal founder was Joseph Knowland, who served on the California State Park Commission from 1934 to 1960 and was its chairman from 1938, under his influence, the State of California purchased 453 acres for $660,000 on a matching grant basis. On April 301948, the property became a State Park, in December 1949, the park was leased to the City of Oakland with the proviso that Knowland Park would always remain a public park. At this time, a portion of the park became the new site of the relocated Oakland Zoo, in 1973, the site was ceded to the City of Oakland, and in 1975, management of the park was granted to the City of Oakland. The largest and most pristine portion of the park is undeveloped, the western highlands and northern slopes are currently a thriving hotspot for rare native plants and wildlife. The park is traversed along its northern boundary by Arroyo Viejo which flows to Lion Creek, in 2011, Oakland City Council voted to approve the expansion of the Oakland Zoo into upper Knowland Park. This move has been contested by the Friends of Knowland Park
Joseph Knowland State Arboretum and Park
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Western Knolls of Knowland Park
Joseph Knowland State Arboretum and Park
–
Aerial view of the park with sections of the park labeled
11.
Aerial gondola
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A gondola lift, as opposed to a cable car, is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of cable that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal, which is connected to an engine or electric motor. They are often considered continuous systems since they feature a haul rope which moves and circulates around two terminal stations. Depending on the combination of cables used for support and/or haulage and the type of grip, the capacity, cost, because of the proliferation of such systems in the Alpine regions of Europe, the French language name of Télécabine is also used in an English language context. Gondola lifts should not be confused with cable cars or the US aerial tramways as the latter solely operates with fixed grips and simply shuttles back and forth between two end terminals. In some systems the passenger cabins, which can hold between two and 8 people, are connected to the cable by means of spring-loaded grips. These grips allow the cabin to be detached from the cable and slowed down in the terminals, to allow passengers to board. Doors are almost always automatic and controlled by a lever on the roof or on the undercarriage that is pushed up or down, cabins are driven through the terminals either by rotating tires, or by a chain system. To be accelerated to and decelerated from line speed, cabins are driven along by progressively swifter rotating tires until they reach line or terminal speed, on older installations, gondolas are accelerated manually by an operator. Gondola lifts can have intermediate stops that allow for uploading and downloading on the lift, examples of a lift with three stops instead of the standard two are the Village Gondola and the Excalibur Gondolas at Whistler Blackcomb. In 1986, Doppelmayr built the worlds first eight-passenger gondola at Steamboat Ski Resort, such a system is called Pulse Cabin because usually more than one cabin are loaded at a time before the trip begins. Another type of lift is the bi-cable gondola, which has one other stationary cable, besides the main haul rope. One of the famous examples of this type of lift include the Ngong Ping Cable Car in Hong Kong, the Singapore Cable Car. This system has the advantage that the stationary cables strength and properties can be tailored to each span, there are also tri-cable gondolas that have two stationary cables that support the cabins. They differ from cable cars in that the latter consist only of one or two usually larger cabins, moving up and down, not circulating, bi and tri cable systems provide greater lateral stability allowing the system to operate in higher cross-winds. Open-air gondolas, or cabriolet as commonly called, are uncommon and are quite primitive because they are exposed to the elements. Their cabins are usually hollow cylinder, open from chest height up, with a floor and they are usually used as village gondolas and for short distances
Aerial gondola
–
Genting Skyway in
Genting Highlands,
Malaysia.
Aerial gondola
–
London 's
Air Line over
River Thames
Aerial gondola
–
Metrocable gondola lift system in
Medellin,
Colombia. First gondola lift used for
mass transportation purposes.
Aerial gondola
–
The téléphérique in
Jounieh,
Lebanon takes passenger to the
Our Lady of Lebanon shrine
12.
American bison
–
The American bison, also commonly known as the American buffalo or simply buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds. Bison were seen in North Carolina near Buffalo Ford on the Catawba River as late as 1750. Two subspecies or ecotypes have been described, the bison, smaller in size and with a more rounded hump. Furthermore, the bison has been suggested to consist of a northern. However, this is not supported. The wood bison is one of the largest wild species of bovid in the world, surpassed by only the Asian gaur and it is the largest extant land animal in the Americas. The American bison is the mammal of the United States. The term buffalo is considered to be a misnomer for this animal, and could be confused with true buffalos, the Asian water buffalo. The name buffalo is listed in dictionaries as an acceptable name for American buffalo or bison. In reference to animal, the term buffalo dates to 1625 in North American usage when the term was first recorded for the American mammal. It thus has a longer history than the term bison. The American bison is very related to the wisent or European bison. In Plains Indian languages in general, male and female buffaloes are distinguished, a bison has a shaggy, long, dark-brown winter coat, and a lighter-weight, lighter-brown summer coat. As is typical in ungulates, the bison is slightly larger than the female and, in some cases. Plains bison are often in the range of sizes. Head-and-body lengths range from 2 to 3.5 m long, shoulder heights in the species can range from 152 to 186 cm. Weights can range from 318 to 1,000 kg Mature bulls tend to be larger than cows. Cow weights have had reported medians of 450 to 495 kg, with one small sample averaging 479 kg, the heaviest wild bull ever recorded weighed 1,270 kg
American bison
American bison
–
Adult male (farther) and adult female (closer) with a background of rich autumn colors, in
Yellowstone National Park
American bison
–
Calf
American bison
–
Skulls of European bison (left) and American bison (right)
13.
