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Today we have our final installment of our tribute to Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s 10th anniversary by looking at the park’s wildest stars.  COntributing writer Mike takes to the high Himalayas to research one of the world’s most elusive animals.

Species: Yeti
Habitat: Mountains/Valleys of Nepal & Tibet
Status: Presumed Endangered
DAK Location: Expedition: Everest

The Yeti, often referred to in folklore and stories as the abominable snowman, can be found in the mountainous valleys of Nepal and Tibet. The animal’s name comes from a tibetan word, yeh-teh, meaning “rock bear.” Despite the name, the yeti is not related to the bear but is instead a primate. In fact, it is the largest primate, outweighing a male silverback by 50%. Also, unlike other primates except man, it walks upright.

We know very little about this elusive creature as it lives in one of the most remote, least populated regions of the planet. It was years before the first westerner actually saw one. Simliar to the mountain gorilla and okapi of the Congo, western science presumed the creature to be myth even though the local populace was well aware of its existence. One of the first westerners to see evidence of the animal was Lt. Col. Charles Howard-Bay in a trek to the region sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society. He saw only the tracks of the yeti. As thrill seekers from abroad continued to visit the area’s impressive mountains, more tracks were spotted. In 1953, Sir Edmond Hillary spotted footprints while climbing Everest. Shortly thereafter, another trip sponsored by the RGS actually spotted the creature at about 15,000 feet. The imposing mountains continue to draw climbers and visitors, but encounters still are rare.

The reasons for the rarity of these encounters stems from fact that the creature is rare in number and lives exclsuively in a remote area. The population is limited by the amount of food in its local habitat. As is typical in many primates, the creatures have large canines for demonstration purposes. They are mostly vegetarians but will occassionally eat carrion or small animals. To date, there have been no substaniated attacks on humans although there have been reports of the creature destroying property.

The primates generally live in the dense valley vegetation. When visual encounters do occur, the creature is usually attempting to cross mountain passages to get to the next valley. Still, the animal is often not seen. One defense mechanism of the creature is to crouch down and remain perfectly still. To snow leopards and mountain climbers, the yeti will look exactly like a large rock in the distance. There are many local tales of people walking along a mountain pass only to see a “boulder” leap up and run away.

As one would suspect, the yeti plays a key role in the mythology of the region. In some local cultures, the yeti is believed to be the ghost of someone who has recently died. Other cultures see the yeti as a demon who guards the mountains from trespassers. This, of course, contradicts recent studies showing the creature to be a vegetarian. For the longest time, the gorilla suffered from this misconception, as well. Confrontations between man and yeti have been very rare. As people continue to travel to the area, these will invariably increase. In all likelihood, there is nothing to fear from the animals despite their reputation as demonic protectors of the Himalayans, even though they seem to have a strange dislike for trains…

We continue our week long tribute to the 10th Anniversary of Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Earth Day by folowing contributing writer Mike to the African plains of Kilimanjaro Safaris.  Today he take a look up at the giraffes.

Species: Reticulated Giraffe
Habitat: African Savannah
Status: Low Risk
DAK Location: Kilamanjaroo Safari

The giraffe is one of the most recognizable animals on the planet with its height, huge neck, big eyes, and color patterns. The neck, reaching 6 feet in length, has the same number of vertebrae that humans have, seven. Of course, a giraffe’s neck bones are much larger, stretching over 10 inches in length. At eighteen feet, the giraffe is the tallest of all land animals. The back legs only look smaller than the front giving the animal a odd gait. Still, it can run up to 45 mph. Also, look closely and you will see that both legs on the same side move together, a rarity in the animal kingdom.

Everything about the giraffe is super-sized. The tongue is over 20 inches to help with eating leaves in tall trees. An adult may eat up to 75 pounds of grass and leaves. Like cows, giraffes are ruminants. That is, they chew their food and then regurgitate the partially digested foliage to chew again as grass and leaves are nutrient poor and difficult to digest. The heart in an effort to pump blood far from it can be 2 feet wide and weigh 25 pounds. The lungs can hold 12 gallons of air. At about eight feet, it also has the largest tail of any land animal.

