# document

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created_at: 2022-12-12 16:43:08
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"Evidence for breeding of leopards was documented in six localities inside protected areas in the Iranian part of the Lesser Caucasus.\nIn northeastern Iran, four leopard families with two cubs each were identified during a survey carried out from 2005 to 2008 in Sarigol National Park. A male leopard was photographed in January 2008 spraying urine on a Berberis tree; he was photographed several times until mid-February 2008 in the same area. Camera trapping surveys in summer 2016 documented the presence of 52 leopards in Sarigol, Salouk and Tandooreh National Parks. These included 10 cubs in seven families, thus highlighting that the Kopet Dag and Aladagh Mountains are important leopard refugia in the region. Leopards were also photographed in a protected area in Sefid Kuh, Kermanshah in 2020.\nBetween September 2014 and August 2016, two radio-collared leopards moved from Iran's Kopet Dag region into Turkmenistan, revealing that the leopard population in the two countries is connected. Leopards were recorded by camera traps in the Badkhyz Nature Reserve in the country's south-west.\nIn 2017, a young male leopard from Iran's Tandooreh National Park dispersed to and settled in Turkmenistan.\n\n"


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"In 2018, an old male Persian leopard had moved 20 km (12 mi) from Iran to Turkmenistan.\nIn Bamu National Park in Fars Province, surveys carried out from autumn 2007 to spring 2008 revealed seven individuals in a sampling area of 321.12 km2 (123.99 sq mi). One individual was recorded by a camera trap in Afghanistan's Bamyan Province in 2011.In Kazakhstan, a leopard was recorded for the first time in 2000 in Jambyl Region. In 2007 and 2015, two leopards were killed in Mangystau Region farther west in the country. Between September and December 2018, camera traps recorded a leopard on a cliff in Ustyurt Nature Reserve.\n\n=== Historical range ===\nP. p. tulliana was most likely distributed over the entire Caucasus, except for steppe areas. The northern foothills of the Greater Caucasus formed the northern boundary of its historic range. During surveys conducted between 2001 and 2005, no leopard was recorded in the western Greater Caucasus; it probably survived only at a few sites in the eastern part.\nIn Armenia, people and leopards have co-existed since prehistoric times. In the mid-20th century, the leopard was relatively common in the country's mountains.\n\n"


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"Stone traps for leopards and other predators dating to the Roman Empire still exist in the Taurus Mountains in southern Turkey.\nThe last leopard in Syria is reported to have been killed in 1963 in the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range.P. p. tulliana was once numerous in the Aegean Region between \u0130zmir and Antalya, with the Be\u015fparmak Mountains considered a stronghold. Several factors contributed to the decline of the leopard population in this region between the late 1940s and mid 1970s, including deforestation, conversion of natural habitat to orchards, road construction and killing of leopards in retaliation for preying on livestock. Since surveys were not carried out in western Turkey until the mid-1980s, biologists doubted whether leopards still survived in the region. Sighting reports from the environs of Alanya in the south of the Lycian peninsula suggested that a scattered population existed between Finike, Antalya and Alanya in the early 1990s. Fresh faecal pellets found in Mount G\u00fcll\u00fck-Termessos National Park in 1992 were attributed to an Anatolian leopard.\nHowever surveys in western Turkey between 2000 and 2004 found no contemporary evidence of leopards. "


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"Extensive trophy hunting is thought to be the prime factor for the decline of the Anatolian leopard in this area. One hunter named Mantolu Hasan killed at least fifteen leopards between 1930 and 1950. It is considered locally extinct in western Turkey since the mid-1970s. No signs of the presence of leopards were detected in Termessos National Park during surveys in 2005, and local people and national park personnel were not aware of any.The leopard population in southern Russia had been reduced to two small and isolated populations by the 1950s, and by 2007, there were fewer than 50 individuals in the region.\nSince 1954, leopards were thought to be extirpated in Georgia, following kills by hunters. The political and social changes caused by the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1992 caused a severe economic crisis and weakening of formerly effective protection systems; wildlife habitats were severely fragmented, leopards were persecuted and wild ungulates were hunted. In addition, inadequate baseline data and lack of monitoring programmes made it difficult to evaluate declines of mammalian prey species.\nIn the winter of 2003, zoologists found footprints of a leopard in Vashlovani National Park in southeastern Georgia. "


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"Camera traps recorded one young male individual several times. The individual was not recorded again between 2009 and 2014. A survey in 2019 found no leopards.Leopards also survived in northwestern Azerbaijan in the Akhar-Bakhar section of Ilisu State Reserve in the foothills of the Greater Caucasus, but in 2007 numbers were thought to be extremely low.In Afghanistan, the leopard is thought to inhabit the central highlands of the Hindu Kush and the Wakhan corridor, but none have been photographed. The long-lasting conflict in the country badly affected both predator and prey species, so that the national population is considered to be small and severely threatened.\n\n== Behaviour and ecology ==\nThe diet of P. p. tulliana varies depending on habitat.\nIn southern Armenia and Iran, it preys mostly on wild goat (Capra aegagrus), mouflon (Ovis gmelini), wild boar (Sus scrofa), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa), Indian crested porcupine (Hystrix indica) and European hare (Lepus europaeus). It occasionally attacks livestock and herding dogs. In Iran, the presence of leopards is highly correlated with the presence of wild goat and wild sheep. An attack by a leopard on an onager (Equus hemionus) was also recorded. "


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"In Turkey, it also preys on chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra).Adult males usually share their home ranges entirely or partially with two or three adult females. The mating season lasts from mid-January to mid-February. In Sarigol National Park, three females were documented in late April to May 2008 with one to two cubs each. A female with two cubs was also photographed in the Alborz Mountains.\n\n== Threats ==\n\nP. p. tulliana is threatened by poaching, depletion of prey base due to poaching, human disturbance such as presence of military and training of troops in border areas, habitat loss due to deforestation, fire, agricultural expansion, overgrazing, and infrastructure development.\nIn the 1980s, anti-personnel mines were deployed along the northern part of the Iran-Iraq border to deter people from entering the area. Leopards roaming the area are safe from poachers and industrial development, but at least two individuals are known to have stepped on mines and been killed. The main threat in northern Iraq is deforestation, which in the early 2020s is being worsened by an economic crisis.In April 2001, an adult female was shot on the border to Kabardino-Balkaria; her two cubs were captured and taken to Novosibirsk Zoo in Russia.\n"


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"Between 2004 and 2007, a total of 85 leopard skins were seen being offered in markets in Kabul.\nLeopards were known to live on the Meghri Ridge in the extreme south of Armenia, where only one individual was imaged by a camera trap between August 2006 and April 2007, but no signs of other leopards were found during track surveys conducted over an area of 296.9 km2 (114.6 sq mi). The local prey base could support 4\u201310 individuals. But the combined impact of poaching, disturbance caused by livestock breeding, gathering of edible plants and mushrooms, deforestation and human-induced wild fires was so high that the tolerance limits of leopards was exceeded.\nOnly some small and isolated populations remain in the whole Caucasus. Suitable habitat is limited, and most often situated in remote border areas. Local populations depend on immigration from source populations mainly in Iran.In Turkey, the leopard has been killed illegally in traps and through poison. Several leopards are known of have been killed since 1974 in Beypazar\u0131, Siirt Province, Diyarbak\u0131r Province and Tunceli Provinces. "


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"Despite ongoing efforts to reforest Turkey, the country lacks a plan to reconnect fragmented forests as of 2020, which may further fragment leopard populations in the region.In Iran, primary threats are habitat disturbances, poaching and excess of livestock in leopard habitats. Leopards are unlikely to persist outside of protected areas. Droughts in wide areas of leopard habitats affected the main prey species such as wild goat and wild sheep.\nAn assessment of leopard mortality in Iran revealed that 71 leopards were killed between 2007 and 2011 in 18 provinces; 70% were hunted or poisoned illegally, and 18% died in road accidents. Between 2000 and 2015, 147 leopards were killed in the country. More than 60% of them died due to poaching, through poisonous bait, and were shot by rangers, trophy hunters and the military. About 26% of them died in road accidents. More males than females were killed.\nBetween 2007 and spring 2021, 78 leopards died in Iran because of humans; 62 were shot or poisoned by herders or killed by their dogs.\nRetaliatory killings of leopards occur after attacks on livestock.\n"


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"Leopards injured 30 people and killed one in the country between 2012 and 2020, mostly thought to be defensive reactions by animals surprised by livestock herders.\n\n== Conservation ==\nPanthera pardus is listed in CITES Appendix I. It is listed as a strictly protected species in Appendix II of the Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats.\nIn Azerbaijan, the leopard has been protected by law since 1969; in Armenia and in the Soviet Union, it was protected by law in 1972; the Caucasus leopard population was listed in Russia's Red Data Book under Category I as threatened with extinction.\nIt has been protected by law in Iran since 1999.\nIn 2001, hunting leopards was banned in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, and anti-poaching activities were regularly conducted in southern Armenia since 2003. Since 2005, seven protected areas have been established in the Lesser Caucasus covering an area of 1,940 km2 (750 sq mi), and three in the Talysh Mountains with an area of 449 km2 (173 sq mi). The total protected area in the country now amounts to 4,245 km2 (1,639 sq mi).\n"


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"In Georgia's national Red Data Book, the leopard has been listed as Critically Endangered since 2006. Penalties for killing leopards were adopted and increased several times in Armenia and Azerbaijan.\nIn Afghanistan, it was included in the country's Protected Species List in 2009.\nIn Kazakhstan, hunting was made a criminal offence in 2021. In Turkey the leopard is one of the species in the action plan being prepared for the country's endangered species.In 2001, a 5-year leopard conservation project was initiated in the Caucasus, which supported systematic surveys in the region, the planning of new and enlargement of existing protected areas, training of border guards and school education campaigns in Armenia and Azerbaijan; an anti-poaching unit was set up in Armenia. In 2005, the Armenian Ministry of Environment approved a conservation plan with the leopard as an umbrella species, and a strategy for leopard conservation in the Caucasus in 2008.\nIn Iran, a leopard conservation and management action plan was endorsed in 2016, and Future4Leopards Foundation is a non-profit conservation organization in the country. "


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"As of 2019, Nature Iraq is mapping potential habitat near the border with Iran as the first stage of a conservation project.Wildlife corridors for the safe dispersal of leopards between there and other protected areas in Iran's Alborz Mountains have been mapped in an area of 3,132 km2 (1,209 sq mi). As of 2022 further conservation work is needed to conserve corridors, including protecting more areas. Three core habitats and suitable corridors between protected areas in the Zagros Mountains were identified along the international border between Iran and Iraq.In 2021, several authors suggested that there is enough suitable habitat in the Caucasus as a whole for over a thousand leopards, but a metapopulation will only be viable if persecution is reduced and prey restored.\n\n=== Reintroduction projects ===\nIn 2009, the Leopard Breeding and Rehabilitation Centre in Russia's Sochi National Park received two leopards from Turkmenistan as part of a leopard breeding and reintroduction programme. Since then, leopards have been brought from various zoos. Their offspring were released into the wild in 2016 and 2018, including three males and one female into the Caucasus Biosphere Reserve, and one male and one female into Alaniya National Park in North Ossetia\u2013Alania.\n\n"


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"=== In captivity ===\nAs of 2021 there are over 100 captive Persian leopards in zoos worldwide, and the European Endangered Species Programme has a captive breeding program to sustain a backup population.\n\n== In culture ==\nIn 2015, representations of the Anatolian leopard were found in the ancient city of Thyatira in Anatolia that date from the Neolithic period to the end of the 6th century BC. The leopard is depicted on statues, potteries, ivory works and coins associated with the Lydian culture. Several pieces were found in areas that were used for worship. Leopard skin patterns were also used on Anatolian carpets and kaftans.The Natural History Museum of the Aegean on Samos Island in Greece exhibits a stuffed animal said to have been killed on the island in 1862, labelled Kaplani, Greek: \u039a\u03b1\u03c0\u03bb\u03ac\u03bd\u03b9, meaning leopard. Its size, shape and coat colour is rather unnatural for a leopard, but may have been altered in the process of taxidermy. It is possible that a leopard reached the island by swimming across the 1.7 km (1.1 mi) wide channel from the Turkish coast. "


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"One more leopard had reached Samos in 1836 and was trapped.The story of the leopard and the exhibit inspired Greek author Alki Zei to write a novel for children titled Greek: \u03a4\u03bf \u03ba\u03b1\u03c0\u03bb\u03ac\u03bd\u03b9 \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u03b2\u03b9\u03c4\u03c1\u03af\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2, translated as Wildcat Under Glass.\n\n== See also ==\n\n== References ==\n\n== External links ==\n\n\"Persian leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana)\". IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group.\n\"Caucasian Leopard \u2013 The King of the Armenian mountains\". WWF-Armenia.\n\"ICS study confirms transboundary leopard movements between Azerbaijan and Iran in the Caucasus\". Iranian Cheetah Society. 2018.\nLeopards .:. wild-cat.org \u2014 Information about research and conservation of leopards in Asia\n\"Research, Conservation and Management of Asian leopard subspecies\". Asian Leopard Specialist Society. 2011.\n\"Watch This Rare Video of an Endangered Persian Leopard in the Wild\". Vice News. 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2021."


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"The mute swan (Cygnus olor) is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurosiberia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home to the largest populations outside of its native range, with additional smaller introductions in Australasia and southern Africa. The name 'mute' derives from it being less vocal than other swan species. Measuring 125 to 160 cm (49 to 63 in) in length, this large swan is wholly white in plumage with an orange beak bordered with black. It is recognizable by its pronounced knob atop the beak, which is larger in males.\n\n== Taxonomy ==\nThe mute swan was first formally described by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin as Anas olor in 1789, and was transferred by Johann Matth\u00e4us Bechstein to the new genus Cygnus in 1803. "


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"Both cygnus and olor mean \"swan\" in Latin; cygnus is a variant form of cycnus, a borrowing from Greek \u03ba\u03cd\u03ba\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 kyknos, a word of the same meaning.Despite its Eurasian origin, its closest relatives are the black swan of Australia and the black-necked swan of South America, not the other Northern Hemisphere swans of the genus Cygnus. The species is monotypic, with no living subspecies.\n\n== Evolution ==\nMute swan subfossils, 6,000 years old, have been found in post-glacial peat beds of East Anglia, Great Britain. They have been recorded from Ireland east to Portugal and Italy, and from France, 13,000 BP (Desbrosse and Mourer-Chauvire 1972\u20131973). The paleosubspecies. Cygnus olor bergmanni, which differed only in size from the living bird, is known from fossils found in Azerbaijan. A related paleospecies recorded from fossils and subfossils is the Giant swan, Cygnus falconeri, a flightless species which lived on the islands of Malta and Sicily during the Middle Pleistocene.\nFossils of swan ancestors more distantly allied to the mute swan have been found in four U.S. states: California, Arizona, Idaho and Oregon. The timeline runs from the Miocene to the late Pleistocene, or 10,000 BP. "


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"The latest find was in Anza Borrego Desert, a state park in California. Fossils from the Pleistocene include Cygnus paloregonus from Fossil Lake, Oregon, Froman's Ferry, Idaho, and Arizona, referred to by Howard in The Waterfowl of the World as \"probably the mute type swan\".\n\n== Description ==\nAdults of this large swan typically range from 140 to 160 cm (55 to 63 in) long, although can range in extreme cases from 125 to 170 cm (49 to 67 in), with a 200 to 240 cm (79 to 94 in) wingspan. Males are larger than females and have a larger knob on their bill. On average, this is the second largest waterfowl species after the trumpeter swan, although male mute swans can easily match or even exceed a male trumpeter in mass. Among standard measurements of the mute swan, the wing chord measures 53\u201362.3 cm (20.9\u201324.5 in), the tarsus is 10\u201311.8 cm (3.9\u20134.6 in) and the bill is 6.9\u20139 cm (2.7\u20133.5 in). The plumage is white, while the legs are dark grey. The beak of the mute swan is bright orange, with black around the nostrils and a black nail.\nThe mute swan is one of the heaviest flying birds. "


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"In several studies from Great Britain, males (known as cobs) were found to average from about 10.6 to 11.87 kg (23.4 to 26.2 lb), with a weight range of 9.2\u201314.3 kg (20\u201332 lb) while the slightly smaller females (known as pens) averaged about 8.5 to 9.67 kg (18.7 to 21.3 lb), with a weight range of 7.6\u201310.6 kg (17\u201323 lb). While the top normal weight for a big cob is roughly 15 kg (33 lb), one unusually big Polish cob weighed almost 23 kg (51 lb) and this counts as the largest weight ever verified for a flying bird, although it has been questioned whether this heavyweight could still take flight.Young birds, called cygnets, are not the bright white of mature adults, and their bill is dull greyish-black, not orange, for the first year. The down may range from pure white to grey to buff, with grey/buff the most common. The white cygnets have a leucistic gene. Cygnets grow quickly, reaching a size close to their adult size in approximately three months after hatching. "


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"Cygnets typically retain their grey feathers until they are at least one year old, with the down on their wings having been replaced by flight feathers earlier that year.\nAll mute swans are white at maturity, though the feathers (particularly on the head and neck) are often stained orange-brown by iron and tannins in the water.\n\n=== Polish swan ===\n\nThe colour morph C. o. morpha immutabilis (imm\u016bt\u0101bilis is Latin for \"immutable, unchangeable, unalterable\"), also known as the \"Polish swan\", has pinkish (not dark grey) legs and dull white cygnets; as with white domestic geese, it is found only in populations with a history of domestication. Polish swans carry a copy of a gene responsible for leucism.\n\n== Behaviour ==\n\nMute swans nest on large mounds that they build with waterside vegetation in shallow water on islands in the middle or at the very edge of a lake. They are monogamous and often reuse the same nest each year, restoring or rebuilding it as needed. Male and female swans share the care of the nest, and once the cygnets are fledged it is not uncommon to see whole families looking for food. "


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"They feed on a wide range of vegetation, both submerged aquatic plants which they reach with their long necks, and by grazing on land. The food commonly includes agricultural crop plants such as oilseed rape and wheat, and feeding flocks in the winter may cause significant crop damage, often as much through trampling with their large webbed feet, as through direct consumption. It will also feed on small proportions of aquatic insects, fish and frogs.Unlike black swans, mute swans are usually strongly territorial with just a single pair on smaller lakes, though in a few locations where a large area of suitable feeding habitat is found they can be colonial. The largest colonies have over 100 pairs, such as at the colony at Abbotsbury Swannery in southern England, and at the southern tip of \u00d6land Island, Ottenby Preserve, in the coastal waters of the Baltic Sea, and can have nests spaced as little as 2 m (7 ft) apart. Non-mated juveniles up to 3\u20134 years old commonly form larger flocks, which can total several hundred birds, often at regular traditional sites. "


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"A notable flock of non-breeding birds is found on the River Tweed estuary at Berwick-upon-Tweed in northeastern England, with a maximum count of 787 birds. A large population exists near the Swan Lifeline Station in Windsor, and live on the Thames in the shadow of Windsor Castle. Once the adults are mated they seek out their own territories and often live close to ducks and gulls, which may take advantage of the swan's ability to reach deep water weeds, which tend to spread out on the water surface.The mute swan is less vocal than the noisy whooper and Bewick's swans; they do, however, make a variety of sounds, often described as \"grunting, hoarse whistling, and snorting noises.\"During a courtship display, mute swans utter a rhythmic song. The song help synchronize the movements of their heads and necks. It could technically be employed to distinguish a bonded couple from two dating swans, as the rhythm of the song typically fails to match the pace of the head movements in two dating swans. Mute swans usually hiss at competitors or intruders trying to enter their territory. "


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"The most familiar sound associated with mute swans is the vibrant throbbing of the wings in flight which is unique to the species, and can be heard from a range of 1 to 2 km (0.6 to 1 mi), indicating its value as a contact sound between birds in flight. Cygnets are especially vocal, and communicate through a variety of whistling and chirping sounds when content, as well as a harsh squawking noise when distressed or lost.\n\nMute swans can be very aggressive in defence of their nests and are highly protective of their mate and offspring. Most defensive acts from a mute swan begin with a loud hiss and, if this is not sufficient to drive off the predator or intruder, are followed by a physical attack. Swans attack by striking at the threat with bony spurs in their wings, accompanied by biting with their large bill, while smaller waterbirds such as ducks are normally grabbed with the swan's bill and dragged or thrown clear of the swan and its offspring. The wings of the swan are very powerful, though not strong enough to break an adult man's leg, as is commonly misquoted. "


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"Large waterfowl, such as Canada geese, (more likely out of competition than in response to potential predation) may be aggressively driven off, and mute swans regularly attack people who enter their territory.The cob is responsible for defending the cygnets while on the water, and will sometimes attack small watercraft, such as canoes, that it feels are a threat to its young. The cob will additionally try to chase the predator out of his family territory, and will keep animals such as foxes and raptors at bay. In New York (outside its native range), the most common predators of cygnets are common snapping turtles. Healthy adults are rarely preyed upon, though canids such as coyotes, felids such as lynx, and bears can pose a threat to infirm ones (healthy adults can usually swim away from danger and nest defense is usually successful.)and there are a few cases of healthy adults falling prey to golden eagles. In England, there has been an increased rate of attacks on swans by out-of-control dogs, especially in parks where the birds are less territorial. "


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"This is considered criminal in British law, and the birds are placed under the highest protection due to their association with the monarch. Mute swans will readily attack dogs to protect themselves and their cygnets from an attack, and an adult swan is capable of overwhelming and drowning even large dog breeds.The familiar pose with neck curved back and wings half raised, known as busking, is a threat display. Both feet are paddled in unison during this display, resulting in more jerky movement. The swans may also use the busking posture for wind-assisted transportation over several hundred meters, so-called windsurfing.Like other swans, mute swans are known for their ability to grieve for a lost or dead mate or cygnet. Swans will go through a mourning process, and in the case of the loss of their mate, may either stay where its counterpart lived, or fly off to join a flock. Should one of the pair die while there are cygnets present, the remaining parent will take up their partner's duties in raising the clutch.\n\n== Breeding ==\n\nMute swans lay from 4 to 10 eggs. "


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"The female broods for around 36 days, with cygnets normally hatching between the months of May and July. The young swans do not achieve the ability to fly before about 120 to 150 days old. This limits the distribution of the species at the northern edge of its range as the cygnets need to learn to fly before the ponds and lakes freeze over.\n\n== Distribution and habitat ==\nThe mute swan is found naturally mainly in temperate areas of Europe then across the Palearctic as far east as Primorsky Krai, near Sidemi.It is partially migratory throughout northern latitudes in Europe and Asia, as far south as North Africa and the Mediterranean. It is known and recorded to have nested in Iceland and is a vagrant to that area as well as to Bermuda, according to the UN Environment Programme chart of international status chart of bird species, which places it in 70 countries, breeding in 49 countries, and vagrant in 16 countries. While most of the current population in Japan is introduced, mute swans are depicted on scrolls more than 1,000 years old, and wild birds from the mainland Asian population still occur rarely in winter. "


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"Natural migrants to Japan usually occur along with whooper and sometimes Bewick's swans.The mute swan is protected in most of its range, but this has not prevented illegal hunting and poaching. It is often kept in captivity outside its natural range, as a decoration for parks and ponds, and escapes have happened. The descendants of such birds have become naturalised in the eastern United States and Great Lakes, much as the Canada goose has done in Europe.\n\n=== World population ===\n\n==== Native populations ====\n\nThe total native population of mute swans is about 500,000 birds at the end of the breeding season (adults plus young), of which up to 350,000 are in Russia. The largest single breeding concentration is 11,000 pairs in the Volga Delta.The population in the United Kingdom is about 22,000 birds as of the 2006\u20132007 winter, a slight decline from the peak of about 26,000\u201327,000 birds in 1990. This includes about 5,300 breeding pairs, the remainder being immatures. "


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"Other significant populations in Europe include 6,800\u20138,300 breeding pairs in Germany, 4,500 pairs in Denmark, 4,000\u20134,200 pairs in Poland, 3,000\u20134,000 pairs in the Netherlands, about 2,500 pairs in Ireland, and 1,200\u20131,700 pairs in Ukraine.For many centuries, mute swans in Great Britain were domesticated for food, with individuals being marked by nicks on their webs (feet) or beaks to indicate ownership. These marks were registered with the Crown and a Royal Swanherd was appointed. Any birds not so marked became Crown property, hence the swan becoming known as the \"Royal Bird\". It is quite possible that this domestication saved the mute swan from extirpation through overhunting in Great Britain.Populations in western Europe were largely exterminated by hunting pressure in the 13th\u201319th centuries, with the exception of semi-domesticated birds maintained as poultry by large landowners. Better protection in the late 19th and early 20th centuries allowed birds to return to most or all of their former range. More recently in the period from about 1960 up to the early 1980s, numbers declined significantly again in many areas in England, primarily due to lead poisoning from birds swallowing lead shot from shooting and discarded fishing weights made from lead. "


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"After lead weights and shot were mostly replaced by other less toxic alternatives, mute swan numbers increased again rapidly.\n\n==== Introduced populations ====\nSince being introduced into North America, the mute swan has increased greatly in number to the extent that it is considered as an invasive species there. Populations introduced into other areas remain small, with around 200 in Japan, fewer than 200 in New Zealand and Australia, and about 120 in South Africa.\n\n===== North America =====\nThe mute swan was introduced to North America in the late 19th century. Recently, it has been widely viewed as an invasive species because of its rapidly increasing numbers and its adverse effects on other waterfowl and native ecosystems. For example, a study of population sizes in the lower Great Lakes from 1971 to 2000 found that mute swan numbers were increasing at an average rate of at least 10% per year, doubling the population every seven to eight years. Several studies have concluded that mute swans severely reduce densities of submerged vegetation where they occur.In 2003, the U.S. "


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"Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to \"minimize environmental damages attributed to Mute Swans\" by reducing their numbers in the Atlantic Flyway to pre-1986 levels, a 67% reduction at the time. According to a report published in the Federal Register of 2003 the proposal was supported by all thirteen state wildlife agencies which submitted comments, as well as by 43 bird conservation, wildlife conservation and wildlife management organisations. Ten animal rights organisations and the vast majority of comments from individuals were opposed. At this time mute swans were protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act due to a court order, but in 2005 the United States Department of the Interior officially declared them a non-native, unprotected species. Mute swans are protected in some areas of the U.S. by local laws as, for example, in Connecticut.The status of the mute swan as an introduced species in North America is disputed by the interest group \"Save the Mute Swans\". They assert that mute swans are native in the region and therefore deserving of protection. They claim that mute swans had origins from Russia and cite historical sightings and fossil records. "


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"These claims have been rejected as specious by the U.S. Department of the Interior.\n\n===== Oceania =====\nThe mute swan had absolute protection in New Zealand under the Wildlife Act 1953, but this was changed in June 2010 to a lower level of protection. It still has protection, but is now allowed to be killed or held in captivity at the discretion of the Minister of Conservation.A small feral population exists in the vicinity of Perth, Australia; however, it is believed to number less than 100 individuals.\n\n== In popular culture ==\n\nThe mute swan has been the national bird of Denmark since 1984. Prior to that, the skylark was considered Denmark's national bird (since 1960).The fairy tale \"The Ugly Duckling\" by Hans Christian Andersen tells the story of a cygnet ostracised by his fellow barnyard fowl because of his perceived unattractiveness. To his delight (and to the surprise of others), he matures into a graceful swan, the most beautiful bird of all.Today, the British Monarch retains the right to ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water, but Queen Elizabeth II exercised her ownership only on certain stretches of the Thames and its surrounding tributaries. "


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"This ownership is shared with the Vintners' and Dyers' Companies, who were granted rights of ownership by the Crown in the 15th century.The mute swans in the moat at the Bishops Palace at Wells Cathedral in Wells, England have for centuries been trained to ring bells via strings attached to them to beg for food. Two swans are still able to ring for lunch.The pair of swans in the Boston Public Garden are named Romeo and Juliet after the Shakespearean couple; however, it was found that both of them are females.\n\n== Gallery ==\n\n== See also ==\nSwan Upping\nThe Bird of Peace (statue)\n\n== References ==\n\n== External links ==\n\nMute swan media from ARKive\n\"Mute swan media\". Internet Bird Collection.\nmtDNA Mute Swan video The mitochondrial DNA sequence of 'Cygnus olor' translated into music.\nMute swan photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)"


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"The American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) is a large species of flamingo closely related to the greater flamingo and Chilean flamingo native to the Neotropics. It was formerly considered conspecific with the greater flamingo, but that treatment is now widely viewed (e.g. by the American and British Ornithologists' Unions) as incorrect due to a lack of evidence. It is also known as the Caribbean flamingo, although it is also present in the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands. It is the only flamingo that naturally inhabits North America.\n\n== Distribution ==\n\nThe American flamingo breeds in South America (in the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands of Ecuador, coastal Colombia and Venezuela, and northern Brazil), in the West Indies (Trinidad and Tobago,  Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti), The Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands), and tropical areas of continental North America (along the northern coast of the Yucat\u00e1n Peninsula in Mexico, and Cameron Parish, Louisiana, and extreme southern Florida in the United States). It is a vagrant to Puerto Rico, Anguilla, Barbados, and Honduras. "


id: 74f4d03beea2122320c46eca328d3fc0
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"The population in the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands differs genetically from that in the Caribbean; the Gal\u00e1pagos flamingos are significantly smaller, exhibit sexual dimorphism in body shape, and lay smaller eggs. They are sometimes separated as Phoenicopterus ruber glyphorhynchus.Its preferred habitats are similar to those of its relatives: saline lagoons, mudflats, and shallow, brackish coastal or inland lakes. An example habitat is the Petenes mangroves ecoregion of the Yucat\u00e1n.\n\n=== In Florida ===\n\nThe American flamingo is also found in South Florida and the Florida Keys, both of which were likely the northernmost extent of its distribution. The existence of flamingo eggs in museum collections labeled as collected from Florida indicates that they likely nested there as well. Since the arrival of Europeans, the population started to decline, up until the 1900s, where it was considered completely extirpated. "


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"During the 1950s, birds from the captive population at Hialeah Park frequently escaped, thus leading to the conclusion that all modern flamingos in Florida were escapees, although at least one bird banded as a chick in the Yucat\u00e1n Peninsula has been sighted in Everglades National Park.However, a study published in 2018, involving an abandoned young flamingo named Conchy found in Key West, indicates that the occasional flamingos observed in parts of Florida are in fact natives, with some even permanently staying in Florida Bay year-round. The study also indicated that these flamingos may be increasing in population and reclaiming their lost range, slowly but steadily returning home.  Large flocks of flamingos are still known to visit Florida from time to time, most notably in 2014, when a very large flock of over 147 flamingos temporarily stayed at Stormwater Treatment Area 2, on Lake Okeechobee, with a few returning the following year. From a distance, untrained eyes can also confuse it with the roseate spoonbill.\n\n== Description ==\n\nThe American flamingo is a large wading bird with reddish-pink plumage. "


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"Like all flamingos, it lays a single chalky-white egg on a mud mound, between May and August; incubation until hatching takes from 28 to 32 days; both parents brood their young. They may reach sexual maturity between 3 and 6 years of age, though usually they do not reproduce until they are 6 years old. Their life expectancy of 40 years is one of the longest in birds.\nAdult American flamingos are smaller on average than greater flamingos, but are the largest flamingos in the Americas. They measure from 120 to 145 cm (47 to 57 in) tall. The males weigh an average of 2.8 kg (6.2 lb), while females average 2.2 kg (4.9 lb). Most of its plumage is pink, giving rise to its earlier name of rosy flamingo and differentiating adults from the much paler greater flamingo. The wing coverts are red, and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. The bill is pink and white with an extensive black tip. The legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking.\n\nIt is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds  applies.\n\n"


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"== Mating and bonding behaviors ==\nMating and bonding behaviors of P. ruber individuals have been extensively studied in captivity. The American flamingo is usually monogamous when selecting a nest site, and incubating and raising young; however, extra-pair copulations are frequent.\n\nWhile males usually initiate courtship, females control the process. If interest is mutual, a female walks by the male, and if the male is receptive, he  walks with her. Both parties  make synchronized movements until one member aborts this process. For low-intensity courtships, males and females  walk in unison with their heads raised. In high-intensity courtships, males and females  walk at a quick pace with their heads dropped in a false feeding posture. This high-intensity courtship stops at any point if either bird turns and the other does not follow, the heads are raised, unison movements are stopped, or the pace of movement is slowed. If the female is ultimately receptive to copulation, she stops walking and presents for the male. Long-term pairs do not frequently engage in courtship behaviors or in-group display. Pairs often stand, sleep, and eat in close proximity.\nCourtship is most often seen among individuals that change partners often or are promiscuous. "


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"A spectrum of pairing relationships is seen. Some birds have a long-term partner throughout the year; others form pairs during periods of courtship and nest attendance. How long a relationship lasts is affected by many factors, including addition and removal of adults, maturation of juveniles, and occurrence of trios and quartets. In most pairs, both individuals usually construct and defend the nest site. In rare cases, one individual undertakes both duties. Within trios, the dominant pair begins the nesting process by choosing and then defending the site.\nFor trios with one male and two females, the subordinate female is tolerated by the male, but often fights with the dominant female. If two females share a nest and both lay an egg, one female will try to destroy the other egg or roll it out of the nest. For trios with two males and one female, the subordinate male is tolerated by both individuals and  often becomes the primary incubator and caregiver of the chicks. For quartets, the dominant male and two females take care of the nest, while the subordinate male remains around the periphery, never gaining access to the nest. "


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"Less animosity is observed between the dominant and subordinate females in quartets compared to trios.The egg is attended constantly and equally by alternating parents. Chicks at the nest are attended constantly by alternating parents, up to 7\u201311 days of age. Most attentive periods during incubation and brooding last 21\u201360 hours, both in the case where the \u2018off-duty\u2019 parents remain in the same lagoon to feed, or (when breeding occurs in lagoons deficient in food),  they fly to other lagoons to feed. Nest reliefs during incubation take place predominantly in late afternoon, or early morning.\n\nThe time for receiving food from parents decreases from hatching to about 105 days, and the decrease is greatest after the chicks have left the nest at 7\u201311 days to band into cr\u00e8ches. The frequency and the duration of feeds by male and female partners do not differ significantly. After chicks have left the nest, feeds are predominantly nocturnal.\n\n== Adaptations ==\nThe American flamingo has adapted to its shallow-water environment in several ways. It has evolved long legs and large webbed feet to wade and stir up the bottom of the water bed to bring up their food source to then be retrieved. "


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"To feed, it has evolved a specialized beak which is hooked downward and features marginal lamellae on the upper mandible, and inner and outer lamellae on both the upper and lower mandibles. These are adapted for filtering out differently sized food from water. Depending on the food source in their area, diets depend on the exact morphology of their beaks on what can and cannot be strained out of them. The American flamingos\u2019 diet consists of small crustaceans, molluscs, some worms, nematodes, insects and their larvae, small fish, widgeon grass, seeds and algae. They are also known to consume mud from which they are able to get microorganisms and bacteria and obtain nutrients. It submerges its head under water to retrieve its food, and may have its head under water for long times, which requires it to hold its breath. Factors which affect the habitat choice of American flamingos are environmental temperatures, water depth, food source, accessibility of an area, and the presence of vegetation beds in feeding areas. If available food items do not meet the needs of the flamingos or the temperature is not appropriate to their requirements, they move to a better feeding or more temperate area.\n\n"


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"== Osmoregulation ==\n\nThe role of osmoregulation\u2014the maintenance of a precise balance of solute and water concentrations within the body\u2014is performed by a number of bodily functions working together. In P. ruber, the kidney, the lower gastrointestinal tract, and the salt glands work together to maintain the homeostasis between ions and fluids. In mammals, the kidneys and urinary bladder are the primary organs used in osmoregulation. Birds, however, lack a urinary bladder and must compensate using these three organs.\nAmerican flamingos are saltwater birds that ingest food with a high salt content and mostly drink salt water (with an osmolarity of usually 1000), hyperosmotic to the bodies cells . Also, though not commonly, they can drink fresh water at near-boiling temperatures from geysers. From their high-salt diet, they would lose more water and have a greater salt uptake. One way in which they osmoregulate is through the use of a salt gland, which is found in their beaks. This salt gland helps excrete excess salt from the body through the nasal openings in the flamingo's beaks. When these birds consume salt, the osmolarity increases in the blood plasma through the gut. "