Hamadryas baboon
–
The hamadryas baboon is a species of baboon from the Old World monkey family. It is the northernmost of all the baboons, being native to the Horn of Africa and these regions provide habitats with the advantage for this species of fewer natural predators than central or southern Africa where other baboons reside. The hamadryas baboon was an animal to the ancient Egyptians and appears in various roles in ancient Egyptian religion. Apart from the size difference between the sexes, which is common to all baboons, this species also shows sexual dimorphism in coloration. The fur of males is silver-white in color and they have a cape which they develop around the age of ten, while the females are capeless. Their faces range in color from red to tan to a dark brown, males may have a body measurement of up to 80 cm and weigh 20–30 kg, females weigh 10–15 kg and have a body length of 40–45 cm. The tail adds a further 40–60 cm to the length, infants are dark in coloration and lighten after about one year. Hamadryas baboons reach sexual maturity at about 51 mo for females, the baboons range extends from the Red Sea in Eritrea to Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia. Baboons are also native to and live in southwestern Arabia, in both Yemen and Saudi Arabia, the hamadryas baboon lives in semi-desert areas, savannas and rocky areas, requiring cliffs for sleeping and finding water. The hamadryas baboon is omnivorous and is adapted to its dry habitat. During the wet seasons, the baboon feeds on a variety of foods, including blossoms, seeds, grasses, wild roots, during the dry season, the baboons eat leaves of the Dobera glabra and sisal leaves. Hamadryas baboon also eat insects, reptiles and small mammals, one was even observed carrying a dead dik dik. The baboons’ drinking activities also depend on the season, during the wet seasons, the baboons do not have to go far to find pools of water. During the dry seasons, they frequent up to three permanent waterholes, Baboons will take siestas at the waterholes during midafternoon. Hamadryas baboons will also dig drinking holes only a distance from natural waterholes. The baboon has an unusual social system called a multilevel society. Most social interaction occurs within small groups called units or harems containing one male and up to ten females which the males lead. A harem will typically include a younger follower male who may be related to the leader, two or more harems unite repeatedly to form clans
Hamadryas baboon
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Hamadryas baboon
Hamadryas baboon
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Males and females are distinguished by their differences in size and color.
Hamadryas baboon
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The hamadryas baboon eats fruit in captivity, although it is not a regular part of its diet in the wild.
Hamadryas baboon
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Hamadryas harems together
14.
Sun bear
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The sun bear is a bear found in tropical forest habitats of Southeast Asia. The global population is thought to have declined by more than 30% over the past three bear generations, the Malayan sun bear is also known as the honey bear, which refers to its voracious appetite for honeycombs and honey. However, honey bear can also refer to a kinkajou, which is a member of the Procyonidae. The sun bears fur is usually jet-black, short, and sleek with some under-wool, two whirls occur on the shoulders, from where the hair radiates in all directions. A crest is seen on the sides of the neck and a whorl occurs in the centre of the breast patch. Always, a more or less crescent-shaped pale patch is found on the breast that varies individually in colour ranging from buff, cream, the skin is naked on the upper lip. The tongue is long and protrusible, the ears are small and round, broad at the base, and capable of very little movement. The front legs are somewhat bowed with the paws turned inwards, the sun bear is the smallest of the bears. Adults are about 120–150 cm long and weigh 27–80 kg, males are 10–20% larger than females. The muzzle is short and light coloured, and in most cases the area extends above the eyes. The paws are large, and the soles are naked, which is thought to be an adaptation for climbing trees, the claws are large, curved, and pointed. They are sickle-shaped, the front paw claws are long and heavy, the tail is 30–70 mm long. During feeding, the sun bear can extend the long tongue 20–25 cm to extract insects. The entire head is large, broad, and heavy in proportion to the body. The overall morphology of this bear indicates adaptation for extensive climbing and they now occur very patchily through much of their former range, and have been extirpated from many areas, especially in mainland Southeast Asia. Their current distribution in eastern Myanmar and most of Yunnan is unknown, the bear’s habitat is associated with tropical evergreen forests H. m. malayanus — inhabits Asian mainland and Sumatra, H. m. euryspilus — occurs only on the island of Borneo. Helarctos anmamiticus described by Heude in 1901 from Annam is not considered a distinct species, as sun bears occur in tropical regions with year-round available foods, they do not hibernate. Except for females with their offspring, they are usually solitary, male sun bears are primarily diurnal, but some are active at night for short periods
Sun bear
Sun bear
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Sun bear skull
Sun bear
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A sun bear in Shanghai Zoo showing its powerful jaws
Sun bear
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Malayan sun bear at the
Columbus Zoo
15.
Dromedary camel
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The dromedary, also called the Arabian camel, is a large, even-toed ungulate with one hump on its back. The dromedary is the smallest of the three species of camel, adult males stand 1. 8–2 m at the shoulder, while females are 1. 7–1.9 m tall, males typically weigh between 400 and 600 kg, and females weigh between 300 and 540 kg. The species distinctive features include its long, curved neck, narrow chest, a single hump, the coat is generally a shade of brown. The hump,20 cm tall or more, is made of fat bound together by fibrous tissue, dromedaries are mainly active during daylight hours. They form herds of about 20 individuals, which are led by a dominant male. This camel feeds on foliage and desert vegetation, several adaptations, such as the ability to tolerate losing more than 30% of its water content. Mating occurs annually and peaks in the season, females bear a single calf after a gestation of 15 months. The dromedary has not occurred naturally in the wild for nearly 2,000 years and it was probably first domesticated in Somalia or the Arabian Peninsula about 4,000 years ago. In the wild, the dromedary inhabited arid regions, including the Sahara Desert, the domesticated dromedary is generally found in the semi-arid to arid regions of the Old World, mainly in Africa, and a significant feral population occurs in Australia. Products of the dromedary, including its meat and milk, support several north Arabian tribes, it is commonly used for riding. The common name comes from the Old French dromedaire or the Late Latin dromedarius. These originated from the Greek word dromas, δρομάς, meaning running or runner, used in Greek in the combination δρομάς κάμηλος, literally running camel, the first recorded use in English of the name dromedary occurred in the 14th century. The dromedary possibly originated in Arabia and is sometimes referred to as the Arabian camel. The dromedary shares the genus Camelus with the Bactrian camel and the wild Bactrian camel, the dromedary belongs to the family Camelidae. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was the first to describe the species of Camelus and he named two species in his History of Animals, the one-humped Arabian camel and the two-humped Bactrian camel. The dromedary was given its current binomial name Camelus dromedarius by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 publication Systema Naturae, the study showed the two tribes had diverged 25 million years ago, earlier than previously estimated from North American fossils. The dromedary and the Bactrian camel often interbreed to produce fertile offspring, where the ranges of the species overlap, such as in northern Punjab, Persia and Afghanistan, the phenotypic differences between them tend to decrease as a result of extensive crossbreeding. The fertility of their hybrid has given rise to speculation that the dromedary, however, a 1994 analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene showed the species display 10. 3% divergence in their sequences
Dromedary camel
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Dromedary camel
Dromedary camel
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Petroglyph of a camel in
Negev, southern
Israel.