Giraffes have a gestation period of about 14 months, giving birth to a single calf. The calf drops six feet, head first, at birth. Within hours the calves can run but still are potential prey for lions, hyenas and wild dogs. Healthy adults, however, are generally not hunted by anything other than a particulary aggressive and/or desperate pride of lions as giraffes are huge and powerful. Giraffes are often seen necking, but its nothing like the human version. Instead, two necking giraffes are actually males in combat over females.

Giraffes are hunted for thier pelts. It is believed that no two giraffes have the same color pattern. The distinctive coloration does provide camouflage particularly for calves hiding on the plains. They also suffer from habitat destruction. However, they are not considered endangered. There is an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 giraffes in Africa with the eastern and southern populations being the most stable.

Mike continues his week long tribute to the 10th anniversary of Disney’s Animal Kingdom by taking a look at the Africa’s white rhinos.

Species: White Rhinoceros
Habitat: Grasslands of Southern Africa
Status: Endangered
DAK Locale: Savannah East/Kilimanjaroo Safari

There are several different species of rhino found in Asia and Africa. The White Rhino is found at the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride - Savannah East. You will notice that the white rhino is one of the largest land mammals weighing in at nearly 4500 lbs., which is larger than its cousin, the Black rhino, also found at the attraction. Males are significantly larger than females but both sexes have the signature two horns. The white rhino got its name from a misinterptation of an Afrikaans word for “wide”, referring to the white rhino’s broad lip.

The rhino is famous on the safari circuit for being nearsighted, even occassionally charging jeeps that they mistake for other rhinos. The black rhino, the culprit behind these “attacks”, is the more aggressive species. The white rhino is much more docile and approachable. To see in front of themselves, they must look one eye at a time. A rhino’s olfactory passage is larger than their brains.

Rhinos are either grazers or browsers. As a grazer, the white rhino eats grasses and the like. They are often accompanied by oxpeckers, a bird that eats the insects off their skin. This symbiotic relationship is beneficial for both critters. Also, the rhino lacks sweat glands. This requires them to spend a lot of time in mud wallows to stay out of the heat and cool off.

The rhino reproduces at a very slow rate, a complicating factor in the efforts to save the species. White rhino females reproduce every 3 to 4 years giving birth to (generally) only one young after a 17 month gestation period. Rhinos across the world have been hunted to near extinction. Their horns are used for ceremonial daggers and is ground up into a powder for an aphrodisiac in China. Poachers often hack up off the horn leaving the rest of the carcass on the savannah. Currently, there are probably less than 15,000 white rhinos. The population worldwide has decreased about 90% since 1970 due to habitat loss and poaching. There are 2 populations of the white rhino, the northern and southern. Unfortunately, the northern subspecies found in the Congo nows numbers a mere 4 animals virtually guaranteeing its eventual extinction.

We continue our spotlight on Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s greatest and wildest stars for the parks 10th anniversary.  Today contirbuting wroter mike takes a look at the stars the paparrazzi chases the most at DAK, the African Elephant.

Species: African Elephant
Habitat: Sub-Sahara Africa
Status: Endangered
DAK Locale: Kilimanjaroo Safari

Elephants are one of the most popular zoo animals and the largest land mammal on Earth. These highly intelligent behemoths are unusual and impressive in appearance yet are seemingly gentle. Of course, what the public does not realize is that elephants kill or injure more zookeepers than any other animal. This stems from their incredinle strength more than any real aggression. Plus, elephants require more hands-on care by the keepers than just about any other type of critter. The massive African bulls are the most aggressive and can weigh up to 6 tons, with females topping the scales at about 4 tons.