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"This causes water to move out of the cells, increasing extracellular fluids. Both these changes, in turn, activate the salt glands of the bird, but before any activity occurs in the salt glands, the kidney has to reabsorb the ingested sodium from the small intestine. As seen in other saltwater birds, the fluid that is excreted has been seen to have an osmolarity greater than that of the salt water, but this varies with salt consumption and body size.As food and saltwater are ingested, sodium and water absorption begins through the walls of the gut and into the extracellular fluid. Sodium is then circulated to the kidney, where the plasma undergoes filtration by the renal glomerulus. Although birds' kidneys tend to be larger in size, they are inefficient in producing concentrated urine that is significantly hyperosmotic to their blood plasma. This form of secretion would cause dehydration from water loss. Therefore, sodium and water are reabsorbed into the plasma by renal tubules. This increase in osmotic plasma levels causes extracellular fluid volume to increase, which triggers receptors in both the brain and heart. "


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"These receptors then stimulate salt gland secretion and sodium is able to efficiently leave the body through the nares while maintaining a high body water level.Flamingos, like many other marine birds, have a high saline intake, yet even the glomular filtration rate (GFR) remains unchanged. This is because of the salt glands; high concentrations of sodium are present in the renal filtrate, but can be reabsorbed almost completely where it is excreted in high concentrations in the salt glands. Renal reabsorption can be increased through the output of the antidiuretic hormone called arginine vasotocin (AVT). AVT opens protein channels in the collection ducts of the kidney called aquaporins. Aquaporins increase the membrane permeability to water, as well as causes less water to move from the blood and into the kidney tubules.\n\n=== Specialized osmoregulatory cells and transport mechanisms ===\nThe salt gland used by the American flamingo has two segments, a medial and lateral segment. These segments are tube shaped glands that consist of two cell types. The first is the cuboidal \u2013 peripheral cells which are small, triangular shaped cells which have only a few mitochondria. "


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"The second specialized cells are the principal cells which are found down the length of the secretory tubules, and are rich in mitochondria. These cells are similar to the mitochondria rich cells found in teleost fish.\nThese cells within the salt gland employ several types of transport mechanisms that respond to osmoregulatory loads. Sodium-Potassium ATPase works with a Sodium-Chloride cotransporter (also known as the NKCC), and a basal potassium channel to secrete salt (NaCl) into secretory tubes. The ATPase uses energy from ATP to pump three sodium ions out of the cell and two potassium ions into the cell. The potassium channel allows potassium ions to diffuse out of the cell. The cotransporter pumps one sodium, potassium and two chloride ions into the cell. The chloride ion diffuses through the apical membrane into the secretory tube and the sodium follows via a paracellular route. This is what forms the hyperosmotic solution within the salt glands.\n\n== Circulatory system ==\nAlthough there has been little investigation on the specific circulatory and cardiovascular system of the phoenicopteridae, they possess the typical features of an avian circulatory system. "


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"As is seen in other aves, the flamingo's circulatory system is closed maintaining a separation of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. This maximizes their efficiency to meet their high metabolic needs during flight. Due to this need for increased cardiac output, the avian heart tends to be larger in relation to body mass than what is seen in most mammals.\n\n=== Heart type and features ===\nThe avian circulatory system is driven by a four-chambered, myogenic heart contained in a fibrous pericardial sac. This pericardial sac is filled with a serous fluid for lubrication. The heart itself is divided into a right and left half, each with an atrium and ventricle. The atrium and ventricles of each side are separated by atrioventricular valves which prevent back flow from one chamber to the next during contraction. Being myogenic, the hearts pace is maintained by pacemaker cells found in the sinoatrial node, located on the right atrium. The sinoatrial node uses calcium to cause a depolarizing signal transduction pathway from the atrium through right and left atrioventricular bundle which communicates contraction to the ventricles. The avian heart also consists of muscular arches that are made up of thick bundles of muscular layers. "


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"Much like a mammalian heart, the avian heart is composed of endocardial, myocardial and epicardial layers. The atrium walls tend to be thinner than the ventricle walls, due to the intense ventricular contraction used to pump oxygenated blood throughout the body.\n\n=== Organization of circulatory system ===\nSimilar to the atrium, the arteries are composed of thick elastic muscles to withstand the pressure of the ventricular constriction, and become more rigid as they move away from the heart. Blood moves through the arteries, which undergo vasoconstriction, and into arterioles which act as a transportation system to distribute primarily oxygen as well as nutrients to all tissues of the body. As the arterioles move away from the heart and into individual organs and tissues they are further divided to increase surface area and slow blood flow. Travelling through the arterioles blood moves into the capillaries where gas exchange can occur. Capillaries are organized into capillary beds in tissues, it is here that blood exchanges oxygen for carbon dioxide waste. In the capillary beds blood flow is slowed to allow maximum diffusion of oxygen into the tissues. "


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"Once the blood has become deoxygenated it travels through venules then veins and back to the heart. Veins, unlike arteries, are thin and rigid as they do not need to withstand extreme pressure. As blood travels through the venules to the veins a funneling occurs called vasodilation bringing blood back to the heart. Once the blood reaches the heart it moves first into the right atrium, then the left ventricle to be pumped through the lungs for further gas exchange of carbon dioxide waste for oxygen. Oxygenated blood then flows from the lungs through the left atrium to the left ventricle where it is pumped out to the body. With respect to thermoregulation, the American flamingo has highly vascularized feet that use a countercurrent exchange system in their legs and feet. This method of thermoregulation keeps a constant gradient between the veins and arteries that are in close proximity in order to maintain heat within the core and minimize heat loss or gain in the extremities. Heat loss is minimized while wading in cold water, while heat gain is minimized in the hot temperatures during rest and flight.\n\n"


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"=== Physical and chemical properties of pumping blood ===\nAvian hearts are generally larger than mammalian hearts when compared to body mass. This adaptation allows more blood to be pumped to meet the high metabolic need associated with flight. Birds, like the flamingo, have a very efficient system for diffusing oxygen into the blood; birds have a ten times greater surface area to gas exchange volume than mammals. As a result, birds have more blood in their capillaries per unit of volume of lung than a mammal. The American flamingo's four-chambered heart is myogenic, meaning that all the muscle cells and fibers have the ability to contract rhythmically. The rhythm of contraction is controlled by the pace maker cells which have a lower threshold for depolarization. The wave of electrical depolarization initiated here is what physically starts the heart's contractions and begins pumping blood. Pumping blood creates variations in blood pressure and as a result, creates different thicknesses of blood vessels. The Law of LaPlace can be used to explain why arteries are relatively thick and veins are thin.\n\n"


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"=== Blood composition ===\nIt was widely thought that avian blood had special properties which attributed to a very efficient extraction and transportation of oxygen in comparison to mammalian blood. This is not true; there is no real difference in the efficiency of the blood, and both mammals and birds use a hemoglobin molecule as the primary oxygen carrier with little to no difference in oxygen carrying capacity. Captivity and age have been seen to have an effect on the blood composition of the American flamingo. A decrease in white blood cell numbers was predominate with age in both captive and free living flamingos, but captive flamingos showed a higher white blood cell count than free living flamingos. One exception occurs in free living flamingos with regards to white blood cell count. The number of eosinophils in free living birds are higher because these cells are the ones that fight off parasites with which a free living bird may have more contact than a captive one. Captive birds showed higher hematocrit and red blood cell numbers than the free living flamingos, and a blood hemoglobin increase was seen with age. "


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"An increase in hemoglobin would correspond with an adults increase in metabolic needs. A smaller mean cellular volume recorded in free living flamingos coupled with similar mean hemoglobin content between captive and free living flamingos could show different oxygen diffusion characteristics between these two groups. Plasma chemistry remains relatively stable with age but lower values of protein content, uric acid, cholesterol, triglycerides, and phospholipids were seen in free living flamingos. This trend can be attributed to shortages and variances in food intake in free living flamingos.\n\n=== Blood composition and osmoregulation ===\nAvian erythrocytes (red blood cells) have been shown to contain approximately ten times the amount of taurine (an amino acid) as mammal erythrocytes. Taurine has a fairly large list of physiological functions; but in birds, it can have an important influence on osmoregulation. It helps the movement of ions in erythrocytes by altering the permeability of the membrane and regulating osmotic pressure within the cell. The regulation of osmotic pressure is achieved by the influx or efflux of taurine relative to changes in the osmolarity of the blood. In a hypotonic environment, cells will swell and eventually shrink; this shrinkage is due to efflux of taurine. "


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"This process also works in the opposite way in hypertonic environments. In hypertonic environments cells tend to shrink and then enlarge; this enlargement is due to an influx in taurine, effectively changing the osmotic pressure. This adaptation allows the flamingo to regulate between differences in salinity.\n\n== Respiratory system ==\n\nRelatively few studies have focused on the flamingo respiratory system, however little to no divergences from the standard avian anatomical design have occurred in their evolutionary history. Nevertheless, some physiological differences do occur in the flamingo and structurally similar species.\nThe respiratory system is not only important for efficient gas exchange, but for thermoregulation and vocalization. Thermoregulation is important for flamingos as they generally live in warm habitats and their plush plumage increases body temperature. Heat loss is accomplished through thermal polypnea (panting), that is an increase in respiratory rate. It has been seen that the medulla, hypothalamus and mid-brain are involved in the control of panting, as well through the Hering-Breuer reflex that uses stretch receptors in the lungs, and the vagus nerve. "


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"This effect of the panting is accelerated by a process called gular fluttering; rapid flapping of membranes in the throat which is synchronized with the movements of the thorax. Both of these mechanisms promote evaporative heat loss, which allows for the bird to push out warm air and water from the body. Increases in respiratory rate would normally cause respiratory alkalosis because carbon dioxide levels are rapidly dropping in the body, but the flamingo is able to bypass this, most likely through a shunt mechanism, which allow it to still maintain a sustainable partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the blood. Since the avian integument is not equipped with sweat glands, cutaneous cooling is minimal. Because the flamingo's respiratory system is shared with multiple functions, panting must be controlled to prevent hypoxia.\nFor a flamingo, having such a long neck means adapting to an unusually long trachea. Tracheas are an important area of the respiratory tract; aside from directing air in and out of the lungs, it has the largest volume of dead space in the tract. Dead space in avians is around 4.5 times higher in mammals of roughly the same size. "


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"In particular, flamingos have a trachea that is longer than its body length with 330 cartilaginous rings. As a result, they have a calculated dead space twice as high as another bird of the same size. To compensate for the elongation, they usually breathe in deep, slow patterns.One hypothesis for the bird's adaptation to respiratory alkalosis is tracheal coiling. Tracheal coiling is an overly long extension of the trachea and can often wrap around the bird's body. When faced with a heat load, birds often use thermal panting and this adaptation of tracheal coiling allows ventilation of non-exchange surfaces which can enable the bird to avoid respiratory alkalosis. The flamingo uses a \"flushout\" pattern of ventilation where deeper breaths are essentially mixed in with shallow panting to flush out carbon dioxide and avoid alkalosis. The increased length of the trachea provides a greater ability for respiratory evaporation and cooling off without hyperventilation.\n\n== Thermoregulation ==\n\nThermoregulation is a matter of keeping a consistent body temperature regardless of the surrounding ambient temperature. Flamingos require both methods of efficient heat retention and release. "


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"Even though the American flamingo resides mainly close to the equator where there is relatively little fluctuation in temperature, seasonal and circadian variations in temperature must be accounted for.\nLike all animals, flamingos maintain a relatively constant basal metabolic rate (BMR); the metabolic rate of an animal in its thermoneutral zone (TNZ) while at rest. The BMR is a static rate which changes depending on factors such as the time of day or seasonal activity. Like most other birds, basic physiological adaptations control both heat loss in warm conditions and heat retention in cooler conditions. Using a system of countercurrent blood flow, heat is efficiently recycled through the body rather than being lost through extremities such as the legs and feet.\nLiving in the equatorial region of the world, the American flamingo has little variation in seasonal temperature changes. However, as a homeothermic endotherm it is still faced with the challenge of maintaining a constant body temperature while being exposed to both the day (light period) and night (dark period) temperatures of its environments. "


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"Phoenicopterus ruber have evolved a number of thermoregulatory mechanisms to keep itself cool during the light period and warm during the dark period without expending too much energy. The American flamingo has been observed in a temperature niche between 17.8\u201335.2 \u00b0C (64.0\u201395.4 \u00b0F). In order to prevent water loss through evaporation when temperatures are elevated the flamingo will employ hyperthermia as a nonevaporative heat loss method keeping its body temperature between 40\u201342 \u00b0C (104\u2013108 \u00b0F). This allows heat to leave the body by moving from an area of high body temperature to an area of a lower ambient temperature. Flamingos are also able to use evaporative heat loss methods such as, cutaneous evaporative heat loss and respiratory evaporative heat loss. During cutaneous heat loss, Phoenicopterus ruber relies on evaporation off of the skin to reduce its body temperature. This method is not very efficient as it requires evaporation to pass through the plumage. A more efficient way to reduce its body temperature is through respiratory evaporative heat loss, where the flamingo engages in panting to expel excessive body heat. During the dark period the flamingos tend to tuck their heads beneath their wing to conserve body heat. "


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"They may also elicit shivering as a means of muscular energy consumption to produce heat as needed.\n\nOne of the most distinctive attribute of P. ruber is its unipedal stance, or the tendency to stand on one leg. While the purpose of this iconic posture remains ultimately unanswered, strong evidence supports its function in regulating body temperature. Like most birds, the largest amount of heat is lost through the legs and feet; having long legs can be a major disadvantage when temperatures fall and heat retention is most important. By holding one leg up against the ventral surface of the body, the flamingo lowers the surface area by which heat exits the body. Moreover, it has been observed that during periods of increased temperatures such as mid-day, flamingos will stand on both legs. Holding a bipedal stance multiplies the amount of heat lost from the legs and further regulates body temperature.\n\n== Migration ==\nLike other flamingo species, American flamingos will migrate short distances to ensure that they get enough food or because their current habitat has been disturbed in some way. "


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"One habitat disturbance that has been observed to cause flamingos to leave their feeding grounds is elevated water levels. These conditions make it difficult for Phoenicopterus ruber to wade, hindering their ability to access food. The flamingos will then abandon their feeding grounds in search of an alternate food source. While the flights are not as long as other migratory birds, flamingos still fly for periods without eating.\n\n== Metabolism ==\nThe species metabolism resembles that of other salt water wading birds. They will fast when migrating to a new habitat or the chicks may not receive food daily depending on food availability. When born they are grey chicks then start to become white, then finally become pink with the food they eat.\n\n== References ==\n\n== Further reading ==\nStuder-Thiersch, A. (1975).  Grzimek, B. (ed.). Die Flamingos. Grzimeks Tierleben. Vol. 7/1 V\u00f6gel DTV (1980). M\u00fcnchen, nach Kindler Verlag AG Zurich 1975-1977. pp. 239\u2013245.{{cite book}}:  CS1 maint: location (link)\nComin, Francisco A.; Herrera-Silveira, Jorge A.; Ramirez-Ramirez, Javier, eds. (2000). Limnology and Aquatic Birds: Monitoring, Modeling and Management. Merida: Universidad Autonoma del Yucatan.\n\n"


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"== External links ==\n\n3D computed tomographic animations showing the anatomy of the head of the Caribbean Flamingo\nGreater Flamingo Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.\nBirdLife species factsheet for Phoenicopterus ruber\n\"Phoenicopterus ruber\". Avibase.\n\"Greater Flamingo media\". Internet Bird Collection.\nAmerican flamingo photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)\nAmerican flamingo species account at Neotropical Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)\nInteractive range map of Phoenicopterus ruber at IUCN Red List maps\nAudio recordings of American flamingo on Xeno-canto."


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"The red panda (Ailurus fulgens), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle and a ringed tail. Its head-to-body length is 51\u201363.5 cm (20.1\u201325.0 in) with a 28\u201348.5 cm (11.0\u201319.1 in) tail, and it weighs between 3.2 and 15 kg (7.1 and 33.1 lb). It is well adapted to climbing due to its flexible joints and curved semi-retractile claws.\nThe red panda was first formally described in 1825. The two currently recognised subspecies, the Himalayan and the Chinese red panda, genetically diverged about 250,000 years ago. The red panda's place on the evolutionary tree has been debated, but modern genetic evidence places it in close affinity with raccoons, weasels, and skunks. It is not closely related to the giant panda, which is a bear, though both possess elongated wrist bones or \"false thumbs\" used for grasping bamboo. The evolutionary lineage of the red panda (Ailuridae) stretches back around 25 to 18 million years ago, as indicated by extinct fossil relatives found in Eurasia and North America.\n"


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"The red panda inhabits coniferous forests as well as temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, favouring steep slopes with dense bamboo cover close to water sources. It is solitary and largely arboreal. It feeds mainly on bamboo shoots and leaves, but also on fruits and blossoms. Red pandas mate in early spring, with the females giving birth to litters of up to four cubs in summer. It is threatened by poaching as well as destruction and fragmentation of habitat due to deforestation. The species has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2015. It is protected in all range countries.\nCommunity-based conservation programmes have been initiated in Nepal, Bhutan and northeastern India; in China, it benefits from nature conservation projects. Regional captive breeding programmes for the red panda have been established in zoos around the world. It is featured in animated movies, video games, comic books and as the namesake of companies and music bands.\n\n== Etymology ==\nThe name \"panda\" is thought to have originated from the red panda's local Nepali name \u092a\u091e\u094d\u091c\u093e paj\u0101 \"claw\" or \u092a\u094c\u0901\u091c\u093e pa\u0169j\u0101 \"paw\". "


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"In English, it was simply called \"panda\"; it became known as the \"red panda\" or \"lesser panda\" to distinguish it from the giant panda, which was formally described and named in 1869. The genus name Ailurus is adopted from the ancient Greek word \u03b1\u1f34\u03bb\u03bf\u03c5\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2 (ailouros), meaning \"cat\". The specific epithet fulgens is Latin for \"shining, bright\".\n\n== Taxonomy ==\n\nThe red panda was described and named in 1825 by Frederic Cuvier, who gave it its current scientific name Ailurus fulgens. Cuvier's description was based on zoological specimens, including skin, paws, jawbones and teeth \"from the mountains north of India\", as well as an account by Alfred Duvaucel. The red panda was described earlier by Thomas Hardwicke in 1821, but his paper was only published in 1827. In 1902, Oldfield Thomas described a skull of a male red panda specimen under the name Ailurus fulgens styani in honour of Frederick William Styan who had collected this specimen in Sichuan.\n\n=== Subspecies and species ===\nThe modern red panda is the only recognised species in the genus Ailurus. It is traditionally divided into two subspecies: the Himalayan red panda (A. f. fulgens) and the Chinese red panda (A. f. styani). "


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"The Himalayan subspecies has a straighter profile, a lighter coloured forehead and ochre-tipped hairs on the lower back and rump. The Chinese subspecies has a more curved forehead and sloping snout, a darker coat with a less white face and more contrast between the tail rings.In 2020, results of a genetic analysis of red panda samples showed that the red panda populations in the Himalayas and China were separated about 250,000 years ago. The researchers suggested that the two subspecies should be treated as distinct species. Red Pandas in southeastern Tibet and northern Myanmar were found to be part of styani, while those of southern Tibet were of fulgens in the strict sense. DNA sequencing of 132 red panda faecal samples collected in Northeast India and China also showed two distinct clusters indicating that the Siang River constitutes the boundary between the Himalayan and Chinese red pandas. They probably diverged due to glaciation events on the southern Tibetan Plateau in the Pleistocene.\n\n=== Phylogeny ===\nThe placement of the red panda on the evolutionary tree has been debated. In the early 20th century, various scientists placed it in the family Procyonidae with raccoons and their allies. "


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"At the time, most prominent biologists also considered the red panda to be related to the giant panda, which would eventually be found to be a bear. A 1982 study examined the similarities and differences in the skull between the red panda and the giant panda, other bears and procyonids, and placed the species in its own family Ailuridae. The author of the study considered the red panda to be more closely related to bears. A 1995 mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed that the red panda has close affinities with procyonids. Further genetic studies in 2005, 2018 and 2021 have placed the red panda within the clade Musteloidea, which also includes Procyonidae, Mustelidae (weasels and relatives) and Mephitidae (skunks and relatives).\n\n=== Fossil record ===\n\nThe family Ailuridae appears to have evolved in Europe in either the Late Oligocene or Early Miocene, about 25 to 18 million years ago. The earliest member Amphictis is known from its 10 cm (4 in) skull and may have been around the same size as the modern species. "


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"Its dentition consists of sharp premolars and carnassials (P4 and m1) and molars adapted for grinding (M1, M2 and m2), suggesting that it had a generalised carnivorous diet. Its placement within Ailuridae is based on the grooves on the side of its canine teeth. Other early or basal ailurids include Alopecocyon and Simocyon, whose fossils have been found throughout Eurasia and North America dating from the Middle Miocene, the latter of which survived into the Early Pliocene.  Both have similar teeth to Amphictis and thus had a similar diet. The puma-sized Simocyon was likely a tree-climber and shared a \"false thumb\"\u2014an extended wrist bone\u2014with the modern species, suggesting the appendage was an adaptation to arboreal locomotion and not to feed on bamboo.Later and more advanced ailurids are classified in the subfamily Ailurinae and are known as the \"true\" red pandas. These animals were smaller and more adapted for an omnivorous or herbivorous diet. The earliest known true panda is Magerictis from the Middle Miocene of Spain and known only from one tooth, a lower second molar. "


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"The tooth shows both ancestral and new characteristics having a relatively low and simple crown but also a lengthened crushing surface with developed tooth cusps like later species. Later ailurines include Pristinailurus bristoli which lived in eastern North America from the late Miocene to the Early Pliocene and species of the genus Parailurus which first appear in Early Pliocene Europe, spreading across Eurasia into North America. These animals are classified as a sister taxon to the lineage of the modern red panda. In contrast to the herbivorous modern species, these ancient pandas were likely omnivores, with highly cusped molars and sharp premolars.The earliest fossil record of the modern genus Ailurus date no earlier than the Pleistocene and appears to have been limited to Asia. The modern red panda's lineage became adapted for a specialised bamboo diet, having molar-like premolars and more elevated cusps. The false thumb would secondarily gain a function in feeding.\n\n=== Genomics ===\nAnalysis of 53 red panda samples from Sichuan and Yunnan showed a high level of genetic diversity. The full genome of the red panda was sequenced in 2017. "


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"Researchers have compared it to the genome of the giant panda to learn the genetics of convergent evolution, as both species have false thumbs and are adapted for a specialised bamboo diet despite having the digestive system of a carnivore. Both pandas show modifications to certain limb development genes (DYNC2H1 and PCNT), which may play roles in the development of the thumbs. In switching from a carnivorous to a herbivorous diet, both species have reactivated taste receptor genes used for detecting bitterness, though the specific genes are different.\n\n== Description ==\n\nThe red panda's coat is mainly red or orange-brown with a black belly and legs. The muzzle, cheeks, brows and inner ear margins are mostly white while the bushy tail has red and buff ring patterns and a dark brown tip. The colouration appears to serve as camouflage in habitat with red moss and white lichen-covered trees. The guard hairs are longer and rougher while the dense undercoat is fluffier with shorter hairs. The guard hairs on the back have a circular cross-section and are 47\u201356 mm (1.9\u20132.2 in) long. It has moderately long whiskers around the mouth, lower jaw and chin. "


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"The hair on the soles of the paws allows the animal to walk in snow.The red panda has a relatively small head, though proportionally larger than in similarly sized raccoons, with a reduced snout and triangular ears, and nearly evenly lengthed limbs. It has a head-body length of 51\u201363.5 cm (20.1\u201325.0 in) with a 28\u201348.5 cm (11.0\u201319.1 in) tail. The Himalayan red panda is recorded to weigh 3.2\u20139.4 kg (7.1\u201320.7 lb), while the Chinese red panda weighs 4\u201315 kg (8.8\u201333.1 lb) for females and 4.2\u201313.4 kg (9.3\u201329.5 lb) for males. It has five curved digits on each foot, each with curved semi-retractile claws that aid in climbing. The pelvis and hindlimbs have flexible joints, adaptations for an arboreal quadrupedal lifestyle. While not prehensile, the tail helps the animal balance while climbing.The forepaws possess a \"false thumb\", which is an extension of a wrist bone, the radial sesamoid found in many carnivorans. This thumb allows the animal grip onto bamboo stalks and both the digits and wrist bones are highly flexible. The red panda shares this feature with the giant panda, which has a larger sesamoid that is more compressed at the sides. "


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"In addition, the red panda's sesamoid has a more sunken tip while the giant panda's curves in the middle. These features give the giant panda more developed dexterity.The red panda's skull is wide, and its lower jaw is robust. However, because it eats leaves and stems, which are not as tough, it has smaller chewing muscles than the giant panda. The digestive system of the red panda is only 4.2 times its body length, with a simple stomach, no noticeable divide between the ileum and colon, and no caecum.\n\n== Distribution and habitat ==\n\nThe red panda inhabits Nepal, the states of Sikkim, West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh in India, Bhutan, southern Tibet, northern Myanmar and China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. The global potential habitat of the red panda has been estimated to comprise 47,100 km2 (18,200 sq mi) at most; this habitat is located in the temperate climate zone of the Himalayas with a mean annual temperature range of 18\u201324 \u00b0C (64\u201375 \u00b0F). Throughout this range, it has been recorded at elevations of 2,000\u20134,300 m (6,600\u201314,100 ft).\nIn Nepal, it lives in six protected area complexes within the Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests ecoregion. "


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"The westernmost records to date were obtained in three community forests in Kalikot District in 2019. Panchthar and Ilam Districts represent its easternmost range in the country, where its habitat in forest patches is surrounded by villages, livestock pastures and roads. The metapopulation in protected areas and wildlife corridors in the Kangchenjunga landscape of Sikkim and northern West Bengal is partly connected through old-growth forests outside protected areas. Forests in this landscape are dominated by Himalayan oaks (Quercus lamellosa and Q. semecarpifolia), Himalayan birch, Himalayan fir, Himalayan maple with bamboo, Rhododendron and some black juniper shrub growing in the understoreys. Records in Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh's Pangchen Valley, West Kameng and Shi Yomi districts indicate that it frequents habitats with Yushania and Thamnocalamus bamboo, medium-sized Rhododendron, whitebeam and chinquapin trees. In China, it inhabits the Hengduan Mountains subalpine conifer forests and Qionglai-Minshan conifer forests in the Hengduan, Qionglai, Xiaoxiang, Daxiangling and Liangshan Mountains in Sichuan. In the adjacent Yunnan province, it was recorded only in the northwestern montane part.The red panda prefers microhabitats within 70\u2013240 m (230\u2013790 ft) of water sources. Fallen logs and tree stumps are important habitat features, as they facilitate access to bamboo leaves. "


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"Red pandas have been recorded to use steep slopes of more than 20\u00b0 and stumps exceeding a diameter of 30 cm (12 in). Red pandas observed in Phrumsengla National Park used foremost easterly and southerly slopes with a mean slope of 34\u00b0 and a canopy cover of 66 per cent that were overgrown with bamboo about 23 m (75 ft) in height. In Dafengding Nature Reserve, it prefers steep south-facing slopes in winter and inhabits forests with bamboo 1.5\u20132.5 m (4 ft 11 in \u2013 8 ft 2 in) tall. In Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve, it inhabits mixed coniferous forest with a dense canopy cover of more than 75 per cent, steep slopes and a density of at least 70 bamboo plants/m2 (6.5 bamboo plants/sq ft). In some parts of China, the red panda coexists with the giant panda. In Fengtongzhai and Yele National Nature Reserves, the red panda microhabitat is characterised by steep slopes with lots of bamboo stems, shrubs, fallen logs and stumps, whereas the giant panda prefers gentler slopes with taller but lesser amounts of bamboo and less habitat features overall. Such niche separation lessens competition between the two bamboo-eating species.\n\n"


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"== Behaviour and ecology ==\n\nThe red panda is difficult to observe in the wild, and most studies on its behaviour have taken place in captivity. The red panda appears to be both nocturnal and crepuscular, sleeping in between periods of activity at night. It typically rests or sleeps in trees or other elevated spaces, stretched out prone on a branch with legs dangling when it is hot, and curled up with its hindlimb over the face when it is cold. It is adapted for climbing and descends to the ground head-first with the hindfeet holding on to the middle of the tree trunk. It moves quickly on the ground by trotting or bounding.\n\n=== Social spacing ===\nAdult pandas are generally solitary and territorial. Individuals mark their home range or territorial boundaries with urine, faeces and secretions from the anal and surrounding glands. Scent-marking is usually done on the ground, with males marking more often and for longer periods. In China's Wolong National Nature Reserve, the home range of a radio-collared female was 0.94 km2 (0.36 sq mi), while that of a male was 1.11 km2 (0.43 sq mi). "


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"A one-year-long monitoring study of ten red pandas in eastern Nepal showed that the four males had median home ranges of 1.73 km2 (0.67 sq mi) and the six females of 0.94 km2 (0.36 sq mi) within a forest cover of at least 19.2 ha (47 acres). The females travelled 419\u2013841 m (1,375\u20132,759 ft) per day and the males 660\u20131,473 m (2,165\u20134,833 ft). In the mating season from January to March, adults travelled a mean of 795 m (2,608 ft) and subadults a mean of 861 m (2,825 ft). They all had larger home ranges in areas with low forest cover and reduced their activity in areas that were disturbed by people, livestock and dogs.\n\n=== Diet and feeding ===\n\nThe red panda is largely herbivorous and feeds primarily on bamboo, mainly the genera Phyllostachys, Sinarundinaria, Thamnocalamus and Chimonobambusa. It also feeds on fruits, blossoms, acorns, eggs, birds and small mammals. Bamboo leaves may be the most abundant food item year-round and the only food they can access during winter. "


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"In Wolong National Nature Reserve, leaves of the bamboo species Bashania fangiana were found in nearly 94 per cent of analysed droppings, and its shoots were found in 59 per cent of the droppings found in June.The diet of red pandas monitored at three sites in Singalila National Park for two years consisted of 40\u201383 per cent Yushania maling and 51\u201391.2 per cent Thamnocalamus spathiflorus bamboos supplemented by bamboo shoots, Actinidia strigosa fruits and seasonal berries. In this national park, red panda droppings also contained remains of silky rose and bramble fruit species in the summer season, Actinidia callosa in the post-monsoon season, and Merrilliopanax alpinus, the whitebeam species Sorbus cuspidata and tree rhododendron in both seasons. Droppings were found on 23 plant species including the stone oak species Lithocarpus pachyphyllus, Campbell's magnolia, the chinquapin species Castanopsis tribuloides, Himalayan birch, Litsea sericea and the holly species Ilex fragilis. In Nepal's Rara National Park, Thamnocalamus was found in all the droppings sampled, both before and after the monsoon. Its summer diet in Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve also includes some lichens and barberries. "


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"In Bhutan's Jigme Dorji National Park, red panda faeces found in the fruiting season contained seeds of Himalayan ivy.The red panda grabs food with one of its front paws and usually eats sitting down or standing. When foraging for bamboo, it grabs the plant by the stem and pulls it down towards its jaws. It bites the leaves with the side of the cheek teeth and then shears, chews and shallows. Smaller food like blossoms, berries and small leaves are eaten differently, being clipped by the incisors. Having the gastrointestinal tract of a carnivore, the red panda cannot properly digest bamboo, which passes through its gut in two to four hours. Hence, it must consume large amounts of the most nutritious plant matter. It eats over 1.5 kg (3 lb 5 oz) of fresh leaves or 4 kg (9 lb) of fresh shoots in a day with crude proteins and fats being the most easily digested. Digestion is highest in summer and fall but lowest in winter, and is easier for shoots than leaves. The red panda's metabolic rate is comparable to other mammals of its size, despite its poor diet. "


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"The red panda digests almost a third of dry matter, which is more efficient than the giant panda digesting 17 per cent. Microbes in the gut may aid in its processing of bamboo; the microbiota community in the red panda is less diverse than in other mammals.\n\n=== Communication ===\n\nAt least seven different vocalisations have been recorded from the red panda, comprising growls, barks, squeals, hoots, bleats, grunts and twitters. Growling, barking, grunting and squealing are produced during fights and aggressive chasing. Hooting is made in response to being approached by another individual. Bleating is associated with scent-marking and sniffing. Males may bleat during mating, while females twitter. During both play fighting and aggressive fighting, individuals curve their backs and tails while slowly moving their heads up and down. They then turn their heads while jaw-clapping, move their heads laterally and lift a forepaw to strike. They stand on their hind legs, raise the forelimbs above the head and then pounce. Two red pandas may \"stare\" at each other from a distance.\n\n=== Reproduction and parenting ===\n\nRed pandas are \"long-day\" breeders, reproducing after the winter solstice as daylight grows longer. "


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"Mating thus takes place from January to March, with births occurring from May to August. Reproduction is delayed by six months for captive pandas in the southern hemisphere. Oestrous lasts a day, and females can enter oestrous multiple times a season, but it is not known how long the intervals between each cycle last.As the reproductive season begins, males and females interact more, and will rest, move, and feed near each other. An oestrous female will spend more time marking and males will inspect her anogenital region. Receptive females make tail-flicks and position themselves in a lordosis pose, with the front lowered to the ground and the spine curved. Copulation involves the male mounting the female from behind and on top, though face-to-face matings as well as belly-to-back matings while lying on the sides also occur. The male will grab the female by the sides with his front paws instead of biting her neck. Intermission is 2\u201325 minutes long, and the couple grooms each other between each bout.Gestation lasts about 131 days. "


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"Prior to giving birth, the female selects a denning site, such as a tree, log or stump hollow or rock crevice, and builds a nest using material from nearby, such as twigs, sticks, branches, bark bits, leaves, grass and moss. Litters typically consist of one to four cubs that are born fully furred but blind. They are entirely dependent on their mother for the first three to four months until they first leave the nest. They nurse for their first five months. The bond between mother and offspring lasts until the next mating season. Cubs are fully grown at around 12 months and at around 18 months they reach sexual maturity. Two radio-collared cubs in eastern Nepal separated from their mothers at the age of 7\u20138 months and left their birth areas three weeks later. They reached new home ranges within 26\u201342 days and became residents after exploring them for 42\u201344 days.\n\n=== Mortality and diseases ===\nThe red panda's lifespan in captivity reaches 14 years. They have been recorded falling prey to leopards in the wild. Faecal samples of red panda collected in Nepal contained parasitic protozoa, amoebozoans, roundworms, trematodes and tapeworms. "


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"Roundworms, tapeworms and coccidia were also found in red panda scat collected in Rara and Langtang National Parks. Fourteen red pandas at the Knoxville Zoo suffered from severe ringworm, so the tails of two were amputated. Chagas disease was reported as the cause of death of a red panda kept in a Kansas zoo. Amdoparvovirus was detected in the scat of six red pandas in the Sacramento Zoo. Eight captive red pandas in a Chinese zoo suffered from shortness of breath and fever shortly before they died of pneumonia; autopsy revealed that they had antibodies to the protozoans Toxoplasma gondii and Sarcocystis species indicating that they were intermediate hosts. A captive red panda in the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding died of unknown reasons; an autopsy showed that its kidneys, liver and lungs were damaged by a bacterial infection caused by Escherichia coli.\n\n== Threats ==\nThe red panda is primarily threatened by the destruction and fragmentation of its habitat, the causes of which include increasing human population, deforestation, the unlawful taking of non-wood forest material and disturbances by herders and livestock. "


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"Trampling by livestock inhibits bamboo growth, and clearcutting decreases the ability of some bamboo species to regenerate. The cut lumber stock in Sichuan alone reached 2,661,000 m3 (94,000,000 cu ft) in 1958\u20131960, and around 3,597.9 km2 (1,389.2 sq mi) of red panda habitat were logged between the mid 1970s and late 1990s. Throughout Nepal, the red panda habitat outside protected areas is negatively affected by solid waste, livestock trails and herding stations, and people collecting firewood and medicinal plants. Threats identified in Nepal's Lamjung District include grazing by livestock during seasonal transhumance, human-made forest fires and the collection of bamboo as cattle fodder in winter. Vehicular traffic is a significant barrier to red panda movement between habitat patches.Poaching is also a major threat. In Nepal, 121 red panda skins were confiscated between 2008 and 2018. Traps meant for other wildlife have been recorded killing red pandas. In Myanmar, the red panda is threatened by hunting using guns and traps; since roads to the border with China were built starting in the early 2000s, red panda skins and live animals have been traded and smuggled across the border. "