Dromedary camel
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Woodcut illustration from the book The History of Four-Footed Beasts and Serpents by
Edward Topsell.
Dromedary camel
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Domesticated calves in
Dubai
16.
Chimpanzee
–
Chimpanzees are one of the two species of the genus Pan, the other being the bonobo. Together with gorillas, they are the only exclusively African species of ape that are currently extant. Native to sub-Saharan Africa, both chimpanzees and bonobos are found in the Congo jungle. In addition, P. troglodytes is divided into four subspecies, based on genome sequencing, the two extant Pan species diverged around one million years ago. The most obvious differences are that chimpanzees are somewhat larger, more aggressive and male-dominated, while the bonobos are more gracile, peaceful and their hair is typically black or brown. Males and females differ in size and appearance, both chimps and bonobos are some of the most social great apes, with social bonds occurring among individuals in large communities. Fruit is the most important component of a diet, however, they will also eat vegetation, bark, honey, insects. They can live over 30 years in both the wild and captivity, Chimpanzees and bonobos are equally humanitys closest living relatives. As such, they are among the largest-brained, and most intelligent of primates, they use a variety of sophisticated tools and construct elaborate sleeping nests each night from branches and they have both been extensively studied for their learning abilities. There may even be distinctive cultures within populations, field studies of Pan troglodytes were pioneered by primatologist Jane Goodall. Both Pan species are considered to be endangered as human activities have caused declines in the populations. Threats to wild populations include poaching, habitat destruction. Several conservation and rehabilitation organisations are dedicated to the survival of Pan species in the wild, the first use of the name chimpanze is recorded in The London Magazine in 1738, glossed as meaning mockman in a language of the Angolans. The spelling chimpanzee is found in a 1758 supplement to Chambers Cyclopædia, the colloquialism chimp was most likely coined some time in the late 1870s. The common chimpanzee was named Simia troglodytes by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in 1776, the species name troglodytes is a reference to the Troglodytae, an African people described by Greco-Roman geographers. Blumenbach first used it in his De generis humani varietate nativa liber in 1776, the genus name Pan was first introduced by Lorenz Oken in 1816. An alternative Theranthropus was suggested by Brookes 1828 and Chimpansee by Voigt 1831, troglodytes was not available, as it had been given as the name of a genus of wren in 1809. The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature adopted Pan as the official name of the genus in 1895
Chimpanzee
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Chimpanzees Temporal range: Middle
Pliocene - Recent
Chimpanzee
–
Bonobo
Chimpanzee
–
Common chimpanzees in
Gombe Stream National Park
Chimpanzee
–
Common chimpanzee using a stick
17.
Coati
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The term is reported to be derived from the Tupi language of Brazil. Adult coatis measure 33 to 69 cm from head to the base of the tail, coatis are about 30 cm tall at the shoulder and weigh between 2 and 8 kg, about the size of a large house cat. Males can become almost twice as large as females and have large, the above measurements are for the white-nosed and South America coatis. The two mountain coatis are smaller, all coatis share a slender head with an elongated, flexible, slightly upward-turned nose, small ears, dark feet, and a long, non-prehensile tail used for balance and signaling. Ring-tailed coatis have either a brown or black coat, with a lighter under-part. Coatis have a brown tail with rings on it which are anywhere from starkly defined like a raccoons to very faint. Like raccoons and unlike ring-tailed cats and cacomistles, the rings go completely around the tail, coatis often hold the tail erect, it is used as such to keep troops of coatis together in tall vegetation. The tip of the tail can be moved slightly on its own, as is the case with cats, coatis have bear- and raccoon-like paws, and coatis, raccoons, and bears walk plantigrade. Coatis also are, in common with raccoons and other procyonids, double-jointed and their ankles can rotate beyond 180°, they are therefore able to descend trees head first. Other animals living in forests have acquired some or all of these properties through convergent evolution, including members of the mongoose, civet, weasel, cat, some of these animals walk on the toes of the front paws and soles of the back paws. The coati snout is long and somewhat pig-like – part of the reason for its nickname the hog-nosed raccoon and it is also extremely flexible – it can be rotated up to 60° in any direction. They use their noses to push objects and rub parts of their body, the facial markings include white markings around the eyes and on the ears and snout. Coatis have strong limbs to climb and dig and have a reputation for intelligence, like their fellow procyonid and they prefer to sleep or rest in elevated places and niches, like the rainforest canopy, in crudely built sleeping nests. Coatis are active day and night, overall, coatis are widespread, occupying habitats ranging from hot and arid areas to humid Amazonian rainforests or even cold Andean mountain slopes, including grasslands and bushy areas. Their geographical range extends from the southwestern U. S. through northern Uruguay, around 10 coatis are thought to have formed a breeding population in Cumbria, UK. narica nelsoni, of the white-nosed coati. Genetic evidence has suggested that the genus Nasuella should be merged into Nasua, other genetic studies have shown that the closest relatives of the coatis are the olingos, the two lineages are thought to have diverged about 10.2 million years ago. In the wild, coatis live for seven to eight years. Coatis are omnivores, their diet mainly of ground litter invertebrates, such as tarantula
Coati
–
Coati
Coati
Coati
–
Coati showing its canines
Coati
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White-nosed coati at
Tikal, Guatemala
18.
