Otters: 9 Things You Didn’t Know About

Otters are known as playful and inquisitive creatures and are often one of the highlights when visiting a zoo. Tony Hakim has some unusual facts that you may not have known about these curious little animals.

1. There are 13 species of otter.
2. Sea otters can live up to 23 years.
3. Some otters eat alligators.
4. Otters hold hands whilst sleeping so they do not drift apart.
5. Australia and Antarctica are the only continents that are not home to a species of otters.
6. Sea otters have small skin pouches on their arms in which they store their favourite rock.
7. They have the densest fur of any animal, with up to 1 million hairs per square inch.
8. Sea otters give birth in water and carry their pups on their stomachs until they learn to swim.
9. Some otters have been trained to help fisherman in Bangladesh.

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Parade Magazine

5 Animals People Shouldn’t Keep as Pets

When looking for a new pet, chances are your first thought will be a cat or a dog, maybe even a fish or a bird. But some people aren’t satisfied with ordinary pets, and instead are attracted to the idea of a more exotic, even dangerous, pet. Tony Hakim has named these 5 animals that people shouldn’t keep as pets, but still do.

Skunks

Skunks are famous for their foul odour, so we’re not sure why anybody would want one to begin with. Although most skunks in the United States and Canada have their scent glands surgically removed, they still have major drawbacks as pets. For instance, their tricky diet, difficulty in accessing veterinary care, and even the possibility of the skunk getting rabies are all downsides. Although skunks have been known to be intelligent and can even be house-trained, not enough is known about them to be a suitable option for a pet.

Venomous Snakes

Many people do actually have snakes as pets, even venomous ones. But if the right care isn’t taken with a venomous snake, or it escapes, it could seriously hurt someone. Some cobras can cause immense pain and blindness just by spitting their venom into your eyes. As for non-venomous snakes, they still aren’t the best option. Let’s not forget the story of the snake that starved itself so it could later eat its owner.

Bats

Bats don’t exactly seem to possess the qualities you’d expect in a typical pet. They have sharp teeth, sleep all day, fly all night, and more importantly, can carry Rabies and SARS. Bats would provide a difficult situation, as there is no realistic way to care for them in your home. Bats can live more than 30 years, hibernate in the colder months, and eat insects, fruit or blood.

Tigers and other big cats

A pick from the larger cat family may seem like the celebrity way to own a pet, but that’s because they cost thousands of dollars each year to properly maintain. It is estimated that about 10,000 tigers are kept as private pets in the United States alone, far more than are kept in zoos or even in the wild. Not only are they expensive, big cats are at least 12 times stronger than a man, and even if they are playful, the result can often be tragic. They also grow up fast and soon become the killers they were designed to be.

Alligators

A surprising amount of people actually own or are interested in owning a pet alligator in the United States. The cost of keeping an alligator as a pet is the highest on this list. It costs between $300 and $500 for a baby alligator, and then you have to be zoned for it. They also need an area at least 3 times their size all the way around, deep fresh water, and a sunning area. Keep in mind alligators grow about 1 foot a year, and can reach lengths of up to 15 feet. Food wise, they require a good food source, usually chicken and beef. On top of all this, alligators are predators, meaning they will take a chunk out of you if they’re hungry.

 

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Huffington Post

Animals living in the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is home to hundreds, if not thousands, of different animals, each unique and beautiful. So here are just few Tony Hakim animal lovers think you should look out for. These animals either find home in the Great Barrier Reef, or use the Great Barrier Reef regularly.

Whales, dolphins and porpoises

Up to 30 different species of whales, dolphins and porpoises make the Great Barrier Reef their home. In June and July of each year the dwarf minke whale temporarily set up their home in the Great Barrier Reef.  They use this time to eat small plankton and krill. Dwarf minke whales are a bit of a mystery as we don’t know where they come from or why they come to the Great Barrier Reef during this time.

Dugongs

Weighing up to 400kg and growing up to 3 metres long, the dugongs that make the Great Barrier Reef their home represent one of the largest populations of dugongs in the world.  They like to munch on different types of sea grass.

Birds

The Roseate tern is one of 200 different species of birds that live on the Great Barrier Reef. This protected species of bird migrates from the Great Barrier Reef to as far as Japan.

Sea Turtles

There are six different types of sea turtles that call the Great Barrier Reef their home. They consist of the Green, Leatherback, Olive Ridley, Loggerhead, Flatback and Hawksbill. Living up to 100 years these sea turtles lay their eggs in the sand, up to 100 at one time.