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"In southwestern China, the red panda is hunted for its fur, especially for the highly valued bushy tails, from which hats are produced. The red panda population in China has been reported to have decreased by 40 per cent over the last 50 years, and the population in western Himalayan areas are considered to be smaller. Between 2005 and 2017, 35 live and seven dead red pandas were confiscated in Sichuan, and several traders were sentenced to 3\u201312 years of imprisonment. A month-long survey of 65 shops in nine Chinese counties in the spring of 2017 revealed only one in Yunnan offered hats made of red panda skins, and red panda tails were offered in an online forum.\n\n== Conservation ==\nThe red panda is listed in CITES Appendix I and protected in all range countries; hunting is illegal. It has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008 because the global population is estimated at 10,000 individuals, with a decreasing population trend. A large extent of its habitat is part of protected areas.\n\nA red panda anti-poaching unit and community-based monitoring have been established in Langtang National Park. "


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"Members of Community Forest User Groups also protect and monitor red panda habitats in other parts of Nepal. Community outreach programs have been initiated in eastern Nepal using information boards, radio broadcasting and the annual International Red Panda Day in September; several schools endorsed a red panda conservation manual as part of their curricula.Since 2010, community-based conservation programmes have been initiated in 10 districts in Nepal that aim to help villagers reduce their dependence on natural resources through improved herding and food processing practices and alternative income possibilities. The Nepali government ratified a five-year Red Panda Conservation Action Plan in 2019. From 2016 to 2019, 35 ha (86 acres) of high-elevation rangeland in Merak, Bhutan, was restored and fenced in cooperation with 120 herder families to protect the red panda forest habitat and improve communal land. Villagers in Arunachal Pradesh established two community conservation areas to protect the red panda habitat from disturbance and exploitation of forest resources. China has initiated several projects to protect its environment and wildlife, including Grain for Green, The Natural Forest Protection Project and the National Wildlife/Natural Reserve Construction Project. "


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"For the last project, the red panda is not listed as a key species for protection but may benefit from the protection of the giant panda and golden snub-nosed monkey, with which it overlaps in range.\n\n=== In captivity ===\n\nThe London Zoo received two red pandas in 1869 and 1876, the first of which was caught in Darjeeling. The Calcutta Zoo received a live red panda in 1877, the Philadelphia Zoo in 1906, and Artis and Cologne Zoos in 1908. In 1908, the first captive red panda cubs were born in an Indian zoo. In 1940, the San Diego Zoo imported four red pandas from India that had been caught in Nepal; their first litter was born in 1941. Cubs that were born later were sent to other zoos; by 1969, about 250 red pandas had been exhibited in zoos. The Taronga Conservation Society started keeping red pandas in 1977.In 1978, a breed registry, the International Red Panda Studbook, was set up, followed by the Red Panda European Endangered Species Programme in 1985. Members of international zoos ratified a global master plan for the captive breeding of the red panda in 1993. "


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"By late 2015, 219 red pandas lived in 42 zoos in Japan. The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park participates in the Red Panda Species Survival Plan and kept about 25 red pandas by 2016. By the end of 2019, 182 European zoos kept 407 red pandas. Regional captive breeding programmes have also been established in North American, Australasian and South African zoos.\n\n== Cultural significance ==\n\nThe red panda's role in the culture and folklore of local people is limited. A drawing of a red panda exists on a 13th-century Chinese scroll. In Nepal's Taplejung District, red panda claws are used for treating epilepsy; its skin is used in rituals for treating sick people, making hats, scarecrows and decorating houses. In western Nepal, Magar shamans use its skin and fur in their ritual dresses and believe that it protects against evil spirits. People in central Bhutan consider red pandas to be reincarnations of Buddhist monks. Some tribal people in northeast India and the Yi people believe that it brings good luck to wear red panda tails or hats made of its fur. In China, the fur is used for local cultural ceremonies. At weddings, the bridegroom traditionally carries the hide. "


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"Hats made of red panda tails are also used by local newlyweds as a \"good-luck charm\".The red panda was recognised as the state animal of Sikkim in the early 1990s and was the mascot of the Darjeeling Tea Festival. It has been featured on stamps and coins issued by several red panda range states. Anthropomorphic red pandas feature in animated movies and TV series such as The White Snake Enchantress, Bamboo Bears, Barbie as the Island Princess, DreamWork's Kung Fu Panda franchise, Aggretsuko and Disney/Pixar's Turning Red, and in several video games and comic books. It is the namesake of the Firefox browser and has been used as the namesake of music bands and of companies. Its appearance has been used for plush toys, t-shirts, postcards and other items.\n\n== References ==\n\n== Notes ==\n\n== External links ==\n\nRed Panda Network \u2013 a non-profit organization committed to the conservation of wild red pandas"


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"The red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis), also called the Manchurian crane or Japanese crane (traditional Chinese: \u4e39\u9802\u9db4; simplified Chinese: \u4e39\u9876\u9e64; pinyin: d\u0101nd\u01d0ng h\u00e8; Japanese: \u4e39\u9802\u9db4 or \u30bf\u30f3\u30c1\u30e7\u30a6\u30c5\u30eb; Korean: \ub450\ub8e8\ubbf8; the Chinese character '\u4e39' means 'red', '\u9802/\u9876' means 'crown' and '\u9db4/\u9e64' means 'crane'), is a large East Asian crane among the rarest cranes in the world. In some parts of its range, it is known as a symbol of luck, longevity, and fidelity.\n\n== Description ==\n\nAdult red-crowned cranes are named for a patch of red bare skin on the crown, which becomes brighter during the mating season. Overall, they are snow white in color with black on the wing secondaries, which can appear almost like a black tail when the birds are standing, but the real tail feathers are actually white. Males are black on the cheeks, throat, and neck, while females are pearly gray in these spots. The bill is olive green to a greenish horn, the legs are slate to grayish black, and the iris is dark brown.Juveniles are a combination of white, partly tawny, cinnamon brown, and rusty or grayish. "


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"The neck collar is grayish to coffee brown, the secondaries are dull black and brown, and the crown and forehead are covered with gray and tawny feathers. The primaries are white, tipped with black, as are the upper primary coverts. The legs and bill are similar to those of adults but lighter in color.\nThis species is among the largest and heaviest cranes, typically measuring about 150 to 158 cm (4 ft 11 in to 5 ft 2 in) tall and 101.2\u2013150 cm (3 ft 4 in \u2013 4 ft 11 in) in length (from bill to tail tip). Across the large wingspan, the red-crowned crane measures 220\u2013250 cm (7 ft 3 in \u2013 8 ft 2 in). Typical body weight can range from 4.8 to 10.5 kg (11 to 23 lb), with males being slightly larger and heavier than females and weight ranging higher just prior to migration. "


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"On average, it is the heaviest crane species, although both the sarus and wattled crane can grow taller and exceed this species in linear measurements.On average, adult males from Hokkaid\u014d weighed around 8.2 kg (18 lb) and adult females there averaged around 7.3 kg (16 lb), while a Russian study found males averaged 10 kg (22 lb) and females averaged 8.6 kg (19 lb); in some cases, females could outweigh their mates despite the males' slightly larger average body weight. Another study found the average weight of the species to be 8.9 kg (20 lb). The maximum known weight of the red-crowned crane is 15 kg (33 lb). Among standard measurements, the wing chord measures 50.2\u201374 cm (19.8\u201329.1 in), the exposed culmen measures 13.5\u201317.7 cm (5.3\u20137.0 in), tail length is 21.5\u201330 cm (8.5\u201311.8 in), and the tarsus measures 23.7\u201331.9 cm (9.3\u201312.6 in).\n\n== Range and habitat ==\n\nIn the spring and summer, the migratory populations of the red-crowned crane breed in Siberia (eastern Russia), north-eastern China and occasionally in north-eastern Mongolia (i.e., Mongol Daguur Strictly Protected Area). The breeding range centers in Lake Khanka, on the border of China and Russia. "


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"Later, in the fall, they migrate in flocks to the Korean Peninsula and east-central China to spend the winter. Vagrants have also been recorded in Taiwan. In addition to the migratory populations, a resident population is found in eastern Hokkaid\u014d, Japan. This species nests in wetlands, marshes and rivers. In the wintering range, their habitat consists mainly of paddy fields, grassy tidal flats, and mudflats. In the flats, the birds feed on aquatic invertebrates, and, in cold, snowy conditions, the birds switch to mainly living on rice gleanings from the paddy fields.\n\n== Ecology and behaviour ==\n\n=== Diet ===\n\nRed-crowned cranes have a highly omnivorous diet, though the dietary preferences have not been fully studied. They eat rice, parsley, carrots, redbuds, acorns, buckwheat, and a variety of water plants. The animal matter in their diet consists of fish, including carp and goldfish, amphibians, especially salamanders, snails, crabs, dragonflies, small reptiles, shrimp and small birds.  The daily food requirement of adult red-crowned cranes is 750 g.They seem to prefer a carnivorous diet, although rice is now essential to survival for wintering birds in Japan and grass seeds are another important food source. "


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"While all cranes are omnivorous, per Johnsgard, the two most common crane species today (the sandhill and common cranes) are among the most herbivorous species while the two rarest species (the red-crowned and whooping cranes) are perhaps the most carnivorous species. When feeding on plants, red-crowned cranes exhibit a preference for plants with a high content of crude protein and low content of crude fiber. In Hokkaido, fish such as Tribolodon, Pungitius, Sculpin and flatfish was major prey of adults, while chicks mostly feed on various insects. In Zhalong Nature Reserve, small fish less than 10cm, such as common carps, pond loach, and Chinese sleeper was mainly taken as well as aquatic invertebreas like pond snails, dragonflys, water beetles and large amount of plant matter. Elsewhere, mudflat crabs are locally important food source in Yellow River Delta.They typically forage by keeping their heads close to the ground, jabbing their beaks into mud when they encounter something edible. When capturing fish or other slippery prey, they strike rapidly by extending their necks outward, a feeding style similar to that of the heron. "


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"Although animal prey can be swallowed whole, red-crowned cranes more often tear up large prey by grasping with their beaks and shaking it vigorously, eating pieces as they fall apart. Most foraging occurs in wet grasslands, cultivated fields, shallow rivers, or on the shores of lakes.\n\n=== Migration ===\n\nThe population of red-crowned cranes in Japan is mostly non-migratory, with the race in Hokkaid\u014d moving only 150 km (93 mi) to its wintering grounds. Only the mainland population experiences a long-distance migration. They leave their wintering grounds in spring by February and are established on territories by April. In fall, they leave their breeding territories in October and November, with the migration fully over by mid-December.\n\n=== Sociality ===\nFlock sizes are affected by the small numbers of the red-crowned crane, and given their largely carnivorous diet, some feeding dispersal is needed in natural conditions. Wintering cranes have been observed foraging, variously, in family groups, pairs, and singly, although all roosting is in larger groups (up to 80 individuals) with unrelated cranes. By the early spring, pairs begin to spend more time together, with nonbreeding birds and juveniles dispersing separately. "


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"Even while not nesting, red-crowned cranes tend to be aggressive towards conspecifics and maintain a minimum distance of 2 to 3 m (6.6 to 9.8 ft) to keep out of pecking range of other cranes while roosting nocturnally during winter. In circumstances where a crane violates these boundaries, it may be violently attacked.\n\n=== Breeding ===\n\nThe red-crowned crane is monogamous and long-lived, with stable pair-bonding both within and between years, and believed to mate for life. The breeding maturity is thought to be reached at 3\u20134 years of age. All mating and egg-laying are largely restricted to April and early May. A red-crowned crane pair duets in various situations, helping to establish the formation and maintenance of the pair bond, as well as territorial advertisement and agonistic signaling. Both males and females may start a duet with the production of a start call, but the main part of the duet always began with a long male call. The pair moves rhythmically until they are standing close, throwing their heads back and letting out a fluting call in unison, often triggering other pairs to start duetting, as well. "


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"As it occurs year-round, the social implications of dancing are complex in meaning. However, dancing behavior is generally thought to show excitement in the species. Also, the performance of duet displays increased the probability of staying in a favorable area, supporting the hypothesis that duet displays function as a signal of joint resource defense in the flock.\n\nPairs are territorial during the breeding season. Nesting territories range from 1 to 7 km2 (0.39 to 2.70 sq mi) and are often the same year after year. Most nesting territories are characterized by flat terrain, access to wetland habitat, and tall grasses. Nest sites are selected by females, but built by both sexes and are frequently in a small clearing made by the cranes, either on wet ground or shallow water over waters no more than 20 to 50 cm (7.9 to 19.7 in) deep. Sometimes, nests are built on the frozen surface of water, as frigid temperatures may persist well into nesting season. Nest building takes about a week. A majority of nests contains two eggs, though one to three have been recorded.\nBoth sexes incubate the eggs for at least 30 days. "


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"They also both feed the young when they hatch. Staying in the nest for the first few weeks, the young start to follow their parents as they forage in marshes by around 3 months of age. New hatchlings weigh about 150 g (5.3 oz) and are covered in yellow natal down for two weeks. By early fall, about 95 days after hatching, the young are fledged and are assured fliers by migration time. Although they can fly well, crane young remain together with their parents for around 9 months. Young cranes maintain a higher-pitched voice that may serve to distinguish them from outwardly similar mature birds, this stage lasting until the leave parental care. The average adult lifespan is around 30 to 40 years, with some specimens living to 75 years of age in captivity. It is one of the longest-living species of bird.\n\n=== Interspecies interactions ===\nThe red-crowned crane is a big-sized bird and there are no natural predators within their wintering ground. With their height averaging 1.5 m (5 ft), their large size deters most predators. "


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"As a result, red-crowned cranes often react indifferently to the presence of other birds such as small raptors; with harriers, falcons, owls, and usually buzzards being allowed to hunt small prey near a crane nest without any of these parties harassing each other. However, birds more likely to be egg or nest predators, such as corvids, some buzzards, and various eagles, are treated aggressively and are threatened until they leave the crane's territory. Mammalian carnivores, including red foxes, badgers, raccoon dogs, martens, and domestic dogs which pose a threat to eggs and chicks, are attacked immediately, with the parent cranes attempting to jab them in the flanks until the predators leave the vicinitly. These small predators do not present any danger to chicks in the presence of adults and are chased away by the crane without difficulty. Larger predators such as gray wolves and large dogs can be repelled by aggressive crane pairs.Occasionally, losses at the nest occur to some of the above predators. Introduced American mink on Hokkaid\u014d are one of the most successful predators of eggs and nestlings. "


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"Also, immature and unwary subadult or even adult cranes may be ambushed killed by red foxes in Japan and leopard cats in South Korea, though this is rare reports, especially with adults. More often, these birds can easily defend themselves by using sharp beak or just fly away from danger.Smaller white-naped cranes often nest near red-crowned cranes, but competition between these species for food in a common nesting area is lessened due to the greater portion of vegetation in the white-naped crane's diet. In cases where interactions turn aggressive between white-naped and red-crowned cranes, red-crowned cranes are dominant, as expected due to their considerably larger size. As reported researchers trying to band or examine the cranes or their nest, this powerful species is considered mildly hazardous and prone to respond quickly with considerable aggression to being approached or handled by humans and are able to inflict painful injuries using both its kicking feet and dagger-like beak.\n\n== Status ==\n\nThe population of red-crowned cranes is split into a migratory continental population in Korea, China, Mongolia, and Russia, and a resident Japanese population in Hokkaid\u014d. "


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"The estimated total population of the species is only 1,830 in the wild, including about 950 birds in the resident Japanese population. Of the migratory populations, about 400-500 winter in China (mainly at the Yellow River delta and Yancheng Coastal Wetlands), and the remaining 1000-1050 winter in Korea. It received endangered status on 2 June 1970.\nThe National Aviary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, ran a program where U.S. zoos donated eggs which were flown to Russia and raised in the Khinganski Nature Reserve and released into the wild. This program sent 150 eggs between 1995 and 2005.  The program has been put on hold to concentrate on different crane conservation programs in Russia, such as education and fire suppression. Several hundred red-crowned cranes are kept in zoos around the world. Assuredly, the international efforts of Russia, China, Japan, and Korea are needed to keep the species from extinction. The most pressing threat is habitat destruction, with a general lack of remaining pristine wetland habitats for the species to nest. In Japan, little proper nesting habitat remains and the local breeding population is close to the saturation point.In South Korea, it has been designated natural monument 202 and a first-class endangered species.\n\n"


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"== Culture ==\n\n=== China ===\n\nIn China, the red-crowned crane is often featured in myths and legends. In Taoism, the red-crowned crane is a symbol of longevity and immortality. In art and literature, immortals are often depicted riding on cranes. A mortal who attains immortality is similarly carried off by a crane. Reflecting this association, red-crowned cranes are called xian he (traditional Chinese: \u4ed9\u9db4; simplified Chinese: \u4ed9\u9e64; pinyin: xi\u0101nh\u00e8; \"fairy crane\" or \"crane of the immortals\"\"). The red-crowned crane is also a symbol of nobility. Depictions of the crane have been found in Shang Dynasty tombs and Zhou Dynasty ceremonial bronzeware. A common theme in later Chinese art is the reclusive scholar who cultivates bamboo and keeps cranes. Some literati even reared cranes and trained them to dance to guqin music.\nThe Ming and Qing Dynasties endowed the Red Crowned Crane with the cultural connotation of loyalty, uprightness and noble morality. Red Crowned Crane is embroidered on the clothes of a civil servant. It is listed as an important symbol next only to the Loong and Fenghuang used by the royal family. Therefore, people also regard the crane as a symbol of a high official.\n\n"


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"The image of Red Crowned Crane generally appears in Chinese cultural relics and works of art.\n\nBecause of its importance in Chinese culture, the red-crowned crane was selected by the National Forestry Bureau of the People's Republic of China as a candidate for the title of national animal of China. This decision was deferred due to the red-crowned crane's Latin name translation as \"Japanese crane\".Robert Kuok's Kerry/Kuok Group also uses the red-crowned crane as its logo for operations in Hong Kong, Singapore, PR China, and overseas.\n\n=== Japan ===\n\nIn Japan, this crane is known as the tanch\u014dzuru and is said to live for 1,000 years. A pair of red-crowned cranes was used in the design for the Series D 1000-yen note (reverse side). In the Ainu language, the red-crowned crane is known as sarurun kamuy or \"marsh kamuy\". At Tsurui, they are one of the 100 Soundscapes of Japan. Cranes are said to grant favours in return for acts of sacrifice, as in Tsuru no Ongaeshi (\"crane's return of a favor\").\n"


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"Given its reputation, Jerry Huff, an American branding expert, recommended it as the international logo of Japan Airlines, after seeing a representation of it in a gallery of samurai crests. Huff wrote \"I had faith that it was the perfect symbol for Japan Air Lines. I found that the crane myth was all positive\u2014it mates for life (loyalty), and flies high for miles without tiring (strength).\u201d\n\n=== Korea ===\n\nIn Korea, the red-crowned crane is called durumi or hak and it is considered a symbol of longevity, purity, and peace. Korean seonbis regarded the bird as an icon of their constancy. The red-crowned crane is depicted on the South Korean 500 won coin and is the symbol of Incheon.\n\n== See also ==\nWildlife of China\nWildlife of Japan\nWildlife of Korea\nList of Special Places of Scenic Beauty, Special Historic Sites and Special Natural Monuments\nIzumi crane migration grounds, for a protected place in Japan visited by many migratory crane species\n\n== References ==\n\n== Further reading ==\nCraft, Lucille. 1999. \"Divided by Politics, United in Flight - Can Japan and Russia Resolve Their Differences Over the Remote Kuril Islands and Protect the Rare Red Crowned Crane?\"International Wildlife. "


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"29, no. 3: 22.\nCrane- Paul A. Johnsgaard (2011).\nHayashida, Tsuneo (October 1983). \"The Japanese Crane, Bird of Happiness\". National Geographic. Vol. 164, no. 4. pp. 542\u2013556. ISSN 0027-9358. OCLC 643483454.\n\n== External links ==\n\nBirdLife Species Factsheet\nRed-crowned crane (International Crane Foundation)\nThree White Cranes, Two Flyways, One World An educational website that links schools along the eastern whooping crane flyway in the United States with schools along the eastern flyways of the Siberian and red-crowned cranes in Russia and China.\nJapanese Crane (Grus japonensis) from Cranes of the World (1983) by Paul Johnsgard"


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"The Timneh parrot (Psittacus timneh), also known as the Timneh grey parrot or Timneh African grey parrot, is a West African parrot. Formerly classified as a subspecies of the grey parrot Psittacus erithacus timneh, it is now considered a full species Psittacus timneh. In aviculture, it is often referred to by the initials TAG and is commonly kept as a companion parrot.\n\n== Taxonomy ==\nThe Timneh parrot was formally described in 1844 by the British zoologist and collector Louis Fraser. He coined the binomial name Psittacus timneh and specified the type locality as \"Timneh country, Sierra Leone\". The Temne are an ethnic group that are predominantly found in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. "


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"The Timneh parrot was formerly classified as a subspecies of the grey parrot but is now treated as a separate species based on the results of a genetic and morphological study published in 2007.Two subspecies are recognised:\nP. t. timneh Fraser, 1844 \u2013 south Guinea to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali and west Ivory Coast\nP. t. princeps Alexander, 1909 \u2013 Pr\u00edncipe, an island off the west coast of Africa\n\n== Description ==\n\nGrowing to 28\u201333 centimetres (11\u201313 in) in length and weighing 275\u2013375 grams (9.7\u201313.2 oz), the Timneh is a medium-sized parrot. Its plumage is mainly a mottled grey, with a white face mask and pale yellow eyes. Compared with the only other recognised Psittacus species, the grey parrot (P. erithacus), the Timneh is smaller and darker, with a dull, dark maroon (rather than crimson) tail and a horn-coloured patch on the upper mandible. Like the grey parrot, the Timneh parrot is intelligent and a skilled mimic. The Timneh parrot may be less nervous and more outgoing around human beings, and can learn to talk at a younger age than the grey parrot.\n\n"


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"== Distribution and habitat ==\nThe Timneh parrot is endemic to the western parts of the moist Upper Guinean forests and bordering savannas of West Africa from Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and southern Mali eastwards to at least 70 km east of the Bandama River in Ivory Coast. There is no natural range overlap with the grey parrot although, as both taxa are common in aviculture, escapes can occur and hybridization between greys and Timnehs has been observed in captivity. The birds typically inhabit dense forest, but are also seen at forest edges and in clearings, in gallery forest along waterways, savanna woodland and mangroves. Though they are sometimes found in cultivated areas and gardens, it is not clear whether these habitats contain self-sustaining populations; the birds may make seasonal movements out of the driest parts of their range in the dry season.\n\n== Status, threats and conservation ==\nOf a total estimated population of 120,000\u2013259,000 individual birds, the largest populations are in Ivory Coast (54,000\u2013130,000) and Liberia (50,000\u2013100,000). In the other range countries, estimated numbers are Sierra Leone (11,000\u201318,000), Guinea (5,000\u201310,000) and Guinea-Bissau (100\u20131,000), with insignificant numbers in southern Mali. "


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"Surveys indicate that the species has disappeared from the forests around Mount Nimba and in Nimba County, Liberia.The Timneh parrot has been undergoing population decline both through the loss of its forest habitat and trapping for the international wild bird trade. The fragmentation and loss of forests, as well as climatic changes, has become a major factor in the food availability for parrots. The species ability to track food (such as plants and plant parts including fruits, seeds, flowers, leaf buds, and sap) and switch diets determines the species ability to cope with environmental changes; it is a contributory factor to the population decline of the Timneh parrot. change Lumped with the closely related Congo parrot as the African grey, it is one of the most popular pet birds in the United States, Europe and the Middle East due to its longevity and ability to mimic human speech.In January 2007, the CITES\u2019 Animals Committee imposed a two-year ban on exports of Timneh parrots from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Guinea, while the importation of wild-caught birds into the EU was banned in the same year. Despite this, in 2009, Guinea exported 720 birds. "


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"The legal trade, which is monitored by CITES, may constitute only a small proportion of the total numbers trapped in the wild.In 2012, BirdLife International gave the Timneh parrot full species status on the basis of genetic, morphological, plumage and vocal differences and classified it as Endangered in 2016.\n\n== References ==\n\n== External links ==\nMedia related to Psittacus timneh at Wikimedia Commons"


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"The bare-faced curassow (Crax fasciolata) is a species of bird in the family Cracidae, the chachalacas, guans, curassows, etc. It is found in Brazil, Paraguay, and eastern Bolivia, and extreme northeast Argentina, in the cerrado, pantanal, and the southeastern region of the Amazon basin. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.\n\n== Taxonomy ==\nThere are three currently recognized subspecies following the IOC,\n\nC. f. fasciolata (Spix, 1825) \u2013 fasciated curassow \u2013 lowlands of Brazil to Paraguay and northeast Argentina\nC. f. grayi (Ogilvie-Grant, 1893) \u2013 eastern Bolivia\nC. f. pinima (Pelzeln, 1870) \u2013 northeastern Brazil\n\n== Description ==\nThe bare-faced curassow is a large bird reaching a length of 82 to 92 centimetres (32 to 36 in). The sexes differ in appearance. The male has black upper parts faintly glossed with greenish-olive, with an unfeathered face with yellowish bare skin, a small black crest, and white underparts. The female, on the other hand, has a black head, throat, neck and upper mantle, and a black and white barred crest. The remainder of the upper parts are greenish-black barred with white or ochre. "


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"The black tail is tipped with white or ochre and the underparts are black with ochre barring on the breast, paling to a yellowish or ochre belly. The facial skin on females is blackish.\n\n== Behaviour ==\nThe bare-faced curassow lives in moist, semi-deciduous and gallery forests, often near the fringes of the woodland. It mainly feeds on fruit, but seeds, flowers and small invertebrates are also eaten. Breeding takes place in the summer in the southern part of its range, with the nests being platforms of sticks in trees.\n\n== Status ==\nThe bare-faced curassow has a wide range and is fairly numerous in parts of its range; however, it is subject to hunting and to the destruction of its habitat and the total population is likely to be declining quite rapidly. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as \"vulnerable\".\n\n== References ==\n\n== External links ==\n\nBare-faced Curassow videos, photos and sounds on the Internet Bird Collection\nStamps (for Paraguay) with RangeMap\nBare-faced Curassow photo gallery VIREO Photo-High Res--(Close-up)\nPhoto-High Res; Article chandra.as.utexas.edu\u2013\"Birds of Brazil\""


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"The Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus), also known as the common peafowl, and blue peafowl, is a peafowl species native to the Indian subcontinent. It has been introduced to many other countries.  Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are referred to as peahens, even though peafowl of either sex are often referred to colloquially as \"peacocks\".Indian peafowl display a marked form of sexual dimorphism. The peacock is brightly coloured, with a predominantly blue fan-like crest of spatula-tipped wire-like feathers and is best known for the long train made up of elongated upper-tail covert feathers which bear colourful eyespots. These stiff feathers are raised into a fan and quivered in a display during courtship. Despite the length and size of these covert feathers, peacocks are still capable of flight. Peahens lack the train, have a white face and iridescent green lower neck, and dull brown plumage. The Indian peafowl lives mainly on the ground in open forest or on land under cultivation where they forage for berries, grains but also prey on snakes, lizards, and small rodents. "


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"Their loud calls make them easy to detect, and in forest areas often indicate the presence of a predator such as a tiger. They forage on the ground in small groups and usually try to escape on foot through undergrowth and avoid flying, though they fly into tall trees to roost.\nThe function of the peacock's elaborate train has been debated for over a century. In the 19th century, Charles Darwin found it a puzzle, hard to explain through ordinary natural selection. His later explanation, sexual selection, is widely but not universally accepted. In the 20th century, Amotz Zahavi argued that the train was a handicap, and that males were honestly signalling their fitness in proportion to the splendour of their trains. Despite extensive study, opinions remain divided on the mechanisms involved.\nThe bird is celebrated in Hindu and Greek mythology and is the national bird of India. The Indian peafowl is listed as of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.\n\n== Taxonomy and naming ==\nCarl Linnaeus in his work Systema Naturae in 1758 assigned to the Indian peafowl the technical name of Pavo cristatus (means \"crested peafowl\" in classical Latin).\n"


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"The earliest usage of the word in written English is from around 1300 and spelling variants include pecok, pekok, pecokk, peacocke, peacock, pyckock, poucock, pocok, pokok, pokokke, and poocok among others. The current spelling was established in the late 17th century. Chaucer (1343\u20131400) used the word to refer to a proud and ostentatious person in his simile \"proud a pekok\" in Troilus and Criseyde (Book I, line 210).The Greek word for peacock was taos and was related to the Persian \"tavus\" (as in Takht-i-T\u00e2vus for the famed Peacock Throne). The Ancient Hebrew word tuki (plural tukkiyim) has been said to have been derived from the Tamil tokei but sometimes traced to the Egyptian tekh. In modern Hebrew the word for peacock is \"tavas\". In Sanskrit, the peacock is known as Mayura and is associated with the killing of snakes.\n\n== Description ==\nPeacocks are a larger sized bird with a length from bill to tail of 100 to 115 cm (39 to 45 in) and to the end of a fully grown train as much as 195 to 225 cm (77 to 89 in) and weigh 4\u20136 kg (8.8\u201313.2 lb). "


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"The females, or peahens, are smaller at around 95 cm (37 in) in length and weigh 2.75\u20134 kg (6.1\u20138.8 lb). Indian peafowl are among the largest and heaviest representatives of the Phasianidae. So far as is known, only the wild turkey grows notably heavier. The green peafowl is slightly lighter in body mass despite the male having a longer train on average than the male of the Indian species. Their size, colour and shape of crest make them unmistakable within their native distribution range. The male is metallic blue on the crown, the feathers of the head being short and curled. The fan-shaped crest on the head is made of feathers with bare black shafts and tipped with bluish-green webbing. A white stripe above the eye and a crescent shaped white patch below the eye are formed by bare white skin. The sides of the head have iridescent greenish blue feathers. The back has scaly bronze-green feathers with black and copper markings. The scapular and the wings are buff and barred in black, the primaries are chestnut and the secondaries are black. "


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"The tail is dark brown and the \"train\" is made up of elongated upper tail coverts (more than 200 feathers, the actual tail has only 20 feathers) and nearly all of these feathers end with an elaborate eye-spot. A few of the outer feathers lack the spot and end in a crescent shaped black tip. The underside is dark glossy green shading into blackish under the tail. The thighs are buff coloured. The male has a spur on the leg above the hind toe.\nThe adult peahen has a rufous-brown head with a crest as in the male but the tips are chestnut edged with green. The upper body is brownish with pale mottling. The primaries, secondaries and tail are dark brown. The lower neck is metallic green and the breast feathers are dark brown glossed with green. The remaining underparts are whitish. Downy young are pale buff with a dark brown mark on the nape that connects with the eyes. Young males look like the females but the wings are chestnut coloured.The most common calls are a loud pia-ow or may-awe. "


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"The frequency of calling increases before the Monsoon season and may be delivered in alarm or when disturbed by loud noises. In forests, their calls often indicate the presence of a predators such as the tiger. They also make many other calls such as a rapid series of ka-aan..ka-aan or a rapid kok-kok. They often emit an explosive low-pitched honk! when agitated.\n\n=== Mutations and hybrids ===\n\nThere are several colour mutations of Indian peafowl. These very rarely occur in the wild, but selective breeding has made them common in captivity. The black-shouldered or Japanned mutation was initially considered as a subspecies of the Indian peafowl (P. c. nigripennis) (or even a separate species (P. nigripennis)) and was a topic of some interest during Darwin's time. It is, however, only a case of genetic variation within the population. In this mutation, the adult male is melanistic with black wings. Young birds with the nigripennis mutation are creamy white with fulvous-tipped wings. The gene produces melanism in the male and in the peahen it produces a dilution of colour with creamy white and brown markings. "


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"Other forms include the pied and white mutations, all of which are the result of allelic variation at specific loci.Crosses between a male green peafowl (Pavo muticus) and a female Indian peafowl (P. cristatus) produce a stable hybrid called a \"Spalding\", named after Mrs. Keith Spalding, a bird fancier in California. There can be problems if birds of unknown pedigree are released into the wild, as the viability of such hybrids and their offspring is often reduced (see Haldane's rule and outbreeding depression).\n\n== Distribution and habitat ==\n\nThe Indian peafowl is a resident breeder across the Indian subcontinent and inhabits the drier lowland areas of Sri Lanka. In the Indian subcontinent, it is found mainly below an elevation of 1,800 m (5,900 ft) and in rare cases seen at about 2,000 m (6,600 ft). It is found in moist and dry-deciduous forests, but can adapt to live in cultivated regions and around human habitations and is usually found where water is available. In many parts of northern India, they are protected by religious practices and will forage around villages and towns for scraps. "


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"Some have suggested that the peacock was introduced into Europe by Alexander the Great, while others say the bird had reached Athens by 450 BCE and may have been introduced even earlier. It has since been introduced in many other parts of the world and has become feral in some areas.The Indian peafowl has been introduced to the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, South Africa, Spain, Portugal, Madagascar, Mauritius, R\u00e9union, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Croatia and the island of Lokrum.\n\n== Genome sequencing ==\nThe first whole-genome sequencing of Indian peafowl identified a total of 15,970 protein-coding sequences, along with 213 tRNAs, 236 snoRNAs, and 540 miRNAs. The peacock genome was found to have less repetitive DNA (8.62%) than that of the chicken genome (9.45%). PSMC analysis suggested that the peacock suffered at least two bottlenecks (around four million years ago and again 450,000 years ago), which resulted in a severe reduction in its effective population size.\n\n== Behaviour and ecology ==\nPeafowl are best known for the male's extravagant display feathers which, despite actually growing from their back, are thought of as a tail. "


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"The \"train\" is in reality made up of the enormously elongated upper tail coverts. The tail itself is brown and short as in the peahen. The colours result not from any green or blue pigments but from the micro-structure of the feathers and the resulting optical phenomena. The long train feathers (and tarsal spurs) of the male develop only after the second year of life. Fully developed trains are found in birds older than four years. In northern India, these begin to develop each February and are moulted at the end of August. The moult of the flight feathers may be spread out across the year.Peafowl forage on the ground in small groups, known as musters, that usually have a cock and 3 to 5 hens. After the breeding season, the flocks tend to be made up only of females and young. They are found in the open early in the mornings and tend to stay in cover during the heat of the day. They are fond of dust-bathing and at dusk, groups walk in single file to a favourite waterhole to drink. "


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"When disturbed, they usually escape by running and rarely take to flight.Peafowl produce loud calls especially in the breeding season. They may call at night when alarmed and neighbouring birds may call in a relay like series. Nearly seven different call variants have been identified in the peacocks apart from six alarm calls that are commonly produced by both sexes.Peafowl roost in groups during the night on tall trees but may sometimes make use of rocks, buildings or pylons. In the Gir forest, they chose tall trees in steep river banks. Birds arrive at dusk and call frequently before taking their position on the roost trees. Due to this habit of congregating at the roost, many population studies are made at these sites. The population structure is not well understood. In a study in northern India (Jodhpur), the number of males was 170\u2013210 for 100 females but a study involving evening counts at the roost site in southern India (Injar) suggested a ratio of 47 males for 100 females.\n\n=== Sexual selection ===\n\nThe colours of the peacock and the contrast with the much duller peahen were a puzzle to early thinkers. "


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"Charles Darwin wrote to Asa Gray that the \"sight of a feather in a peacock's tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick!\"as he failed to see an adaptive advantage for the extravagant tail which seemed only to be an encumbrance. Darwin developed a second principle of sexual selection to resolve the problem, though in the prevailing intellectual trends of Victorian Britain, the theory failed to gain widespread attention.The American artist Abbott Handerson Thayer tried to show, from his own imagination, the value of the eyespots as disruptive camouflage in a 1907 painting. He used the painting in his 1909 book Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom, denying the possibility of sexual selection and arguing that essentially all forms of animal colouration had evolved as camouflage. He was roundly criticised in a lengthy paper by Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote that Thayer had only managed to paint the peacock's plumage as camouflage by sleight of hand, \"with the blue sky showing through the leaves in just sufficient quantity here and there to warrant the author-artists explaining that the wonderful blue hues of the peacock's neck are obliterative because they make it fade into the sky.\""


