Tapir

Greetings all and welcome to Tapir week! As you can see from this picture the tapir is a unique looking animal. I always thought they were some kind of anteater based upon their snouts. But nooooooooo, they are actually related to horses and rhinoceros. They are mammals and herbivores and that nose is completely connected to and part of their upper lips. It’s a prehensile nose and that means they can use it to grab things like good plants to eat with it.

Not only are those noses great for snagging a tasty treat, they apparently make a great snorkel as well because the Tapir is a great swimmer. I’m talking Johnny Weissmuller great (ok I know you had to be a certain age to get that so I will keep the puns age neutral :). The tapir can grab plants off of the bottom of a pond or river with that snout.

There are 4 kinds of Tapirs: Baird’s, Lowland, Mountain, and Malayan. The largest of these is the Malayan which can grow up to 800 pounds and be almost 3 feet high on all fours so we are talking a pretty stocky critter whose size should be respected when encountered. Tapirs live in the grasslands, swamps and forests of Central America, South America and Asia. It should be noted that they are an endangered species that face the challenges of habitat loss, so they’re in need of not only your affection but your conservation support.

A group of tapirs is called a “Candle”. The gestation period for a female tapir is 13 months, that’s a lot of trips to the store for ice cream and pickles lol. When a baby tapir is born it is spotted for camouflage, the spots disappear as it matures. The tapir has a lifespan of 25-30 years.

Perhaps the most exciting thing about the tapir is its role in spreading the seeds of fruits and plants. As an herbivore whose diet includes fruits a tapir’s bio-waste is an instrumental factor in the reproductive cycle of flora in its habitats.

Next time you’re in Timbavati Wildlife Park, stop and take a gander at our Tapir, especially since you know it isn’t an anteater now. :)

Straw Colored Fruit Bat (Eidolon Helvum)

Straw Colored Fruit Bat

The straw colored fruit bat or “Eidolon Helvum,” ranges from a dark brown grey to a pale yellow or “straw” color. It is the second largest bat on the African continent.

The straw colored fruit bats prefer higher altitudes, roosting in tall trees. These bats live in colonies made up of thousands sometimes more! They are seen on the edges of forests, towns and cities. 

Imagine replacing a city like Wisconsin Dells (population 2,707) with FIVE straw colored fruit bats. That’s a lot of fruit bats 13,535 to be exact. This could be considered a small colony as these bats can colonize up 1 million. Though they are adaptable they prefer a more tropical habitat than Wisconsin.
                                           
These are frugivorous bats (fruit feeders) hence the name “fruit bat.” They feed on fruits like mangos, dates, passion fruit, loquats, pears, and figs. They will suck the juices from the pulp and leave behind any remains. 

During the migration straw colored fruit bats will consume up to two times their body weight in fruit every night.  They play a major role in pollination dispersing seeds through the forests. They also chew wood and bark to obtain moisture.

These bats feed at night but aren’t completely nocturnal. Though they rest occasionally during the day they are known to move among their colony.  

The broadest of any African bat their wingspan can reach from 75cm - 95cm, and their body size being anywhere from 15cm - 19cm. Male bats are slightly larger than the female and the color is a bit more conspicuous as well.

Don't take my word for it though, come see for yourself! 

Tortoise

Welcome to the week of the Tortoise. A tortoise is a land dwelling reptile that has both a endoskeleton and an exoskeleton in the form of its shell. One great way to tell you have a tortoise and not a turtle, though a tortoise is in the turtle family, is by looking at the feet. A turtle will have webbed flipper style feet better suited for swimming and a tortoise will have claws with morse stumpy appendages. Tortoises do not swim, my buddy Matt Schoebel told me that if you put it in the water it would sink like a rock.

Tortoises with lighter shells come from warmer climates and ones with darker shells come from cooler environments. There are about 40 different types of tortoises. The Aldabran and Galapagos Tortoises are the largest of the species and can weight up to and over 600 pounds. You can also tell the approximate age of a tortoise by counting the rings on the scutes (individual shell plates).

Tortoises dig burrows to lay their eggs in. The eggs hatch in about 3-4 months and unlike turtles which hatch and make a break for the water, baby tortoises hang out with their mother in her burrow for a couple of months before they leave.

Tortoises are cool characters and we have no shortage of them grooving around Timbavati Wildlife park. When you’re in the park if you’re lucky enough to see one go into it’s shell, listen to see if you can hear it exhale before it does. It has to expel the air in it’s body before it does.

That’s all for this week,

Ciao’

The Might of the African Lion

Welcome to the week of the African Lion. The African Lion used to be found throughout the entire continent of Africa and parts of Greece but now primarily reside in Southern and Eastern Africa due to habitat loss so conservation for them is imperative. Lions like grassy plains and savannahs, woodlands and scrubs. Lions are huge cats weighing 330-500 pounds and a lion’s roar can be heard up to 5 miles away.

Lions are social creatures and live in groups called “Prides”. A pride has about 15 lions, With about 2-3 males in them. Females do almost all of the hunting in a pride. Lions are carnivorous predators and they will eat anything they can take down. Rabbits, birds and reptiles are on the menu as well as zebra, giraffe, buffalo, impala, sometimes even rhinos and elephants. They are still cats and the same way your litttle tabby stalks a ball of yarn is no different than the crouch and pounce that the big cats use.

Lions mate throughout the year and have a gestation period of around 110 days. A lioness can give birth to 3 or 4 cubs in a litter. While the females do most of the hunting. The males are the protectors of the pride. Cubs are vulnerable to predators and typically don’t participate in the hunt until they’re almost a year old.

In my time at Timbavati Wildlife Park, I have used the lions as alarm clocks. When you get there and the sun is coming up, they roar pretty good. They also roar around dusk as well that tells me it’s almost time to go home for the evening. A lion can sleep up to 20 hours a day, so that might just be the time of day when a good stretch is needed!