Sea snakes

At the moment there are about 15 different types of sea snakes in the Great Barrier Reef. They  feed on fish eggs, fish and burrowing eels, and can spend up to 2 hours underwater between taking breaths on the surface. These sea snakes have the ability to paralyse their prey with their poisonous venom.

Fish

Up to 1500 different species of fish use the Great Barrier Reef as their home. Some species include: the red bass, which is likely the oldest fish living; the whale shark, which is the biggest fish gracing the Great Barrier Reef; and the coral trout.

These are just few of the animals that can be found at the Great Barrier Reef. Our advice? Go for a holiday to Queensland and see how many animals you would be able to find.

 

Image:

Talismancoins

What makes Australia’s waters so dangerous?

Australia is infamous for being home to many of the most venomous snakes and spiders in the world. What Tony Hakim’s animal lovers have found out is that many of the most dangerous ones lurk beneath the surface of the water. So here are a few of our most terrifying deep see creatures to look out for.

Box Jellyfish

An unsuspecting predator of the ocean, the box jellyfish is almost invisible and has tentacles that can entangle a person and inject a lot of venom at once. They can travel up to 2 metres per second and the effect of their poison is so instant and excruciating that you would drown due to shock. While it is not the most venomous jellyfish in the world, it can kill a person the fastest, taking just minutes.

Irukandji

At just 2.5 centimeters (including bell and tentacles) in diameter, the Irukandji Jellyfish is difficult to spot, and unfortunately considered the most venomous creature in the world. With stingers on its bell as well as its tentacles, the venom from an Irukandji can kill a human within a number of days.

Sharks

Bull, tiger, and great white sharks are often considered the three most dangerous sharks in the world and the three most likely to attack humans due to their aggressive nature. Bull sharks are fast, agile predators that will eat almost anything they see, even other sharks.

Of the 100+ recorded shark attacks each year, up to half are by great white sharks, though many are not fatal, and are attributed to the shark’s curiosity. Great whites grow to be an average of 4.6 metres, but have also exceeded 6 metres.

Similarly, the larger species of tiger sharks can grow up to 7 metres in length and have also been known to attack humans.  Tiger sharks have an excellent sense of sight and smell, and have jaws powerful enough to crack a turtle’s shell.

Saltwater Crocodile

Growing up to 7 metres in length, the saltwater crocodile has been dubbed the most likely animal to eat a human. These crocodiles are excellent swimmers and have often been spotted far out at sea. Natural predators, crocodiles will clamp down on anything they can get their jaws on and drag it under the surface of the water until it drowns. They have even been known to eat sharks.

Blue Ringed Octopus

No larger than a golf ball, and lurking around reefs, is the blue ringed octopus. They may be small, but they pack enough poison to kill 26 human adults in just minutes. Luckily for us though, if the octopus feels it is in danger, its rings glow a bright blue and you can try to get away. Otherwise it injects neuromuscular paralyzing venom into your body that contains maculotoxin, an extremely violent poison. Within moments the victim will start to feel nauseous and may even become blind. They will also lose their sense of touch, their speech, and ability to swallow, and they will soon go into respiratory arrest. There is no known antidote to this poison, however if you are able have artificial respiration, the poison will wear off in 24 hours.

Image:

Outback Australia Travel Secrets

 

Facts on the top 10 fastest land animals

Humans out do their animal counter parts in a broad range of areas, but when it comes to running speed humans lose out, big time. Here are Tony Hakim’s top 10 fastest land animals.

1. Cheetah: 112 – 120km/h –The fastest land animal on the list. The cheetah can go from 0 to 96.6 km/h in under 30 seconds, though sprints are usually only sustained for about 60 seconds. Interestingly, when sprinting the cheetah spends more time airborne than on the ground.

2. Ostrich: 97 km/h – The only bird to make the fastest land animal list, the ostrich is the tallest and heaviest of all living birds. Additionally the ostrich is the fastest animal on two legs and can sustain a 48km/h job for as long as half an hour.

3. Pronghorn: 88.5 km/h – the pronghorn has its own unique advantages to its speed as it is the fastest animal over long distances. It can run 56 km/h for 6 km, 67km/h for 1.6 km and 88.5 km/h for 0.8 km.

4. Springbok: 88km/h – the springbok, native to southern Africa, boasts an impressive 88 km/h and is known for its ability to make long jumps and sharp turns while running.