Sika deer
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The sika deer also known as the spotted deer or the Japanese deer, is a species of deer native to much of East Asia, and introduced to various other parts of the world. Previously found from northern Vietnam in the south to the Russian Far East in the north, it is now uncommon in areas, excluding Japan. Its name comes from shika, the Japanese word for deer, in Japan the species is known as the nihonjika. The sika deer is a member of the genus Cervus, a group of deer known as the true deer. Formerly, sika were grouped together in this genus with nine other species, now, only the sika and red deer remain, the latter being divided into three separate species, European red deer, central Asian red deer and American elk. Recent DNA evidence indicates these deer are not as closely related as previously thought, resulting in the creation of new species, the genera Rucervus, Rusa, and Przewalskium are where most of the former Cervus species now belong. The ancestor of all Cervus species probably originated in central Asia, all Cervus species can crossbreed and produce hybrids in areas where they coexist. Serious genetic pollution has occurred in many populations, especially in China, therefore, the status of many subspecies remains unclear. The status of C. n. hortulorum is particularly uncertain and might in fact be of mixed origin, the mainland subspecies have larger and more obvious spots, in contrast to the Taiwanese and Japanese subspecies, whose spots are nearly invisible. Many introduced populations are from Japan, so also lack significant spots. The color of the ranges from mahogany to black. During winter, the coat becomes darker and shaggier and the less prominent. They are medium-sized herbivores, though they show notable size variation across their several subspecies and considerable sexual dimorphism and they can vary from 50 to 110 cm tall at the shoulder and from 95 to 180 cm in head-and-body length. The tail measures about 7. 5–13 cm long, the largest subspecies is the Manchurian sika deer, in which males commonly weigh about 68–109 kg and females weigh 45–50 kg, with large stags scaling up to 160 kg. On the other end of the spectrum, in the Japanese sika deer, males weigh 40–70 kg. All sikas are compact and dainty-legged, with short, trim, wedge-shaped heads, when alarmed, they will often display a distinctive flared rump, much like the American elk. Sika stags have stout, upright antlers with an extra buttress up from the brow tine, a forward-facing intermediate tine breaks the line to the top, which is usually forked. Occasionally, sika antlers develop some palmation, females carry a pair of distinctive black bumps on the forehead
Sika deer
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Sika deer
Sika deer
Sika deer
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Sika deer in
Shiretoko Peninsula,
Hokkaido, Japan
Sika deer
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Manchurian sika deer
19.
Common eland
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The common eland, also known as the southern eland or eland antelope, is a savannah and plains antelope found in East and Southern Africa. It is a species of the family Bovidae and genus Taurotragus and it was first described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1766. An adult male is around 1.6 metres tall at the shoulder and it is the second largest antelope in the world, being slightly smaller on average than the giant eland. Mainly a herbivore, its diet is grasses and leaves. Common elands form herds of up to 500 animals, but are not territorial, the common eland prefers habitats with a wide variety of flowering plants such as savannah, woodlands, and open and montane grasslands, it avoids dense forests. It uses loud barks, visual and postural movements and the response to communicate. The common eland is used by humans for leather, meat, and rich, nutritious milk, while the common elands population is decreasing, it is classified as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The scientific name of the common eland is Taurotragus oryx, composed of three words, tauros, tragos and oryx, tauros is Greek for a bull or bullock, meaning the same as the Latin taurus. Tragos is Greek for a goat, referring to the tuft of hair that grows in the elands ear. Oryx is Latin and Greek for pickaxe, referring to the horns of North African antelopes like the common eland. The name eland is Dutch for elk or moose and it has a Baltic source similar to the Lithuanian élnis, which means deer. It was borrowed earlier as ellan in the 1610s or Elend, when Dutch settlers came to the Cape Province, they named it after the large, herbivorous moose. In Dutch the animal is called Eland antelope to distinguish it from the moose and they are sexually dimorphic, with females being smaller than the males. Females weigh 300–600 kg, measure 200–280 cm from the snout to the base of the tail, bulls weigh 400–942 kg, are 240–345 cm from the snout to the base of the tail and stand 150–183 cm at the shoulder. The tail is 50–90 cm long, male elands can weigh up to 1,000 kg. Their coat differs geographically, with elands in north Africa having distinctive markings that are absent in the south, apart from a rough mane, the coat is smooth. Females have a tan coat, while the coats of males are darker, bulls may also have a series of vertical white stripes on their sides. As males age, their coat becomes more grey, males also have dense fur on their foreheads and a large dewlap on their throats
Common eland
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Common eland
Common eland
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Two common eland drinking at the Chudop waterhole at
Etosha National Park in
Namibia
Common eland
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Common eland bull
Common eland
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Common elands resting in herds.
20.
African elephant
–
African elephants are elephants of the genus Loxodonta, from Greek λοξός + ὀδούς. The genus consists of two extant species, the African bush elephant, L. africana, and the smaller African forest elephant, Loxodonta is one of two existing genera of the family Elephantidae. Fossil remains of Loxodonta have been only in Africa, in strata as old as the middle Pliocene. However, sequence analysis of DNA extracted from fossils of an extinct elephant species undermines the validity of the genus, one species of African elephant, the bush elephant, is the largest living terrestrial animal, while the forest elephant is the third-largest. Their thickset bodies rest on stocky legs, and they have concave backs and their large ears enable heat loss. The upper lip and nose form a trunk, the trunk acts as a fifth limb, a sound amplifier, and an important method of touch. African elephants trunks end in two opposing lips, whereas the Asian elephant trunk ends in a single lip, the largest recorded individual stood 4 m at the shoulders and weighed 10 tonnes. Elephants have four molars, each weighs about 5 kg and measures about 30 cm long, as the front pair wears down and drops out in pieces, the back pair moves forward, and two new molars emerge in the back of the mouth. Elephants replace their four to six times in their lifetimes. Around 40 to 60 years of age, the elephant loses the last of its molars and will die of starvation. African elephants have 24 teeth in total, six on each quadrant of the jaw, the enamel plates of the molars are fewer in number than in Asian elephants. The elephants tusks are firm teeth, the set of incisors become the tusks. They are used for digging for roots and stripping the bark from trees for food, for fighting each other during mating season, the tusks weigh from 23–45 kg and can be from 1. 5–2.4 m long. Unlike Asian elephants, both male and female African elephants have tusks and they are curved forward and continue to grow throughout the elephants lifetime. African elephants are found widely in Sub-Saharan Africa, in forests, mopane and miombo woodlands, Sahelian scrub. In 1825, Georges Cuvier named the genus Loxodonte, an anonymous author romanized the spelling to Loxodonta, and the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature recognizes this as the proper authority. Loxodonta adaurora, may belong in Mammuthus Bush and forest elephants were considered subspecies of Loxodonta africana. As described in the entry for the forest elephant in the edition of Mammal Species of the World, there is morphological
African elephant
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African elephant
African elephant
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Female
African forest elephant with juvenile in the
Republic of the Congo
African elephant
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A male African bush elephant skull on display at the
Museum of Osteology,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
African elephant
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A female African bush elephant skeleton on display at the
Museum of Osteology,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
21.