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"In the 1970s a possible resolution to the apparent contradiction between natural selection and sexual selection was proposed. Amotz Zahavi argued that peacocks honestly signalled the handicap of having a large and costly train. However, the mechanism may be less straightforward than it seems \u2013 the cost could arise from depression of the immune system by the hormones that enhance feather development.\nThe ornate train is believed to be the result of sexual selection by the females. Males use their ornate trains in a courtship display: they raise the feathers into a fan and quiver them. However, recent studies have failed to find a relation between the number of displayed eyespots and mating success. Marion Petrie tested whether or not these displays signaled a male's genetic quality by studying a feral population of peafowl in Whipsnade Wildlife Park in southern England. She showed that the number of eyespots in the train predicted a male's mating success, and this success could be manipulated by cutting the eyespots off some of the male's ornate feathers.Although the removal of eyespots makes males less successful in mating, eyespot removal substantially changes the appearance of male peafowls. "


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"It is likely that females mistake these males for sub-adults, or perceive that the males are physically damaged. Moreover, in a feral peafowl population, there is little variation in the number of eyespots in adult males. It is rare for adult males to lose a significant number of eyespots. Therefore, females' selection might depend on other sexual traits of males' trains. The quality of train is an honest signal of the condition of males; peahens do select males on the basis of their plumage. A recent study on a natural population of Indian peafowls in the Shivalik area of India has proposed a \"high maintenance handicap\" theory. It states that only the fittest males can afford the time and energy to maintain a long tail. Therefore, the long train is an indicator of good body condition, which results in greater mating success. While train length seems to correlate positively with MHC diversity in males, females do not appear to use train length to choose males. A study in Japan also suggests that peahens do not choose peacocks based on their ornamental plumage, including train length, number of eyespots and train symmetry. "


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"Another study in France brings up two possible explanations for the conflicting results that exist. The first explanation is that there might be a genetic variation of the trait of interest under different geographical areas due to a founder effect and/or a genetic drift. The second explanation suggests that \"the cost of trait expression may vary with environmental conditions,\" so that a trait that is indicative of a particular quality may not work in another environment.Fisher's runaway model proposes positive feedback between female preference for elaborate trains and the elaborate train itself. This model assumes that the male train is a relatively recent evolutionary adaptation. However, a molecular phylogeny study on peacock-pheasants shows the opposite; the most recently evolved species is actually the least ornamented one. This finding suggests a chase-away sexual selection, in which \"females evolve resistance to male ploys\". A study in Japan goes on to conclude that the \"peacocks' train is an obsolete signal for which female preference has already been lost or weakened\".However, some disagreement has arisen in recent years concerning whether or not female peafowl do indeed select males with more ornamented trains. "


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"In contrast to Petrie's findings, a seven-year Japanese study of free-ranging peafowl came to the conclusion that female peafowl do not select mates solely on the basis of their trains. Mariko Takahashi found no evidence that peahens expressed any preference for peacocks with more elaborate trains (such as trains having more ocelli), a more symmetrical arrangement, or a greater length. Takahashi determined that the peacock's train was not the universal target of female mate choice, showed little variance across male populations, and, based on physiological data collected from this group of peafowl, do not correlate to male physical conditions. Adeline Loyau and her colleagues responded to Takahashi's study by voicing concern that alternative explanations for these results had been overlooked, and that these might be essential for the understanding of the complexity of mate choice. They concluded that female choice might indeed vary in different ecological conditions.\nA 2013 study that tracked the eye movements of peahens responding to male displays found that they looked in the direction of the upper train of feathers only when at long distances and that they looked only at the lower feathers when males displayed close to them. "


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"The rattling of the tail and the shaking of the wings helped in keeping the attention of females.\n\n=== Breeding ===\n\nPeacocks are polygamous, and the breeding season is spread out but appears to be dependent on the rains. Peafowls usually reach sexual maturity at the age of 2 to 3 years old. Several males may congregate at a lek site and these males are often closely related. Males at leks appear to maintain small territories next to each other and they allow females to visit them and make no attempt to guard harems. Females do not appear to favour specific males. The males display in courtship by raising the upper-tail coverts into an arched fan. The wings are held half open and drooped and it periodically vibrates the long feathers, producing a ruffling sound. The cock faces the hen initially and struts and prances around and sometimes turns around to display the tail. Males may also freeze over food to invite a female in a form of courtship feeding. Males may display even in the absence of females. "


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"When a male is displaying, females do not appear to show any interest and usually continue their foraging.The peak season in southern India is April to May, January to March in Sri Lanka and June in northern India. The nest is a shallow scrape in the ground lined with leaves, sticks and other debris. Nests are sometimes placed on buildings and, in earlier times, have been recorded using the disused nest platforms of the white-rumped vultures. The clutch consists of 4\u20138 fawn to buff white eggs which are incubated only by the female. The eggs take about 28 days to hatch. The chicks are nidifugous and follow the mother around after hatching. Downy young may sometimes climb on their mothers' back and the female may carry them in flight to a safe tree branch. An unusual instance of a male incubating a clutch of eggs has been reported.\n\n=== Feeding ===\nPeafowl are omnivorous and eat seeds, insects (including termites), worms, fruits, small mammals, frogs, and reptiles (such as lizards). They feed on small snakes but keep their distance from larger ones. "


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"In the Gir forest of Gujarat, a large percentage of their food is made up of the fallen berries of Zizyphus. They also feed on tree and flower buds, petals, grain, and grass and bamboo shoots. Around cultivated areas, peafowl feed on a wide range of crops such as groundnut, tomato, paddy, chili and even bananas. Around human habitations, they feed on a variety of food scraps and even human excreta. In the countryside, it is particularly partial to crops and garden plants.\n\n=== Mortality factors ===\nLarge animals such as leopards, dholes, golden jackals, and tigers can ambush adult peafowls. However, only leopards regularly prey upon peafowls as adult peafowls are difficult to catch since they can usually escape ground predators by flying into trees.  They are also sometimes hunted by large birds of prey such as the changeable hawk-eagle and rock eagle-owl. Chicks are somewhat more prone to predation than adult birds. Adults living near human habitations are sometimes hunted by domestic dogs or by humans in some areas (southern Tamil Nadu) for folk remedies involving the use of \"peacock oil\".Foraging in groups provides some safety as there are more eyes to look out for predators. "


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"They also roost on high tree tops to avoid terrestrial predators, especially leopards.In captivity, birds have been known to live for 23 years but it is estimated that they live for only about 15 years in the wild.\n\n== Conservation and status ==\n\nIndian peafowl are widely distributed in the wild across South Asia and protected both culturally in many areas and by law in India. Conservative estimates of the population put them at more than 100,000. Illegal poaching for meat, however, continues and declines have been noted in parts of India. Peafowl breed readily in captivity and as free-ranging ornamental fowl. Zoos, parks, bird-fanciers and dealers across the world maintain breeding populations that do not need to be augmented by the capture of wild birds.\nPoaching of peacocks for their meat and feathers and accidental poisoning by feeding on pesticide treated seeds are known threats to wild birds. Methods to identify if feathers have been plucked or have been shed naturally have been developed, as Indian law allows only the collection of feathers that have been shed.In parts of India, the birds can be a nuisance to agriculture as they damage crops. "


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"Its adverse effects on crops, however, seem to be offset by the beneficial role it plays by consuming prodigious quantities of pests such as grasshoppers. They can also be a problem in gardens and homes where they damage plants, attack their reflections (thereby breaking glass and mirrors), perch and scratch cars or leave their droppings. Many cities where they have been introduced and gone feral have peafowl management programmes. These include educating citizens on how to prevent the birds from causing damage while treating the birds humanely.\n\n== In culture ==\n\nProminent in many cultures, the peacock has been used in numerous iconic representations, including being designated the national bird of India in 1963. The peacock, known as mayura in Sanskrit, has enjoyed a fabled place in India since and is frequently depicted in temple art, mythology, poetry, folk music and traditions. A Sanskrit derivation of mayura is from the root mi for kill and said to mean \"killer of snakes\". It is also likely that the Sanskrit term is a borrowing from Proto-Dravidian *mayVr (whence the Tamil word for peacock \u0bae\u0baf\u0bbf\u0bb2\u0bcd (mayil)) or a regional Wanderwort. "


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"Many Hindu deities are associated with the bird, Krishna is often depicted with a feather in his headband, while worshippers of Shiva associate the bird as the steed of the God of war, Kartikeya (also known as Skanda or Murugan). A story in the Uttara Ramayana describes the head of the Devas, Indra, who unable to defeat Ravana, sheltered under the wing of peacock and later blessed it with a \"thousand eyes\" and fearlessness from serpents. Another story has Indra who after being cursed with a thousand ulcers was transformed into a peacock with a thousand eyes and this curse was removed by Vishnu.In Buddhist philosophy, the peacock represents wisdom. Peacock feathers are used in many rituals and ornamentation. Peacock motifs are widespread in Indian temple architecture, old coinage, textiles and continue to be used in many modern items of art and utility. A folk belief found in many parts of India is that the peacock does not copulate with the peahen but that she is impregnated by other means. "


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"The stories vary and include the idea that the peacock looks at its ugly feet and cries whereupon the tears are fed on by the peahen causing it to be orally impregnated while other variants incorporate sperm transfer from beak to beak. Similar ideas have also been ascribed to Indian crow species. In Greek mythology the origin of the peacock's plumage is explained in the tale of Hera and Argus. The main figure of the Yazidi religion Yezidism, Melek Taus, is most commonly depicted as a peacock. Peacock motifs are widely used even today such as in the logos of the US NBC and the PTV television networks and the Sri Lankan Airlines.\n\nThese birds were often kept in menageries and as ornaments in large gardens and estates. In medieval times, knights in Europe took a \"Vow of the Peacock\" and decorated their helmets with its plumes. In several Robin Hood stories, the titular archer uses arrows fletched with peacock feathers. Feathers were buried with Viking warriors and the flesh of the bird was said to cure snake venom and many other maladies. Numerous uses in Ayurveda have been documented. Peafowl were said to keep an area free of snakes. "


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"In 1526, the legal issue as to whether peacocks were wild or domestic fowl was thought sufficiently important for Cardinal Wolsey to summon all the English judges to give their opinion, which was that they are domestic fowl.In Anglo-Indian usage of the 1850s, to peacock meant making visits to ladies and gentlemen in the morning. In the 1890s, the term \"peacocking\" in Australia referred to the practice of buying up the best pieces of land (\"picking the eyes\") so as to render the surrounding lands valueless. The English word \"peacock\" has come to be used to describe a man who is very proud or gives a lot of attention to his clothing.A golden peacock (in Yiddish, Di Goldene Pave) is considered by some as a symbol of Ashkenazi Jewish culture, and is the subject of several folktales and songs in Yiddish.\nPeacocks are frequently used in European heraldry. Heraldic peacocks are most often depicted as facing the viewer and with their tails displayed. In this pose, the peacock is referred to as being \"in his pride\". Peacock tails, in isolation from the rest of the bird, are rare in British heraldry, but see frequent use in German systems.\n\n"


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"== References ==\n\n== Further reading ==\nGalusha, JG; Hill, LM (1996) A study of the behaviour of Indian Peacocks Pavo cristatus on Protection Island, Jefferson County, Washington, USA. Pavo 34(1&2):23\u201331.\nGanguli, U (1965) A Peahen nests on a roof. Newsletter for Birdwatchers . 5(4):4\u20136.\nPrakash, M (1968) Mating of Peacocks Pavo cristatus. Newsletter for Birdwatchers . 8(6), 4\u20135.\nRao, MS; Zaki, S; Ganesh, T (1981). \"Colibacillosis in a Peacock\". Current Science. 50 (12): 550\u2013551.{{cite journal}}:  CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)\nSharma, IK (1969). \"Habitat et comportment du Pavon (Pavo cristatus)\". Alauda. 37 (3): 219\u2013223.\nSharma, IK (1970). \"Analyse ecologique des parades du paon (Pavo cristatus)\". Alauda. 38 (4): 290\u2013294.\nSharma, IK (1972). \"Etude ecologique de la reproduction de la paon (Pavo cristatus)\". Alauda. 40 (4): 378\u2013384.\nSharma, IK (1973). \"Ecological studies of biomass of the Peafowl (Pavo cristatus)\". Tori. 22 (93\u201394): 25\u201329. doi:10.3838/jjo1915.22.25.\nSharma, IK (1974). \"Notes ecologique sur le paon bleu, Pavo cristatus\". Les Carnets de Zoologie. 34: 41\u201345.\nSharma, IK (1981). \"Adaptations and commensality of the Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) in the Indian Thar Desert\". Annals Arid Zone. 20 (2): 71\u201375.\nShrivastava AB, Nair NR, Awadhiya RP, Katiyar AK (1992). \"Traumatic ventriculitis in Peacock (Pavo cristatus)\". "


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"Indian Vet. J. 69 (8): 755.\n\n== External links ==\nIndian peafowl video clips from the BBC archive on Wildlife Finder\nFirst recorded breeding in the wild in Africa at adu.org.za\nArticle with video about Indian peafowl at avibirds.com"


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"The Bali myna (Leucopsar rothschildi), also known as Rothschild's mynah, Bali starling, or Bali mynah, locally known as jalak Bali, is a medium-sized (up to 25 cm (9.8 in) long), stocky myna, almost wholly white with a long, drooping crest, and black tips on the wings and tail. The bird has blue bare skin around the eyes, greyish legs and a yellow bill. Both sexes are similar. It is critically endangered and in 2018, fewer than 100 adults were assumed to exist in the wild.\n\n== Taxonomy and systematics ==\nThe first scientific description of the Bali myna was made in 1912. Placed in the monotypic genus Leucopsar, it appears to be most closely related to Sturnia and the brahminy starling which was initially placed in Sturnus then later moved by a study in 2008 to Sturnia, as Sturnus as delimited was highly paraphyletic. The specific epithet commemorates the British ornithologist Lord Rothschild.\n\n== Description ==\n\nThe Bali myna is a medium-large bird around 25 centimetres (9.8 in) in length. It is almost wholly white with a long, drooping crest, black wing-tips and tail tip. It has a yellow bill with blue bare skin around the eyes and legs. "


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"The black-winged starling (Sturnus melanopterus), a similar species, has a shorter crest and a much larger area of black on wings and tail, plus a yellow eye-ring (without feathers) and legs.\n\n== Distribution and habitat ==\nThe Bali myna is restricted to the island of Bali (and its offshore islands) in Indonesia, where it is the island's only endemic vertebrate species. In 1991, the bird was designated the faunal emblem of Bali. Featured on the Indonesian 200 rupiah coin, its local name is jalak Bali (Balinese script: \u1b1a\u1b2e\u1b13\u1b44\u1b29\u1b2e\u1b36).\n\n== Behaviour and ecology ==\n\nIn its natural habitat it is inconspicuous, using tree tops for cover and\u2013unlike other starlings\u2013usually coming to the ground only to drink or to find nesting materials; this would seem to be an adaptation to its noticeability to predators when out in the open. The Bali mynah often gathers in groups when it is young to better locate food and watch out for predators. The vocalizations are a variety of sharp chattering calls and an emphatic tweet.The Bali myna's diet includes fruit, seeds, worms and insects.\n\n"


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"=== Breeding ===\nDuring the breeding season (the rainy season of Bali), males attract females by calling loudly and bobbing up and down. The birds nest in tree cavities, with the female laying and incubating two or three eggs. Both males and females bring food to the nest for chicks after hatching.\n\n== Status and conservation ==\n\nThe Bali myna is critically endangered, and the wild population has been close to extinction since at least 1994. As of 2015, less than 100 adults are assumed to exist in the wild, with about 1,000 believed to survive in captivity. The Bali myna is listed in Appendix I of CITES. Trade even in captive-bred specimens is strictly regulated and the species is not generally available legally to private individuals. However, experienced aviculturalists may become affiliated with captive-breeding programs, allowing them to legally keep this species. "


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"The number of captive birds bought on the black market is estimated to be twice the number of legally acquired individuals in the captive breeding programs.In 2018, there were three locations on Bali where the birds existed in the wild: the West Bali National Park; Bali's small island of Nusa Penida and Begawan Foundation's breeding and release site at Melinggih Kelod, Payangan.\n\n=== Bali myna breeding program ===\nA \"breeding loan\" involves 12 breeders who each received 15 male and 15 female from the Association of Starling Conservationists from Bogor, West Java. As collateral every breeder should put up a cow in case all the birds died. The breeders are obliged to release 10 percent of the brood into the national park and the rest can be sold off privately.\n\n=== West Bali National Park ===\nThere were an estimated 350 birds in the West Bali National Park in the 1980s. During the 1990s over 400 cage-bred birds were released into the park to increase their numbers. But by 2005, the park authorities estimated the number to have fallen to less than 10. "


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"This decline was caused primarily by poachers responding to the lucrative demand for rare birds in the caged bird market.\n\n=== Nusa Penida island ===\n\nA population of Bali mynas now exists on the island of Nusa Penida and its sister islands of Nusa Ceningan, Nusa Lembongan, which are 14 km off the south east coast of Bali. The islands have been transformed into an unofficial bird sanctuary by\nFriends of National Parks Foundation (FNPF), an Indonesian NGO based in Bali. This was achieved by FNPF working for many years with the 40+ villages on the islands and persuading every village to pass a traditional Balinese village regulation to protect birds, and effectively removing the threat of poachers. Since then, FNPF has rehabilitated and released several endangered birds onto the island of Nusa Penida, including many Bali mynas supplied from multiple breeders.The Begawan Foundation began its Bali Starling Breeding Program in Begawan Giri in 1999 with two pairs, which had grown to a population of 97 in 2005. A release program was started on Nusa Penida, where 64 individuals were released in 2006 and 2007. "


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"Monitoring of the released birds suggests that their numbers had increased to +100 by 2009, and had spread across Penida, with small numbers also breeding on Ceningan and Lembongan. A number of further captive-bred individuals have since been rewilded, including 6 individuals on neighboring Nusa Lembongan. The foundation expects to release approximately 10 Bali mynas each year. The birds will continue to be sourced from different breeders to increase the genetic diversity of the growing wild population on Nusa Penida. Begawan Foundation field staff have monitored the released birds on a daily basis since their release and have a dedicated Field Officer since 2010. Findings are regularly reported to the Forestry Department, with photos and films taken of the birds' activities.\n\nHowever, according to an audit undertaken by Begawan Foundation on both Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan in February and March 2015, less than 15 birds were seen to be flying in the wild. Calculations undertaken suggest that by 2015, even taking natural predation and death of older birds into account, there should be at least 200 birds flying on Nusa Penida today, indicating that illegal wildlife trade is heavily impacting the population.\n\n"


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"=== Sibang, Central Bali ===\n\nIn 2010, Begawan Foundation made a decision to move all its captive breeding Bali starlings from Nusa Penida to a new site at Sibang, near Ubud. The breeding program then recommenced with the aim to research new release sites close by. During 2011, a total of 23 Bali starlings were donated to BF's breeding program. Three birds were donated by Jurong Bird Park, and 20 came from a variety of zoos across Europe, members of the European Endangered Species Program, whose contributions of birds meant that new genetic lines would be introduced when the imported birds were paired with the local birds held at the breeding centre in Bali.In November 2012, Begawan Foundation released four pairs of Bali starlings at its breeding site in Sibang. These birds were observed and their daily habits recorded by staff of the Foundation and students of the adjacent Green School. A program of conservation was undertaken with the local villages prior to the release and has the full support of the King of Sibang. Each bird has been ringed in order to identify it as it adapts to life in the wild. "


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"As this was a soft release, the birds often take the opportunity to return to the breeding site to find food and water. However, it is evident that new sources of fruit and a variety of insects are available in the immediate vicinity that provide a full and healthy diet for these birds and their offspring.In 2014, there were three releases by Begawan Foundation at their site in Sibang. Three male birds and one female were released in April, with support from the local community. In June, Dr. Jane Goodall, during her visit to Bali, assisted in the release of two Bali starlings.\n\n=== Melinggih Kelod, Payangan ===\nIn late 2017, Begawan Foundation decided to concentrate its programs in Melinggih Kelod, Payangan, north of Ubud. A community-based conservation program began in the village in late 2017, providing local residents with the opportunity to breed Bali Starlings, and to be able to release F2 generation offspring within two years, and again in subsequent years. It is also envisaged that the community will be responsible for the safety of the Bali Starlings in the wild through serious monitoring and village traditional law enforcement. "


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"The Village officiated an \u201cawik-awik\u201d (local law) in November 2018, which has been signed by the Village Head as well as the Kelians (heads) of the banjars (village sections). The local law states that shooting/trapping/hunting the Bali Starling or any other protected wildlife in the area is prohibited. Any person from the community that is caught doing any of the above will pay a penalty of Rp10,000,000.\nThe Foundation also released a number of Starlings in late 2018, creating a wild flock of Bali Starlings in the Village, which is protected by the community. It is hoped that the soft releases will give the offspring the chance to reproduce in the wild and that a program of eco-tourism can be developed to provide income for the village.\nAlong with the community-based conservation program in Melinggih Kelod Village, the Foundation's Breeding and Release Centre has been relocated and is now centred in Banjar Begawan, one of the districts in the Village. This centre is open to the local community and the general public.\n\n"


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"== References ==\n\n== External links ==\n\nARKive \u2013 images and movies of the Bali Starling (Leucopsar rothschildi)\nBirdLife Species Factsheet\nRed Data Book\nBali Starling Conservation Project on Nusa Penida\nBali Bird Sanctuary on Nusa Penida\nA Sanctuary in the making\nEnd of the Road for the Bali Starling Archived 19 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine\nWaddesdon Manor (aviary) UK\nPlataran L'Harmonie - West Bali National Park"


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"The red-shouldered macaw (Diopsittaca nobilis) is a small green South American parrot, a member of a large group of Neotropical parrots called macaws. The species is named for the red coverts on its wings. It is the smallest macaw, being 30\u201335 cm (12\u201314 in) in length - similar in size to the Aratinga parakeets. It is native to the tropical lowlands, savannah, and swamplands of Brazil, the Guianas, Bolivia, Venezuela, and far south-eastern Peru. It has two distinct subspecies, the noble macaw and the Hahn's macaw, and a possible poorly distinct third subspecies that has longer wings, but is otherwise similar to the noble macaw. The Hahn's subspecies is named for German zoologist Carl-Wilhelm Hahn, who in 1834 began compiling Ornithologischer Atlas oder naturgetreue Abbildung und Beschreibung der aussereurop\u00e4ischen V\u00f6gel (Engl: Ornithological Atlas or natural depiction and description of birds from outside Europe).Red-shouldered macaws are frequently bred in captivity for the pet trade, where they are sometimes described as mini-macaws.\nThough wild populations of red-shouldered macaws have declined locally due to habitat loss, they are listed as Least Concern by IUCN. They are listed on Appendix II of CITES, trade restricted.\n\n"


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"== Taxonomy ==\nThe red-shouldered macaw was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeusin the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other parrots in the genus Psittacus and coined the binomial name Psittacus nobilis. The red-shouldered macaw is now the only species placed in the genus Diopsittaca that was introduced in 1912 by the American ornithologist Robert Ridgway. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek dios meaning \"noble\" with psittak\u0113 meaning \"parrot\". The specific epithet noblilis is Latin meaning \"noble\". There are two distinct subspecies, D. n. nobilis (Hahn's macaw) and D. n. cumanensis (noble macaw), and some with longer wings might represent a poorly differentiated subspecies, D. n. longipennis, which intergrades with D. n. cumanensis in central Goi\u00e1s, Brazil. The species is sometimes subsumed into the genus Ara.Taxonomy proposed by BirdLife International splits the red-shouldered macaw into two species.\n\nNorthern red-shouldered macaw (Diopsittaca nobilis)\nSouthern red-shouldered macaw (Diopsittaca cumanensis)\n\n== Description ==\nThe red-shouldered macaw, at 30 cm (12 in) long and 165 g (5.8 oz) weight, is the smallest of all the macaws. Like all macaws, it has a long narrow tail and a large head. "


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"It has bright green feathers on the body, with dark or slate blue feathers on the head just above the beak. The wings and tail have feathers that are bright green above and olive-green below. The leading edges of the wings, especially on the underside, are red.  (These red feathers appear at puberty.)Their eyes are orange, and the skin around the eyes is white without feathers, just as in the larger macaws. This bare patch of facial skin is smaller in proportion to the head than the one seen in most larger macaws. The Hahn's macaw and noble macaw can be distinguished by the Hahn's having a black upper mandible and the Noble's having a lighter, horn-colored upper mandible.\nTheir natural vocalizations are more akin to screeches than they are to whistles.\n\n== Behavior ==\nRed-shouldered macaws are very kind natured. Their personality is similar to the large macaws.\n\n=== Breeding ===\n\nThe red-shouldered macaw nests in a hole in a tree. There are usually three or four white eggs in a clutch. The female incubates the eggs for about 24 to 26 days, and the chicks fledge from the nest about 54 days after hatching.\n\n"


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"== Aviculture ==\nAlthough a noisy bird that is not suitable for apartment living, the red-shouldered macaw can be an excellent pet. If properly socialized, it is typically a gentle, intelligent bird that bonds well with humans and gets on well with well-behaved children. In addition, it is an excellent talker that can be taught many tricks. It may be a more suitable pet parrot for those who lack the space in their homes for a larger macaw, although it requires daily exercise outside of its cage. It is also recommended by the World Parrot Trust that this parrot should have access to an outside enclosure for at least part of the year. The red-shouldered macaw can live for 25-40 years in captivity.\n\n== Gallery ==\n\n== References ==\n\n== Cited texts ==\nForshaw, Joseph M. (2006). Parrots of the World; an Identification Guide. Illustrated by Frank Knight. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09251-6.\n\n== External links ==\nMedia related to Diopsittaca nobilis at Wikimedia Commons\nAvianWeb - Macaw conservation status\nExplanation of CITES bird regulations"


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"The lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus), also known as the wanderoo, is an Old World monkey endemic to the Western Ghats of South India.\n\n== Characteristics ==\n\nLion-tailed macaques are covered in black fur, and have a striking gray or silver mane that surrounds their face which can be found in both sexes. The face itself is hairless and black, being pinkish in infants less than a year old. They are named not for their mane, but for their tail, which is long, thin, and naked, with a lion-like, black tail tuft at the tip. The size of their tail is about 25 cm (9.8 in) in length. Their eyes are a shade of hazelnut with highlighting black eyelids. Lion-tailed macaques, like other macaques, have deep cheek pouches useful for storing food, and are quadrupedal with opposable digits. The mane that surrounds its face gives this monkey its German name Bartaffe \u2013 \"beard ape\". With a head-body length of 42\u201361 cm (17\u201324 in) and a weight of 2\u201310 kg (4.4\u201322.0 lb), it ranks among the smaller macaques species. Offspring are born with lighter faces and no mane, with the adult mane growing in after two months after birth.\n\n"


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"== Behavior and ecology ==\n\nThe lion-tailed macaque is a rainforest dweller, often being found in the upper canopy of tropical moist evergreen forests or monsoon forests. It is diurnal, meaning it is active exclusively in daylight hours. When they\u2019re active, they will spend half the day foraging, and the other half will be spent resting or finding new areas to forage. Unlike other macaques, it typically avoids humans when possible. In group behavior, the lion-tailed macaque is much like other macaques, living in hierarchical groups of usually 10 to 20 members, which usually consist of few males, typically 1-3, and many females. They have a polygynous mating system with no specific breeding season. While there is no specific breeding season, they do tend to breed in the wet season when resources are most abundant.  Little time is spent grooming or playing with others in the group. Of the few males, only one will be the dominant male, who will protect his troop from others and be the one who breeds. It is a territorial animal, defending its area first with loud cries and bared teeth towards the invading troops. "


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"If this proves to be fruitless, it brawls aggressively, which can result in severe injuries due to lacerations from their large canines. Other forms of communication come in the form of mounting to show strength, branch shaking to scare off, lip-smacking as a friendly greeting, or yawning with a grimace to indicate dominance.\n\nLion-tailed macaque behavior is characterized by typical patterns of arboreal living. This patterns involve selectively feeding on a large variety of fruit trees, large interindividual spaces while foraging, and time budgets with high proportion of time devoted to exploration and feeding. Lion-tailed macaques are omnivores, primarily eating indigenous fruits, seeds, flowers, insects, snails, and small vertebrates in virgin forest. Lion-tailed macaques are very important for seed dispersal, and are able to transport seeds long distances by either dropping or defecating seeds. However, due to changes in their environment, adaption to rapid environmental change has occurred in areas of massive selective logging through behavioral modifications and broadening of food choices. These changes involve a large increase in ground foraging and feeding on far more non-native plants and insects.  These feeding changes include fruits, seeds, shoots, pith, flowers, cones, mesocarp, and other parts of many non-indigenous and pioneer plants. "


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"In the forests of Kerala they were observed preying on nestlings and eggs of pigeons.Gestation lasts approximately six months. The young are nursed for one year. Sexual maturity is reached at four years for females, and six years for males. The life expectancy in the wild is approximately 20 years, while in captivity is up to 30 years.\n\n== Threats ==\nWhile lion-tailed macaques are preyed on by snakes, raptors, and large carnivores, the impact of natural predators on population size doesn\u2019t compare to their largest threat. The largest threat to the lion-tailed macaque is habitat fragmentation due to large amounts of timber harvesting and exotic plantations, such as tea and coffee. This fragmentation leads to many issues that the lion-tailed macaques are facing. They are struggling to find food, being hit by cars, and being electrocuted by power lines. Due to their low numbers and high levels of fragmentation, they are also highly susceptible to inbreeding, which can cause many genetic issues. Their second largest threat is from humans hunting and trapping them for meat, especially within areas that have primates as their preferred food. "


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"There are also many human-primate conflicts occurring now due to macaques venturing out of their forests to find food.\n\n== Conservation and Population ==\n\nAn assessment in 2003 for IUCN reports 3000\u20133500 of these animals live scattered over several areas in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka. The lion-tailed macaque ranks among the rarest and most threatened primates. Their range has become increasingly isolated and fragmented by the spread of agriculture and tea, coffee, teak and cinchona, construction of water reservoirs for irrigation and power generation, and human settlements to support such activities. They do not live, feed or travel through plantations. Destruction of their habitat and their avoidance of human proximity have led to the drastic decrease of their population.\nFrom 1977 to 1980, public concern about the endanged status of lion-tailed macaque became the focal point of Save Silent Valley, India's fiercest environmental debate of the decade. From 1993 to 1996, 14 troops were observed in Silent Valley National Park, Kerala, one of the most undisturbed viable habitats left for them. Silent Valley has the largest number of lion tailed macaque in South India. "


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"Other protected areas in Kerala include Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary, Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary, Periyar Tiger Reserve and its premises (Gavi and Konni), Eravikulam National Park, Pambadum Shola National Park, Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, Annaimalai Tiger Reserve, New Amarambalam Reserved Forest, Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary and Chimmony Wildlife Sanctuary and Wayanad region.A self-sustainable single population of 32 groups of lion-tailed macaques occurred in Sirsi-Honnavara, Karnataka, the northernmost population of the species.  A local census concluded in 2007, conducted in the Theni District of Tamil Nadu, put their numbers at around 250, which was considered encouraging, because until then, no lion-tailed macaques had been reported in that specific area. The species is also prominently found in the Papanasam part of the Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve of Tirunelveli district, the Palani Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park of Dindigul, the Anaimalai Tiger Reserve of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. Many zoos take part in breeding programs which help to secure the survival of this species. About 338 of these macaques are reported to live in zoos. (In July 2021 Australia's Rockhampton Zoo euthanased Australia's last lion-tailed macaque after its companion died of natural causes.)"


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"However, it is no longer on \u2018The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates\u2019 list, after the international body compiling it determined that the local governments in southern India had acted positively to protect it.\n\n== See also ==\nRhesus macaque\nGray langur\nOld World monkey\n\n== References ==\n\n== External links ==\n\nARKive \u2013 Images and movies of the lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus)\nNature inFocus \u2013 Lion-tailed Macaquesone (LTM) - Things to know about one of the most unique primate species of the Indian subcontinent.\nThe Knights of the Forest \u2013 Photo-essay of the lion-tailed macaque\nDocumentary Film \u2013 A Call in the Rainforest\nVideo of Lion-tailed Macaque \u2013 Save Earth Series \u2013 Lion-tailed Macaque\nLion-tailed Macaques slap the Indian giant squirrel and steal their food \u2013 BBC Earth YouTube channel"


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"Adanson's mud turtle (Pelusios adansonii) is a species of turtle in the family Pelomedusidae. The species is endemic to north-central Africa.\n\n== Taxonomy and etymology ==\nAugust Friedrich Schweigger first described the turtle in 1812, based on remnants found in Senegal by French botanist Michel Adanson, for whom Schweigger named the new species as Emys andansonii.\n\n== Geographic range ==\nP. adansonii is found in Benin, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, and Sudan. There are at least three distinct populations within the turtle's distribution.\n\n== Conservation status ==\nAlthough Adanson's mud turtle does not seem to be at risk of becoming an endangered species, destruction of its habitat (largely due to farming) and hunting by humans have both reduced its population. Hunting by humans persists despite local laws forbidding the activity in some of the countries in which the turtle is found.\n\n== Characteristics ==\nAdanson's mud turtle is a medium-sized turtle that lives in freshwater. The turtle's shell can grow up to 238 mm (9.4 in) (straight carapace length) and is known to be sharp and rigid, with dark brown spots and dashes. "


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"The ventral part of the shell (plastron) is yellow.\n\n== Diet ==\nAdanson's mud turtle is carnivorous. It eats mollusks, fish, and small amphibians.\n\n== Reserve ==\nA refuge for Adanson's mud turtle has taken place in the wetland area on the northwest side of Guiers Lake in northern Senegal and it covers about 750 acres (1.17 sq mi). It is the first refuge of its kind that is dedicated to the conservation of Adanson's mud turtle and its nesting and foraging habits. It was created with the help of the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA Africa) and the Ministry of Environment and Nature Protection of Senegal.\n\n== References ==\n\n== External links ==\nPelusios adansonii (Schweigger 1812) \u2013 Adanson's mud turtle\nData related to Pelusios adansonii at Wikispecies\n\n== Further reading ==\nSchweigger [AF] (1812). \"Prodromus Monographia Cheloniorum \". K\u00f6nigsberger Archiv f\u00fcr Naturwissenschaft und Mathematik 1: 271\u2013368, 406\u2013458. (Emys adansonii, new species, pp. 308\u2013309). (in Latin)."


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"Reeves's pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) is a large pheasant within the genus Syrmaticus. It is endemic to China. It is named after the British naturalist John Reeves, who first introduced live specimens to Europe in 1831.\n\n== Description ==\n\nMales measure 210 cm (83 in) long and weigh 1,529 g (3.371 lb). The male is brightly plumaged with a scaled golden white and red body plumage, grey legs, brown iris and bare red skin around the eye. The head is white with a black narrow band across its eyes. The male has an extremely long silvery white tail barred with chestnut brown. This pheasant is mentioned in the 2008 edition of Guinness World Records for having the longest natural tail feather of any bird species; a record formerly held by the crested argus pheasant. The tail can measure up to 2.4 m (7.9 ft) long.Females measure 75 cm (30 in) long and weigh 949 g (2.092 lb). They are brown with a blackish crown, a buff face and greyish brown barred tail feathers. The females are about the same size as a male common pheasant.\nThere are no known subspecies, but there is some variation in plumage.\n\n"


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"== Distribution and habitat ==\n\nThe Reeves's pheasant is endemic to the temperate evergreen and deciduous forests of central and eastern China. Where introduced, they also inhabit farmland close to woodlands. The tail of the male bird grows approximately 30 cm (12 in) every year.\nThey have been introduced for sport and ornamental purposes to the United States, Czech Republic, France and the United Kingdom. In the latter three countries, they have built up small breeding populations, and are still released on a small scale for shooting, often alongside common pheasants.\n\n== Behaviour ==\n\nThe Reeves's pheasant is a hardy bird and is able to tolerate both hot and cold weather. They prefer higher ground for nesting. The female lays a clutch of 7\u201314 eggs in April or May; the incubation period is 24\u201325 days. Reeves's pheasants are often aggressive towards humans, animals, and other pheasants, particularly during the breeding season.Their call is unlike other game birds in that it is a musical warble, sounding more passerine than a galliform bird. Their diet is vegetable matter, including seeds and cereals. They are fairly common in aviculture.\n\n"


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"== Conservation ==\nDue to ongoing habitat loss, and overhunting for food and its tail plumes, the Reeves's pheasant is evaluated as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. There are thought to be only around 2000 birds remaining in the wild.\nThe species is included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meaning international export/import (including in parts and derivatives such as feathers) requires CITES documentation to be obtained and presented to border authorities.\n\n== See also ==\nList of endangered and protected species of China\n\n== References ==\n\n== External links ==\n\nReeves Pheasant at Game Birds and Wildfowl\nBirdLife species factsheet for Syrmaticus reevesii\n\"Syrmaticus reevesii\". Avibase.\n\"Reeves's pheasant media\". Internet Bird Collection.\nReeves's pheasant photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)\nAudio recordings of Reeves's pheasant on Xeno-canto."


