Animals
Giant Panda
The Giant Panda is is native to China. It has a black and white coat that features large black patches around its eyes. Pandas are an endangered species. Population estimates vary but there may be around 2000 left living in the wild.
A giant panda cub weighs only around 150 grams at birth. Adult males can weigh up to 150 kg. Giant panda have a lifespan of around 20 years in the wild. Female pandas raise cubs on their own (the male leaves after mating). The diet of a panda is made up almost entirely of bamboo. Giant pandas eat as much as 10 kg of bamboo a day. Giant pandas are good climbers.
An animated movie from 2008 named ‘Kung Fu Panda’ features a giant panda called ‘Po’.
Have you visited Jia Jia and Kai Kai at the River Safari?
To find out more about pandas, click here.
Clownfish
The clownfish is also known as the anemonefish. There are 28 - 30 recognized species of clownfish. Clownfish are found in warm waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans including the Red Sea and the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.
Clownfish have a symbiotic (long-term mutual benefit) relationship with sea anemone which is a fish-eating plant-like animal that has poisonous tentacles. Sea anemones benefit from clownfish who clean them by eating its parasites and dead tentacles, help circulate the water around them, attract potential prey with their bright colors, and provide nutrients from their droppings. Clownfish in return benefit from sea anemone, who provide food scraps and who's venomous tentacles protect the clownfish from any attack by other fish. The clownfish builds up an immunity to sea anemones lethal sting over time and because of a layer of mucus on the clownfish's skin.
Clownfish species include yellow, orange, reddish and blackish varieties with most covered in patches or bars of white color. The largest clownfish can reach 18 cm, and the smallest 10 cm.
All clownfish are born as males. When the dominant female of a group dies the largest male will turn itself into a female, this change cannot be reversed back. Clownfish live up to 10 years in the wild but on average up to 6 - 8 years.
Females lay around 1000 eggs, the male clownfish will guard the eggs. The main character in the 2003 animated film Finding Nemo, was a clownfish.
To learn more about clownfish, click here.
Why do animals have such different lifespans?
For the microscopic lab worm C. elegans, life equates to just a few short weeks on Earth. The bowhead whale, on the other hand, can live over two hundred years. Why are these lifespans so different? And what does it really mean to ‘age' anyway? Joao Pedro de Magalhaes explains why the pace of aging varies greatly across animals.
The world's fastest animals
Cheetahs have a reputation for speed. While the big cats may be able to reach speeds of 75 mph, it's nothing compared to the top speeds of other animals. It's not even the fastest mammal! Here are the fastest animals on Earth.
Glowing ocean animals
Jessi and Squeaks discover some amazing ocean creatures, ones that glow by themselves!