Tule elk
–
The tule elk is a subspecies of elk found only in California, ranging from the grasslands and marshlands of the Central Valley to the grassy hills on the coast. The subspecies name derives from the tule, a species of native to freshwater marshes on which the Tule elk feeds. When the Europeans first arrived, an estimated 500,000 tule elk roamed these regions, however, in 1874-1875 a single breeding pair was discovered in the tule marshes of Buena Vista Lake in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Conservation measures were taken to protect the species in the 1970s, today, the wild population exceeds 4,000. Considered the smallest of the wapiti in North America, the elk were the dominant large ungulate in California prior to the arrival of the Spanish. It is typically described as the smallest subspecies of all American elks, with the weight of adult males only 450 to 550 lb. California Department of Fish and Wildlife records show recent bull elk on Grizzly Island in Suisun Bay weigh up to 900 pounds and this is a similar size to Roosevelt elk bulls which weigh between 700 pounds and 1,100 pounds. Wildlife biologist Dale McCullough described an elk transplanted from Buttonwillow in the San Joaquin Valley to a course in Monterey that grew to the size of a Rocky Mountain elk. The calves are similar to deer fawns, with brown coats, genetic studies based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA confirm that Tule elk, Roosevelt elk and Rocky Mountain elk should be considered distinct subspecies. Tibbet, or there were three surviving tule elk at the genetic bottleneck, the arrival of the Spanish in the late 18th century introduced cattle and horses to the grasslands of the Central Valley, competing with the native elk. Unrestricted hunting further reduced the herds, by the time elk hunting was banned by the State Legislature in 1873, the tule elk was believed to be extinct. California cattle baron Henry Miller protected tule elk after a pair was discovered on his ranch in the marshes near Buena Vista Lake by game warden A. C. Miller ordered his men to protect the elk and is credited for the survival of the subspecies, after his death, the huge Miller-Lux ranch was subdivided and the hunting of the elk resumed. The population was reduced to 72 head, by 1895, habitat loss and poaching had reduced the elk population to only 28. In the years followed, the elk were transplanted 21 times. In 1933, rancher Walter Dow took a group of penned elk to his ranch in Owens Valley. Although not native habitat for the elk, they thrived, in the same year, the state put a small herd at Cache Creek. This herd has not fared well due to poor range conditions and this herd may have interbred with the Rocky Mountain elk which were introduced near Mount Shasta
Tule elk
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Tule elk
Tule elk
Tule elk
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Making rutting call
Tule elk
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Herd at
Lake Pillsbury near Hull Mountain,
Mendocino National Forest in
Lake County, California
22.
Small flying fox
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The small flying fox, island flying fox or variable flying fox is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is found in Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, Thailand, the small flying fox is quite variable in its colouring. The head is dark brown but can be yellowish-brown and is paler in the eastern part of the animals range. The back is tawny-brown and the underparts some shade of buff, the ears are partially furred and the wing membranes are black. The fur is short on the back and medium-length on the underparts and this bat can be distinguished from the rather similar Ryukyu flying fox by the fact that its tibia are bare rather than covered with fur. The small flying fox is native to islands in the Indo-Pacific region and its range includes the Maldives, the Andaman Islands, the Nicobar Islands, Melanesia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. It is found at altitudes of up to about 900 metres, in many parts of its range it roosts in small outlying islands and flies to larger bodies of land to forage at night. Small flying foxes feed mostly on the fruit of native and introduced trees but also consume flowers, the diet includes pawpaws, mangos, jambul, bananas, figs, flowers of the kapok tree and the banyan, tree and flowers and fruits of cultivated crops. They consume about half their weight each day. These bats become sexually mature at one year of age. The breeding season varies according to location and the period is about 200 days. A single pup is born which is weaned at six weeks. The small flying fox is rated as being of Least Concern by the IUCN and it has a wide range and is generally abundant and faces no major threats as a whole. In some areas it is threatened by deforestation and tourism-related activities and in the Philippines and it is also regarded as a pest by farmers whose crops are raided
Small flying fox
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Small flying fox
23.