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"Trachemys is a genus of turtles  belonging to the family Emydidae. Members of this genus are native to the Americas, ranging from the Midwestern United States south to northern Argentina, but one subspecies, the red-eared slider (T. scripta elegans), has been introduced worldwide. Species under this genus are commonly referred to as sliders.\n\n== Species and subspecies ==\n\n=== Extant ===\nTrachemys adiutrix Vanzolini, 1995 \u2013 Maranh\u00e3o slider\nTrachemys callirostris (Gray, 1856) \u2013 Colombian sliderT. c. callirostris (Gray, 1856) \u2013 Colombian slider\nT. c. chichiriviche (Pritchard & Trebbau, 1984) \u2013 Venezuelan slider\nTrachemys decorata (Barbour & Carr, 1940) \u2013 Hispaniolan slider\nTrachemys decussata (Bell, 1830) \u2013 Cuban sliderT. d. angusta (Barbour & Carr, 1940) \u2013 western Cuban slider\nT. d. decussata (Bell, 1830) \u2013 eastern Cuban slider\nTrachemys dorbigni (A.M.C. "


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"Dum\u00e9ril & Bibron, 1835) \u2013 D'Orbigny's slider\nTrachemys emolli (Legler, 1990) \u2013 Nicaraguan slider\nTrachemys gaigeae (Hartweg, 1939) \u2013 Big Bend slider\nTrachemys hartwegi (Legler, 1990) \u2013 Nazas slider\nTrachemys medemi Vargas-Ram\u00edrez, del Valle, Ceballos & Fritz, 2017 \u2013 Atrato slider\nTrachemys nebulosa (Van Denburgh, 1895) \u2013 Baja California sliderT. n. hiltoni (Carr, 1942) \u2013 Fuerte slider\nT. n. nebulosa (Van Denburgh, 1895) \u2013 Baja California slider\nTrachemys ornata (Gray, 1830) \u2013 ornate slider\nTrachemys scripta (Thunberg, 1792) \u2013 pond sliderT. s. elegans (Wied, 1839) \u2013 red-eared slider\nT. s. scripta (Thunberg, 1792) \u2013 yellow-bellied slider\nT. s. troostii (Holbrook, 1836) \u2013 Cumberland slider\nTrachemys stejnegeri (Schmidt, 1928) \u2013 Central Antillean sliderT. s.  malonei (Barbour & Carr, 1938) \u2013 Inagua slider\nT. s.  stejnegeri (Schmidt, 1928) \u2013 Puerto Rican slider\nT. s.  vicina (Barbour & Carr, 1940) \u2013 Dominican slider\nTrachemys taylori (Legler, 1960) \u2013 Cuatro Ci\u00e9negas slider\nTrachemys terrapen (Bonnaterre, 1789) \u2013 Jamaican slider\nTrachemys venusta (Gray, 1856) \u2013 Meso-American sliderT. v.  cataspila (G\u00fcnther, 1885) \u2013 Huasecan slider\nT. v.  grayi (Bocourt, 1868) \u2013 Gray's slider or Tehuantepec slider\nT. v.  iversoni McCord, Joseph-Ouni, Hagen & Blanck, 2010 \u2013 Yucatan slider\nT. v.  panamensis McCord, Joseph-Ouni, Hagen & Blanck, 2010 \u2013 Panamanian slider\nT. v.  uhrigi McCord, Joseph-Ouni, Hagen & Blanck, 2010 \u2013 Uhrig's slider\nT. v. venusta (Gray, 1856) \u2013 Belize slider\nTrachemys yaquia (Legler & Webb, 1970) \u2013 Yaqui sliderNota bene: In the above list, a binomial authority or a trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species or subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Trachemys.\n\n"


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"=== Fossil ===\n\u2020 Trachemys inflata Weaver & Robertson, 1967 - inflated slider turtle\n\u2020 Trachemys haugrudi Jasinski, 2018 - Haugrud's slider turtle\n\n== References ==\n\n== Further reading ==\nAgassiz L (1857). Contributions to the Natural History of the United States of America. Vol. I. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. li + 452 pp. (Trachemys, new genus, p. 434).\n\n== External links ==\nUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web | Genus Trachemys (sliders)"


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"The red-footed tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonarius) is a species of tortoise from northern South America. These medium-sized tortoises generally average 30 cm (12 in) as adults, but can reach over 40 cm (16 in). They have dark-colored, loaf-shaped carapaces (back shell) with a lighter patch in the middle of each scute (scales on the shell), and dark limbs with brightly colored scales that range from pale yellow to dark red. Recognized differences are seen between red-footed tortoises from different regions. They are closely related to the yellow-footed tortoise (C. denticulatus) from the Amazon Basin. They are popularly kept as pets, and over-collection has caused them to be vulnerable to extinction.The species name has often been misspelled as carbonaria, an error introduced in the 1980s when Chelonoidis was elevated to genus and mistakenly treated as feminine, an error recognized and fixed in 2017.\n\nTheir natural habitat ranges from savannah to forest edges around the Amazon Basin. They are omnivorous with a diet based on a wide assortment of plants, mostly fruit when available, but also including grasses, flowers, fungi, carrion, and invertebrates. They do not brumate, but may aestivate in hot, dry weather.\n"


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"Eggs, hatchlings, and juvenile tortoises are food for many predators, but the main threats for adults are jaguars and humans. Population density ranges from locally common to very scarce due in part to habitat destruction and over-collection for food and the pet trade.\n\n== Names ==\nRed-footed tortoises have many common names: red-leg, red-legged, or red-foot tortoise (often without the hyphen) and the savanna tortoise, as well as local names, such as carumbe or karumbe, which means 'slow moving' (Brazil, Paraguay), wayapopi or morrocoy (Venezuela, Colombia), and  variations of jabuti such as japuta and jabuti-piranga (Brazil, Argentina). In Portuguese, jabuti (jaboti) refers to both the red-footed tortoise and the yellow-footed tortoise.\nIt is also called kati in Nat\u00fa and samb\u00f3 in Kiriri.\n\n== Taxonomy ==\nRed footed tortoises were originally assigned to the genus Testudo (named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758) for a short time, but it soon became the term for turtles with high-domed shells, elephantine legs, and completely terrestrial habits\u2014the tortoises. In 1835, Leopold Fitzinger used Geochelone to differentiate some non-Mediterranean tortoises, apparently based on size and lack of specific identifying characteristics such as the hinged shell in the African hingeback tortoises. "


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"He used the term Chelonoidis as a subgenus for the species from South America. Few people used these terms until they were resurrected by Hewitt in 1933 and Loveridge and Williams in 1957.\nIn 1982, Roger Bour and Charles Crumly each separated Geochelone into different genera based on anatomic differences, especially in the skulls. That resulted in the formation or restoration of several genera: Aldabrachelys, Astrochelys, Cylindraspis, Indotestudo, Manouria, and Chelonoidis. Chelonoidis was distinguished from other Geochelone by their South American location, as well as the absence of the nuchal scute (the marginal centered over the neck) and the presence of a large, undivided supracaudal (the scute or scutes directly over the tail), as well as differences in the skull. Many of these generic names are still debated; for example, no specific definition of Geochelone is given, and Chelonoidis is primarily used for geography rather than unique anatomic characteristics.The species name carbonarius means 'coal-like' referring to a dark coal with glowing patches. It was originally identified by Johann Baptist von Spix in 1824. The holotype was kept in the Zoologischen Sammlung des Bayerischen Staates in Munich, Germany, but was lost. "


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"Paulo Vanzolini believes it may have come from near the city of Manaus, Brazil, on the Rio Negro. No subspecies of red-footed tortoise are recognized, although many believe the species has five or more variants that may be subspecies or even separate species.\n\n== Description ==\nRed-footed tortoises show sex, regional, and individual variations in color, shell shape, and minor anatomical characteristics. Adult  carapaces are generally an elongated oval with sides that are nearly parallel, although the sides of males may curve inwards. They are fairly highly domed and smooth with a rather flat back (although the scutes may be raised or 'pyramided' in some individuals, especially captive specimens). Often, a high point over the hips is seen, with a small sloped section over the neck. The vertebral and costal scutes (the scutes along the center and sides of the carapace) are black or dark brown with a pale yellow areole in the center. The marginals (scutes along the edge of the carapace) 'tuck under' along the sides and flare slightly over the limbs. They are dark with the pale aureole along the middle of the lower edge. "


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"The nuchal scute (the marginal over the neck) is absent, and the marginals over the tail are joined as one large supracaudal. Growth rings are clearly evident in most individuals, but become worn smooth with age.\n\nThe plastron (bottom shell) is large and thick along the edges. The gulars (frontmost pair of plastron scutes) do not protrude much past the front of the carapace. The plastron of a male is deeply indented, and the anal scutes (rearmost pair of plastron scutes) may be used to sex the animal while the color pattern varies by region.\n\nThe head is relatively small with a squared-off profile and flat on top, longer than it is wide. The eye is large with a brown, almost black iris, and rarely any sclera visible around it. The upper jaw is slightly hooked, and the upper jaw is notched in the front middle. About 15 to 20 'teeth' or fine grooves occur on each side of each jaw. A nearly circular tympanum is located behind and below the eye and is covered with a dark scale. The scales of the head are generally smallish and irregular, becoming small and pebbly on the neck. "


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"Many of the scales are colored pale yellow to brick red, especially those on the top of the head, above the tympanum, around the nostrils, on the lower jaw, and on the sides of the neck. Males are usually slightly more colorful than females, and colors vary by region.\nThe limbs are generally cylindrical with five claws on the fore limbs and four on the hind, but no visible toes. The fore limbs are slightly flattened and the front surface is covered with large scales, mostly with the same color as the head. They are not as large or protrusive as they are in more primitive species such as the African spurred tortoise (Geochelone sulcata). The tail is muscular, varies in length and overall shape by sex, and lacks any sort of claw on the tip.Average adult sizes vary by region and sex, and 'giants' are often encountered. Red-footed tortoises average 30\u201335 cm (12\u201314 in) with males slightly larger overall. Tortoises up to 45 cm (18 in) are fairly common and over 50 cm (20 in) are occasionally discovered. The largest known specimen, from Paraguay, was 60 cm (24 in) long, and weighed over 28 kg (62 lb). "


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"It is unknown if the 'giants' represent diet availability, genetic issues, longevity, or other possibilities.Hatchling and young red-footed tortoises have much rounder and flatter carapaces that start off as mostly pale yellow to brown. New growth adds dark rings around the pale center of each scute. The marginals of very young tortoises are serrated, especially over the hind limbs. This probably aids in both camouflage against the leaf litter and in making the small animals harder to eat. Young tortoises are generally more colorful overall.\nMales are slightly larger and more colorful overall. The carapace of a  male from north of the Amazon basin shows a 'wasp waist', or constrictions along the sides. The male's plastron is deeply indented to help with positioning during mating. The male's tail is long and muscular, generally carried along a side while the female's tail is short and conical.\nThe anal scutes vary to allow the male's tail more mobility and allows more protection for the female's hind end. "


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"The gap between the points of the anal scales and the marginals is wider and the anal scutes form a broader angle- almost a straight line across- in males to allow the tail to move laterally. The angle is more closed (to about a 90\u00b0 angle) and the points are closer to the marginals in females.\n\n== Distribution and habitat ==\n\nRed-footed tortoises range from southeastern Panama to Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and Guiana in the north; south along the Andes to the west in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia; east to Brazil, and along the southern range in Bolivia, Paraguay, and possibly northern Argentina. They are not evenly distributed within their range. For example, they are not often found in central Brazil or in heavily forested areas in general, and have only documented in Peru since 1985. Accurate range information is complicated by the sheer size of the range, political and geographic barriers, and confusion about where many specimens were collected.They are also found on several Caribbean Islands, although it is not always clear if they are native or brought by humans. "


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"Many of the colonies seem to have been established in the 17th century as food supplies or as pets. They are found on the former Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent, the Grenadines, Santa Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, Guadalupe, the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.\n\nThe preferred habitat of the red-footed tortoise varies somewhat by region, but generally includes fairly consistent seasonal temperatures near 30 \u00b0C (86 \u00b0F) that rarely get lower than 20 \u00b0C (68 \u00b0F) or over 35 \u00b0C (95 \u00b0F), generally with high humidity and plenty of rainfall, although some of the areas can get quite dry. Most of the range experiences cooler wet seasons (April to August) and warmer dry seasons (September to March), but some parts of the southern range have occasional cold snaps. Red-footed tortoises are often found in or near transitional areas between forest and savannah, such as forest clearings, wood edges, or along waterways.\n\n=== Regional variations ===\nVarious authors have divided the red-footed tortoise into different groups by anatomy and geography. "


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"Peter Pritchard recognized seven types, but DNA research has identified five genotypes.The most obvious differences are between the groups found north or south of the Amazon basin. The 'northern' variants all look very much like the holotype and are distinguished primarily by shell, head, and limb coloration. The variants south of the Amazon are generally both larger and smaller than the holotype, have a very different plastral pattern, and have an enlarged scale or 'spur' on the inside of the fore limb elbow.\n\n==== Northeastern variant ====\nThis is the holotype of the species. Head and limb colors are generally light orange to red. Plastrons are mostly pale yellow. They range in the Guiana Shield- Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Guiana, and northern Brazil.\n\n==== Northwestern variant ====\nThey are similar to the northeastern variant, but their carapace base color is grey, dark brown, or coffee rather than black. Their pale plastrons have central dark areas resembling an exclamation point. Their heads and limbs are generally pale yellow to orange. The average size is slightly smaller than usual- 30\u201335 cm. They are found in southeast Panama and Colombia.\n\n"


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"==== Northern variant ====\nThese also are similar to the northeastern variant, with head and limb colors generally pale yellow to light orange, rarely red, and their heads and limbs are often slightly different colors. The average size is slightly smaller than usual- 30\u201335 cm. They are found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.\n\n==== Southern variant ====\n\nThe southern variants' carapaces are often not quite black to dark brown, sometimes with light grey or whitish between the scutes. Their plastrons are mostly dark in a symmetrical mottled pattern. Size tends to be larger on average then northeastern variants, with the largest individuals found in this area. Fore limbs feature a slightly enlarged scale on the side of the 'elbow'. Adult males do not have the constricted waist, and females average a bit larger than the males. They are seen in the Gran Chaco - Bolivia, Paraguay, and northern Argentina.\n\n==== Eastern variant ====\nCarapaces of the eastern variants are often light grey or whitish between the scutes. Their plastrons are mostly dark in a symmetrical mottled pattern. Size tends to be smaller on average than northeastern variants, also reaching sexual maturity at a smaller size. "


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"Fore limbs feature a slightly enlarged scale on the side of the 'elbow'. Their heads and limbs are either yellowish or red, ranging to brilliant cherry-red. They are located in east to southeast Brazil. The red-headed type of this variant is often called a 'cherry-head' in the pet trade.\n\n== Population features ==\nLittle information is available about population density or sex ratios. Many specimens are recorded from near research stations and cities, but that is almost certainly more due to the ease of finding them there than higher localized populations. They are considered one of the most common turtle species in many localities. When a dam was being built in the Edo region of Venezuela, several hundreds of the red- and yellow-footed tortoises were captured for relocation. Large numbers are also found in markets, confiscated at airports, etc. However, very few records exist from Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, and central Brazil. In the Guiana Shield region, islands of higher populations and stretches where few have been located are seen.Counting tortoises that are often well-hidden, dug in, deep in burrows, etc. is difficult. Trained dogs discover many that otherwise might not be found. "


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"One study showed a nearly balanced mix of 1.32 males per female, and 1.05 red-footed tortoises per hectare (2.4 acres) on the island, which may be an underestimate due to the difficulty in finding the tortoises.\n\n== Evolutionary history and fossil record ==\nThe genus Chelonoidis has two main subcategories based on appearance and habitat- the C. carbonarius and the C. chilensis groups. The C. carbonarius group has the closely related red- and yellow-footed tortoises that clearly share a common ancestor. The C. chilensis group features the Chaco tortoise (C. chilensis) and Gal\u00e1pagos tortoise (C. niger), which share similar habitats and a basic appearance, but otherwise do not seem to be closely related. The relationship between the groups is unclear.Several theories are offered to explain the relatively small number of tortoise species in South America and the relationship between them, but the fossil record is not very complete. One long-held theory is that they came from Asia using the land bridge, then spread down through North America and shared ancestors with the gopher tortoises (Gopherus species). "


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"Another holds Geochelone ancestors floated over from central Africa, taking advantage of their ability to float, resist salt water, and go without food for extended periods.\nDNA studies suggest that the carbonarius group may be related to the African hingeback tortoises (Kinixys species). This suggests that they might have come from Gondwana before it separated into Africa and South America some 130 million years ago.  One ancestral form from about 5mya, Chelonoidis hesterna (Auffenberg 1971), is thought to have lived in wet forests and split into two species in the Miocene with the yellow-footed tortoises remaining in the deep forest and the red-footeds colonizing the edges of the forests and the emerging savannahs. As the climate and topography changed, groups of red-footed tortoises became physically separated and genetically isolated.\n\n== Ecology and behavior ==\nThe red-footed tortoise's climate in the northern part of the range changes little day to day  and rarely gets too hot for them, so the tortoises do not need to practice any form of dormancy and can often forage all day long. "


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"The tortoises in Moskovitz's study area were most active after 3:00pm while many species from warmer climes would be most active in the morning and evening. Tortoises from the southern parts of the range experience much hotter, colder, and drier conditions than most of the range and aestivate when food becomes scarce. They may aestivate or brumate when the temperatures are low enough.Most species of tortoise spend much of their day inactive, and red-footed tortoises generally spend over 50% of the daylight hours at rest. They may rest for even longer after a large meal, with five- to ten-day stretches being common. One large specimen seems to have stayed in the same position for over a month. Resting tortoises barely move, allowing leaf litter to accumulate on them, and termites have built tunnels on the carapaces of resting red-footed tortoises.\n\nThey seek shelter in places that offer thermoregulation and protection from predators. Treefalls are a favored site, as are debris piles, burrows (especially those of the armadillo (Dasypodidae family) and agouti (Dasyprocta species)), hollow logs, holes, and heavy vegetation cover. "


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"They generally try to find tight-fitting resting places, and will occasionally 'wedge' themselves between roots and trunks but remain otherwise exposed. Burrows and holes are often flooded and the tortoises will rest in the water and mud with just their nostrils and eyes exposed. In warmer weather, they press up against moister, cooler surfaces in shelter areas. The tortoises show personal preferences with many individuals always seeking out a specific type of shelter.Shelters are often communal with as many tortoises as can fit in the space. Good shelters are so important, and visibility is so poor that the tortoises will leave scent trails that they or others can follow. Some shelters are so heavily used by tortoises that clear trails in the dirt lead to them, though individual tortoises may not return to a given shelter regularly.Besides communal shelters and scent marking, red-footed tortoises also show other signs of semisocial behavior such as lack of aggression at feeding sites, not protecting territory, and group feeding at fruit falls and carrion (although it is not unusual for one tortoise to block access or even try to make off with some of the food). "


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"Red-footed tortoises often follow each other, usually a smaller one following a larger and quite often males following males, but all combinations are seen. They have also been observed following apparent scent trails laid by an individual a day or two earlier.\n\n=== Predators ===\nHatchling and young tortoises are at high risk of predation. Tegu lizards (Tupinambis species), ring-tailed coatis (Nasua nasua), and introduced rats and mongooses attack nests and eggs. Many predators take the young tortoises, including large lizards, snakes, crocodilians, and even large turtles; predatory birds such as the curassow (Crax species), guan (Penelope species), rails, cuckoos, and falcons; and mammals such as cats (Felidae species), opossums, foxes, peccaries, and feral dogs.Other than humans, the main predators of the adult tortoises are jaguars (Panthera onca). Red-footed and yellow-footed tortoises seem to be a significant food source for jaguars in some parts of their respective ranges, such as Man\u00fa National Park in Peru. Jaguars bite at the carapace and work at cracking or prying it apart to extract the soft tissues. Many tortoises show toothmarks from attacks that they survived, often on the hind end when they were otherwise protected in a burrow or shelter.\n\n"


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"=== Diet ===\nDiscussing the diet of the red-footed tortoise is difficult due to the wide variety of foods it eats, the variety and seasonal availability of plants available across the extensive range, interpreting what field reports are trying to describe, and because studying fecal pellets gives very different results than what the animals are observed eating.Forest-dwelling tortoises in the Chelonoidis, Indotestudo, Manouria, and Kinixys genera are omnivores with upper and lower intestines about the same length, while herbivorous genera such as Gopherus and Testudo have longer large intestines to digest fibrous grasses. Most omnivorous tortoises have no other specialized digestive structures, reflecting their generalized, flexible diet.\n\nThe bulk of the diet is some sort of fruit or seed pod. Common fruits come from cacti (Opuntia), figs (Ficus), pehen (Acacia aroma), Spondias, Annona, Philodendron, bromeliads, and more. Up to five different kinds of fruits are often found in fecal pellets. The entire fruit is eaten, and the seeds are passed and can germinate, giving red- and yellow-footed tortoises a significant role in seed dispersal. "


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"Red-footed tortoises have been observed at the base of fruit trees, apparently waiting for fruit to fall.The rest of the diet includes grasses, leaves, flowers, roots, and shoots from a wide assortment of plants as well as fungi, live invertebrates (such as ants, termites, beetles, butterflies, snails, and worms), carrion, and feces (especially from foxes). Tortoises are often found at carcasses feeding until gorged, and occasionally eat small live animals such as snakes and rodents. Pebbles and sand are also often found in fecal pellets.\nThe diet changes based on season and availability. In the wet season it may be roughly 70% fruit, 25% fresh leaves and shoots, and the rest being fungi and animal food. The dry season sees 40% fruits, 23% flowers, 16% fresh leaves and shoots, and the rest fungi, moss, and animal food.Omnivorous tortoises seek out foods high in calcium even if other foods are more readily available, and  even eat mineral-rich soil if they cannot get adequate calcium in the diet.\n\n=== Movement ===\nRed-foot tortoises forage over areas ranging from 0.63 to 117.5 hectares (1.6 to 290.3 acres) usually making a 'spiderweb' pattern centered on a good hide or a recent fruit fall. "


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"They generally move methodically  around 5 to 20 m/hr (5.5-22 yd/hr), but can raise up on their long legs and move up to 100 m/hr (109 yd/hr) when they want. While they generally forage in zig-zag or looping patterns, they sometimes move 100 m (110 yd) or more in fairly straight lines, often at a rapid pace. They show a marked preference for moving under medium to dense vegetation cover.\n\n=== Lifecycle ===\nAll turtles and tortoises start as eggs. Red-footed tortoise eggs are roughly spherical and average around 5.0 by 4.2 cm (2.0 by 1.7 in) and weigh 50 g (1.8 oz) with two to seven eggs in a clutch, although the same females may lay multiple clutches near each other. The incubation period is 105\u2013202 days, with 150 being typical.Hatchlings use an egg tooth to open the egg. They stay in the egg or nest for several days. Hatchling shells are bent almost in half in the egg and take some time to straighten out. The 3.6 by 6.3 cm (1.4 by 2.5 in) hatchling's carapace is flat, somewhat creased from being folded in the egg, and has serrated sides. "


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"Little is known of the daily activities or diet of hatchling wild tortoises. Subadult tortoises grow quickly to reach breeding sizes- roughly 20 to 25 cm (7.9 to 9.8 in), depending on the average adult size of the regional variant.\n\nThe peak time for courtship and reproduction is the early wet season in April and May, although it can happen at any time. Courtship noises and possibly scent cues seem to attract other tortoises to 'courting sites' under fruiting  trees such as Genipa. When two tortoises meet about a meter apart, they engage in some specific behaviors to identify the other. The first trigger is head and limb color; the bright red, orange, yellow, or white colors on the dark skin identify the other animal as the proper species. Next, the larger tortoise makes jerky side-to-side head movements for two to four seconds. If both tortoises are males, one will either withdraw and retreat, or they may try to ram each other, trying to get their gular scutes under the other one, then pushing them several meters away as quickly as possible. The defeated tortoise is sometimes flipped onto his back in the process. "


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"The defeated tortoise will leave the area afterwards. Neither head bobbing nor ritual combat have been observed in tortoises south of the Amazon Basin, possibly due to the lack of yellow-footed tortoises in the area. Males mounting other males, and even females mounting either sex have been witnessed and are thought to show dominance.\n\nIf the other tortoise is a female, she will move away and the male will follow, touching her carapace and occasionally sniffing at her cloaca. If the female stops, the male may either wait for her to resume moving or leave. Males make loud 'clucking' sounds during the chase. After trailing, the male mounts the female, his feet planted on the costals of her carapace, rams his anal scutes against her supracaudal, and makes a loud raspy 'bark'. If the female resumes walking, he may fall off and resume trailing. Females sometimes seem to intentionally use low limbs to knock males off. A receptive female  extends her hind legs and lifts her plastron as the male plants himself on his own extended hind legs as he works to align their cloacae for insertion. "


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"The tail, scutes, and penis of the tortoise are designed to work around the awkwardness of the shell. The male often leans his head over her head and holds his jaws wide open making calls that get louder. He may bite her, as well, sometimes quite aggressively. The shells can make loud clacking noises during the forceful thrusts. The female walks away after copulation, sometimes knocking the male off her.\nThe female begins nesting five to six weeks after mating. Digging the nests is often difficult in hard soil. The female may urinate to soften the soil before using her hind legs to dig a chamber about 10 by 20 cm (3.9 by 7.9 in) in about three and a half hours. Inexperienced females often dig several partial nests, and even experienced females may abandon a nest they are working on and start another. When the nest is ready, she lowers her tail as deep into the nest as she can and deposits an egg every 30 to 120 seconds. She recovers the nest and tamps the soil down. Females get better at digging, covering, and camouflaging nests over time. "


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"After it is covered and hidden, she often gets a long drink of water, then finds a shelter and rest. Very rarely, a red-footed tortoise lays eggs on the surface, or within a patch of cacti.As with other tortoises, red-footed tortoises can reproduce most of their lives, although the number of eggs laid and the ratio of successful hatchlings improves as the tortoise matures, then drops off again as the tortoise ages. Because of the difficulty in determining the age of a wild tortoise, few data on longevity exist, although many live for 30 years or more in captivity.\n\n== Conservation and relations with humans ==\nThe red-foot tortoise is considered vulnerable and is listed in CITES Appendix II, restricting international trade- although this does not offer protection within a country and smuggling still occurs in large numbers. Conservation parks and refuges, captive-breeding farms in natural conditions, and increased captive breeding in other countries has helped, but they are still exported in large numbers (35,565 from 2000 to 2005), mostly as pets and food. The recorded exports do not include smuggling or other losses, which some estimate to be well over twice that number. "


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"They are considered especially at risk in Argentina and Colombia, and are considered more at risk than yellow-footed and Chaco tortoises.\nThey are widely used as food throughout their ranges, especially where other meats are limited. Their ability to go a long time without eating makes it easy to catch and keeps them fresh for extended periods. The Catholic Church allows tortoises to be eaten on fasting days when most meats are forbidden such as Lent. Tortoise pie (pastel de morrocoy, served in a tortoise shell) is a favorite food for those times, and large numbers of tortoises are exported just for that purpose. Even people living in countries with an abundance of available livestock enjoy wild game, such as tortoises, when possible. Hunting for food is so extensive that Colombia and some other countries import tortoises from neighbors.\nHabitat destruction is another significant threat to the red-footed tortoise, and so many other species. They are also widely collected as local pets and their shells are sold as souvenirs.\n\n== Captive care ==\nRed-footed tortoises are popular pet tortoises around the world. They are relatively inexpensive, are a manageable size, have interesting personalities, and are colorful. "


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"Pet tortoises should be purchased as captive-bred from a reliable breeder when possible to both help protect wild populations and to avoid internal parasites.Any reptile can carry Salmonella species, so keepers should practice proper hygiene, such as washing their hands after handling the animals or their wastes. Dogs, even well-behaved dogs, often attack or chew on tortoises, so great care must be taken if they are around.\n\n=== Housing ===\nAll tortoises should be housed outdoors when conditions allow. Outdoor pens should allow space for exercise, secure walls that are at least 1.5 times taller than the tortoise is long, and security from both predators and escape. Shelter and water should always be provided.Indoor housing is generally scaled to the size of the tortoise and must be secure and waterproof for this high-humidity species, as well as offering adequate space. "


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"Aquaria and plastic tubs are often used for younger tortoises, while a \"tortoise table\" (similar to shelf-less bookcase lying on its back), indoor minigreenhouse, or large indoor pen can be used for larger tortoises or groups of tortoises.An indoor habitat should be lined with a substrate such as hardwood mulches (like cypress), coconut coir, soil and sand mixes, or some combination. A hide and water dish are necessary, and live or silk plants also help.\n\n=== Environment ===\nHeat, light, and humidity must be kept within proper guidelines for healthy tortoises. Red-footed tortoises are most active at temperatures from 27 to 30 \u00b0C (81 to 86 \u00b0F). A warmer area of 30 to 31 \u00b0C (86 to 88 \u00b0F) is recommended, and night temperatures can drop a few degrees lower. High levels of humidity should be available in some part of the habitat.Lighting should be low and diffuse or plenty of shade should be offered. Lights that emit UVB wavelengths are recommended to help the tortoise metabolize calcium correctly and help regulate the pineal gland if the tortoise will be indoors for extended periods.\n\n"


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"=== Captive diet ===\nPet tortoises should be allowed to forage in a well-planted outdoor pen whenever possible. The basic diet should consist of a variety of plants, vegetables, and fruits with occasional meat, and be high in calcium and fiber, and low in sugars and fats. Fruits should be kept as whole as possible. Commercial tortoise pellets can be offered along with fresh foods.\nThe bulk of the diet should be leafy greens such as turnip or collard greens, dandelion, leafy or curly lettuces, endive, kale, cabbage, edible tree or plant leaves such as mulberry or hibiscus, lettuce mixes, parsley, grape leaves, etc.\nVegetables and fruits offer variety and other nutrients, but are a smaller part of the captive diet. Good choices would include: cactus pads and fruits, papaya, figs, mango, mushrooms, pumpkin, squash, melon, pineapple, strawberry, cucumber, hays and grasses (such as wheatgrass), corn, peas and beans, carrot, apple, pear, plums, and okra.\nMeats form a very small part of the captive diet, and can include live bugs or invertebrates (especially slugs), baby mice or rats, chicken, egg, organ meat, lean beef, tuna or other 'oily' fish, or cat or dog food.\n"


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"Calcium should be supplemented frequently in very small amounts. Other vitamins can be offered in very small amounts as well, but are best provided through a balanced, varied diet.\n\n== References ==\n\n== External links ==\n\nSee video of red-footed tortoises at the Naples Zoo\nRed Foot Tortoise\nAbout.com-Red Foot Tortoise\nAnimals of the Virgin Islands gov.vi\nRed Foot Tortoise AVPH - Turtles and Tortoises"


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"The Senegal parrot (Poicephalus senegalus) is a parrot which is a resident breeder across a wide range of west Africa. It makes migrations within west Africa, according to the availability of the fruit, seeds and blossoms which make up its diet. It is considered a farm pest in Africa, often feeding on maize or millet. It is popular in aviculture.\n\n== Taxonomy ==\n\nIn 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the Senegal parrot in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in Senegal. He used the French name La petite perruche du S\u00e9n\u00e9gal and the Latin name Psittacula senegalensis. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the Senegal parrot. Linnaeus included a terse description, coined the binomial name Psittacus senegalus and cited Brisson's work. "


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"This species is now placed in the genus Poicephalus which was introduced by the English naturalist William John Swainson in 1837.There are two subspecies.\nP. s. senegalus (the nominate subspecies): this subspecies has a yellow vest; its native range includes Senegal, southern Mauritania, southern Mali to Guinea and Lobos Island.\nP. s. versteri: this subspecies has a deep-orange/red vest; its range is from the Ivory Coast and Ghana east to western Nigeria.They do not differ in behaviour, but only in the colour of the \"vest\". In the pet trade, the nominate subspecies is the most common though both are raised and sold as pets.\n\n== Description ==\nSenegal parrots are about 23 centimetres (9.1 inches) long, weigh about 120 to 170 grams (4.2 to 6.0 ounces). They have a relatively large head and beak for their overall size, and feathers form a short broad tail. Adults have a charcoal grey head, grey beak, bright yellow irises, green back and throat, and yellow underparts and rump. The yellow and green areas on a Senegal parrot's front form a V-shape resembling a yellow vest worn over green. Young Juveniles have dark grey, almost black, irises, which change to light grey.\n"


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"Senegal parrots are not sexually dimorphic, but there are some hypotheses which sometimes might help to determine the gender of adult birds:\n\nThe V-shape of the vest is usually longer in females; in females the green area extends down over the chest to between the legs, whereas in males the tip of the green area ends midway down the chest.\nThe female's beak and head are generally slightly smaller and narrower than the male's.\nThe under-tail covert feathers (short feathers under the base of the main tail feathers) are generally mostly yellow in the male and generally mostly green in the female.\nMales are generally, but not always, larger and heavier than female birds.\nDNA testing is another way to determine the sex Senegal parrots are birds of open woodland and savanna. They flock most commonly in countries in West Africa. It is a gregarious species, continuously chattering with a range of whistling and squawking calls. "


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"Senegal parrots live an average of approximately 25\u201330 years in the wild, and have been known to live for 50 years in captivity.Research by Texas State University conducted in southeastern Senegal found that the parrots ate a diet of about 77% fruit, with figs (Ficus sp.), African grapes (Lannea microcarpa), and shea fruits (Vitellaria paradoxa) being the most commonly eaten. Seeds made up about 22% of the diet, and the remaining 1% consisted of flowers.\n\n== Behaviour ==\n\nSenegal parrots nest in holes in trees, often oil palms, usually laying three to four white eggs. The eggs are about 3 centimetres (1.2 inches) long by 2.5 centimetres (1 inch) wide. The eggs are incubated by the female, starting after the second egg has been laid, for about 27 to 28 days. Newly hatched chicks have a sparse white down and they do not open their eyes until about two to three weeks after hatching. They are dependent on the female for food and warmth who remains in the nest most of the time until about four weeks after hatching when the chicks have enough feathers for heat insulation. "


id: 92a027d843599698997c8b03ecddf2c9
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"During this time the male brings food for the female and chicks, and guards the nest site. From about two to four weeks after hatching the female also begins to collect food for the chicks. The chicks fly out of the nest at about 9 weeks and they become independent from their parents at about 12 weeks after hatching.\n\n== Conservation status ==\nBecause of its vast range in Africa, the wild Senegal parrot population is difficult to estimate. Nevertheless, in 1981 concerns about extensive trapping of wild parrots for the pet trade led to it being listed on appendix 2 of The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), along with all parrot species. This has made the trade, import and export of all wild caught parrots illegal.\n\n== Aviculture ==\n\n=== Pets ===\n\nHand reared Senegal parrots are one of the most popular parrots to be kept as pets, and the most popular Poicephalus parrot. Their calls are generally high pitched whistles and squawks along with mimics, but they are not as noisy as many other parrot species. They make for a good companion and are quite friendly compared to other parrot species. "