One of the most frequently asked questions about elephants is whats the difference between the African and Asian types. The Africans are much larger with significantly bigger ears. There is a smaller forest type of the African species but at Disney’s Animal Kingdom we see the savannah kind. Elephants in general use their large ears as fans, but they also contain numerous blood vessels close to the skin to help the cooling process. The distinctive trunk is used for breathing, smelling and as an extra limb which can grab food with its nimble end. The animals have 4 useful teeth which are huge and grooved. These can only be replaced 6 times in their lives and many an old animal dies from starvation after losing its last set. This usually occurs around the 70th year. The famous tusks (unlike Asian elephants, both males and females have tusks in Africa) are actually incisor teeth.

The most endearing quality of the elephants is its family life, at least among the females. These groups are matriarchal, meaning a group is lead by the dominant female. The rest of the herd is comprised of other females and the young. Bulls are driven away once they reach puberty and live on thier own or in a bachelor herd until they get their own group. Males join herds only briefly to breed. Females reach maturity at about 14 years of age and give birth after a 22 month gestational period, that is, their pregancy lasts nearly 2 years. No wonder the boys take off (Just kidding). The calf is about 250 pounds at birth and will suckle for up to 2 years. A female gives birth every 4 years or so and usually has 3 or 4 young with her at any given time.

The family members stay in constant contact with one another. In fact, at the Bronx Zoo, it was recently discovered that the 2 seperate groups were consistently calling one another at other ends of the 250+ acre park. These calls were too low for the human ear to pick up. However, we can sometimes hear elephants call one another in a low gargling noise.

The famed legend of the elephant graveyard comes from the behavior of elephants greiving over the loss of a family member. Elephants have been known to bury their dead with leaves and twigs- a behavior only shared by man. The herd will sometimes spend days at the corpse of a dead elephant often touching and caressing the body. This was first recorded by the Roman writer, Pliny. In fact, it has been shown that elephants once back at the site of a long dead family member may caress the bones left behind. This may also account for its legendary memory in folklore.

Elephants eat a lot. The diet consists of a large variety of grasses, foliage, fruit and twigs. They eat all day and night. They can digest as much as 500 pounds of vegetation a day and can drink as much as 40 gallons of water at a time. Despite this, man has long domesticated the animals. The first domesticated elephants appear in accounts in India around 5500 BC. In fact, elephants have always played an important role in that culture’s unique mythology.

As we all know, the elephant is highly endangered. Hunting has been banned but, as Little Red can tell you, poaching is still a major problem, especially with the price of ivory being so high. Gamekeepers are now heavily armed in order to protect the herds from even heavier armed poachers. In Kenya alone, the population dropped from 150,000 to 30,000 in 10 years. During the 1980s, it is estimated that nearly half of Africa’s 1.2 million elephants were killed almost exclusively by poachers.

For part two of our tribute to the stars of the Animal Kingdom, contributing writer Mike takes a stroll over to Asia and onto the Maharajah Jungle Trek to get a look at some really big cats.

Species: Bengal Tiger
Habitat: Forests/Scrublands of Indian Subcontinent
Status: Endangered
DAK Locale: Maharajah Jungle Trek

The Bengal Tiger is one of the most distinguishable animals at any zoo with its reddish gold and black stripes. Yet, in a deep forest or amongst a reed bed, its well camouflaged. The tiger is generally a solitary animal and doesn’t like to share territory. At a zoo such as Disney’s Animal Kingdom, however, family members can be kept in the same enclosures safely. In the wild, males only stay with breeding females for 20 to 80 days. Mothers keep cubs around for 2 to 3 years.

Bengals hunt almost exclusively at night. They are powerful and quick only over short distances. They use their camouflage to get close to prey. They tend to kill small animals by breaking their necks, but larger animals require them to bite throats. A tiger can eat the equivalent of 30 buffaloes a year and will eat as much as 65 pounds of meat a night. For some reason, they always eat the hindquarters first.

Currently, the Bengal Tiger is most numerous in the mangrove forests of eastern India, but they can be found elsewhere in the country as well as in Burma and Nepal. They require large tracts of land with single males occupying as much as 20 square miles and females using 17 square miles. Males are also significant;y larger than females. They can be as long as 9 feet from nose to tip of tail and can weigh as much as 570 pounds.