Large flying fox
–
Like the other members of the genus Pteropus, or the Old World fruit bats, it feeds exclusively on fruits, nectar and flowers. It is noted for being one of the largest bats, as with nearly all other Old World fruit bats, it lacks the ability to echolocate but compensates for it with well-developed eyesight. The large flying fox was one of the mammal species originally described by Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. The large flying fox is among the largest species of bat and it weighs 0. 65–1.1 kg and has a wingspan of up to 1.5 m. Its head-body length is 27–32 centimetres, as with all megabats, it has a fox-like face, hence its name. It lacks a tail and has pointed ears, the hairs on much of its body are long and woolly, but are shorter and more erect on the upper back. The mantle hairs tend to be the longest, the color and texture of the coat differ between sexes and age classes. Males tend to have slightly stiffer and thicker coats than females, immature individuals are almost all dull gray-brown. Young have a mantle that becomes lighter in males when they mature. The head has hairs that range in color from mahogany-red and orange-ochreous to blackish, the ventral areas are brown or blackish, tinged with chocolate, gray or silver. The mantle can vary from pale dirty-buff to orange-yellow, while the chest is usually brown or dark russet. The large flying fox has a large and robust skull and it has a total of 34 teeth. The large flying foxs wings are short and somewhat rounded at the tips and this allows them to fly slowly, but with great maneuverability. The wing membranes are only haired near the body, the large flying fox ranges from Malay Peninsula, to the Philippines in the east and Indonesian Archipelago of Sumatra, Java, Borneo and Timor in the south. In certain areas, the bat prefers coastal regions, but it can also be found at elevations up to 1,370 m, flying foxes inhabit primary forest, mangrove forest, coconut groves, mixed fruit orchards, and a number of other habitats. During the day, trees in forests and coconut groves may be used as roosts. In Malaysia, flying foxes prefer lowland habitats below 365 m, in Borneo, they inhabit the coastal areas, but move to nearby islands to feed on fruit. Flying foxes roost in the thousands, one colony was recorded numbering around 2,000 individuals in a mangrove forest in Timor and colonies of 10, 000-20,000 have also been reported
Large flying fox
–
Large flying fox
Large flying fox
–
"Greater Flying Fox" redirects here. For the species from New Guinea and nearby islands, see
great flying fox.
Large flying fox
–
Pteropus vampyrus skull
24.
Lar gibbon
–
The lar gibbon, also known as the white-handed gibbon, is a primate in the gibbon family, Hylobatidae. It is one of the gibbons and is often seen in zoos. The hands and feet are white-colored, likewise a ring of white hair surrounds the black face, both males and females can be all color variants, and the sexes also hardly differ in size. Gibbons are true brachiators, propelling themselves through the forest by swinging under the branches using their arms, as with all apes, the number of caudal vertebrae has been reduced drastically, resulting in the loss of a functional tail. Gibbons have tough, bony padding on their buttocks, known as the ischial callosities, lar gibbons have the greatest north-south range of any of the gibbon species. They are found in Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and their range historically extended from southwest China to Thailand and Burma south to the whole Malay Peninsula in primary and secondary tropical rain forests. It is also present in the northwest portion of the island of Sumatra, in recent decades, especially, the continental range has been reduced and fragmented. Lar gibbons are likely extinct in China, but if they still exist, they would only be found in southwest Yunnan and they are not usually found higher than 1200 meters above sea level. The gibbon genus is highly allopatric, usually separated by large rivers, as a result, their range extends through southern and eastern Myanmar, but only east of the Salween River. They are found through the Malay Peninsula, lar gibbons also exist west of the Mekong River in northwestern Laos and northern Sumatra. The lar gibbon is considered frugivorous with fruit constituting 50% of its diet and its dental formula is 2.1.2. 3/2.1.2.3, the generalized formula for Old World monkeys and apes. The dental arcade is U-shaped, and the mandible is thin, the incisors are broad and flat, while the molars have low, rounded cusps with thick enamel. The most noticeable characteristic of the dentition of Hylobates lar is the presence of large and these canines are not sexually dimorphic. Lar gibbons are diurnal and arboreal, inhabiting rain forests, lar gibbons are usually active for an average of 8.7 hours per day, leaving their sleeping sites right around sunrise and entering sleeping trees an average of 3.4 hours before sunset. They rarely come to the ground, instead using their arms to brachiate through the trees. With their hooked hands, they can move swiftly with great momentum, although they rarely come to the ground naturally, while there, they walk bipedally with arms raised above their heads for balance. Their social organization is dominated by monogamous family pairs, with one breeding male, when a juvenile reaches sexual maturity, it is expelled from the family unit. However, this conception has come under scrutiny
Lar gibbon
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Lar gibbon
Lar gibbon
–
Climbing lar gibbon showing the darker fur of some individuals
Lar gibbon
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Lar gibbons
25.
Reticulated giraffe
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The reticulated giraffe, also known as the Somali giraffe, is a species of giraffe native to the Horn of Africa. It lives in Somalia, southern Ethiopia, and northern Kenya, there are approximately 8,500 individuals living in the wild. The species was described and given its name by British zoologist William Edward de Winton in 1899. The reticulated giraffes and the Masai giraffes are monotypic species, Reticulated giraffes can interbreed with other giraffe species in captivity or if they come into contact with populations of other species in the wild. Together with the Rothschild giraffe, it is by far the giraffe most commonly seen in zoos and its coat consists of large, polygonal, liver-colored spots outlined by a network of bright-white lines. The blocks may sometimes appear red and may also cover the legs. The extraordinary height of giraffes is attributed to a known as necking. The giraffes with the tallest and strongest necks are victorious and allowed to reproduce, the species was described and given its binomial name Giraffa reticulata by British zoologist William Edward de Winton in 1899. Morten Thrane Brünnich classified the genus Giraffa in 1772, all living giraffes were originally classified as one species by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Reticulated giraffes historically occurred widely throughout Northeast Africa and their favored habitats are savannas, woodlands, seasonal floodplains, and rainforests. Reticulated giraffes are herbivorous and have recorded to feed on more than 100 species of plants, with a staple of Acacia, Commiphora. Giraffe have been eating the carcass of an antelope and chewing on dried bones for their calcium content. While leaves are preferred, a giraffe will browse on many kinds of vegetation. Giraffe food preferences change according to seasons, in the dry season, giraffes feed by browsing, which typically means they eat continuously throughout the day. A male is able to eat 75 pounds of food in a single day, giraffes use their sense of smell to locate the leaves they want. They ingest everything on the branch when eating, including insects, bark, the giraffe uses its massive tongue to scrape off the leaves. Giraffes have very tough lips to guard against scratching, while the acacia tree is their favorite, giraffes have also been known to eat mareola berries and other fruits. Reticulated giraffes are ruminants, just like cattle and other ungulates, the first stomach partially digests the twigs, leaves, and whatever else the giraffe has ingested whole
Reticulated giraffe
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Reticulated giraffes at
Samburu National Reserve, Kenya
Reticulated giraffe
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Reticulated giraffe
26.