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"Senegal parrots are independent at times, needing a very fair amount of sleep during the day. Keeping two as pets can very well aid the parrots social and physical health as they have a companion.\nWild caught Senegal parrots do not usually become tame, and do not make good pets.\n\n=== Breeding ===\nSenegal parrots are relatively easy to breed in captivity and there is a small industry in breeding and hand rearing Senegal parrots and other parrots for the pet trade. In aviculture Senegal parrots can start to breed at the age of 3 to 4 years in captivity, but some do not breed until age 5 years. Parent reared birds are known to breed as early as 2 years of age.Senegal parrot nest boxes can be any of a variety of sizes and shapes; but for example, a nest box about 18 inches (46 centimetres) high and 8 inches (20 centimetres) to 10 inches (25 centimetres) square would be suitable. An exit and entrance port about 2.5 inches (6.4 centimetres) in diameter would be suitable, and the birds may enlarge the port by chewing the wood. Nest boxes generally have a secure side door for inspecting the nest.\n\n"


id: b8960448504b1e591abd1a1e6766ba80
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"== Gallery ==\n\n== References ==\n\nBirds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1\nGuide to the Senegal Parrot and its family. By M.S. Allan & D. Deter. Barron's. ISBN 0-7641-0332-6\n\n== External links ==\n\nCollection of articles about Senegal parrots written by Senegal parrot owners\nSource of information about Senegal parrots, weight distribution, and sexing\nCapture and sale of wild Senegal parrots is still common in Africa"


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"The lion (Panthera leo) is a large cat of the genus Panthera native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body, short, rounded head, round ears, and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult male lions are larger than females and have a prominent mane. It is a social species, forming groups called prides. A lion's pride consists of a few adult males, related females, and cubs. Groups of female lions usually hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates. The lion is an apex and keystone predator; although some lions scavenge when opportunities occur and have been known to hunt humans, the species typically does not actively seek out and prey on humans.\nThe lion inhabits grasslands, savannas and shrublands. It is usually more diurnal than other wild cats, but when persecuted, it adapts to being active at night and at twilight. During the Neolithic period, the lion ranged throughout Africa and Eurasia from Southeast Europe to India, but it has been reduced to fragmented populations in sub-Saharan Africa and one population in western India. "


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"It has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1996 because populations in African countries have declined by about 43% since the early 1990s. Lion populations are untenable outside designated protected areas. Although the cause of the decline is not fully understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are the greatest causes for concern.\nOne of the most widely recognised animal symbols in human culture, the lion has been extensively depicted in sculptures and paintings, on national flags, and in contemporary films and literature. Lions have been kept in menageries since the time of the Roman Empire and have been a key species sought for exhibition in zoological gardens across the world since the late 18th century. Cultural depictions of lions were prominent in Ancient Egypt, and depictions have occurred in virtually all ancient and medieval cultures in the lion's historic and current range.\n\n== Etymology ==\nThe English word lion is derived via Anglo-Norman liun from Latin le\u014dnem (nominative: le\u014d), which in turn was a borrowing from Ancient Greek \u03bb\u03ad\u03c9\u03bd l\u00e9\u014dn. The Hebrew word \u05dc\u05b8\u05d1\u05b4\u05d9\u05d0 lavi may also be related. "


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"The generic name Panthera is traceable to the classical Latin word 'panth\u0113ra' and the ancient Greek word \u03c0\u03ac\u03bd\u03b8\u03b7\u03c1 'panther'.\n\n== Taxonomy ==\n\nFelis leo was the scientific name used by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, who described the lion in his work Systema Naturae. The genus name Panthera was coined by Lorenz Oken in 1816. Between the mid-18th and mid-20th centuries, 26 lion specimens were described and proposed as subspecies, of which 11 were recognised as valid in 2005. They were distinguished mostly by the size and colour of their manes and skins.\n\n=== Subspecies ===\n\nIn the 19th and 20th centuries, several lion type specimens were described and proposed as subspecies, with about a dozen recognised as valid taxa until 2017. Between 2008 and 2016, IUCN Red List assessors used only two subspecific names: P. l. leo for African lion populations, and P. l. persica for the Asiatic lion population. "


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"In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group revised lion taxonomy, and recognises two subspecies based on results of several phylogeographic studies on lion evolution, namely:\nP. l. leo (Linnaeus, 1758) \u2212 the nominate lion subspecies includes the Asiatic lion, the regionally extinct Barbary lion, and lion populations in West and northern parts of Central Africa. Synonyms include P. l. persica (Meyer, 1826), P. l. senegalensis (Meyer, 1826), P. l. kamptzi (Matschie, 1900), and P. l. azandica (Allen, 1924). Multiple authors referred to it as 'northern lion' and 'northern subspecies'.\nP. l. melanochaita (Smith, 1842) \u2212 includes the extinct Cape lion and lion populations in East and Southern African regions. Synonyms include P. l. somaliensis (Noack 1891), P. l. massaica (Neumann, 1900), P. l. sabakiensis (L\u00f6nnberg, 1910), P. l. bleyenberghi (L\u00f6nnberg, 1914), P. l. roosevelti (Heller, 1914), P. l. nyanzae (Heller, 1914), P. l. hollisteri (Allen, 1924), P. l. krugeri (Roberts, 1929), P. l. vernayi (Roberts, 1948), and P. l. webbiensis (Zukowsky, 1964). It has been referred to as 'southern subspecies' and 'southern lion'.However, there seems to be some degree of overlap between both groups in northern Central Africa. "


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"DNA analysis from a more recent study indicates, that Central African lions are derived from both northern and southern lions, as they cluster with P. leo leo in mtDNA-based phylogenies whereas their genomic DNA indicates a closer relationship with P. leo melanochaita.Lion samples from some parts of the Ethiopian Highlands cluster genetically with those from Cameroon and Chad, while lions from other areas of Ethiopia cluster with samples from East Africa. Researchers therefore assume Ethiopia is a contact zone between the two subspecies. Genome-wide data of a wild-born historical lion sample from Sudan showed that it clustered with P. l. leo in mtDNA-based phylogenies, but with a high affinity to P. l. melanochaita. This result suggested that the taxonomic position of lions in Central Africa may require revision.\n\n=== Fossil records ===\n\nOther lion subspecies or sister species to the modern lion existed in prehistoric times:\nP. l. sinhaleyus was a fossil carnassial excavated in Sri Lanka, which was attributed to a lion. It is thought to have become extinct around 39,000 years ago.\nP. leo fossilis was larger than the modern lion and lived in the Middle Pleistocene. "


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"Bone fragments were excavated in caves in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Czech Republic.\nP. spelaea, or the cave lion, lived in Eurasia and Beringia during the Late Pleistocene. It became extinct due to climate warming or human expansion latest by 11,900 years ago. Bone fragments excavated in European, North Asian, Canadian and Alaskan caves indicate that it ranged from Europe across Siberia into western Alaska. It likely derived from P. fossilis, and was genetically isolated and highly distinct from the modern lion in Africa and Eurasia. It is depicted in Paleolithic cave paintings, ivory carvings, and clay busts.\nP. atrox, or the American lion, ranged in the Americas from Canada to possibly Patagonia. It arose when a cave lion population in Beringia became isolated south of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet about 370,000 years ago. A fossil from Edmonton dates to 11,355 \u00b1 55 years ago.\n\n=== Evolution ===\n\nThe Panthera lineage is estimated to have genetically diverged from the common ancestor of the Felidae around 9.32 to 4.47 million years ago to 11.75 to 0.97 million years ago,\nand the geographic origin of the genus is most likely northern Central Asia.\n"


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"Results of analyses differ in the phylogenetic relationship of the lion; it was thought to form a sister group with the jaguar (P. onca) that diverged 3.46 to 1.22 million years ago, but also with the leopard (P. pardus) that diverged 3.1 to 1.95 million years ago to 4.32 to 0.02 million years ago. Hybridisation between lion and snow leopard (P. uncia) ancestors possibly continued until about 2.1 million years ago. The lion-leopard clade was distributed in the Asian and African Palearctic since at least the early Pliocene. The earliest fossils recognisable as lions were found at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania and are estimated to be up to 2 million years old.Estimates for the divergence time of the modern and cave lion lineages range from 529,000 to 392,000 years ago based on mutation rate per generation time of the modern lion. There is no evidence for gene flow between the two lineages, indicating that they did not share the same geographic area. The Eurasian and American cave lions became extinct at the end of the last glacial period without mitochondrial descendants on other continents. "


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"The modern lion was probably widely distributed in Africa during the Middle Pleistocene and started to diverge in sub-Saharan Africa during the Late Pleistocene. Lion populations in East and Southern Africa became separated from populations in West and North Africa when the equatorial rainforest expanded 183,500 to 81,800 years ago. They shared a common ancestor probably between 98,000 and 52,000 years ago. Due to the expansion of the Sahara between 83,100 and 26,600 years ago, lion populations in West and North Africa became separated. As the rainforest decreased and thus gave rise to more open habitats, lions moved from West to Central Africa. Lions from North Africa dispersed to southern Europe and Asia between 38,800 and 8,300 years ago.Extinction of lions in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East interrupted gene flow between lion populations in Asia and Africa. Genetic evidence revealed numerous mutations in lion samples from East and Southern Africa, which indicates that this group has a longer evolutionary history than genetically less diverse lion samples from Asia and West and Central Africa. "


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"A whole genome-wide sequence of lion samples showed that samples from West Africa shared alleles with samples from Southern Africa, and samples from Central Africa shared alleles with samples from Asia. This phenomenon indicates that Central Africa was a melting pot of lion populations after they had become isolated, possibly migrating through corridors in the Nile Basin during the early Holocene.\n\n=== Hybrids ===\n\nIn zoos, lions have been bred with tigers to create hybrids for the curiosity of visitors or for scientific purpose. The liger is bigger than a lion and a tiger, whereas most tigons are relatively small compared to their parents because of reciprocal gene effects. The leopon is a hybrid between a lion and leopard.\n\n== Description ==\n\nThe lion is a muscular, broad-chested cat with a short, rounded head, a reduced neck and round ears. Its fur varies in colour from light buff to silvery grey, yellowish red and dark brown. The colours of the underparts are generally lighter. A new-born lion has dark spots, which fade as the cub reaches adulthood, although faint spots often may still be seen on the legs and underparts. "


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"The lion is the only member of the cat family that displays obvious sexual dimorphism. Males have broader heads and a prominent mane that grows downwards and backwards covering most of the head, neck, shoulders, and chest. The mane is typically brownish and tinged with yellow, rust and black hairs.The tail of all lions ends in a dark, hairy tuft that in some lions conceals an approximately 5 mm (0.20 in)-long, hard \"spine\" or \"spur\" that is formed from the final, fused sections of tail bone. The functions of the spur are unknown. The tuft is absent at birth and develops at around 5+1\u20442 months of age. It is readily identifiable by the age of seven months.Of the living felid species, the lion is rivaled only by the tiger in length, weight, and height at the shoulder. Its skull is very similar to that of the tiger, although the frontal region is usually more depressed and flattened, and has a slightly shorter postorbital region and broader nasal openings than those of the tiger. "


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"Due to the amount of skull variation in the two species, usually only the structure of the lower jaw can be used as a reliable indicator of species.Skeletal muscles of the lion make up 58.8% of its body weight and represents the highest percentage of muscles among mammals.\n\n=== Size ===\nThe size and weight of adult lions varies across global range and habitats. Accounts of a few individuals that were larger than average exist from Africa and India.\n\n=== Mane ===\n\nThe male lion's mane is the most recognisable feature of the species. It may have evolved around 320,000\u2013190,000 years ago. It starts growing when lions are about a year old. Mane colour varies and darkens with age; research shows its colour and size are influenced by environmental factors such as average ambient temperature. Mane length apparently signals fighting success in male\u2013male relationships; darker-maned individuals may have longer reproductive lives and higher offspring survival, although they suffer in the hottest months of the year. The presence, absence, colour and size of the mane are associated with genetic precondition, sexual maturity, climate and testosterone production; the rule of thumb is that a darker, fuller mane indicates a healthier animal. "


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"In Serengeti National Park, female lions favour males with dense, dark manes as mates. Cool ambient temperature in European and North American zoos may result in a heavier mane. Asiatic lions usually have sparser manes than average African lions.Almost all male lions in Pendjari National Park are either maneless or have very short manes. Maneless lions have also been reported in Senegal, in Sudan's Dinder National Park and in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya. The original male white lion from Timbavati in South Africa was also maneless. The hormone testosterone has been linked to mane growth; castrated lions often have little to no mane because the removal of the gonads inhibits testosterone production. Increased testosterone may be the cause of maned lionesses reported in northern Botswana.\n\n=== Colour variation ===\n\nThe white lion is a rare morph with a genetic condition called leucism which is caused by a double recessive allele. It is not albino; it has normal pigmentation in the eyes and skin. White lions have occasionally been encountered in and around Kruger National Park and the adjacent Timbavati Private Game Reserve in eastern South Africa. "


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"They were removed from the wild in the 1970s, thus decreasing the white lion gene pool. Nevertheless, 17 births have been recorded in five prides between 2007 and 2015. White lions are selected for breeding in captivity. They have reportedly been bred in camps in South Africa for use as trophies to be killed during canned hunts.\n\n== Distribution and habitat ==\n\nAfrican lions live in scattered populations across sub-Saharan Africa. The lion prefers grassy plains and savannahs, scrub bordering rivers and open woodlands with bushes. It rarely enters closed forests. On Mount Elgon, the lion has been recorded up to an elevation of 3,600 m (11,800 ft) and close to the snow line on Mount Kenya. Savannahs with an annual rainfall of 300 to 1,500 mm (12 to 59 in) make up the majority of lion habitat in Africa, estimated at 3,390,821 km2 (1,309,203 sq mi) at most, but remnant populations are also present in tropical moist forests in West Africa and montane forests in East Africa. The Asiatic lion now survives only in and around Gir National Park in Gujarat, western India. Its habitat is a mixture of dry savannah forest and very dry, deciduous scrub forest.\n\n"


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"=== Historical range ===\nIn Africa, the range of the lion originally spanned most of the central African rainforest zone and the Sahara desert. In the 1960s, it became extinct in North Africa, except in the southern part of Sudan.In southern Europe and Asia, the lion once ranged in regions where climatic conditions supported an abundance of prey. In Greece, it was common as reported by Herodotus in 480 BC; it was considered rare by 300 BC and extirpated by AD 100. It was present in the Caucasus until the 10th century. It lived in Palestine until the Middle Ages, and in Southwest Asia until the late 19th century. By the late 19th century, it had been extirpated in most of Turkey. The last live lion in Iran was sighted in 1942 about 65 km (40 mi) northwest of Dezful, although the corpse of a lioness was found on the banks of the Karun river in Kh\u016bzest\u0101n Province in 1944. It once ranged from Sind and Punjab in Pakistan to Bengal and the Narmada River in central India.\n\n== Behaviour and ecology ==\nLions spend much of their time resting; they are inactive for about twenty hours per day. "


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"Although lions can be active at any time, their activity generally peaks after dusk with a period of socialising, grooming and defecating. Intermittent bursts of activity continue until dawn, when hunting most often takes place. They spend an average of two hours a day walking and fifty minutes eating.\n\n=== Group organisation ===\n\nThe lion is the most social of all wild felid species, living in groups of related individuals with their offspring. Such a group is called a \"pride\". Groups of male lions are called \"coalitions\". Females form the stable social unit in a pride and do not tolerate outside females. Membership changes only with the births and deaths of lionesses, although some females leave and become nomadic. The average pride consists of around 15 lions, including several adult females and up to four males and their cubs of both sexes. Large prides, consisting of up to 30 individuals, have been observed. The sole exception to this pattern is the Tsavo lion pride that always has just one adult male. "


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"Male cubs are excluded from their maternal pride when they reach maturity at around two or three years of age.Some lions are \"nomads\" that range widely and move around sporadically, either in pairs or alone. Pairs are more frequent among related males who have been excluded from their birth pride. A lion may switch lifestyles; nomads can become residents and vice versa. Interactions between prides and nomads tend to be hostile, although pride females in estrus allow nomadic males to approach them. Males spend years in a nomadic phase before gaining residence in a pride. A study undertaken in the Serengeti National Park revealed that nomadic coalitions gain residency at between 3.5 and 7.3 years of age. In Kruger National Park, dispersing male lions move more than 25 km (16 mi) away from their natal pride in search of their own territory. Female lions stay closer to their natal pride. Therefore, female lions in an area are more closely related to each other than male lions in the same area.The area occupied by a pride is called a \"pride area\" whereas that occupied by a nomad is a \"range\". "


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created_at: 2022-12-12 16:43:08
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"Males associated with a pride tend to stay on the fringes, patrolling their territory. The reasons for the development of sociality in lionesses\u2014the most pronounced in any cat species\u2014are the subject of much debate. Increased hunting success appears to be an obvious reason, but this is uncertain upon examination; coordinated hunting allows for more successful predation but also ensures non-hunting members reduce per capita calorific intake. Some females, however, take a role raising cubs that may be left alone for extended periods. Members of the pride tend to regularly play the same role in hunts and hone their skills. The health of the hunters is the primary need for the survival of the pride; hunters are the first to consume the prey at the site it is taken. Other benefits include possible kin selection, sharing food within the family, protecting the young, maintaining territory, and individual insurance against injury and hunger.Both males and females defend the pride against intruders, but the male lion is better-suited for this purpose due to its stockier, more powerful build. Some individuals consistently lead the defence against intruders, while others lag behind. "


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"Lions tend to assume specific roles in the pride; slower-moving individuals may provide other valuable services to the group. Alternatively, there may be rewards associated with being a leader that fends off intruders; the rank of lionesses in the pride is reflected in these responses. The male or males associated with the pride must defend their relationship with the pride from outside males who may attempt to usurp them.Asiatic lion prides differ in group composition. Male Asiatic lions are solitary or associate with up to three males, forming a loose pride while females associate with up to 12 other females, forming a stronger pride together with their cubs. Female and male lions associate only when mating. Coalitions of males hold territory for a longer time than single lions. Males in coalitions of three or four individuals exhibit a pronounced hierarchy, in which one male dominates the others and mates more frequently.\n\n=== Hunting and diet ===\n\nThe lion is a generalist hypercarnivore and is considered to be both an apex and keystone predator due to its wide prey spectrum. Its prey consists mainly of ungulates weighing 190\u2013550 kg (420\u20131,210 lb), particularly blue wildebeest, plains zebra, African buffalo, gemsbok and giraffe. "


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"They also hunt common warthog depending on availability, despite weighing less than the preferred weight range. In India, chital and sambar deer are the most common wild prey, while livestock contributes significantly to lion kills outside protected areas. They usually avoid fully grown adult elephants, rhinoceroses and hippopotamus and small prey like dik-dik, hyraxes, hares and monkeys. Unusual prey include porcupines and small reptiles. Lions kill other predators but seldom consume them.Young lions first display stalking behaviour at around three months of age, although they do not participate in hunting until they are almost a year old and begin to hunt effectively when nearing the age of two. Single lions are capable of bringing down zebra and wildebeest, while larger prey like buffalo and giraffe are riskier. In Chobe National Park, large prides have been observed hunting African bush elephants up to around 15 years old in exceptional cases, with the victims being calves, juveniles, and even subadults. In typical hunts, each lioness has a favoured position in the group, either stalking prey on the \"wing\", then attacking, or moving a smaller distance in the centre of the group and capturing prey fleeing from other lionesses. "


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"Males attached to prides do not usually participate in group hunting. Some evidence suggests, however, that males are just as successful as females; they are typically solo hunters who ambush prey in small bushland.Lions are not particularly known for their stamina. For instance, a lioness's heart comprises only 0.57% of her body weight and a male's is about 0.45% of his body weight, whereas a hyena's heart comprises almost 1% of its body weight. Thus, lions run quickly only in short bursts at about 48\u201359 km/h (30\u201337 mph) and need to be close to their prey before starting the attack. One study in 2018 recorded a lion running at a top speed of 74.1 km/h (46.0 mph). They take advantage of factors that reduce visibility; many kills take place near some form of cover or at night. The lion's attack is short and powerful; they attempt to catch prey with a fast rush and final leap. They usually pull it down by the rump and kill by a strangling bite to the throat. They also kill prey by enclosing its muzzle in their jaws. "


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"Male lions usually aim for the backs or hindquarters of rivals, rather than their necks.Lions typically consume prey at the location of the hunt but sometimes drag large prey into cover. They tend to squabble over kills, particularly the males. Cubs suffer most when food is scarce but otherwise all pride members eat their fill, including old and crippled lions, which can live on leftovers. Large kills are shared more widely among pride members. An adult lioness requires an average of about 5 kg (11 lb) of meat per day while males require about 7 kg (15 lb). Lions gorge themselves and eat up to 30 kg (66 lb) in one session. If it is unable to consume all of the kill, it rests for a few hours before continuing to eat. On hot days, the pride retreats to shade with one or two males standing guard. Lions defend their kills from scavengers such as vultures and hyenas.Lions scavenge on carrion when the opportunity arises, scavenging animals dead from natural causes such as disease or those that were killed by other predators. Scavenging lions keep a constant lookout for circling vultures, which indicate the death or distress of an animal. "


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"Most carrion on which both hyenas and lions feed upon are killed by hyenas rather than lions. Carrion is thought to provide a large part of lion diet.\n\n=== Predatory competition ===\n\nLions and spotted hyenas occupy a similar ecological niche and compete for prey and carrion; a review of data across several studies indicates a dietary overlap of 58.6%. Lions typically ignore hyenas unless they are on a kill or are being harassed, while the latter tend to visibly react to the presence of lions with or without the presence of food. In the Ngorongoro crater, lions subsist largely on kills stolen from hyenas, causing them to increase their kill rate. In Botswana's Chobe National Park, the situation is reversed as hyenas there frequently challenge lions and steal their kills, obtaining food from 63% of all lion kills. When confronted on a kill, hyenas may either leave or wait patiently at a distance of 30\u2013100 m (98\u2013328 ft) until the lions have finished. Hyenas feed alongside lions and force them off a kill. The two species attack one another even when there is no food involved for no apparent reason. "


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"Lion predation can account for up to 71% of hyena deaths in Etosha National Park. Hyenas have adapted by frequently mobbing lions that enter their home ranges. When the lion population in Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve declined, the spotted hyena population increased rapidly.Lions tend to dominate cheetahs and leopards, steal their kills and kill their cubs and even adults when given the chance. Cheetahs often lose their kills to lions or other predators. A study in the Serengeti ecosystem revealed that lions killed at least 17 of 125 cheetah cubs born between 1987 and 1990. Cheetahs avoid their competitors by hunting at different times and habitats. Leopards take refuge in trees, but lionesses occasionally attempt to climb up and retrieve their kills.Lions similarly dominate African wild dogs, taking their kills and slaying pups or adult dogs. Population densities of wild dogs are low in areas where lions are more abundant. However, there are a few reported cases of old and wounded lion falling prey to wild dogs. Nile crocodiles may also kill and eat lions, evidenced by the occasional lion claw found in crocodile stomachs.\n\n"


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"=== Reproduction and life cycle ===\n\nMost lionesses reproduce by the time they are four years of age. Lions do not mate at a specific time of year and the females are polyestrous. Like those of other cats, the male lion's penis has spines that point backward. During withdrawal of the penis, the spines rake the walls of the female's vagina, which may cause ovulation. A lioness may mate with more than one male when she is in heat. Generation length of the lion is about seven years. The average gestation period is around 110 days; the female gives birth to a litter of between one and four cubs in a secluded den, which may be a thicket, a reed-bed, a cave, or some other sheltered area, usually away from the pride. She will often hunt alone while the cubs are still helpless, staying relatively close to the den. Lion cubs are born blind, their eyes opening around seven days after birth. They weigh 1.2\u20132.1 kg (2.6\u20134.6 lb) at birth and are almost helpless, beginning to crawl a day or two after birth and walking around three weeks of age. "


id: 5253407a6e1d95fd06d7ca0138cc291e
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"To avoid a buildup of scent attracting the attention of predators, the lioness moves her cubs to a new den site several times a month, carrying them one-by-one by the nape of the neck.Usually, the mother does not integrate herself and her cubs back into the pride until the cubs are six to eight weeks old. Sometimes the introduction to pride life occurs earlier, particularly if other lionesses have given birth at about the same time. When first introduced to the rest of the pride, lion cubs lack confidence when confronted with adults other than their mother. They soon begin to immerse themselves in the pride life, however, playing among themselves or attempting to initiate play with the adults. Lionesses with cubs of their own are more likely to be tolerant of another lioness's cubs than lionesses without cubs. Male tolerance of the cubs varies\u2014one male could patiently let the cubs play with his tail or his mane, while another may snarl and bat the cubs away.\n\nPride lionesses often synchronise their reproductive cycles and communal rearing and suckling of the young, which suckle indiscriminately from any or all of the nursing females in the pride. "


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"The synchronisation of births is advantageous because the cubs grow to being roughly the same size and have an equal chance of survival, and sucklings are not dominated by older cubs. Weaning occurs after six or seven months. Male lions reach maturity at about three years of age and at four to five years are capable of challenging and displacing adult males associated with another pride. They begin to age and weaken at between 10 and 15 years of age at the latest.When one or more new males oust the previous males associated with a pride, the victors often kill any existing young cubs, perhaps because females do not become fertile and receptive until their cubs mature or die. Females often fiercely defend their cubs from a usurping male but are rarely successful unless a group of three or four mothers within a pride join forces against the male. Cubs also die from starvation and abandonment, and predation by leopards, hyenas and wild dogs. Up to 80% of lion cubs will die before the age of two. Both male and female lions may be ousted from prides to become nomads, although most females usually remain with their birth pride. "


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"When a pride becomes too large, however, the youngest generation of female cubs may be forced to leave to find their own territory. When a new male lion takes over a pride, adolescents both male and female may be evicted. Lions of both sexes may be involved in group homosexual and courtship activities. Males will also head-rub and roll around with each other before simulating sex together.\n\n=== Health and mortality ===\n\nAlthough adult lions have no natural predators, evidence suggests most die violently from attacks by humans or other lions. Lions often inflict serious injuries on members of other prides they encounter in territorial disputes or members of the home pride when fighting at a kill. Crippled lions and cubs may fall victim to hyenas and leopards or be trampled by buffalo or elephants. Careless lions may be maimed when hunting prey.Ticks commonly infest the ears, neck and groin regions of the lions. Adult forms of several tapeworm species of the genus Taenia have been isolated from lion intestines, having been ingested as larvae in antelope meat. "


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"Lions in the Ngorongoro Crater were afflicted by an outbreak of stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) in 1962, resulting in lions becoming emaciated and covered in bloody, bare patches. Lions sought unsuccessfully to evade the biting flies by climbing trees or crawling into hyena burrows; many died or migrated and the local population dropped from 70 to 15 individuals. A more recent outbreak in 2001 killed six lions.Captive lions have been infected with canine distemper virus (CDV) since at least the mid-1970s. CDV is spread by domestic dogs and other carnivores; a 1994 outbreak in Serengeti National Park resulted in many lions developing neurological symptoms such as seizures. During the outbreak, several lions died from pneumonia and encephalitis. Feline immunodeficiency virus and lentivirus also affect captive lions.\n\n=== Communication ===\n\nWhen resting, lion socialisation occurs through a number of behaviours; the animal's expressive movements are highly developed. The most common peaceful, tactile gestures are head rubbing and social licking, which have been compared with the role of allogrooming among primates. "


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"Head rubbing\u2014nuzzling the forehead, face and neck against another lion\u2014appears to be a form of greeting and is seen often after an animal has been apart from others or after a fight or confrontation. Males tend to rub other males, while cubs and females rub females. Social licking often occurs in tandem with head rubbing; it is generally mutual and the recipient appears to express pleasure. The head and neck are the most common parts of the body licked; this behaviour may have arisen out of utility because lions cannot lick these areas themselves.\n\nLions have an array of facial expressions and body postures that serve as visual gestures. A common facial expression is the \"grimace face\" or flehmen response, which a lion makes when sniffing chemical signals and involves an open mouth with bared teeth, raised muzzle, wrinkled nose closed eyes and relaxed ears. Lions also use chemical and visual marking; males will spray and scrape plots of ground and objects within the territory.The lion's repertoire of vocalisations is large; variations in intensity and pitch appear to be central to communication. Most lion vocalisations are variations of growling, snarling, meowing and roaring. "


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"Other sounds produced include purring, puffing, bleating and humming. Roaring is used to advertise its presence. Lions most often roar at night, a sound that can be heard from a distance of 8 kilometres (5 mi). They tend to roar in a very characteristic manner starting with a few deep, long roars that subside into a series of shorter ones.\n\n== Conservation ==\nThe lion is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. The Indian population is listed on CITES Appendix I and the African population on CITES Appendix II.\n\n=== In Africa ===\n\nSeveral large and well-managed protected areas in Africa host large lion populations. Where an infrastructure for wildlife tourism has been developed, cash revenue for park management and local communities is a strong incentive for lion conservation. Most lions now live in East and Southern Africa; their numbers are rapidly decreasing, and fell by an estimated 30\u201350% in the late half of the 20th century. Primary causes of the decline include disease and human interference. In 1975, it was estimated that since the 1950s, lion numbers had decreased by half to 200,000 or fewer. "


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"Estimates of the African lion population range between 16,500 and 47,000 living in the wild in 2002\u20132004.In the Republic of the Congo, Odzala-Kokoua National Park was considered a lion stronghold in the 1990s. By 2014, no lions were recorded in the protected area so the population is considered locally extinct. The West African lion population is isolated from the one in Central Africa, with little or no exchange of breeding individuals. In 2015, it was estimated that this population consists of about 400 animals, including fewer than 250 mature individuals. They persist in three protected areas in the region, mostly in one population in the W A P protected area complex, shared by Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. This population is listed as Critically Endangered. Field surveys in the WAP ecosystem revealed that lion occupancy is lowest in the W National Park, and higher in areas with permanent staff and thus better protection.A population occurs in Cameroon's Waza National Park, where between approximately 14 and 21 animals persisted as of 2009. In addition, 50 to 150 lions are estimated to be present in Burkina Faso's Arly-Singou ecosystem. "


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"In 2015, an adult male lion and a female lion were sighted in Ghana's Mole National Park. These were the first sightings of lions in the country in 39 years. In the same year, a population of up to 200 lions that was previously thought to have been extirpated was filmed in the Alatash National Park, Ethiopia, close to the Sudanese border.In 2005, Lion Conservation Strategies were developed for West and Central Africa, and or East and Southern Africa. The strategies seek to maintain suitable habitat, ensure a sufficient wild prey base for lions, reduce factors that lead to further fragmentation of populations, and make lion\u2013human coexistence sustainable. Lion depredation on livestock is significantly reduced in areas where herders keep livestock in improved enclosures. Such measures contribute to mitigating human\u2013lion conflict.\n\n=== In Asia ===\n\nThe last refuge of the Asiatic lion population is the 1,412 km2 (545 sq mi) Gir National Park and surrounding areas in the region of Saurashtra or Kathiawar Peninsula in Gujarat State, India. The population has risen from approximately 180 lions in 1974 to about 400 in 2010. It is geographically isolated, which can lead to inbreeding and reduced genetic diversity. "


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"Since 2008, the Asiatic lion has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. By 2015, the population had grown to 523 individuals inhabiting an area of 7,000 km2 (2,700 sq mi) in Saurashtra. The Asiatic Lion Census conducted in 2017 recorded about 650 individuals.The presence of numerous human habitations close to the National Park results in conflict between lions, local people and their livestock. Some consider the presence of lions a benefit, as they keep populations of crop damaging herbivores in check. The establishment of a second, independent Asiatic lion population in Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary, located in Madhya Pradesh was planned but in 2017, the Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project seemed unlikely to be implemented.\n\n=== Captive breeding ===\n\nLions imported to Europe before the middle of the 19th century were possibly foremost Barbary lions from North Africa, or Cape lions from Southern Africa. Another 11 animals thought to be Barbary lions kept in Addis Ababa Zoo are descendants of animals owned by Emperor Haile Selassie. "


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"WildLink International in collaboration with Oxford University launched an ambitious International Barbary Lion Project with the aim of identifying and breeding Barbary lions in captivity for eventual reintroduction into a national park in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. However, a genetic analysis showed that the captive lions at Addis Ababa Zoo were not Barbary lions, but rather closely related to wild lions in Chad and Cameroon.In 1982, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums started a Species Survival Plan for the Asiatic lion to increase its chances of survival. In 1987, it was found that most lions in North American zoos were hybrids between African and Asiatic lions. Breeding programs need to note origins of the participating animals to avoid cross-breeding different subspecies and thus reducing their conservation value. Captive breeding of lions was halted to eliminate individuals of unknown origin and pedigree. Wild-born lions were imported to American zoos from Africa between 1989 and 1995. "


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"Breeding was continued in 1998 in the frame of an African lion Species Survival Plan.About 77% of the captive lions registered in the International Species Information System in 2006 were of unknown origin; these animals might have carried genes that are extinct in the wild and may therefore be important to the maintenance of the overall genetic variability of the lion.\n\n== Interactions with humans ==\n\n=== In zoos and circuses ===\n\nLions are part of a group of exotic animals that have been central to zoo exhibits since the late 18th century. Although many modern zoos are more selective about their exhibits, there are more than 1,000 African and 100 Asiatic lions in zoos and wildlife parks around the world. They are considered an ambassador species and are kept for tourism, education and conservation purposes. Lions can live over twenty years in captivity; for example, three sibling lions at the Honolulu Zoo lived to the age of 22 in 2007.The first European \"zoos\" spread among noble and royal families in the 13th century, and until the 17th century were called seraglios. At that time, they came to be called menageries, an extension of the cabinet of curiosities. "


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"They spread from France and Italy during the Renaissance to the rest of Europe. In England, although the seraglio tradition was less developed, lions were kept at the Tower of London in a seraglio established by King John in the 13th century; this was probably stocked with animals from an earlier menagerie started in 1125 by Henry I at his hunting lodge in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, where according to William of Malmesbury lions had been stocked.Lions were kept in cramped and squalid conditions at London Zoo until a larger lion house with roomier cages was built in the 1870s. Further changes took place in the early 20th century when Carl Hagenbeck designed enclosures with concrete \"rocks\", more open space and a moat instead of bars, more closely resembling a natural habitat. Hagenbeck designed lion enclosures for both Melbourne Zoo and Sydney's Taronga Zoo; although his designs were popular, the use of bars and caged enclosures prevailed in many zoos until the 1960s. "


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"In the late 20th century, larger, more natural enclosures and the use of wire mesh or laminated glass instead of lowered dens allowed visitors to come closer than ever to the animals; some attractions such as the Cat Forest/Lion Overlook of Oklahoma City Zoological Park placed the den on ground level, higher than visitors.Lion taming has been part of both established circuses and individual acts such as Siegfried & Roy. The practice began in the early 19th century by Frenchman Henri Martin and American Isaac Van Amburgh, who both toured widely and whose techniques were copied by a number of followers. Van Amburgh performed before Queen Victoria in 1838 when he toured Great Britain. Martin composed a pantomime titled Les Lions de Mysore (\"the lions of Mysore\"), an idea Amburgh quickly borrowed. These acts eclipsed equestrianism acts as the central display of circus shows and entered public consciousness in the early 20th century with cinema. In demonstrating the superiority of human over animal, lion taming served a purpose similar to animal fights of previous centuries. The ultimate proof of a tamer's dominance and control over a lion is demonstrated by the placing of the tamer's head in the lion's mouth. "


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"The now-iconic lion tamer's chair was possibly first used by American Clyde Beatty (1903\u20131965).\n\n=== Hunting and games ===\n\nLion hunting has occurred since ancient times and was often a royal tradition, intended to demonstrate the power of the king over nature. Such hunts took place in a reserved area in front of an audience. The monarch was accompanied by his men and controls were put in place to increase their safety and ease of killing. The earliest surviving record of lion hunting is an ancient Egyptian inscription dated circa 1380 BC that mentions Pharaoh Amenhotep III killing 102 lions in ten years \"with his own arrows\". The Assyrian emperor Ashurbanipal had one of his lion hunts depicted on a sequence of palace reliefs c.\u2009640 BC, known as the Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal. Lions were also hunted during the Mughal Empire, where Emperor Jahangir is said to have excelled at it. In Ancient Rome, lions were kept by emperors for hunts, gladiator fights and executions.The Maasai people have traditionally viewed the killing of lions as a rite of passage. Historically, lions were hunted by individuals, however, due to reduced lion populations, elders discourage solo lion hunts. "


