WHAT DO CHIMPS EAT?

What do chimps eat?

Unlike other apes such as gorillas and orangutans which are almost entirely herbivorous (plant-eating), chimps are classified as omnivores. This means that, like humans, they eat a variety of plant and animal foods.

While the vast bulk of the chimpanzee’s diet is made up of plant foods including fruits, seeds, nuts, leaves and flowers, they will also eat insects and even larger animals that they have hunted and killed themselves.

The world’s foremost authority on chimpanzees is Dr. Jane Goodall who, beginning in 1960, studied them for decades in their natural habitat. Very early in her work with chimps, Dr. Goodall discovered a startling new answer to the question “what do chimps eat?” when she observed them using thin sticks to fish termites out of a termite mound. Until that time, chimpanzees had been considered to be strict herbivores just like the other great apes.

But it was the use of sticks to collect the termites that was the part of Dr. Goodall’s discovery that people found most surprising. Dr. Goodall observed the termite-fishing chimps actually stripping leaves from their termite sticks in order to make those sticks into better tools for the job at hand. See Video Until that time, tool-making and tool-use had previously been believed to be restricted to humans.

Dr. Goodall received another startling answer to the question of what chimps eat when she observed groups of male chimpanzees conducting seemingly organized hunts of red colobus monkeys. After they had captured their prey, the chimps ate every part of the monkey, including the brain. They sometimes also shared some of the meat with female chimps who had not participated in the hunt.

Despite their hunting behavior, however, only a very tiny percentage–perhaps as small as two percent–of a wild chimp’s diet consists of meat or insects.

Dr. Goodall’s website is a terrific resource for anyone who wants to learn more about the question of what chimpanzees eat, or anything else chimpanzee related. Dr. Goodall conducted most of her research at Gombe National Park (formerly Gombe Stream Reserve) in the western part of the East African nation of Tanzania.

–Paul Guernsey

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Endangered Apes: The Gorilla

The gorilla is the largest of the world’s apes, with a large male standing as tall as an average-size man and weighing as much as 450 pounds (205kg). Fully mature male gorillas are called “silverbacks” because of the fact that, by the time they reach about 12 years of age, the hair on their backs has turned silvery gray. Male gorillas can be up to twice the size of females.

Gorilla family groups consist of a dominant silverback and his harem of several females and their young. The group often also includes one or more sub-dominant silverbacks and immature (“blackback”) males. Although silverbacks sometimes fight for dominance, family life, gorilla-style, is a much more tranquil affair than that of chimpanzees.

A gorilla family roams the rainforest floor, eating a diet that largely consists of vegetation, including leaves, plant stalks, pith from the insides of stalks, and fruits. Only younger, smaller gorillas spend much time climbing trees. At night, each gorilla builds a sleeping nest for itself out of leaves; babies and youngsters share their mothers’ nests.

There are two species of gorilla: the Western gorilla and the Eastern gorilla, each of which is divided into two subspecies.

The Eastern gorillas are the mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei) and the Grauer’s gorilla (Gorilla berengei graueri), also known as the Eastern lowland gorilla. Mountain gorillas and Grauer’s gorillas both live in a number of small, scattered and isolated areas of tropical east-central Africa, with the mountain gorilla living at higher, cooler elevations than the Grauer’s subspecies.

Mountain gorillas and Grauer’s gorillas are both listed as Endangered species. Although fewer than 700 mountain gorillas remain in the wild, the species has actually increased in number over the past few decades due to protections brought on as a result of worldwide interest in the animal’s plight on the part of both conservationists and the public. By contrast, the number of Grauer’s gorillas, estimated at over 16,000 in the mid 1990′s, has been dropping rapidly due to habitat loss, illegal market hunting, and the slaughter of gorilla families in order to capture the babies for an illegal international pet trade.

The Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) is the most numerous subspecies, with a population that was estimated at just under 100,000 during the 1990′s. In spite of this fact, Gorilla gorilla gorilla is listed as Critically Endangered because of the severity of the threats it faces, along with the alarming rate at which its numbers appear to be declining. Not only is the species under intense pressure from illegal market hunting—”bush meat” is a sought after delicacy in West Africa—but large numbers of gorillas have been killed in recent years by human diseases, most notably the dreaded and incurable Ebola virus. Ebola appears to have completely wiped chimpanzees and gorillas alike from vast areas of otherwise intact West African forest.

The second Western subspecies, the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla dielii), is fast approaching extinction, with a few hundred of the animals surviving (for now) in isolated pockets.

Eastern gorillas are both larger and darker in color than the Western species, with the mountain gorilla being the largest of all four subspecies. The mountain gorilla also has longer hair and a bushier appearance due the fact that it lives in colder areas than the other gorillas.

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Primitive Primates

Prosimians are “primitive” primates that once ranged the world over—at least in the tropical rain forests—until monkeys and apes came along and out-competed them. Now most prosimians, in the form of lemurs, live on Madagascar. Scientists tell us that the this huge island off the southeastern coast of Africa once had no primates at all. Then a few species of lemurs got there somehow, probably by riding floating mats of vegetation that had drifted from the mainland. No monkeys ever made that journey, and after lemurs went extinct everywhere else they still thrived on Madagascar, where they evolved into more than 100 species to fill various environmental niches around the island.

Over 90 species of lemurs still exist, but many are listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Threatened, and all are gravely imperiled due to the near-total and ongoing destruction of their rainforest habitat. In fact, about 90 percent of Madagascar’s rainforest has been cut down for timber and to burn in order to make charcoal.

Existing species range in size from the tiny 1-ounce (30 gram) Madame Barthe’s mouse lemur (Microcebus berthae) to the 22-pound (10kg) indri (Indri indri). The greater bamboo lemur currently is the most critically endangered of all the lemur species, with only around 100 left in the wild. (See a video of the greater bamboo lemur.)

Some truly huge lemur species—some the size of gorillas—used to roam the island, but these began to go extinct after the first human settlers arrived about 2,000 years ago.

Most lemurs live in social groups that are dominated by females. Most live in the rainforest canopy and travel by springing from tree to tree, propelled by their powerful hind legs. Their diet consists mostly of fruits, flowers and leaves, although some species also eat insects, spiders and small vertebrates. Larger lemur species tend to be active during the day, while smaller lemurs generally prefer to feed and move about after dark. All lemurs are known for their large, light-gathering eyes.

While all lemurs are prosimians, all prosimians are not lemurs. And while very few prosimians have survived outside of Madagascar, a handful of species still exist in the rainforests of Asia and mainland Africa. Perhaps the most well-known non-lemur prosimians are the African bush babies, or galagos. There are around 20 species of these small, large-eyed nocturnal animals, which apparently get their name by the cries they make at night. The eat insects and tree gum, and are known for their leaping ability.

Male and female bush babies generally live separately, with groups of females living together and defending a territory against other females, and males living a solitary life in a territory that overlaps that of one or more female groups. Males without territories to defend may form groups of their own.

Indonesia and the Philippines are home to about 9 species of prosimians known as tarsiers. This is another group of small, big-eyed—in this case, huge eyed—nocturnal primates. Interestingly, science tells us that tarsiers are genetically closer to monkeys and apes than are the other prosimians, including lemurs. This indicates that tarsiers split from their common ancestor with the monkeys only after the other prosimians had already done so.

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WHICH ANIMALS LIVE IN RAINFORESTS?

Which animals live in rainforests?

Even though tropical rain forests cover less than 6 percent of the earth’s surface, scientists estimate that at least half of all animal species in the world live there. In fact, there are so many millions of species of rain forest animals–mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects–that scientists have not been able to count them all. Thousands of rainforest species, especially insects, have yet to be discovered. So, it will undoubtedly take many decades for science to completely answer the question of “which animals live in rainforests.”

Of course, science is already familiar with a lot of rainforest animals and birds. Tropical rain forests are areas covered by dense, tall trees near the earth’s equator that receive 50 or more inches of rain per year. Which animals live in rainforests depends on which part of the world the rainforest is located in. Tropical rain forests are found in Central America and the northern half of South America, across Equatorial Africa, and on either side of the equator from southern Asia down through the islands of the South Pacific to the northernmost part of Australia.