5. Wildebeest: 80.5 km/h – The mighty wildebeest, a staple of the African savannah has exceptional land speed for its size and bulk. Its speed is a must to escape from its common predators such as the lion and cheetah.

6. Blackbuck: 80 km/h – the blackbuck, yet another antelope on the list, can sustain speeds of 80km/h for over 1.5km at a time.

7. Lion: 80 km/h – the lion is king of the savannah for a reason, its muscular body can propel it at highway speeds. Interestingly the female lion typically outruns their male counter parts.

8. Grey Hound: 74 km/h – with grey hound racing being such a large global sport, it should be no surprise the grey hound makes the list.

9. Jack Rabbit: 72 km/h – if you ever had a rabbit as a child and it got loose, you would remember how quick these creatures are. The strong hind legs of the jack rabbit can propel it up to 3 metres in a single bound.

10. African wild dog:  71 km/h – the 2^nd largest canid globally, the African wild dog is an impressive beast. Its surprising speed and endurance give the wild dog an 80% success rate on kills.

 

 

Sources: Wikipedia

Image: TheWire

5 Creatures from the deep sea

The deep depths of the sea hold many creatures that humans may never see, so here’s a list to help you put it into perspective.

The frilled shark is a rare sight to see. Sticking to the depths of the waters in southeast Australia and Asia as well as New Zealand, Chile, the Caribbean and West Africa, this creature has hardly changed in millions of years. Having a range of gills, one of which looks like the sharks throat has been sliced opened, and 25 rows of teeth resulting in 300 sharp teeth.

Next up is the Atlantic Wolffish pair. Found 500 metres beneath the sea and growing up to 1.5 metres long, it could live up to 20 years. Weighing almost 40 pounds the Atlantic Wolffish pair eats crabs and sea urchins.

The fangtooth fish is a scary creature that lurks the depth of central to southern New South Wales, Australia. An adult male with its large head can swim up to 16,500 feet in icy waters. Only growing up to approximately 16 centimetres, the fangtooth fish munch on other fish as their prime food target.

Coming in next is the vampire squid. Only growing up to 6 inches in length, this fast swimming creature has a web connecting its legs which make it look like an octopus. With its large eyes coming in either blue or red, the vampire squid has a mechanism in which it can produce a light from its organs. It is speculated that the light that comes from the organs may be a defense mechanism. This is certainly one creature you won’t be seeing as it likes to stay in tropical waters, 300-3000 feet deep.

Lastly on the list of deep sea creatures is the pacific viper fish. Living in waters of 250-5000 feet, the 9-12 sized fish is small but with its needle type teeth you don’t want this fish biting you. Only living up to 8 years in Monterey Bay in California it likes to feed on prawns, squid and fishes.

Even though these creatures are not normally seen, that is gradually changing. Due to ocean temperatures, creatures like the frilled shark are becoming more common to see.

Sources:

Discovery

New England Ocean Odyssey

Australian Museum

Seasky 

Monterey Bay Aquarium 

Images:

Wikimedia

10 cute animals that will make you awwwww!

You just want to hug them and love them. Here is a list of 10 of the cutest animals that will make you go awww!

First on the list is the baby elephant. After birth, they follow their mother everywhere by hanging onto her tail; this playful animal loves to muck about.

The native Australian animal, the koala, is next on the list. Starting life at about the size of a jelly bean, this gorgeous animal sleeps away most of the day.

Baby bunnies are next of the cute animal list. New born bunnies are called a kit and are born with their eyes closed and no fur.

6.2 million of these animals are born every year in America. The puppy is one of the most popular pets to have at home. Sleeping almost 14 hours a day, the puppy is born without any teeth.

The other most popular household pet is the kitten. Opening their eyes at 7 days old they need to drink their mother’s milk in order to get all the nutrients they need.

At 9 ounces, the teacup pig is a small cute surprise. Living between 5 to 20 years, beware, their size doesn’t last for long but their cuteness surely does.

Next on the list is the baby dolphin. Following their mother from birth, these mammals swim up to 260 meters deep scouring for food.

Usually living for up to 45 years old the hippo usually weighs 25 to 54 kgs when born. The baby hippo stays close to its mother as they are their only protection from predators.

The baby panda doesn’t open its eyes when it’s born, not until they reach 6 to 8 weeks. Being the smallest mammal to be born this cute-as-ever animal is sadly an endangered species.

Last on the list is the foal or baby horse. A male horse is named a colt while a female horse is named a filly. The newborns have 80-90% of adult strength in their legs a few hours after they are born.