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"During the European colonisation of Africa in the 19th century, the hunting of lions was encouraged because they were considered pests and lion skins were sold for \u00a31 each. The widely reproduced imagery of the heroic hunter chasing lions would dominate a large part of the century. Trophy hunting of lions in recent years has been met with controversy, notably with the killing of Cecil the lion in mid-2015.\n\n=== Man-eating ===\n\nLions do not usually hunt humans but some (usually males) seem to seek them out. One well-publicised case is the Tsavo maneaters; in 1898, 28 officially recorded railway workers building the Kenya-Uganda Railway were taken by lions over nine months during the construction of a bridge in Kenya. The hunter who killed the lions wrote a book detailing the animals' predatory behaviour; they were larger than normal and lacked manes, and one seemed to suffer from tooth decay. The infirmity theory, including tooth decay, is not favoured by all researchers; an analysis of teeth and jaws of man-eating lions in museum collections suggests that while tooth decay may explain some incidents, prey depletion in human-dominated areas is a more likely cause of lion predation on humans. "


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"Sick or injured animals may be more prone to man-eating but the behaviour is not unusual, nor necessarily aberrant.Lions' proclivity for man-eating has been systematically examined. American and Tanzanian scientists report that man-eating behaviour in rural areas of Tanzania increased greatly from 1990 to 2005. At least 563 villagers were attacked and many eaten over this period. The incidents occurred near Selous National Park in Rufiji District and in Lindi Province near the Mozambican border. While the expansion of villages into bush country is one concern, the authors argue conservation policy must mitigate the danger because in this case, conservation contributes directly to human deaths. Cases in Lindi in which lions seize humans from the centres of substantial villages have been documented. Another study of 1,000 people attacked by lions in southern Tanzania between 1988 and 2009 found that the weeks following the full moon, when there was less moonlight, were a strong indicator of increased night-time attacks on people.According to Robert R. Frump, Mozambican refugees regularly crossing Kruger National Park, South Africa, at night are attacked and eaten by lions; park officials have said man-eating is a problem there. "


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"Frump said thousands may have been killed in the decades after apartheid sealed the park and forced refugees to cross the park at night. For nearly a century before the border was sealed, Mozambicans had regularly crossed the park in daytime with little harm.\n\n== Cultural significance ==\n\nThe lion is one of the most widely recognised animal symbols in human culture. It has been extensively depicted in sculptures and paintings, on national flags, and in contemporary films and literature. It appeared as a symbol for strength and nobility in cultures across Europe, Asia and Africa, despite incidents of attacks on people. The lion has been depicted as \"king of the jungle\" and \"king of beasts\", and thus became a popular symbol for royalty and stateliness. The lion is also used as a symbol of sporting teams.\n\n=== Africa ===\nIn sub-Saharan Africa, the lion has been a common character in stories, proverbs and dances, but rarely featured in visual arts. In some cultures, the lion symbolises power and royalty. In the Swahili language, the lion is known as simba which also means \"aggressive\", \"king\" and \"strong\". Some rulers had the word \"lion\" in their nickname. "


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"Sundiata Keita of the Mali Empire was called \"Lion of Mali\". The founder of the Waalo kingdom is said to have been raised by lions and returned to his people part-lion to unite them using the knowledge he learned from the lions.In parts of West Africa, lions symbolised the top class of their social hierarchies. In more heavily forested areas where lions were rare, the leopard represented the top of the hierarchy. In parts of West and East Africa, the lion is associated with healing and provides the connection between seers and the supernatural. In other East African traditions, the lion  represents laziness. In much of African folklore, the lion is portrayed as having low intelligence and is easily tricked by other animals.The ancient Egyptians portrayed several of their war deities as lionesses, which they revered as fierce hunters. Egyptian deities associated with lions include Sekhmet, Bast, Mafdet, Menhit, Pakhet and Tefnut. These deities were often connected with the sun god Ra and his fierce heat, and their dangerous power was invoked to guard people or sacred places. "


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"The sphinx, a figure with a lion's body and the head of a human or other creature, represented a pharaoh or deity who had taken on this protective role.\n\n=== Eastern world ===\n\nThe lion was a prominent symbol in ancient Mesopotamia from Sumer up to Assyrian and Babylonian times, where it was strongly associated with kingship. Lions were among the major symbols of the goddess Inanna/Ishtar. The Lion of Babylon was the foremost symbol of the Babylonian Empire. The Lion of Judah is the biblical emblem of the tribe of Judah and the later Kingdom of Judah. Lions are frequently mentioned in the Bible, notably in the Book of Daniel, in which the eponymous hero refuses to worship King Darius and is forced to sleep in the lions' den where he is miraculously unharmed (Dan 6). In the Book of Judges, Samson kills a lion as he travels to visit a Philistine woman.(Judg 14).Indo-Persian chroniclers regarded the lion as keeper of order in the realm of animals. The Sanskrit word mrigendra signifies a lion as king of animals in general or deer in particular. Narasimha, the man-lion, is one of ten avatars of the Hindu god Vishnu. "


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"Singh is an ancient Indian vedic name meaning \"lion\", dating back over 2,000 years. It was originally used only by Rajputs, a Hindu Kshatriya or military caste but is used by millions of Hindu Rajputs and more than twenty million Sikhs today. The Lion Capital of Ashoka, erected by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century CE, depicts four lions standing back to back. It was made the National Emblem of India in 1950. The lion is also symbolic for the Sinhalese people, the term derived from the Sanskrit Sinhala, meaning \"of lions\" while a sword-wielding lion is the central figure on the national flag of Sri Lanka.The lion is a common motif in Chinese art; it was first used in art during the late Spring and Autumn period (fifth or sixth century BC) and became more popular during the Han Dynasty (206 BC \u2013 AD 220) when imperial guardian lions started to be placed in front of imperial palaces for protection. "


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"Because lions have never been native to China, early depictions were somewhat unrealistic; after the introduction of Buddhist art to China in the Tang Dynasty after the sixth century AD, lions were usually depicted wingless with shorter, thicker bodies and curly manes. The lion dance is a traditional dance in Chinese culture in which performers in lion costumes mimic a lion's movements, often with musical accompaniment from cymbals, drums and gongs. They are performed at Chinese New Year, the August Moon Festival and other celebratory occasions for good luck.\n\n=== Western world ===\n\nLion-headed figures and amulets were excavated in tombs in the Greek islands of Crete, Euboea, Rhodes, Paros and Chios. They are associated with the Egyptian deity Sekhmet and date to the early Iron Age between the 9th and 6th centuries BC. The lion is featured in several of Aesop's fables, notably The Lion and the Mouse. The Nemean lion was symbolic in ancient Greece and Rome, represented as the constellation and zodiac sign Leo, and described in mythology, where it was killed and worn by the hero Heracles, symbolising victory over death. Lancelot and Gawain were also heroes slaying lions in the Middle Ages. "


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"In some medieval stories, lions were portrayed as allies and companions. \"Lion\" was the nickname of several medieval warrior-rulers with a reputation for bravery, such as Richard the Lionheart.Lions continue to appear in modern literature as characters including the messianic Aslan in the 1950 novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis, and the comedic Cowardly Lion in L. Frank Baum's 1900 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Lion symbolism was used from the advent of cinema; one of the most iconic and widely recognised lions is Leo, which has been the mascot for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios since the 1920s. The 1966 film Born Free features Elsa the lioness and is based on the 1960 non-fiction book with the same title. The lion's role as king of the beasts has been used in the 1994 Disney animated feature film The Lion King.Lions are frequently depicted on coats of arms, like on the coat of arms of Finland, either as a device on shields or as supporters, but the lioness is used much less frequently. The heraldic lion is particularly common in British arms. "


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"It is traditionally depicted in a great variety of attitudes, although within French heraldry only lions rampant are considered to be lions; feline figures in any other position are instead referred to as leopards.\n\n== See also ==\n\n== Explanatory notes ==\n\n== References ==\n\n=== Citations ===\n\n=== Books ===\n\n== External links ==\n\nIUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group. \"Lion Panthera leo\".\n\"Lion Conservation Fund\".\nThe Portugal News (2014). \"Rare desert lion killed in Angola after supplying unprecedented data\". Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.\n\"Lion\" . Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921."


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"The mantled guereza (Colobus guereza), also known simply as the guereza, the eastern black-and-white colobus, or the Abyssinian black-and-white colobus, is a black-and-white colobus, a type of Old World monkey. It is native to much of west central and east Africa, including Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Chad. The species consists of several subspecies that differ in appearance. It has a distinctive appearance, which is alluded to in its name; the long white fringes of hair that run along each side of its black trunk are known as a mantle. Its face is framed with white hair and it has a large white tail tuft.\nThe mantled guereza is diurnal and arboreal, found in both deciduous and evergreen forests. It is an adaptable species that can cope with habitat disturbance and prefers secondary forest close to rivers or lakes. Although previously thought only to eat leaves, it also eats seeds, fruits, and arthropods. It is able to digest plant material with a high fibre content with its specialised stomach and may only eat from a few plant species at a time. "


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"It is preyed on by birds of prey and some mammals, such as the common chimpanzee and the leopard.\nThe mantled guereza lives in social groups of three to fifteen individuals. These groups normally include a dominant male, several females, and the offspring of the females. It has a polygynous mating system and copulation is initiated with vocal communication. After a gestation period of just over five months, infants are born with pink skin and white fur, which darkens to the adult coloration by three to four months. The mantled guereza is well known for its dawn chorus, the males' \"roar\" is a method of long-distance communication that reinforces territorial boundaries. It also makes other vocalization and uses body postures, movements, and facial expressions to communicate.\nThe mantled guereza is listed as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) because it is widespread \u2013 although it is locally threatened in some areas, the decline is not great enough to list it in a higher category of threat. However, one subspecies found in Kenya is listed as Endangered. "


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"It can survive well in degraded forests and in some areas it is more common in logged areas than unlogged ones. The mantled guereza is also threatened by hunting for bushmeat and for its skin.\n\n== Etymology ==\nThe mantled guereza has many alternative common names including the guereza, the eastern black-and-white colobus, the magistrate colobus, or the Abyssinian black-and-white colobus. The name \"mantled\" refers to its mantle, the long silky white fringes of hair that run along its body and \"guereza\" is the native name of the monkey in Ethiopia. The scientific name Colobus derives from Greek kolobus meaning \"mutilated\" which refers to its lack of thumbs.\n\n== Taxonomic classification ==\nThe mantled guereza was first classified by Eduard R\u00fcppell, a German naturalist and explorer, during his trip to Abyssinia between 1830 and 1834. He wrote about the species in Neue Wirbelthiere con Abyssinien, Saengthiere in 1835. It was first seen in Europe in 1890 in Berlin Zoological Garden when three individuals were purchased from a dealer from Massawa, Eritrea.\n\nThe mantled guereza is in the Colobinae subfamily, also known as the leaf-eating monkeys, a group of Old World monkeys from Asia and Africa. "


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"This subfamily is split into three groups, the colobus monkeys of Africa, of which the mantled guereza is a part, the langurs, or leaf monkeys, of Asia, and an \"odd-nosed\" group. The African colobus monkeys are divided again by distinctions in color, behavior, and ecology. The three genera are the black-and-white colobi, the red colobi, and the olive colobi. There are three black-and-white colobi: the mantled guereza, Colobus guereza, the king colobus, C. polykomos, and the Angola colobus, C. angolensis. Groves lists seven subspecies of mantled guereza in Mammal Species of the World (MSW) (2005). The validity of the Djaffa Mountain guereza, C. g. gallarum, is uncertain, although not listed by Groves in MSW, it is recognised in his 2007 Colobinae review paper, and by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assessors Gippolliti and Butynski in 2008.\nWestern guereza, Colobus guereza occidentalis, occurs from eastern Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon at the edge of its western range to South Sudan and Uganda, west of the Nile.\n"


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"Omo River guereza or Abyssinian black-and-white colobus, C. g. guereza, found in Ethiopia, in the highlands west of the Rift Valley down to the reaches of the Awash River, the Omo River, and in the Blue Nile gorge.\nDjaffa Mountains guereza or Neumann's black-and-white colobus, C. g. gallarum, found in the Ethiopian Highlands east of the Rift Valley.\nDodinga Hills guereza, C. g. dodingae, found in the Didinga Hills in South Sudan.\nMau Forest guereza, C. g. matschiei, occurs from western Kenya and Uganda south into northern Tanzania.\nMt Uaraguess guereza or Percival's black-and-white colobus, C. g. percivali, found in the Matthews Range in Kenya.\nEastern black-and-white colobus, C. g. kikuyuensis, occurs in Kenya on the Ngong Escarpment of Mount Kenya and in the Aberdare Range.\nKilimanjaro guereza, C. g. caudatus, found in Tanzania and Kenya in the forests surrounding Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru.The morphological difference between subspecies is most pronounced between the southeastern Kilimanjaro guereza, C. g. caudatus, and the northwestern western guereza, C. g. occidentalis. The intermediate subspecies show a gradual change between the two.\n\n"


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"== Physical description ==\n\nThe mantled guereza has a distinctive pelage, it is mostly black, with long white fringes of silky hair\u2014known as a mantle or ornamentation\u2014along the sides of its body and tail. The bands that make up the mantle start at the shoulders and extend along the back until they connect at the lower torso. The tail is long and ends in a white tuft which varies in how much it covers the tail. These features vary in color among subspecies, for example the tail of C. g. guereza is gray until the white tail tuft which covers half of its length, while the tail tuft of C. g. caudatus makes up 80% of the tail. The mantle color ranges from white to cream or yellow. Its face is framed by white hair and it has bushy cheek hairs. The thigh has a white stripe.Infants are born with pink skin and white hair. The hair and skin darken as they age and by three to four months they attain adult coloration. Male usually gain their coloration before females. "


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"The male typically weighs 9.3 and 13.5 kilograms (21 and 30 lb) and the female weighs between 7.8 and 9.2 kilograms (17 and 20 lb). The head and body length averages 61.5 centimetres (24.2 in) for males and 57.6 centimetres (22.7 in) for females. Like most colobi, the mantled guereza has a small thumb that is vestigial. There is dentition sexual dimorphism among the subspecies. In some, the males have larger teeth than females, in others the reverse is true, and some have no significant difference.\n\n== Distribution and habitat ==\n\nThe mantled guereza is distributed throughout Equatorial Africa. It ranges from Nigeria and Cameroon in the west to Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and northern Tanzania in the east. The mantled guereza lives in both deciduous and evergreen forests. It mainly inhabits forest and savannah woodlands and often extend into highland and montane forests. It can be found in other forest habitats, both primary and secondary, such as riparian (near fresh or brackish water), gallery, and upland forests. It is particularly common in forests close to rivers and lakes and at high elevations. It can be found in elevations as high as 3,300 metres (10,800 ft). "


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"This species prefers secondary forests and selects them over old-growth forests if given the choice. It is likely that the mantled guereza prefers these forests due to the increased number of food trees and the weaker chemical defenses of the species within. The mantled guereza is sometimes found in swamps as well as human-made habitats such as Eucalyptus plantations, which may be frequented when the monkey has nutritional deficiencies.\n\n== Ecology ==\nThe mantled guereza is primarily arboreal, but does sometimes descend on the ground to forage and travel, perhaps more so than most other colobines. It is diurnal and rests for up to half the day. Foraging or travelling are the next most common activity. Sometime after dawn, mantled guereza groups leave their sleeping trees and will return to them at dusk. During the day, the mantled guereza has long rest periods in between periods of moving and feeding. Other activities, including grooming, greeting, playing and being vigilant, are performed to a lesser extent.\n\nDespite its reputation as an exclusive leaf-eater, the mantled guereza is not an obligate folivore. While it mainly eats leaves and fruit, its diet is quite variable. "


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"It may eat bark, wood, seeds, flowers, petioles, lianas, aquatic-plants, arthropods, soil, and even concrete from buildings. The amount of each food item in its diet varies by area and time of year. Nutritional factors like protein, tannins, and sodium levels in leaves influence its food choices. It may even intermittently travel longer distances to access plants with higher levels of nutrition. Leaves usually make up over half of its diet, although fruits are occasionally eaten more depending on the season. When foraging for leaves, the mantled guereza prefers young ones over old. With fleshy fruits, the mantled guereza prefers to eat them unripe, which may serve to reduce competition with primates that eat ripe fruits. It consumes a number of plant species but only some make up most of its diet at a specific site.Like all colobi, the mantled guereza is able to digest leaves and other plant fibers with a large, multi-chambered stomach that contains bacteria in certain areas. Like most colobines, it prefers foods with high fiber content that can be easily extracted with its specialized stomach. "


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"The mantled guereza is mostly preyed on by the crowned hawk-eagle, but it is also eaten by other birds of prey such as Verreaux's eagle. The common chimpanzee is known to hunt the guereza. The leopard is another possible predator.\n\n== Behaviour ==\n\n=== Social structure ===\n\nThe mantled guereza lives in stable social groups usually containing three to fifteen members. The groups usually contain one male, several females and juveniles. In some populations, groups containing several males are common. In multi-male groups, males tend to be aggressive with one another with one being dominant. Some males may be expelled from these groups. Multi-male groups may contain father-son pairs or unrelated males. Males that are not part of groups either live solitarily or with other outside males in bachelor groups. The females keep the groups cohesive and they are matrilineally related. They rarely disperse from their natal groups, except possibly when they break apart. Males on the other hand, usually leave when they become subadults or adults. They may start out being solitary and or in bachelor groups. "


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"They gain entry into a social group either by being on the periphery or displacing a group male.Because of its low quality diet and the dispersed distribution of its food, the mantled guereza has a resident-egalitarian social structure. Female guerezas living in a group often have an egalitarian dominance style with no formalized rank relations. Relationships are relaxed and friendly with rare signals of dominance or subordinance. Physical aggression within the group is usually not harmful and rarely escalates into a conflict. Allogrooming is an important part of mantled guereza interactions and mostly occurs between females. The adult males rarely groom in the groups. While not strictly territorial, mantled guereza groups can be aggressive towards each other. In some populations, groups may defend core areas (which exist as a small part of the home range), resources, and mates. During intergroup encounters, males can engage in direct or indirect mate defense, like defending a female's resources. It is the males that participate in agonistic inter-group encounters but female may do so as well. Aggressive encounters between groups usually involve chases, displays and vocalizations rather than physical contact.\n\n=== Reproduction and parenting ===\n\nThe mantled guereza has a polygynous harem-based mating system. "


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"Mating solicitations are made by both males and females, half of the time for each. To solicit mating, the mantled guereza will walk near its potential partner and make low-intensity mouth clicks or tough-smacks. During copulation, the males hold on the female's ankles and body. Most matings take place between individuals of the same group but copulations outside of the group have been recorded. In multi-male groups, more than one male may mate with the females. The gestation period lasts 158 days with a 16\u201322 month interbirth interval. The newborn guereza relies on its mother for support and must cling to her. As they grow older, infants can move on their own but keep returning to their mothers. The infants take up most of the attention in the groups. The other females in a group may handle an infant although the latter are only comfortable with their mothers. The males normally don't pay much attention to infants until they are four to five weeks old. Infants can eat solid food at about eight to nine weeks and by fifty weeks they are fully weaned and no longer need to hold on to their mothers.\n\n"


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"=== Communication ===\nThe most notable vocalization of the mantled guereza is the \"roar\", which is made mainly at night or dawn by males. The sound of a roar can be carried for up to a mile. It is normally the dominant male who roars when there are multiple males in the group. Roars are used for long-distance communication and can regulate inter-group spacing without direct, physical contact while foraging. When one male starts roaring, neighboring males will start to roar as well. Often, the mantled guereza will respond to calls regardless of \"caller identity,\" focusing more on the collective vocal displays and not the familiarity of the caller. There is variation in the roars of males which could signal the status of their group and fighting ability. With a roar, a male can advertise his body size; both actual and exaggerated. Other vocalizations are made as well. Males may snort, possibly as an alarm call. \"Purrs\" are made before group movements. Females and infants may \"caw\" when under mild distress. When in more serious distress, like if an infant is in danger, females and sub-adults will squeak or scream. \"Tongue-clicking\" is made during mild aggression. "


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"In addition to vocalizations, the mantled guereza communicates with several different body postures and movements, displaying of fringe fur, facial expressions, and touches.\n\n== Conservation status ==\n\nBecause it can live in both dry and gallery forests and move on the ground, the mantled guereza is less threatened than many other colobine species. The IUCN lists it as Least Concern because \"although locally threatened in parts of its range, this widespread species is not thought to be declining fast enough to place it in a higher category of threat.\"However, some of the subspecies are classified under different categories. The Mt Uaraguess guereza, C. g. percivali, is listed as Endangered due to its small range and its risk from hunting, while the Dodinga Hills guereza, C. g. dodingae, the Djaffa Mountains guereza, C. g. gallarum, and the Mau Forest guereza, C. g. matschiei are all listed as Data Deficient.The Dodinga Hills guereza hasn't been recorded since the 1960s. Unlike most other primate species, the mantled guereza can survive habitat degradation and can even thrive in degraded forests. "


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"Sometimes, logging may increase the number of preferred food trees for the mantled guereza and it is more abundant in logged areas than unlogged ones. However, complete forest clearance causes dramatic declines in numbers. In Uganda complete forest clearings caused a decline of 50% over eight years. The mantled guereza is also threatened by hunting for meat and its skin. Mantled guereza meat sells as bushmeat for $4\u20139 US. The skins have been sold for fashion or in the tourist trade.\n\n== References ==\n\n== Cited sources ==\n\n== External links ==\n\nPrimate Info Net Colobus guereza Factsheet\nARKive \u2013 Images and movies of the Eastern black-and-white colobus (Colobus guereza)"


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"The southern white rhinoceros or southern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum simum) is one of the two subspecies of the white rhinoceros (the other being the much rarer northern white rhinoceros). It is the most common and widespread subspecies of rhinoceros.\nA document published by CITES in 2021, found the estimated total population of Southern White Rhino in 2021 to be 15,940 individuals, a decline of 24% since the previous census published in 2015. South Africa remains a stronghold for this subspecies, conserving an estimated 12,968 individuals as of 2021, down 20.22% since the previous census.\n\n== Taxonomic and evolutionary history ==\nThe southern white rhinoceros is the nominate subspecies; it was given the scientific name Ceratotherium simum simum by the English explorer William John Burchell in the 1810s. The subspecies is also known as Burchell's rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum burchellii) after Burchell and Oswell's rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum oswellii) after William Cotton Oswell, respectively. However, these are considered synonyms of its original scientific name.\nCeratotherium simum kiaboaba (or Rhinoceros kiaboaba), also known as straight-horned rhinoceros, was proposed as a different subspecies (or species) found near Lake Ngami and north of the Kalahari desert. "


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"However, it is now considered part of the southern white rhinoceros.\nFollowing the phylogenetic species concept, research in 2010 suggested the southern and northern white rhinoceros may be different species, rather than subspecies, in which case the correct scientific name for the northern subspecies is Ceratotherium cottoni and the southern subspecies should be known as simply Ceratotherium simum. Distinct morphological and genetic differences suggest the two proposed species have been separated for at least a million years.\n\n== Physical descriptions ==\n\nThe southern white rhinoceros is one of largest and heaviest land animals in the world. It has an immense body and large head, a short neck and broad chest. Females weigh around 1,700 kg (3,750 lb) and males around 2,300 kg (5,070 lb). The head-and-body length is 3.4\u20134 m (11.2\u201313.1 ft) and a shoulder height of 160\u2013186 cm (5.25\u20136.10 ft). It has two horns on its snout. The front horn is larger than the other horn and averages 60 cm (24 in) in length and can reach 150 cm (59 in). Females usually have longer but thinner horns than the males, who have larger but shorter ones. "


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"The southern white rhinoceros also has a prominent muscular hump that supports its large head. The colour of this animal can range from yellowish brown to slate grey. Most of its body hair is found on the ear fringes and tail bristles, with the rest distributed sparsely over the rest of the body. The southern white rhino has a distinctive flat, broad mouth that is used for grazing.Southern white rhinos are strictly herbivores (graminivores) that feed on short grasses.\n\n== Mating and reproduction ==\nLittle is known about Southern White Rhinoceros mating habits,but females reproduce every 2-3 years.They give birth to a single calf after the gestation period that lasts around 16 months. Newborn calves weigh about 45 kg (100 pounds) at birth. Young usually become independent in 2-3 years.\n.\n\n== Habitat and distribution ==\n\nThe southern white rhino lives in the grasslands, savannahs, and shrublands of southern Africa, ranging from South Africa to Zambia. About 98.5% of southern white rhino live in just five countries: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda.\nThe southern white rhino was nearly extinct in the early 20th century, with less than 20 individuals in a single South African reserve. "


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"The small population of white rhinoceros slowly recovered over the years, growing to 840 individuals in the 1960s and to 1,000 in the 1980s. White rhino trophy hunting was legalized and regulated in 1968, and after initial miscalculations is now generally seen to have assisted in the species' recovery by providing incentives for landowners to boost rhino populations. In 2001, it was estimated that there were 11,670 white rhinos in the wild of southern Africa with a further 777 individuals in captivity worldwide, making it the most common rhinoceros in the world. By the end of 2007, wild-living southern white rhinos had increased to an estimated 17,480 animals. In 2015, there was an estimated population of 19,682\u201321,077 in the wild.\n\n== Threats ==\n\nThe southern white rhinoceros is listed as Near Threatened; it is mostly threatened by habitat loss, continuous poaching in recent years, and the high illegal demand for rhino horn for commercial purposes and use in traditional Chinese medicine.\n\n"


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"== Conservation status ==\n\n=== Introduction/reintroduction projects ===\n\nThere are smaller reintroduced populations within the historical range of the southern white rhinoceros in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Zambia and in southwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo, while a small population survives in Mozambique. Populations have also been introduced outside of the former range of the species to Kenya, Uganda and Zambia, where their northernmost relatives used to occur. The southern white rhinoceros have been reintroduced in the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary in Uganda, and in the Lake Nakuru National Park and the Kigio Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya.\nIn 2010, nine southern white rhinoceros were imported from South Africa and shipped to the Yunnan province from southeast China where they were kept in an animal wildlife park for acclimation. In March 2013, seven of the animals were shipped to the Laiyanghe National Forest Park, a habitat where Sumatran and Javan rhinoceros once lived. Two of the southern white rhinos began the process of being released into the wild on May 13, 2014.\n\n"


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"=== In captivity ===\nWild-caught southern white rhinoceros will readily breed in captivity given appropriate amounts of space and food, as well as the presence of other female rhinos of breeding age. Many rhinoceros living in zoos today are a part of a cooperative breeding program to increase population numbers and maintain genetic diversity without pulling individuals from the wild. For instance, 96 calves have been born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park since 1972. However, the rate of reproduction is fairly low among captive-born southern white females, potentially due to their diet. Ongoing research through San Diego Zoo Global is hoping to not only focus on this, but also on identifying other captive species that are possibly affected and developing new diets and feeding practices aimed at enhancing fertility. When managed correctly the rate of natural reproduction among captive-born southern white females is relatively good as can be seen by the success of John Frederik Hume's rhino breeding initiative, which currently has an average of 200 natural births per year and has seen more than 1800 natural births since 1993. "


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"In South Africa a population of southern white rhinos are being raised on farms and ranches for their horns along with the black rhino.\n\n== References ==\n\n== Notes ==\n\n== External links =="


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"The northern bald ibis, hermit ibis, or waldrapp (Geronticus eremita) is a migratory bird found in barren, semi-desert or rocky habitats, often close to running water. This 70\u201380 cm (28\u201331 in) glossy black ibis, which, unlike many members of the ibis family, is non-wading, has an unfeathered red face and head, and a long, curved red bill. It breeds colonially on coastal or mountain cliff ledges, where it typically lays two to three eggs in a stick nest, and feeds on lizards, insects, and other small animals.\nThe northern bald ibis was once widespread across the Middle East, northern Africa, southern and central Europe, with a fossil record dating back at least 1.8 million years. It disappeared from Europe over 300 years ago, although reintroduction programs in the region are underway. In 2019 there were about 700 wild birds remaining in southern Morocco, and fewer than 10 in Syria, where it was rediscovered in 2002 but where their number declined in the following years, maybe to zero.\n"


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"To combat these low numbers, reintroduction programs have been instituted internationally in recent times, with a semi-wild breeding colony in Turkey which counted almost 250 birds in 2018 as well as sites in Austria, Italy, Spain, and northern Morocco. These programs and the natural growth in Morocco from about 200 birds in the 1990s helped to downlist the northern bald ibis from Critically Endangered to Endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2018. There are about 2000 northern bald ibises living in captivity.\nThe reasons for the species' long-term decline are unclear, but hunting, loss of foraging habitat, and pesticide poisoning have been implicated in the rapid loss of colonies in recent decades.\n\n== Taxonomy ==\nThe ibises are gregarious, long-legged wading birds with long down-curved bills. Along with the spoonbills they form one subfamily within the family Threskiornithidae. The northern bald ibis' closest relative, and the only other member of the genus, is the southern bald ibis, G. calvus, of southern Africa. The two Geronticus species differ from other ibises in that they have unfeathered faces and heads, breed on cliffs rather than in trees, and prefer arid habitats to the wetlands used by their relatives.\n\n"


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"The northern bald ibis was described and illustrated by Swiss naturalist Conrad Gesner in his Historiae animalium in 1555, and given the binomial name Upupa eremita by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 Systema Naturae. It was moved to its current genus by the German herpetologist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832. This species has an interesting history of description, oblivion and rediscovery.The species probably split into two distinct populations at least 400 years ago and, since then, the two populations have been diverging morphologically, ecologically, and genetically; nevertheless, the Turkish and Moroccan populations of this ibis are not currently classed as separate subspecies. One consistent difference between the eastern and western birds is a single mutation in the cytochrome b gene of their mitochondrial DNA.Fossils of the northern bald ibis have been found at a Holocene (c. 10,000 years ago) site in southern France, in middle Pleistocene (c. 900,000 years ago) strata in Sicily, and in Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary (c. 1.8 million years ago) deposits on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. "


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"What appears to be an ancestral form, Geronticus balcanicus, was found in the late Pliocene of Bulgaria, further illustrating the early widespread presence of this genus in Europe, and suggesting that Geronticus eremita may have originated in southeastern Europe or the Middle East.The genus name, Geronticus, is derived from the Ancient Greek \u03b3\u03ad\u03c1\u03c9\u03bd, meaning old man and refers to the bald head of the aged. Eremita is Late Latin for hermit, from the Greek \u1f10\u03c1\u03b7\u03bc\u03af\u03b1, meaning desert, and refers to the arid habitats inhabited by this species. The alternative common name waldrapp is German for forest raven, the equivalent of the Latin Corvo sylvatico of Gesner, adapted as Corvus sylvaticus by Linnaeus.\n\n== Description ==\n\nThe northern bald ibis is a large, glossy black bird, 70\u201380 cm (28\u201331 in) long with a 125\u2013135 cm (49\u201353 in) wingspan and an average weight of 1.0\u20131.3 kg (35\u201346 oz). The plumage is black, with bronze-green and violet iridescence, and there is a wispy ruff on the bird's hind neck. The face and head are dull red and unfeathered, and the long, curved bill and the legs are red. In flight, this bird has powerful, shallow, and flexible wing beats. "


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"It gives guttural hrump and high, hoarse hyoh calls at its breeding colonies, but is otherwise silent.The sexes are similar in plumage, although males are generally larger than females, and, as with other ibises that breed in colonies, have longer bills. The longer-billed males are more successful in attracting a mate. The downy chick has uniformly pale brown plumage, and the fledged juvenile resembles the adult except that it has a dark head, light grey legs, and a pale bill. The unfeathered areas of the young bird's head and neck gradually become red as it matures. Moroccan birds have a significantly longer bill than Turkish birds of the same sex.\nIf the eastern and western populations are considered to be separable subspecies, it is unclear which should be considered to be the nominate (first-named) form, since the first description of this species was based on a now-extinct population from Switzerland which is of unknown race.The northern bald ibis is readily distinguished from its close relative, the southern bald ibis of Southern Africa, by the southern species' whitish face. "


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"The northern bald can also be confused with the similarly dark-plumaged glossy ibis, which overlaps its range, but it is larger and stockier than that species. In flight, when the bill and face colouration may not be visible, the bald ibis' less rounded wings and shorter neck give it a different profile from glossy ibis, and its relatively short legs mean that its feet do not project beyond the tail, unlike those of the glossy ibis.\n\n== Habitat and range ==\n\nUnlike many other ibises, which nest in trees and feed in wetlands, the northern bald ibis breeds on undisturbed cliff ledges, and forages for food in irregularly cultivated, grazed dry areas such as semi-arid steppes, and fallow fields. The close proximity of adequate steppe feeding areas to breeding cliffs is an important habitat requirement.The northern bald ibis was once widespread across the Middle East, northern Africa, and southern and central Europe; fossil bones have been found at Solothurn dated to the Mesolithic and Neolithic Periods. "


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"It bred along the Danube and Rhone Rivers, and in the mountains of Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Gesner's original description was of a Swiss bird), and most probably also in the Upper Adriatic region.  It used castle battlements as well as cliff ledges for nesting before vanishing from Europe at least three centuries ago. It is also extinct over most of its former range, and now almost the entirety of the wild breeding population of just over 500 birds is in Morocco, at Souss-Massa National Park, where there are three documented colonies, and near the mouth of the Oued Tamri (north of Agadir), where there is a single colony containing almost half the Moroccan breeding population. There is some movement of birds between these two sites.Religious traditions helped this species to survive in one Turkish colony long after the species had disappeared from Europe, since it was believed that the ibis migrated each year to guide Hajj pilgrims to Mecca. The ibis was protected by its religious significance, and a festival was held annually to celebrate its return north. "


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"The Turkish ibis population was centred near the small town of Birecik in the southeast of the country, and during the first half of the 20th century, the Birecik colony maintained a relatively stable population of about 500 breeding pairs, reaching an estimated total population of about 3,000 around 1930. By the 1970s, numbers had drastically declined and a captive breeding program was initiated in 1977 with one adult pair and nine chicks taken from the wild. This program largely failed to revert the decline; there were 400 birds in 1982, five pairs in 1986, and seven pairs in 1987. Only three birds returned from their wintering grounds in 1989, and just one in 1990. The returning birds died before they could reproduce, thus rendering the species extinct in the wild in Turkey as of 1992. Once the wild Turkish population became non-viable, the colony was maintained as a flock which was free-flying for most of the year but caged in autumn to prevent migration.\n\n"


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"After the demise of the migratory Turkish colony, the northern bald ibis was known to survive in the wild only at the Moroccan sites, although occasional sightings of birds in Yemen, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, and Israel during the 1980s and 1990s suggested that there was still a colony somewhere in the Middle East. Intensive field surveys in spring 2002, based on the knowledge of Bedouin nomads and local hunters, revealed that the species had never become completely extinct on the Syrian desert steppes. Following systematic searches, 15 old nesting sites were found, one, near Palmyra, was still hosting an active breeding colony of seven individuals. Although the ibis had been declared extinct in Syria more than 70 years earlier, the bird appears to have been relatively common in the desert areas until 20 years ago, when a combination of overexploitation of its range lands and increasing hunting pressures initiated a dramatic decline.The Moroccan breeding birds are resident, dispersing along the coast after the nesting season. It has been suggested that coastal fog provides extra moisture for this population, and enables the ibises to remain year-round. "


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"In the rest of its former range, away from the Moroccan coastal locations, the northern bald ibis migrated south for the winter, and formerly occurred as a vagrant to Spain, Iraq, Egypt, the Azores, and Cape Verde.\n\nSatellite tagging of 13 Syrian birds in 2006 showed that the three adults in the group, plus a fourth untagged adult, wintered together from February to July in the highlands of Ethiopia, where the species had not been recorded for nearly 30 years. They travelled south on the eastern side of the Red Sea via Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and returned north through Sudan and Eritrea.\n\n== Behaviour ==\n\n=== Breeding ===\n\nThe northern bald ibis breeds in loosely spaced colonies, nesting on cliff ledges or amongst boulders on steep slopes, usually on the coast or near a river. Volunteer climbers have created extra ledge spaces in the Souss-Massa colonies to ensure that breeding population is not limited by the availability of nest ledges, and artificial nest boxes are used in the managed colony at Birecik. In the past, the birds also nested in buildings.This ibis starts breeding at three to five years of age, and pairs for life. "