Animals of the various tropical rainforests around the world evolved thousands of miles from one another, and are therefore different from continent to continent and even from forest to forest. However, because all rainforest habitats are similar in many ways, many of the species in them are also similar to species from far away. For instance, all rainforests boast breathtaking numbers of bird species, and the bird species of most tropical rainforests include parrots. Among the many Central and South American rain forest parrots are the many species of huge macaws; African rainforests are home to parrots including the African grey, which is famous for its ability to mimic sounds, including human speech. Cockatoos and cockatiels live in Asian, South Pacific Island and Australian rainforests.

Which animals live in rainforests? Usually there is a species or two of large cat serving as the top predator. In the tropical rainforests of Central and South America, that ecological niche is occupied by the jaguar and the cougar. African rainforests are ruled by leopards. In Southern Asian rainforests, tigers and leopards are the apex predators.

Most tropical rainforest habitats are home to a number of primate species, from the myriad monkeys (spider monkeys and howler monkeys, for example) of Central and South America to the monkeys, baboons and great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas) of Africa to the monkeys and apes (gibbons and orangutans) of Southern Asia.

Among rain forest reptiles, the pythons of Africa and Asia have their New World counterpart in the anaconda of the Amazon jungle. Poisonous snakes abound in all tropical rain forests–bushmasters and coral snakes in South and Central America and cobras in Africa and Asia, to name just a handful–and you’ll always find a few crocodilians, from the alligators and caimans of the Americas to the many crocodile species of Africa and Asia.

It should be clear by now that “which animals live in rainforests?” is not an easy question to answer. But it is a fascinating question, as well as one that will keep probably biologists busy for the next hundred years.

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ENDANGERED TIGERS FACTS

The Endangered Tiger

Tigers are native to much of Asia, from some of the coldest regions to the steamy rainforests of the Indonesian Islands. They are the top predator in every ecosystem they inhabit.

Until the 20th Century there were nine tiger subspecies that probably numbered over 100,000 animals. They included the giant 660-pound, or 300 kilo, Siberian (Pantera tigris altaica) and Caspian (Pantera tigris virgata; now extinct) tigers as well as the relatively small—and now also extinct—200-pound (90 kilo) Balinese tiger. Depending on whether there are any remaining South China tigers—nobody has seen one in years—there are either 5 or 6 tiger subspecies remaining in existence; all are endangered. All tiger subspecies put together currently amount to around 3,200 endangered tigers remaining in the wild.

See A Range Map Of All The Endangered Tiger Species

See Our Latest Update On The Endangered Tiger’s Status

The main reasons tigers are endangered—in most cases cases, critically endangered—are illegal hunting for their pelts, meat and body parts (used in folk medicines) as well as habitat loss that results from logging and other forms of forest destruction.

Fewer than 500 endangered Siberian, or Amur, tigers remain in the wild, all of of them in a small area of coastal Far-Eastern Russia. Although the population has appeared stable until recently, these tigers are threatened by poaching, habitat loss due to logging, road-building and development, as well as by the problem of inbreeding that has resulted from the fact that, before conservation measures were implemented in the 1930′s, the entire population had collapsed to around 40 individuals. Read more about endangered Siberian tigers.

The Bengal tiger (Pantera tigris tigris) is the most numerous of the endangered tiger subspecies, with probably fewer than 2,000 remaining at large in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

There are fewer than 500 each of the endangered Malayan tiger (Pantera tigris jacksoni), native to the Malay Peninsula, and the endangered Sumatran tiger (Pantera tigris sumatrae) which is found only on the Indonesian Island of Sumatra.

The Indochinese tiger (Pantera tigris corbetti) of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar (Burma) probably numbers fewer than 500.

No critically endangered South China tiger (Pantera tigris amoyensis) has been sighted for a number of years, and the species may be extinct.