Sources:
Sciencekids
Animals.Pawnation
KittenFacts
Dolphins-World
LiveScience
EHow
Animals.Pawnation

Images:
CutePandaPictures
quinseyblog
petanimalslove

5 of the world’s most interesting animals

Here we are presenting 5 of the world’s most interesting animals in a way to make David Attenborough proud.

Number one on the list is the platypus or the Ornithorhynchus anatinus. Seeming to be part duck, beaver and otter this mammal is only found in the fresh lakes and rivers of eastern Australia. Being able to consume almost all their weight in food in one day, the platypus can live for approximately 12 years. What you may not know is that the male is poisonous. On the hind foot the male platypus has a spur which could cause serve pain to humans if they are stung. So watch out! If you do see platypuses don’t approach them.

Gracing the number two position on the list of interesting animals is the Aye-aye or the Daubentonia madagascariensis. This nocturnal primate is only found in Madagascar. The Aye-aye snacks on insect larvae they find by gnawing a hole in dead wood and using their middle finger to reach the larvae. Unfortunately in some parts of Madagascar, the Aye-aye is being hunted as it’s seen as an omen of death or misfortune.

Next on the list is one you may have never heard of. The barreleye fish (Macropinna microstoma) has been studied since 1939 and still remains a mystery to scientists. Living in complete darkness within the depths of the deep ocean, the barreleye fish is unique because of their ultra-sensitive eyes and their invisible head. They have the ability to rotate their eyes so they are able to look above them, through their head to see if prey is about.

Looking ever so sad in the fourth position is the blob fish or Psychrolutes marcidus. Living in the deep depth of the ocean near Australia and Tasmania this fish feeds off micro-organisms. The blob fish can float without swimming because of their body mass which weighs slightly less than the weight of water. This means that the sad Psychrolutes marcidus just float around all day hardly doing any swimming at all.

Last but not least, rounding off the list of world’s most interesting animals is the Dumbo octopuses. Which were aptly named after the Disney character Dumbo. The Grimpoteuthis, which lives in the deep sea, was crowned with the name Dumbo because of their ears. They can appear orange to silver in colour and could reach the size of 20cm.

Those are 5 of the world’s most interesting animals. What other animals do you find worthy of this list?

Sources:
Hubpages
tops115
Yesiknowthat
Care2
Wisegeek
Australianfauna
LemurDuke

Images:
Zoo.org
News.com
Panda.org

9 of the smallest animals you’ll ever see

Looking far and wide, we now present 10 of the world’s smallest animals in no particular order.

First up is the ever-so-cute Pygmy Marmoset Monkey. Standing as tall as they can get at 6 inches and weighing in at 119g, these tiny mammals are found in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Columbia and Bolivia.

The Barbados threadsnake is next on the list of the world’s smallest animals. The expected adult length is 4.1 inches and can weigh up to 0.6g. As the name suggests you can only find this small creature on Barbados.

Disguising itself as third on the list is the leaf chameleon. Found in Madagascar, the Brookesia micra are almost the same size as the tip of a matchstick. Sadly, extinction might be in the future for this little animal due to illegal deforestation.

Another master of camouflage is Denise’s pygmy seahorse. Camouflaging itself in coral reefs, this less than 2 centimeter seahorse can be found in Indonesia, Vanuatu, southern Japan, northern Australia and New Caledonia.

Known as the smallest primate in the world the Philippines tarsier comes next on the list. Measuring up to 118-149mm this primate is only found in the Philippines.

At three weeks old this little animal had stopped growing. Peewee is the world’s smallest hamster that only measures to 0.9inches tall. Unfortunately out of his five brothers and sisters he was the only on to stay this small.

Making number seven on the list is the Paedophryne amauensis. The world’s smallest frog was discovered in 2010 and is about the size of a housefly and is found in the Papua New Guinea rainforests.

Crawling its way into eighth place is the Patu Digua spider. Measuring up to 0.5mm this small spider is only found in Columbia.

Last on the list is a Chihuahua named Miracle Milly. Residing in Puerto Rico, this small animal was measured at 3.8inches tall.
When Milly was born she was so tiny, she was able to fit in a teaspoon.

Sources:
Heavy.com
pin.primate
ScienceDaily
Arkive
Oddee
Bohol
NationalGeographic
guinnessworldrecords

Images:
ASNClassified
NationalGeographic
OurWildWorld