Pygmy goat
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The Pygmy goat is a breed of miniature domestic goat. The pygmy goat can be used for different things and that is why a pygmy goat is strictly classified as a multi purpose animal as stated on NPGA or national pygmy goat association. The pygmy goat is quite hardy, an asset in a variety of settings. Castrated males are called wethers and can be shown in pet classes, there are also pedigree classes at shows for entire goats. There are separate pedigree lineages in Europe and Africa the United States, and this is because there were only a few hundred pygmy goats imported from Africa around 60 years ago. Females, called does, weigh 24 to 34 kg and males, called bucks, wither height ranges from 41 to 58 cm. In the U. S. Pygmies only come in 7 breed standard approved colors, and can be categorized into caramel patterned, agouti patterned, and black patterned. Within these categories, there are caramel with black markings, caramel with brown markings, brown agouti, grey agouti, black agouti, black with white markings, the faulting matrix allows for faulting random white markings from moderate to very serious and these animals will be judged accordingly. White belly bands are not considered random markings, african Pygmy will also only have brown colored eyes. Pygmy goats are precocial and polyestrous breeders, bearing one to four young every nine to 12 months after a gestation period. Does are usually bred for the first time at about 18 to 24 months, breeding under age does often results in c-sections. Newborn kids will nurse almost immediately, begin eating grain and roughage within a week, polyestrous sexual behavior means that they experience heat and can be freshened year-round. If milking is a priority, a supply of milk can be obtained by breeding two or more pygmy does alternately. Some full-size dairy breeds are noted for polyestrous sexual behavior. The Pygmy goat was developed from the west african dwarf goat and they were taken to Europe primarily by the British during the colonial era. They were later imported into the United States from European zoos in the 1950s for use in zoos as well as research animals and they were eventually acquired by private breeders and quickly gained popularity as pets and exhibition animals due to their good-natured personalities, friendliness and hardy constitution. Today, they are common as pets and in petting zoos. Pygmy goats are adaptable to most climates and their primary diet consists of greens and grains
Pygmy goat
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A pygmy goat on a stump.
Pygmy goat
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Young pygmy goat
Pygmy goat
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Group of pygmy goats
27.
Alpine (goat)
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The Alpine is a medium to large sized breed of domestic goat known for its very good milking ability. They have no set colours or markings and they have horns, a straight profile and erect ears. The breed originated in the French Alps, mature does weigh around 61 kg, and are about 76 cm tall at the shoulder. Alpine goats can range from white or gray to brown and black, the milk can be made into butter, cheese, soap, ice cream or any other dairy product normally made from cows milk. They are often used for dairy production, as well as homestead milk goats. The French Alpine is also referred to as the Alpine dairy goat and these are hardy, adaptable animals that thrive in any climate while maintaining good health and excellent production. The face is straight with a nose as most other European breeds of goats. Toggenburg color and markings, or all-white is discriminated against, American Alpines have much of the visual type and temperament as French Alpines, but may have less standard markings or confirmation due to crossbreeding. Alpine goats are a medium to large sized breed, males are over 81 cm tall at the withers and females are over 76 cm tall at the withers. Their hair is short to medium in length, and they come in all colours and they have erect ears and a straight profile, and are described as being alertly graceful with the ability to adapt to any climate thanks to their hardy nature. They are the breed with erect ears that comes in all colours. The sexual maturation rate among Alpine goats is at four to five months after birth for buck kids, however, doe kids should not be bred until they are at least 75-80 lbs. A does gestation lasts for 145 –155 days, with 150 being the average, twins are the most common, but they can have singles, all the way up to quintuplets. Alpine goats are friendly and highly curious, however they can be independent, traditional Alpine colors are described using the following terms, Cou Blanc - literally white neck - white front quarters and black hindquarters with black or gray markings on the head. Cou Clair - literally clear neck - front quarters are tan, saffron, off-white, Cou Noir - literally black neck - Black front quarters and white hindquarters. Sundgau - Black with white markings such as underbody, facial stripes, Chamoisée - brown or bay - characteristic markings are black face, dorsal stripe, feet and legs and sometimes a martingale running over the withers and down to the chest. Two-tone Chamoisée - light front quarters with brown or grey hindquarters and this is not a cou blanc or cou clair as these terms are reserved for animals with black hindquarters. Broken Chamoisée - a solid chamoisee broken with another color by being banded or splashed, any variation in the above patterns broken with white should be described as a broken pattern such as a broken cou blanc
Alpine (goat)
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Alpine goats with the Chamoisée color grazing in France
Alpine (goat)
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American Alpine goats have been crossbred to introduce new genetics suited for dairying, while still retaining much of the type of French Alpines.
28.
