Capybara

Greetings and Salutations dear friends! This week we enter the world of the world’s largest rodent, the Capybara. This herbivore is a native of South America and is as comfortable in water as it is on land. First, let’s consider its size. A male adult capybara can weigh anywhere from 75 to 150 pounds and stand almost 2 feet tall on all fours. Se we’re dealing with a rodent the size of a large domestic dog.

I mentioned that the capybara is just as comfortable in the water as it is on land, the term we would use to describe this is “semi-aquatic”. With that level of comfort, you will rarely find a capybara far from a water supply. This is helpful because when threatened by a predator, a capybara can submerge itself under water for up to 5 minutes. That’s called aqua-skeedaddling :).

The capybara has webbed feet and likes aquatic plants just as much as it does terrestrial plants. Not surprisingly, this animal likes to mate in water and after a 4 to 5 month gestation period, the female will give birth to 4-5 babies. Here is this week’s video about the capybara of Timbavati Wildlife Park with more fun facts. Enjoy, and we will talk with you next week!

The Crowned Crane

Greeting and salutations friends! This week we visit the Crowned Crane. 

The Crowned Crane is the national bird of Uganda and is native to Africa south of the Sahara. It belongs to the crane family "Gruidae." They can be found near rivers, marshes and other wetland areas. These birds do not migrate but will make local and seasonal movements according to the food resources, the nest-site availability and the rains.

The crowned crane is a fairly large bird standing about 3ft tall. They can weigh up to 9 pounds.  They have a red pouch called a "gular pouch" that hangs from their throats.

These birds are omnivores and consume many types of prey including seeds, insects, grasses, fish and other invertebrate. The grey crowned crane has a long hind toe which can grasp a branch allowing them to roost in trees.

During the breeding season, the Grey Crowned Crane performs a beautiful dance, bow, run and jump while inflating the gular sacs and giving off low booming calls. These calls are given with the head lowered to shoulder level.

Below you will find a short video with a few more fun facts and footage of the Crowned Cranes! 

Greater Rhea

Greetings and salutations dear friends. This week we are taking a trip to South America to take an in depth look at the Greater Rhea. It is the largest bird in South America and the 3rd largest bird in the world. Its relatives the ostrich and emu are the only ones that are larger.

My personal experiences with the Rhea also place them as less aggressive than the other two larger birds as well. If you remember the White Emu were very unhappy with our presence in their enclosure as you can see by this video where the dominant member of the flock goes after my video camera and then a photographer.

The Greater Rhea is an omnivore that likes plants fruits and seeds but will also eat insects, lizards and small birds. Rheas commonly swallow pebbles. This assist them with breaking down their foods. Rhea can weigh up to 50 pounds and stand 3 to 5 feet tall.

This week’s vid has more fun facts about the Greater Rhea of Timbavati Wildlife Park

Talk with you next week!

As we close out our week

As we close out our week with the Red Kangaroo, Here is one more look at our high jumping friend http://qoo.ly/adxty

The Kangaroo of Timbavati Wildlife Park
Hailing from the land down under, the Kangaroo at Timbavati WIldlife Park are an interesting mob, here are more fun facts about them.