New BBC Documentary About Emperor Penguin Chick’s Fight For Survival

Penguins certainly seem to be getting a whole lot of attention at the moment, recently we blogged about why adopting a penguin makes for the perfect Christmas gift this holiday season and who could forget the John Lewis advert that is guaranteed to make you cry. The BBC seems to getting in on the act as well and will air a natural history documentary next year titled Snow Chick which is about a baby emperor penguin’s fight for survival in the Antarctic.

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Human Interference To Blame For Plunging Cheetah Numbers

The elegant cheetah is well known for its speed that enables it to hunt animals ranging from rabbits to antelopes. Despite its fame, cheetah numbers have fallen from roughly 100,000 in 1900 to less than 10,000 today. Some researchers have long hypothesised that the cheetah loses too much energy when it sprints and as a result ends up suffering from harm.

Lions and hyenas are not to blame either, with many scientists thinking that the cheetah often loses its hard won food to theft by opportunistic hunters. The latest research however suggests that human interference in areas where cheetahs live is adversely affecting the ability of the big cat to find food. The researchers took a close look at 19 cheetahs living in two wild reserves of South Africa. One in the wet Karongwe Private Game Reserve and the other in the Kalahari Desert said Michael Scantlebury the lead researcher who lectures at Belfast’s Queen’s University.

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Did You Know Tiger Stripes Are Unique?

The tiger is the largest of the big cats in the world so it’s not surprising that many cultures see it as a symbol of courage and strength. What is odd given how revered the tiger is, that they are endangered. Apart from the illegal wildlife trade, hunting is also seen as an act of bravery which has meant there are now less than 3,000 tigers left in the wild. The tiger has nearly been hunted to extinction and its survival in the wild depends on conservation.

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Amazing! Killer Whales Can Learn To Speak Like Dolphins

The killer whale is famous for its complex clicks and whistles that can sometimes resemble a haunting song. However the latest research suggests that they also have the ability to learn “dolphin speak”. Some species such as human beings have the ability to imitate new sounds and use them correctly socially. This is the foundation of language and is known as vocal learning.

The ability to learn vocally is present in some birds, bats and cetaceans, which is a group that includes porpoises, dolphins and whales. Some scientists that study birds have been able to identify which neural pathways are responsible for learning birdsong. However it is much more difficult to study language learning in large marine animals the researchers say.

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The Difference Between Asiatic and African Lions

The lion is a big cat that is also known as the “king of the jungle.” these large felines used to prowl throughout Europe, Asia and Africa. Now however, lions only remain in two parts of the world and are classified according to two subspecies. The African lion can be found in southern and central Africa, whilst the Asiatic lion can only be found in India’s Gir Forest. Whilst they both look a lot alike, the two subspecies are very different in many ways including, habitat, diet and size.

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