Along with the Balinese tiger, formerly found on the Indonesian Island of Bali and known to be extinct since the 1930′s, the Javan tiger (Pantera tigris sondaica), another Indonesia Island species, was also hunted to extinction, with the last one spotted in 1979.

The Caspian tiger—a huge, cold-climate species similar to the Siberian tiger, which once roamed the vast mountains of western Asia—has been extinct since the 1950′s.

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ENDANGERED TIGERS FACTS

The Endangered Tiger

Tigers are native to much of Asia, from some of the coldest regions to the steamy rainforests of the Indonesian Islands. They are the top predator in every ecosystem they inhabit.

Until the 20th Century there were nine tiger subspecies that probably numbered over 100,000 animals. They included the giant 660-pound, or 300 kilo, Siberian (Pantera tigris altaica) and Caspian (Pantera tigris virgata; now extinct) tigers as well as the relatively small—and now also extinct—200-pound (90 kilo) Balinese tiger. Depending on whether there are any remaining South China tigers—nobody has seen one in years—there are either 5 or 6 tiger subspecies remaining in existence; all are endangered. All tiger subspecies put together currently amount to around 3,200 endangered tigers remaining in the wild.

See A Range Map Of All The Endangered Tiger Species

See Our Latest Update On The Endangered Tiger’s Status

The main reasons tigers are endangered—in most cases cases, critically endangered—are illegal hunting for their pelts, meat and body parts (used in folk medicines) as well as habitat loss that results from logging and other forms of forest destruction.

Fewer than 500 endangered Siberian, or Amur, tigers remain in the wild, all of of them in a small area of coastal Far-Eastern Russia. Although the population has appeared stable until recently, these tigers are threatened by poaching, habitat loss due to logging, road-building and development, as well as by the problem of inbreeding that has resulted from the fact that, before conservation measures were implemented in the 1930′s, the entire population had collapsed to around 40 individuals. Read more about endangered Siberian tigers.

The Bengal tiger (Pantera tigris tigris) is the most numerous of the endangered tiger subspecies, with probably fewer than 2,000 remaining at large in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

There are fewer than 500 each of the endangered Malayan tiger (Pantera tigris jacksoni), native to the Malay Peninsula, and the endangered Sumatran tiger (Pantera tigris sumatrae) which is found only on the Indonesian Island of Sumatra.

The Indochinese tiger (Pantera tigris corbetti) of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar (Burma) probably numbers fewer than 500.

No critically endangered South China tiger (Pantera tigris amoyensis) has been sighted for a number of years, and the species may be extinct.

Along with the Balinese tiger, formerly found on the Indonesian Island of Bali and known to be extinct since the 1930′s, the Javan tiger (Pantera tigris sondaica), another Indonesia Island species, was also hunted to extinction, with the last one spotted in 1979.

The Caspian tiger—a huge, cold-climate species similar to the Siberian tiger, which once roamed the vast mountains of western Asia—has been extinct since the 1950′s.

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burung terlangkah di indonesia

Kasuari Gelambir-ganda atau dalam nama ilmiahnya Casuarius casuarius adalah salah satu burung dari tiga spesies Kasuari. Burung Kasuari mempunyai kaki yang besar dan kuat dengan tiga buah jari pada masing-masing kakinya. Jari-jari kaki burung ini sangat berbahaya karena diperlengkapi dengan cakar yang sangat tajam. Seperti umumnya spesies burung-burung yang berukuran besar, burung Kasuari Gelambir-ganda tidak dapat terbang. Burung Kasuari biasanya hidup sendiri, berpasangan hanya pada waktu musim berbiak. Anak burung dierami dan dibesarkan oleh burung jantan.

Penangkapan liar dan hilangnya habitat hutan mengancam keberadaan spesies ini. Kasuari Gelambir-ganda dievaluasikan sebagai rentan (vulnerable, VU) di dalam IUCN Red List.