Habitat destruction is a major problem in the growing nation of India as is overhunting. In 1900, the tiger population of that country was between 40,000 and 50,000. It dropped to a mere 1850 in 1972. Now, the tiger has rebounded to about 4000 animals in India. In zoos, the tiger is being kept from breeding as the capacity to house the animals is reaching the limit.

Tigers rarely attack humans. In India, the myth of maneaters is probably overblown. Yet, it is true that an occasional animal will develop a “taste” for humans. Plus, the massive amount of people in India most likely contributes to the fact that approximately 3 dozen people are killed and eaten annually by tigers.

As you imagine, the tiger in that region is a strong part of folklore and mythology. Its reclusive nature as made them less associated with royalty which is the role often played by the lion. Still, it is often given supreme supernatural power. The Hindu goddess, Durga, rides into battle astride a massive tiger. Shamans in Malaysia feel they can shapeshift into tigers to protect the tribe. The mystical king of tigers, Raja Yah is said to inhabit the center of the World.

Contributing writer Mike begins our tribute to Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s 10th Anniversary by looking at some of its biggest and wildest stars.  Today we have a look at one of the park’s best exhibits and the gorillas that make it a must see.

Species: Western Lowland Gorilla
Habitat: Rainforests of Central Africa
Status: Endangered
DAK Location: Pangani Forest Trail

For many years, the common perception of the gorilla was that of King Kong- a massive, vicious man-like monster of the deep jungle. Yet now, thanks to Diane Fossey, “Gorillas in the Mist”, channels like Animal Planet, and exhibits like that at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, we are beginning to see the gorilla for what it really is- a gentle close relative of the human. To watch a gorilla go about its day can be engrossing and perhaps even unsettling as many of its actions are so familiar.

Gorillas live in family groups consisting of a silverback male, breeding females, and the young. These animals are highly social and can often be seen grooming one another in an effort to bond within the group. Each evening the band settles down in nests made of leaves. These nests are either on the ground or in the trees depending on the region. Often a researcher’s first clue that gorillas are nearby is the discovery of a fresh set of nests.

The impressive male gorilla, the silverback, gets its name from - you guessed it- the silvered hair growing on the upper portion of his back. He’s also distinguished by his size (perhaps more than twice the size of the females) and the bony ridge on his head that creates a dome-shaped look. All gorillas have human like thumbs that are opposable assisting in gripping and climbing. Females produce one offspring and raise them for three years or more. Young adult males eventually move out on their own living solitary lives until they establish their own troop on their own territory, which is often small. Gorillas eat only vegetation-no meat. They are especially fond of bamboo shoots, ferns, and wild celery.

The image of the ferocious gorilla stems from its reaction to outside threats, most notably a silverbacks reaction to another grown male. They will scream and pound their chests king kong style. This display is often enhanced by charging nosily through the thick jungle foliage. The silverbacks will occassionaly have fierce fights with males looking to take over their group.

The picture we have now is that of a gentle giant who sits calmly by while scientists and tourists mingle with the group. This has allowed a great deal of study of the gorillas as well as bonding basically unheard of with any other animals. Yet, the gorilla faces extinction head on. The gorilla has been hunted for bushmeat for centuries. Its hands are sold as ashtrays. But, of course, the biggest problem is deforestation as well as the added threat of trying to live in an area dominated by civil war and politcal upheaval. The mountain gorilla which may number less than 500 lives only in the Virunga Volcanoes region the Congo. The Western lowland subspecies, the kind most often seen in zoos including Disney’s Animal Kingdom, lives in the lowland watershed regions of the Zaire and Ubangai rivers. The total population of all three gorilla subspecies (the eastern lowland being the third) is less than 50,000.

At the Animal Kingdom, the gorillas are divided into three distinct troops. One troop located near the swaying bridge is made of older animals. Another area contains the bachelor group. Finally, in the research camp, the visitor will see Gino, the silverback, with two females and perhaps even some young.