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"The male chooses a nest site, cleans it, and then advertises for a female by waving his crest and giving low rumbling calls. Once the birds have paired, the bond is reinforced through bowing displays and mutual preening. The nest is a loose construction of twigs lined with grass or straw. G. eremita normally lays two to four rough-surfaced eggs, which weigh an average of 50.16 g (1.769 oz), and are initially blue-white with brown spots, becoming brown during incubation. An egg in the collection of the British Museum was marked more thickly at the broad end, with \"spots and very small blotches of yellowish brown and pale rufous\". It was 0.93 in long and 0.68 in wide (2.37 \u00d7 1.73 cm). The clutch is incubated for 24\u201325 days to hatching, the chicks fledge in another 40\u201350 days, and the first flight takes place at about two months. Both parents incubate and feed the chicks.The northern bald ibis lives for an average of 20 to 25 years in captivity (oldest recorded male 37 years, oldest recorded female 30 years). The average age in the wild has been estimated as 10 to 15 years.\n\n"


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"=== Feeding ===\n\nThis gregarious species commutes in flocks from the cliff breeding sites or winter roosts to its feeding areas, flying in a V formation. The flocks may contain up to 100 birds in winter. During the breeding season, the ibises regularly forage up to 15 km (9.3 mi) from the colony, and, although steppe not in current cultivation is preferred for feeding, they will also use fallow ground, and occasionally even actively cultivated fields.The northern bald ibis consumes a very wide variety of mainly animal food; faecal analysis of the Moroccan breeding population has shown that lizards and tenebrionid beetles predominate in the diet, although small mammals, ground-nesting birds, and invertebrates such as snails, scorpions, spiders, and caterpillars are also taken. Males will sometimes \"scrounge\" food from females. As the flock moves across the ground, the ibis uses its long bill to feel for food items in the loose, sandy soil. Since this bird hunts mainly by probing, a soft surface seems to be vital, and it is important that any vegetation is sparse, and not more than 15\u201320 cm (6\u20138 in) high.\n\n"


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"== Conservation status ==\n\nAlthough the northern bald ibis was long extinct in Europe, many colonies in Morocco and Algeria survived until the early 20th century, when they began to decline more rapidly, the last colony in Algeria disappearing in the late 1980s. In Morocco there were about 38 colonies in 1940 and 15 in 1975, but the last migratory populations in the Atlas Mountains had vanished by 1989. The species is endangered according to the IUCN scale, with an estimated population in 2018 of around 147 breeding pairs in the wild and over 1,000 in captivity. It was formerly considered critically endangered until heavy conservation action secured the breeding sites in Morocco and even allowed the birds to expand to other sites, as well as the semi-wild population conserved in Turkey as well as the reintroduction projects in Europe. The northern bald ibis is one of the key species to which the draft Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies, and it has a detailed, internationally agreed conservation action plan under the agreement. "


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"As a species that is threatened with extinction, it is listed on Appendix 1 of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), which means that commercial trade in the species (including parts and derivatives) is prohibited.The northern bald ibis has declined for several centuries, at least partly as a consequence of unidentified natural causes. The more rapid decline in the past hundred years, with a loss of 98% of the population between 1900 and 2002, is the result of a combination of factors. These include significant human persecution, especially hunting, and also the loss of steppe and non-intensive agricultural areas (particularly in Morocco), pesticide poisoning, disturbance, and dam construction. The discovery in Jordan of three dead adults from the Turkish colony seemed to confirm that the overuse of pesticides is still a cause of death on migration. These birds were tracked by satellite after leaving Birecik; they stopped off briefly at the Syrian colony, and were later found dead in the Jordanian desert. "


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"Although the cause of death was initially thought to have been from poison, probably laid by chicken farmers to kill rodents, the autopsy revealed that they had actually been\nelectrocuted whilst standing on electricity pylons.\n\n=== Wild populations ===\n\n==== Morocco ====\nMonitoring of Moroccan wild population is guaranteed by BirdLife International partners, especially by RSPB, SEO/BirdLife and, recently GREPOM in cooperation with Souss-Massa National Park administration and the support of institutions like Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation which is the Species Champion for Northern Bald Ibis. For the first time in the species' recorded history, there is now evidence of population growth in the wild, and the population in Morocco increased to 100 breeding pairs in the decade prior to 2008 and reached a record of 113 breeding pairs in 2013. Simple site and species protection has facilitated this growth. Quantitative assessments of the importance of sites for breeding, roosting, and foraging have guided actions to prevent disturbance and the loss of key areas to mass tourism development. Wardening by members of the local community has reduced human intrusion and increased the perceived value of the birds. "


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"The provision of drinking water and the removal and deterrence of predators and competitors enhances breeding prospects, and monitoring has confirmed that steppe and two-year fallows are key feeding habitats.\nIn early 2019 the total population in the two colonies of Souss-Massa National Park and Tamri reached 708 birds after 147 breeding pairs that laid eggs have produced 170 chicks in the last breeding season.Maintaining such non-intensive land uses in the future may present major management challenges, and the recovery in the Souss-Massa region remains precarious because the population is concentrated in just a few places. However, it could provide opportunities for natural extension of the range to formerly occupied sites further north in Morocco.\n\nThe main cause of breeding failure at the Souss-Massa National Park is the loss of eggs to predators, especially the common raven which nest monitoring has shown to have had a serious impact at one sub-colony. The effects of predators on adult birds have not been studied, but the very similar southern bald ibis, Geronticus calvus, is hunted by large raptors, particularly those that share its breeding cliffs. "


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"There is evidence of chick starvation in some years, but the main threats to breeding birds are human disturbance and the loss of feeding habitat. There was a dramatic mortality incident at the Moroccan colonies in May 1996, when 40 adults died or disappeared over a period of nine days. Although analyses have not identified the cause, an obscure virus, a toxin, or botulism are thought to be the most likely causes of the deaths.\n\n==== Syria ====\nConservation efforts for the Northern bald ibis in Syria began with the discovery of an unreported relict colony of this species in early 2002 in the Palmyra desert. The bald ibises still breeding in Syria, discovered during an extensive biodiversity survey carried out as part of a FAO cooperation project, are the last living descendants of those depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphs from 4500 years ago. The discovery was made possible through the use of traditional ecological knowledge of the Bedouin nomads.Following the discovery in Syria, a successful community-based ibis breeding intensive protection program was established in Palmyra during years 2002\u20132004, in parallel with an extensive capacity building program in the benefit of the local community and staff from the Syrian Steppe Commission. "


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"Fourteen chicks successfully fledged during this period.Beside protection and training operations, data on threats and on feeding and breeding ecology were collected in the field. An Ibis Protected Area was recommended and established, and an awareness and education program was also launched and successfully implemented.Two breeding failures were recorded in 2005 and 2008 following a change of project management and of ibis protection strategy, that occurred between 2004 and 2005. Three birds were tagged with satellite tags and the migratory route and wintering site of the colony were discovered in 2006. "


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"Three surveys were undertaken at the wintering site on the Ethiopian highlands between 2006 and 2009, establishing that no immediate threats were present at the site.Thanks to an IUCN project the Ibis Protected Area in Palmyra desert was further developed in 2008\u20132009, addressing the threats of infrastructure proliferation and oil company heavy prospection schemes.Meanwhile, it became apparent that only adults were reaching the wintering site in Ethiopia and that it was the low survival rate of immature birds - and thus an insufficient recruitment at the breeding colony in Palmyra - that was causing the slow and steady decline of the colony from 3 breeding pairs in 2002 to just 1 in 2010. Satellite tracking and surveys conducted in western Saudi Arabia during 2009\u20132010, with key cooperation of the Saudi Wildlife Authority, suggested that a combination of hunting and electrocution were causing a high mortality of dispersing immature ibises. "


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"This mortality is currently regarded as the main cause of the low recruitment occurred at the Palmyra colony during the years following the high breeding performance of period 2002-2004 (only 3 recruitment events out of 14 chicks fledged).A supplementation trial could be eventually conducted in 2010 by introducing captive-born chicks into the wild colony in Palmyra. For this aim, a first captive breeding center was established in Palmyra. Three chicks introduced at the wild colony in Palmyra followed a migrating wild adult for more than 1000 km from Palmyra well into southwest Saudi Arabia.The success of the trial, unique of its kind, reinvigorated the hopes that the colony could be still saved. Conservation efforts were interrupted in March 2011 due to the worsening of the political situation in Syria. Palmyra trained rangers have reportedly continued to protect the breeding birds even during the subsequent years. The last year a lone bird was seen returning to Palmyra is 2014 (it returned alone also in 2013). In 2015 no birds came back. As of 2017, some birds are still seen at the wintering grounds.\n\n"


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"==== Turkey ====\nWith the loss of the genuinely wild Turkish population, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry's Directorate of Natural Preservation and National Parks established a new semi-wild colony at Birecik. This was heavily managed, with birds taken into captivity after the breeding season to prevent migration. The program was successful, with numbers at 205 as of March 2016. The intent is to allow the birds to migrate once the population reaches a stable 100 pairs, excluding young.The birds are released in late January or early February to breed outside the cages on ledges and, mainly, in the nest boxes in the breeding station compound. The ibises are free flying and forage around the Birecik area in forest nurseries, agricultural fields, and along the Euphrates, but supplementary food is also provided. Following the end of the breeding season, the birds are taken into cages in late July or early August to prevent migration. A trial migration using tagged birds confirmed the risks presented to travelling birds by pesticides. Later on the Syrian Civil War added one more reason to keep preventing migration.\n\n"


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"=== Reintroductions ===\n\nThe guidelines for the conservation and reintroduction of the northern bald ibis were established in 2003 at an International Advisory Group for Northern Bald Ibis (IAGNBI) conference in Innsbruck at the Alpenzoo, which maintains the European studbook for the northern bald ibis.Decisions taken at the meeting included:\nThere should be no augmenting of the wild populations at Souss-Massa or in Palmyra using zoo-bred ibises.\nThere are two distinctive populations of northern bald ibis, and the separate ranges of the eastern and western forms should be respected.\nIn order to prepare birds for release, groups of chicks should be hand-reared by human \"parents\".\nMigration routes and stop-over points will have to be taught to young birds, since it is unlikely that they will discover this information by themselves.A second conference in Spain in 2006 stressed the need to survey potential and former sites in north-west Africa and the Middle East for currently undetected colonies. The need to raise the standards of hygiene and husbandry in the Birecik aviaries was reiterated, and the prevalence of skin problems in a number of zoos reinforced the view that no zoo birds should be used for any free-flying trials. "


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"In future captive breeding and releasing programmes, only birds of known origin should be used.\n\n==== Zoo populations ====\n\nThere are 850 northern bald ibises in European zoos and a further 250 in captivity in Japan and North America. The 49 European zoos keeping this species produce 80 to 100 young birds per year, and earlier attempts at releasing captive-bred birds included close to 150 birds between 1976 and 1986 from an aviary at Birecik, 75 from Tel Aviv Zoo in 1983, and an unspecified number from a project in Almer\u00eda, Spain, from 1991 to 1994; all these attempts were unsuccessful. All northern bald ibises in zoos, other than those in Turkey, are of the western population, and were imported from Morocco. Three bloodlines exist; the earliest relates to importations to Zoo Basel, Switzerland in the 1950s and 1960s, the next is the descendants of birds taken in the 1970s to stock Rabat Zoo, and the last captured wild birds were those taken to the Naturzoo, Rheine, in 1976 and 1978. "


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"Captive birds have a high incidence of skin problems, and 40% of those birds that had to be put down suffered from chronic ulcerative dermatitis, characterised by feather loss, rawness, and ulceration on the back, neck, and the undersides of the wings. The cause of this disease is unknown. Other major disease problems reported in zoo collections have been avian tuberculosis, gastric foreign bodies, bone disease, and heart problems. An outbreak of West Nile virus in Bronx Park, New York, involved northern bald ibises amongst many other species of birds and mammals.\n\n==== Europe ====\nIn 1504, a decree by Archbishop Leonhard of Salzburg made the northern bald ibis one of the world's earliest officially protected species. They nested in the cliffs and on castles and ruins in the Graz/Steiermark and Salzburg regions of Austria and vanished around 1630\u20131645. Young birds were hunted as a delicacy at feasts for the nobility. Despite the decree, it died out in Austria as elsewhere in Europe.\n\nThere are now two ibis reintroduction projects in Austria, at Gr\u00fcnau and Kuchl."


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"[1] A research station at Gr\u00fcnau has a breeding colony managed, like the Turkish population, as a free-flying flock which is caged at migration time. The aim here is to investigate flock interactions and hormonal status, behavioural and ecological aspects of natural foraging, and the establishment of traditions via social learning.The Scharnstein Project is an attempt to establish a migratory waldrapp colony by using ultralight planes to teach a migration route. The scheme builds on the Gr\u00fcnau research by developing a method to control and guide the autumn migration of a founder population, which then can pass this migration tradition to subsequent generations. In May 2002, 11 birds from the Vienna Zoo and the Gr\u00fcnau colony were trained to follow two microlight planes, and in 2003, a first attempt was made to lead a group of birds from Scharnstein to southern Tuscany. Due to adverse weather and technical problems, the birds had to be transported by road over a considerable part of the distance. The subsequent releases were more successful, with birds wintering in Tuscany, and, from 2005, returning to northern Austria. "


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"In 2008, a female ibis named Aurelia flew 930 km (580 mi) back to Austria for her fourth return to the breeding site. The hazards of the journey are shown by the loss of her two offspring and her mate while on the southern journey in the autumn of 2007.\n\nIn August 2013 the European Union agreed to provide support to reintroduction projects until 2019 under its LIFE+ Biodiversity programme. The Reason for Hope project under the leadership of the biologist Dr. Johannes Fritz has operated one breeding and observation site in Austria, in Kuchl, near Salzburg, and two similar sites in Burghausen, Bavaria, and in \u00dcberlingen on Lake Constance in Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg. The positions and flight patterns of migratory birds are monitored with light-weight solar transmitters. After learning to follow their human foster-mothers seated in ultralight aircraft, around 30 young birds are led over the Alps to spend the winter months in Tuscany. Numerous studies on migratory bird behaviour have been published and presentations given at symposiums.  "


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"In November 2019 it was announced that the project team succeeded in uniting juvenile birds with experienced adult birds so that they could fly to their wintering site together.Proyecto Eremita is a Spanish reintroduction involving the release of nearly 30 birds in the Ministry of Defence training ground in La Janda district, Barbate, C\u00e1diz Province. It had its first success in 2008, when a pair laid two eggs. This is probably the first attempt to breed in the wild in Spain for 500 years as the last definite reference to the northern bald ibis breeding in Spain is from a 15th-century falconry book. This effort has been undertaken by the Andalusian government's Environmental Ministry, the Spanish Ministry of Defence, and the Zoobot\u00e1nico de Jer\u00e9z (Jerez Zoo and Botanical Gardens), with the assistance of the Do\u00f1ana Biological Station, CSIC and volunteers from the C\u00e1diz Natural History Society. Previously, two birds left the area in 2005 and 14 in 2006, but nothing is known of their whereabouts other than that a ringed bird from Spain was seen in the Middle Atlas, Morocco in 2005. "


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"Internet pictures of this species taken near Arma\u00e7\u00e3o de P\u00eara, Algarve, Portugal in 2009 and later, may be related to those releases in Spain. In the interim, the Spanish colony has been growing very well, from 9 breeding pairs in 2011, 10 in 2012 and 15 in 2013 to 23 breeding pairs in 2014, which successfully raised 25 chicks in 2014 (Quercus 349(2015): 14-23). In 2014 the total population of this colony was 78 wild birds split into two colonies, originally along the cliffs of the Atlantic coast and in 2012 with a second colony of 5\u20136 breeding pairs that started at the cliffs 10 km inland next to a country road at La Barca de Vejer (Vejer de la Frontera).\n\n==== Northern Morocco ====\n\nThere is a planned reintroduction of the ibis at Ain Tijja-Mezguitem in the north-east of Morocco. Since the wild populations further south remain vulnerable, and the porous sandstone of their breeding ledges is exposed to erosion, the intention is to establish a non-migratory population (stocked from German, Swiss, and Austrian zoos) in an area where this species was known to have bred up to about 1980. "


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"The station in the Rif mountains was built in 2000, and stocked with the first group of zoo-bred birds. A second importation of zoo-bred birds and the construction of an information centre took place in 2004. Six pairs bred in 2006 subsequent to a change in the birds' diet, and six offspring from five nests were successfully reared. In 2007 there were 19 birds (13 adults and six juveniles) in the aviary.The rock walls of the mountains have many potential breeding ledges, and an artificial lake provides water to the birds and to the local human population. Steppe pasture which is not exposed to herbicides or pesticides gives good foraging. Once the population reaches around 40 birds, a release will be initiated, subject to international agreement. The reintroduction site is 760 km (470 mi) from Agadir on the other side of the Atlas Mountains, so accidental contamination of the wild colonies is unlikely.\n\n"


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"== In culture ==\n\nAccording to local legend in the Birecik area, the northern bald ibis was one of the first birds that Noah released from the Ark as a symbol of fertility, and a lingering religious sentiment in Turkey helped the colonies there to survive long after the demise of the species in Europe, as described above.This ibis was revered as a holy bird and a symbol of brilliance and splendour in Ancient Egypt, where, together with the sacred ibis, it was regarded as an embodiment of Thoth, scribe of the gods, who was usually depicted with a man's body and the head of an ibis. The Old Egyptian word akh, \"to be resplendent, to shine\", was denoted in hieroglyphs by a bald ibis, presumably as a reference to its glossy plumage. In a more abstract sense, akh stood for excellence, glory, honour, and virtue. It has also been used to signify the soul or spirit, one of five elements constituting personality.Herodotus wrote of the man-eating Stymphalian birds, which had wings of brass and sharp metallic feathers they could fire at their victims. Ridding Lake Stymphalia in Arcadia of these creatures was one of the twelve labours of Heracles. "


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"These mythical birds are sometimes considered to be based on the northern bald ibis, but since they were described as marsh birds, and usually depicted without crests, the legendary species is more likely to be derived from the sacred ibis. Some depictions, such as the 6th-century BC Athenian black-figure amphora in the British Museum, clearly show the black head and white body of the sacred ibis. After the bald ibis became extinct in Central Europe, some later writers thought that Gesner's description was one of several in his book depicting mythical creatures.\n\nThe bird painted in 1490 in one of the Gothic frescoes in the Holy Trinity Church in Hrastovlje (now southwestern Slovenia) in the Karst by John of Kastav was most probably the northern bald ibis. A small illustration of the northern bald ibis is found in the illuminated St Galler Handschrift of 1562, a drawing by Joris Hoefnagel in Missale Romanum (1582-1590) and in paintings in the collection of Rudolf II at Vienna. It is believed that it had also been depicted at other places in Istria and Dalmatia, where it was presumably native during the Middle Ages, e.g. "


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"in the local church in Gradi\u0161\u010de pri Diva\u010di and in the coat of arms of the noble family Elio from Koper. The portal of Lukovec Castle in Lukovica pri Brezovici (central Slovenia) also features this species.In Birecik, Turkey an ancient celebration 'Kelaynak yortusu' held in mid-February to mark the return of the birds from Africa was revived in the 1950s.Several countries have produced postage stamps which depict the northern bald ibis. They include Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen, which are breeding or migration locations; Austria, which is seeking to reintroduce the bird; and Jersey, which has a small captive population.\n\n== References ==\n\n== Further reading ==\nGesner, Conrad (1555). Histori\u00e6 animalium liber III qui est de auium natura. Adiecti sunt ab initio indices alphabetici decem super nominibus auium in totidem linguis diuersis: & ante illos enumeratio auium eo ordin\u00e9 quo in hoc volumine continentur (in Latin). Zurich: Froschauer.\nSerra, Gianluca; Peske, L.; Wondafrash, M. (2007). Preliminary survey of Middle Eastern Northern Bald Ibises at their recently discovered wintering grounds in Ethiopian highlands. Report, BirdLife International / Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.\nSerra, Gianluca; Wondafrash, M. (2009). "


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"Eco-ethological and conservation survey of N. Bald Ibises wintering in the northern Shawa (Ethiopia) during 2008\u201309. Report, EWNHS / IUCN / DGCS Trust Fund pilot project, 39 pp.\nSerra, Gianluca; Nahaz, M.M.; Idan M.; Peske L.; Savioli A.; Bruschini C.; Alomari K. (2009). Assessment and characterization of the Ibis Protected Area in the Palmyra Desert - a proposed 5-year management and development framework. IUCN publication.\nSerra, Gianluca (2010). Northern Bald Ibis Expedition in Saudi Arabia, March 2010. Report, IUCN and National Geographic Soc., 34 pp.\nG. Serra;  et al. (2008). \"Feeding ecology and behaviour of last surviving middle eastern N. Bald Ibises breeding in the Syrian steppe\". Zoology in the Middle East. 43: 55\u201368. doi:10.1080/09397140.2008.10638269. S2CID 87023621.\nG. Serra;  et al. (2013). \"An assessment of ecological conditions and threats at the Ethiopian wintering site of the last known eastern colony of critically endangered Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremita\". Bird Conservation International. 23 (4): 399\u2013413. doi:10.1017/s0959270913000397.\nG. Serra;  et al. (2009). \"Breeding ecology of the last oriental N. Bald Ibises in the Syria desert\". Journal of Ornithology. 150 (4): 769\u2013782. doi:10.1007/s10336-009-0398-y. S2CID 26090442.\nG. Serra;  et al. (2015). "


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"\"Accounting for very low survival of a Critically Endangered bird on a major migratory flyway\". Oryx. 49 (2): 312\u2013320. doi:10.1017/s0030605313000665.\n\n== External links ==\n\nImages and movies of the northern bald ibis (Geronticus eremita) at Arkive\nZoolex exhibit of the Alpenzoo aviary\nInternational Advisory Group of the Northern Bald Ibis\nMysteries surrounding the legendary and vanishing oriental bald ibis (G. Serra 2012b)"


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"The turquoise-fronted amazon (Amazona aestiva), also called the turquoise-fronted parrot, the blue-fronted amazon and the blue-fronted parrot, is a South American species of amazon parrot and one of the most common amazon parrots kept in captivity as a pet or companion parrot. Its common name is derived from the distinctive turquoise marking on its head just above its beak.\n\n== Taxonomy ==\nThe turquoise-fronted amazon was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Its specific epithet is the feminine form of the Latin adjective aestivus, \"of the summer\". Two subspecies are recognized:\nA. a. aestiva (nominate) is found in eastern Brazil. The leading edge of the wing (\"shoulder\") is red.\nA. a. xanthopteryx occurs from northern and eastern Bolivia through adjacent parts of Brazil, to Paraguay and northern Argentina. The \"shoulder\" is partly or wholly yellow. Generally with more yellow to the head than nominate.The taxon xanthopteryx has been treated as a separate species, but the two subspecies interbreed freely where they come into contact.\nAdditionally, there are significant individual variations in both facial pattern and amount of yellow/red to the \"shoulder\". "


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"In one extreme, individuals with essentially no yellow on the head and entirely green \"shoulders\" are known from north-western Argentina.\n\n== Description ==\nThe turquoise-fronted amazon is a mainly green parrot about 38 cm (15 in) long. They have blue feathers on the forehead above the beak and yellow on the face and crown. Distribution of blue and yellow varies greatly among individuals. Unlike most other Amazona parrots, its beak is mostly black. There is no overt sexual dimorphism to the human eye, but analysis of the feathers using spectrometry, a method which allows the plumage to be seen as it would be by a parrot's tetrachromatic vision, shows clear differences between the plumage of the sexes. Juveniles of parrots are duller and have dark irises.\n\n== Distribution and habitat ==\nThe range of the turquoise-fronted amazon extends over eastern and northern Bolivia, eastern Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina. It is found in forests (though generally avoids extensive humid forests such as the Amazon), woodland, savanna and palm groves.A small feral breeding population is also present in the greener regions of Stuttgart in Germany. "


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"Although they have been observed in the wild in Puerto Rico, they are probably the result of escaped pets, and no reproduction has been recorded.\n\n== Breeding ==\nThe turquoise-fronted amazon nests in tree cavities. The oval eggs are white and measure around 38 \u00d7 30 mm. There are usually three to five in a clutch. The female incubates the eggs for about 27 days and the chicks leave the nest about 60 days after hatching.\n\n== Status ==\nThe status of this species is evaluated as being of least concern by BirdLife International. However, while it remains common throughout a significant part of its range, there is evidence of a population decline, and this species has been heavily traded: Since 1981 when it was listed on CITES Appendix II, 413,505 wild-caught individuals have been recorded in international trade (UNEP-WCMC CITES Trade Database, January 2005). It is regarded as a crop pest in parts of its native range.\nParadoxically, illegal trade may have contributed to expansions of the range of this parrot: It is becoming common in Rio de Janeiro, which is not a part of its historical range, something attributed to escaped caged birds.\n\n"


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"== Aviculture ==\nThe turquoise-fronted amazon is commonly seen as a pet, both in South America and other parts of the world. Their talking ability varies greatly from individual to individual, but some speak nearly as well as the yellow-headed amazon group (yellow-naped, Panama, yellow-crowned, double yellow-headed. They seem to have a proclivity for singing. They require interaction but also can play with toys contently for several hours at a time. Pets require plenty of toys, perches, and climbing room. As with some other birds, under no circumstances are turquoise-fronted amazons to eat avocado. Some individuals, particularly males, can be aggressive in spring, the mating season.\nAn extremely rare red (or chocolate raspberry) mutation of the species appeared in captivity in 2004, bred by the psittaculturist Howard Voren. The mutation results in yellow plumage being replaced by that of a red/pink hue and greens with a chocolate-brown, with the depth and intensity of color varying by location upon the body.\n\n== Gallery ==\n\n== References ==\n\n=== Cited text ===\nForshaw, Joseph M.; Cooper, William T. (1978). Parrots of the World (2nd ed.). Melbourne: Landsdowne Editions. ISBN 0-7018-0690-7.\n\n"


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"== External links ==\n\nSpecies profile - World Parrot Trust\nSpecies factsheet - BirdLife International\nInformation - Animal-World\n\"Amazona aestiva\". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.\nVideos, photos and sounds - Internet Bird Collection\nCalls and songs on the xeno canto collection"


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"The greater rhea (Rhea americana) is a species of flightless bird native to eastern South America. Other names for the greater rhea include the grey, common, or American rhea; ema (Portuguese); or \u00f1and\u00fa (Guaran\u00ed and Spanish). One of two species in the genus Rhea, in the family Rheidae, the greater rhea is native to Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. It inhabits a variety of open areas, such as grasslands, savanna or grassy wetlands. Weighing 20\u201327 kilograms (44\u201360 lb), the greater rhea is the largest bird in South America and the largest native, extant bird anywhere in the Americas. In the wild, the greater rhea has a life expectancy of 10.5 years. It is also notable for its reproductive habits, and for the fact that a population has established itself in Northern Germany in recent years. The species is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN.\n\n== Taxonomy and systematics ==\nThe greater rhea derives its scientific name from Rhea, a Greek goddess, and the Latinized form of America. It was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, Systema Naturae under the name Struthio camelus americanus. "


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"He identified specimens from Sergipe, and Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, in 1758. They are from the family Rheidae, and the order Rheiformes. They are closely related to other ratites such as emus, ostriches, cassowaries, and kiwi, along with the extinct forms: moa and elephant birds.\n\n=== Subspecies ===\nThere are five subspecies of the greater rhea; their ranges meet around the Tropic of Capricorn:\nR. a. americana campos of northern and eastern Brazil\nR. a. intermedia Uruguay and extreme southeastern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul state)\nR. a. nobilis eastern Paraguay, east of Rio Paraguay\nR. a. araneipes  chaco of Paraguay and Bolivia and the Mato Grosso state of Brazil\nR. a. albescens plains of Argentina south to the Rio Negro provinceMain subspecific differences are the extent of the black coloring of the throat and the height. However, subspecies of the greater rhea differ so little across their range that, without knowledge of the place of origin, it is essentially impossible to identify captive birds by subspecies.\n\n"


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created_at: 2022-12-12 16:43:08
updated_at: 2022-12-12 16:43:08
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"== Description ==\n\nThe adults have an average weight of 20\u201327 kg (44\u201360 lb) and often measure 127 to 140 cm (50 to 55 in) long from beak to tail; they usually stand about 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) tall, with a typical range of 1.4 to 1.7 m (4 ft 7 in to 5 ft 7 in), to the top of the head. The males are generally bigger than the females. Despite the delineation of this species as the \"greater rhea\" versus the lesser rhea, some data on body masses indicates that both species average about 23 kg (51 lb) in weight, but even at mass parity that greater species appears larger and is taller due to its longer legs and neck, whereas the lesser rhea is more compact and more so resembles an outsized, long-necked turkey in build.  Elsewhere, the lesser rhea has been cited with a lower average weight of 16 kg (35 lb). In some areas, male greater rheas weights of up to 35 kg (77 lb) are not uncommon and even females of up to 30 kg (66 lb) have been weighed, both weights higher than the maximum known mass for the lesser rhea. "


id: 78f4c3964abc672563f20e7e36eac1e6
created_at: 2022-12-12 16:43:08
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"Large males can weigh up to 40 kg (88 lb), stand nearly 1.83 m (6.0 ft) tall and measure over 150 cm (59 in) long, although this is uncommon.The head and bill are fairly small, the latter measuring 8\u201310.4 cm (3.1\u20134.1 in) in length. The legs are long, with the tarsus measuring between 33.5 and 37 cm (13.2 and 14.6 in), and strong and have 22 horizontal plates on the front of the tarsus. They have three toes, and the hind toe is absent. The wings of the American rhea are rather long; the birds use them during running to maintain balance during tight turns, and also during courtship displays.\nGreater rheas have a fluffy, tattered-looking plumage, that is gray or brown, with high individual variation, The head, neck, rump, and thighs are feathered. In general, males are darker than females. Even in the wild\u2014particularly in Argentina\u2014leucistic individuals (with white body plumage and blue eyes) as well as albinos occur. Hatchling greater rheas are grey with dark lengthwise stripes.\n\n== Distribution and habitat ==\nThe greater rhea is native to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. There are also feral populations of the greater rhea in Germany. "


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created_at: 2022-12-12 16:43:08
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"This species inhabits grassland dominated by satintail (Imperata) and bahiagrass (Paspalum) species, as well as savanna, scrub forest, chaparral, and even desert and palustrine lands, though it prefers areas with at least some tall vegetation. It is absent from the humid tropical forests of the Mata Atl\u00e2ntica and planalto uplands along the coast of Brazil and extends south to 40\u00b0 latitude. They prefer lower elevations and seldom go above 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). During the breeding season (spring and summer), it stays near water.\nA small non-indigenous population of the greater rhea established itself in Germany. One male and five females escaped from a farm in Gro\u00df Gr\u00f6nau, Schleswig-Holstein, in August 2000. These birds survived the winter and succeeded in breeding in a habitat sufficiently similar to their native South American range. They eventually crossed the Wakenitz river and settled in Nordwestmecklenburg in the area around and particularly to the north of Thandorf village. A biosurvey conducted in late 2012 found the population had grown to more than 100 and was settling in permanently. In early 2017 the population reached about 220 birds. "


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created_at: 2022-12-12 16:43:08
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content:
"As local farmers suffered harvest losses due to the birds, some farmers were granted an allowance to destroy the eggs of the birds to stop the population from growing further. At the end of 2017 a population of about 250 birds was estimated. They are regarded as \"domestic\" and thus protected from hunting. In the autumn of 2018, the German population grew to 566 individuals, and hunting of the birds was allowed; additionally, the population was reduced by destroying eggs during breeding season.\n\n== Behavior and ecology ==\n\n=== Individual and flock behavior ===\nThe greater rhea is a silent bird except during mating season, when they make low booming noises, and as chicks, when they give a mournful whistle. During the non-breeding season they will form flocks of between 10 and 100 birds. When in flocks, they tend to be less vigilant, but the males can get aggressive towards other males. When chased they will flee in a zigzag pattern, alternately raising one wing then the other. These flocks break up in the winter in time for breeding season.\n\n"


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created_at: 2022-12-12 16:43:08
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"=== Feeding and diet ===\n\nThe rhea's diet mainly consists of broad-leaved foliage, particularly seed and fruit when in season, but also insects, scorpions, fish, small rodents, reptiles, and small birds.\nFavorite food plants include native and introduced species from all sorts of dicot families, such as Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, Bignoniaceae, Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Myrtaceae or Solanaceae. Magnoliidae fruit, for example of Duguetia furfuracea (Annonaceae) or avocados (Persea americana, Lauraceae) can be seasonally important.They do not usually eat cereal grains, or monocots in general. However, the leaves of particular grass species like Brachiaria brizantha can be eaten in large quantities, and broad-leaved plants (e.g. the sarsaparilla Smilax brasiliensis) have also been recorded as foodplants. Even tough and spiny vegetable matter like tubers or thistles is eaten with relish.Like many birds which feed on tough plant matter, the greater rhea swallows pebbles which help grind down the food for easy digestion. It is much attracted to sparkling objects and sometimes accidentally swallows metallic or glossy objects. Rheas are also coprophagous and occasionally consume fresh fecal matter of other rheas.\n\nIn fields and plantations of plants they do not like to eat, e.g."


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created_at: 2022-12-12 16:43:08
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", cereals or eucalyptus, the greater rhea can be a species quite beneficial to farmers. It will eat any large invertebrate it can catch; its food includes locusts and grasshoppers, true bugs, cockroaches, and other pest insects. Juveniles eat more animal matter than adults. In mixed cerrado and agricultural land in Minas Gerais (Brazil), R. a. americana was noted to be particularly fond of beetles. It is not clear whether this applies to the species in general but for example in pampas habitat, beetle consumption is probably lower simply due to availability while Orthoptera might be more important.The greater rhea is able to eat Hymenoptera in quantity. These insects contain among them many who can give painful stings, though the birds do not seem to mind. Sometimes, greater rheas will gather at carrion to feed on flies; they are also known to eat dead or dying fish in the dry season, but as vertebrate prey in general not in large quantities.\n\n"


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created_at: 2022-12-12 16:43:08
updated_at: 2022-12-12 16:43:08
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vector_id: 1921
content:
"=== Reproduction ===\n\nAfter the large flocks break up in the winter, they form into three loose groups:\nsingle males,\nflocks of between two and fifteen females, and\na large flock of yearlings.As winter approaches, males become more aggressive towards each other. Then they start courting females by calling and raising the front of their body up while keeping their neck straight and ruffling their plumage. They will raise their wings and may run some distance like this, sometime flapping their wings methodically. After doing this and attracting females, they will continue calling at a specific female, and will start to either walk alongside her or in front of her while spreading his wings and lowering his head. As the display continues, he will get more intense and animated and start waving his neck around and in figure eights. Once he has attracted a first mate he will copulate with her and then lead her to his nest.When it is time for the eggs to be laid, the male will typically be on the nest already and will act aggressive when approached by the female, covering his nest with his wings. "


id: 2768a04eab94f7fccfd1bd4a52528007
created_at: 2022-12-12 16:43:08
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"He will gradually relax and allow her to crouch and lay the egg at the edge of the nest. The male will roll the egg into his nest.Males are simultaneously polygynous, females are serially polyandrous. In practice, this means that the females move around during breeding season, mating with a male and depositing their eggs with the male before leaving him and mating with another male. Males on the other hand are sedentary, attending the nests and taking care of incubation and the hatchlings all on their own. Recent evidence has shown that some males will utilize subordinate males to help incubate and protect the eggs. If this happens, the dominant male will find a second harem and start the process over again. The nests are thus collectively used by several females and can contain as many as 80 eggs laid by a dozen females; each individual female's clutch numbers some 5\u201310 eggs. However, the average clutch size is 26 eggs laid by 7 different females.Rhea eggs measure about 130 mm \u00d7 90 mm (5.1 in \u00d7 3.5 in) and weigh 600 g (21 oz) on average; they are thus less than half the size of an ostrich egg. "


