Animal News - Rare Gorillas in Congo Park

Some travelers were escorted by troops M23 movement see where the mountain gorillas that are rare in the Virunga National Park, Congo, Tuesday (10/23/2012). The opening of the park is also intended as an effort to preserve the animals that have been categorized as rare. Photo: REUTERS / James viva

 

 

Animal World - All about LORIS around the world

 

Loris is the common name for the strepsirrhine primates of the subfamily Lorisinae in family Lorisidae. Loris is one genus in this subfamily and includes the slender lorises, while Nycticebus is the genus for the slow lorises.

Lorises are nocturnal. They are found in tropical and woodland forests of India, Sri Lanka, and other parts in southeast Asia. Loris locomotion is a slow and cautious climbing form of quadrupedalism. Some lorises are almost entirely insectivorous, while others also include fruits, gums, leaves, and slugs in their diet.

Female lorises practice infant parking, leaving their young infants behind in nests. Before they do this they bathe their young with allergenic saliva that is acquired by licking patches on the insides of their elbows that produce a mild toxin that discourages most predators, though orangutans occasionally eat lorises.

 

Animal World - All about LLAMA around the world

The llama (Lama glama) is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since pre-Hispanic times.

The height of a full-grown, full-size llama is 1.7 to 1.8 m (5.5 to 6.0 ft) tall at the top of the head, and can weigh between 130 to 200 kilograms (280 to 450 lb). At birth, a baby llama (called a cria) can weigh between 9 and 14 kilograms (20 and 30 lb). Llamas can live for a period of about 20–30 years depending on how well they are taken care of. Llamas are very social animals and live with other llamas as a herd. The wool produced by a llama is very soft and lanolin-free. Llamas are intelligent and can learn simple tasks after a few repetitions. When using a pack, llamas can carry about 25% to 30% of their body weight for 5-8 miles.

The name llama (in the past also spelled 'lama' or 'glama') was adopted by European settlers from native Peruvians.

Llamas appear to have originated from the central plains of North America about 40 million years ago. They migrated to South America about 3 million years ago. By the end of the last ice age (10,000–12,000 years ago), camelids were extinct in North America. As of 2007, there were over 7 million llamas and alpacas in South America and, due to importation from South America in the late 20th century, there are now over 158,000 llamas and 100,000 alpacas in the United States and Canada.