Kuau-kerdil Kalimantan, Polyplectron schleiermacheri, adalah jenis kuau-kerdil berukuran sedang yang berhabitat di hutan hujan dataran rendah Pulau Kalimantan. Kuau ini adalah jenis kuau merak yang paling langka dan sudah jarang ditemui. Cirinya adalah ukuran tubuhnya yang maksimal dapat tumbuh sampai 50 cm dengan bintik-bintik pada tubuhnya. Kuau merak Kalimantan masih berkerabat dengan kuau-kerdil Malaya dan kuau-kerdil Palawan.

Burung ini memiliki status konservasi EN (endangered) atau terancam punah oleh IUCN red list.

Jalak bali (Leucopsar rothschildi) adalah sejenis burung pengicau berukuran sedang, dengan panjang lebih kurang 25cm, dari suku Sturnidae. Jalak Bali merupakan burung endemik pulau Bali dan dinobatkan sebagai lambang fauna provinsi Bali. Jalak bali dinilai statusnya sebagai kritis di dalam IUCN Red List serta didaftarkan dalam CITES Appendix I.

Merak Hijau atau dalam nama ilmiahnya Pavo muticus adalah salah satu burung dari tiga spesies merak. Seperti burung-burung lainnya yang ditemukan di suku Phasianidae, Merak Hijau mempunyai bulu yang indah. Merak Hijau dievaluasikan sebagai rentan di dalam IUCN Red List. Spesies ini didaftarkan dalam CITES Appendix II.

Kakatua-kecil Jambul-kuning atau dalam nama ilmiahnya Cacatua sulphurea adalah burung berukuran sedang, dengan panjang sekitar 35 cm, dari marga Cacatua.

Berdasarkan dari hilangnya habitat hutan dan penangkapan liar yang terus berlanjut untuk perdagangan, serta daerah dan populasi dimana burung ini ditemukan sangat terbatas, kakatua-kecil jambul-kuning dievaluasikan sebagai kritis di dalam IUCN Red List. Spesies ini didaftarkan dalam CITES Appendix I.

Gosong Maluku yang dalam nama ilmiahnya Eulipoa wallacei adalah sejenis burung gosong berukuran kecil, dengan panjang sekitar 31cm, dan merupakan satu-satunya spesies di dalam genus tunggal Eulipoa.

Berdasarkan dari hilangnya habitat hutan yang terus berlanjut, keamanan yang tidak stabil di Maluku yang menghambat usaha perlindungan spesies serta populasi yang terus menyusut dan daerah dimana burung ini ditemukan sangat terbatas, Gosong Maluku dievaluasikan sebagai rentan (vulnerable, VU) di dalam IUCN Red List.

Maleo Senkawor atau Maleo, yang dalam nama ilmiahnya Macrocephalon maleo adalah sejenis burung gosong berukuran sedang, dengan panjang sekitar 55cm, dan merupakan satu-satunya burung di dalam genus tunggal Macrocephalon. Diperkirakan jumlahnya kurang dari 10.000 ekor saat ini.

Berdasarkan dari hilangnya habitat hutan yang terus berlanjut, tingkat kematian anak burung yang tinggi, populasi yang terus menyusut serta daerah dimana burung ini ditemukan sangat terbatas, Maleo Senkawor dievaluasikan sebagai terancam punah di dalam IUCN Red List. Spesies ini didaftarkan dalam CITES Appendice I.

Mentok Rimba atau dalam nama ilmiahnya Cairina scutulata adalah sejenis burung dari keluarga bebek (suku Anatidae). Spesies ini termasuk salah satu burung air yang paling langka dan terancam punah di dunia. Pada masa lalu, Mentok Rimba hidup tersebar luas mulai dari India timur laut, Bangladesh, Asia Tenggara, Sumatra hingga Jawa. Pada tahun 2002 populasinya di seluruh dunia tinggal lagi 800 ekor; dengan sekitar 200 ekor menyebar di Laos, Thailand, Vietnam dan Kamboja, sekitar 150 ekor di Sumatra, terutama di Taman Nasional Way Kambas, dan 450 ekor di India, Bangladesh dan Myanmar.

Jenis unggas ini masuk dalam daftar IUCN red list sebagai fauna yang terancam punah (endangered, EN).

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