Anglo-Nubian
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The Anglo-Nubian is a British breed of domestic goat. Due to their Middle-Eastern heritage, Anglo-Nubians can live in hot climates and have a longer breeding season than other dairy goats. It has been exported to parts of the world, and is found in more than sixty countries. In many of them it is simply as the Nubian. The Anglo-Nubian breed originated in England as a 1920s–1930 cross between the Old English milch goat and imported bucks, including Zariby and Nubian, imported from India, Russia, the typical Nubian goat is large in size and carries more flesh than other dairy breeds. The Nubian breed standard specifies large size, markings can be any colour, the ears are long, pendulous and floppy and they have a round nose. The Nubian temperament is sociable, outgoing, and vocal, because of its elongated ears and sleek body, the Nubian has a variety of nicknames, including Lop-eared Goat, Rabbit Goat, Long-eared Goat and Greyhound Goat. Anglo-Nubians are large, with does weighing at least 135 pounds and 175 pounds for bucks, the minimum height of the breed, measured at the withers, is 76 centimetres for does and 89 centimetres for bucks. Like most dairy goats, they are normally kept hornless by disbudding within approximately two weeks of birth, the Nubians size makes it a very useful dual purpose animal. The Nubian breed leads the way for the breeds in butterfat production. This is surpassed only by the Nigerian Dwarf, Pygmy goat and Boer goat breeds, Nubians are remarkable in temperate zones of agriculture in being able to deal with temperatures as low as 0 °F with open faced shelters. They readily attach to their new owners with simple neck. Nubians love human interaction and will call for their owner, while being stereotyped as vocal, they are relatively quiet when provided with food, water and shelter. Just like human infants if they are making noise, they are doing so to let their needs be known, Nubians are also sometimes classified as stubborn, but Nubians are simply highly intelligent animals who know what they like and dislike. Once shown the way as in being let out of its pen to be milked. American Dairy Goat Association Anglo-Nubian Goat Society Anglo-Nubian Goat photogallery
Anglo-Nubian
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Nubian dairy does
Anglo-Nubian
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The Nubian's distinctive face
Anglo-Nubian
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A Nubian buck
29.
Spotted hyena
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The spotted hyena, also known as the laughing hyena, is a species of hyena, currently classed as the sole member of the genus Crocuta, native to Sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUCN on account of its range and large numbers estimated between 27,000 and 47,000 individuals. The species is, however, experiencing declines outside of protected areas due to habitat loss, the species may have originated in Asia, and once ranged throughout Europe for at least one million years until the end of the Late Pleistocene. It is the mammalian species to lack an external vaginal opening. The spotted hyena is the most social of the Carnivora in that it has the largest group sizes, females provide only for their own cubs rather than assist each other, and males display no paternal care. Spotted hyena society is matriarchal, females are larger than males, the spotted hyena is a highly successful animal, being the most common large carnivore in Africa. Its success is due in part to its adaptability and opportunism, it is primarily a hunter but may also scavenge, with the capacity to eat and digest skin, bone and other animal waste. In functional terms, the spotted hyena makes the most efficient use of matter of all African carnivores. The spotted hyena displays greater plasticity in its hunting and foraging behaviour than other African carnivores, it hunts alone, during a hunt, spotted hyenas often run through ungulate herds in order to select an individual to attack. Once selected, their prey is chased over long distance, often several kilometres, the spotted hyena has a long history of interaction with humanity, depictions of the species exist from the Upper Paleolithic period, with carvings and paintings from the Lascaux and Chauvet Caves. The species has a negative reputation in both Western culture and African folklore. In the former, the species is regarded as ugly and cowardly, while in the latter, it is viewed as greedy, gluttonous, stupid. The majority of Western perceptions on the species can be found in the writings of Aristotle and Pliny the Elder, explicit, negative judgements occur in the Physiologus, where the animal is depicted as a hermaphrodite and grave robber. The IUCNs hyena specialist group identifies the spotted hyenas negative reputation as detrimental to the continued survival. The spotted hyenas scientific name Crocuta, was widely thought to be derived from the Latin loanword crocutus. This was proven to be incorrect, as the spelling of the loanword would have been Crocāta. Crocuta actually comes from the Ancient Greek word Κροκόττας, which is derived from the Sanskrit koṭṭhâraka, the earliest recorded mention of Κροκόττας is from Strabos Geographica, where the animal is described as a mix of wolf and dog native to Ethiopia. From Classical antiquity until the Renaissance, the spotted and striped hyena were either assumed to be the species, or distinguished purely on geographical
Spotted hyena
Spotted hyena
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A pair of spotted hyenas at
White River, Mpumalanga. Note the great degree of individual variation in fur colour, which was once used as a basis for separating the species into various subspecies
Spotted hyena
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Spotted hyena walking in profile
Spotted hyena
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Skull, as illustrated by
Frédéric Cuvier. Note the disproportionately large carnassials and premolars adapted for bone consumption
30.
Blue-eyed black lemur
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The blue-eyed black lemur, also known as the Sclaters lemur, is a species of true lemur. It can attain a length of 39–45 cm, a tail length of 51–65 cm- a total length of 90–100 cm. Being a primate, it has strong hands with palms like a human and its tail is longer than its body and non-prehensile. Like many of the species in the Eulemur genus, the black lemur is sexually dichromatic. Males are solid black in color, with the hairs sometimes tinged brown at the roots, females are reddish-brown in color with their underside and outline of their face a lighter tan. They have a brown or gray muzzle and the back of their hands. Both sexes have blue eyes, hence the name, and are one of the only primates other than humans to consistently have blue eyes. The eyes can range in color from an electric blue. In the Manongarivo Special reserve, where the range of the two overlap, there is a report of hybridization between the two species, but the resulting offspring always have orange eyes. Until 2008, the black lemur was considered a subspecies, E. macaco flavifrons. This true lemur has not been studied intensively in the wild, group sizes vary from four to eleven individuals on average. Females are dominant as in most lemur species, and there are more males than females in each social group. The blue-eyed black lemur is thought to be polygynous, females give birth to one or two offspring in June or July, after a gestation of 120 to 129 days. The young are weaned after about 5–6 months, and reach maturity at about 2 years of age and it may live between 15–30 years in captivity, with little data recorded on their longevity in the wild. It demonstrates a cathemeral activity pattern, being awake sporadically throughout the day, the occasional nighttime activities are thought to be based on the intensity of the moonlight. The blue-eyed black lemur communicates with scent-marking, vocalizations, and perhaps some facial expressions, scent marking is an important means of communication as with most lemur species. Both genders will mark on trees with anogenital glands, while males also mark using wrist and palm glands by rubbing and twisting them against leaves. Males also use a scent gland on the top of their head to mark, lowering their head, little is known of its vocalizations, but it has been observed making a variety of grunts, chirps, barks and clicks
Blue-eyed black lemur
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Blue-eyed black lemur
Blue-eyed black lemur
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Detail of face showing blue eyes
