FAUNA

Interesting facts about cows

Fact 1. Cows are ruminants for a reason - they chew constantly, methodically chewing partially digested food. Moreover, their jaws are able to tirelessly work hour after hour, making about a hundred movements per minute. Some rodents chew at the same rate, rabbits in particular, but they don't do it all day long.

Fact 2. Some scientists believe that cows cause great harm to the ecology of our planet. Everything was fine until man started to breed them in huge quantities, but now, among all mammals, cows are second only to humans in number of all mammals, and their intestinal gases, as well as the gas emitted by manure, contribute to global warming due to the increased greenhouse effect. . According to some estimates, up to 15-20% of the increase in the greenhouse effect in the Earth's atmosphere is due to cows, of which there are about 1,300,000,000 individuals on our planet.

Fact 3. Cows, like other cattle, have served as the equivalent of currency among many peoples for thousands of years. For example, in Africa, in the country of Eswatini, the law still provides for a fine of one, two or more cows for some violations. But violators, according to the same law, can pay a fine in monetary terms. And in Cuba, for a long time, since Fidel Castro came to power, a very severe punishment is due for the murder of this animal, up to many years in prison.

Fact 4. Cows in private farms, which often see their owners, often become attached to them. Unless, of course, they treat them well ... They are one of the few animals that can remember human faces and recognize them from them. At the same time, contrary to a common myth, the red color does not anger the bulls - cows do not distinguish colors at all, and at the bullfight bulls are irritated by the behavior of the bullfighter, and not by the red flag. It is made in red in order to be better visible to the public.

Fact 5. It should not be surprising that milk from different cows tastes different. This directly depends on the diet of the animal - it is one thing if it grazes on fertile meadows, and quite another if it feeds on mixed fodder. On average, one dairy cow can produce up to 30-50 thousand liters of milk during a lifetime, which is 150-200 thousand average glasses.

Fact 6. Most cows in the world are found in Argentina. Many local landowners have so many of these animals that they do not even know their numbers themselves - in herds, the number goes to millions of heads. This is partly why in Argentina, beef is the main ingredient for most national dishes, and pork, chicken and other meats are considered “second-rate” compared to beef.

Fact 7. Cows have to be milked strictly on schedule, otherwise the animals begin to experience discomfort, which quickly turns into severe pain. Under natural conditions, cows feed their calves with milk for about three years, but those used in the dairy industry give milk throughout their lives, every day, and if they do not express it, they begin to suffer. And a herd of hundreds of cows can produce up to 2 tons of milk per day!

Fact 8. In many cultures, cows occupy an important place, but in India and Nepal they are generally considered sacred animals. At least among the majority of the population of these states. But not all Hindus and Nepalese profess Hinduism - for example, in the Indian state of Goa, famous for its resorts, they eat beef quite well, since here the majority of the inhabitants are Christians, not Hindus.

Fact 9. Cows have several interesting features. Like humans, they can cry, and they also feel the earth's magnetic field, and during rest, the herd usually settles along its lines. And the prints of cow noses are as unique as the pattern on the skin of a tiger or the fingerprints of a person.

Fact 10. The most expensive cows in the world are wagyu. Wagyu includes four breeds originating from Japan, and their meat is valued for its propensity for "marbled" meat. Bred by the Japanese about 200 years ago, these cows are raised in special conditions - they are fed with selected grain, beer and sake are added to the diet, and in cases where, due to lack of pastures, animals cannot walk normally, they are given massages. All this, however, is dictated by concern not for the quality of life of animals, but for the fact that the final product is better.

Interesting facts about big cats

Fact 1. The largest big cats in the world are ligers, born from male lions and female tigers. The reverse hybrid, tigrolev, is much smaller in size. Ligers are sterile and incapable of reproduction. The largest of them is Hercules, an adult male liger weighing 450 kg, which is 2 times the weight of an adult lion.

Fact 2. The black panther is often mentioned as a separate species of the cat family, but this is not true. Panthers are called different big cats that are black due to a genetic mutation. They belong to different species - jaguars, cougars, leopards - and may have normal offspring, which most likely will not receive the gene responsible for the black color.

Fact 3. The fastest land creature on earth is the cheetah. This predator is capable of reaching speeds of more than 100 km/h (the official record is 112 km/h), but it cannot maintain it for a long time, and after such a jerk the beast needs rest.

Fact 4. Most big cats are not as effective hunters as they are shown in the movies. In tigers, for example, only about 10% of attacks end in luck, and this despite the fact that they attack only from an ambush and only from the back. Therefore, in India, reserve workers wear masks with a picture of a human face on the backs of their heads, and, judging by the statistics, this really helps to reduce the chance of a tiger attack.

Fact 5. Big cats, unlike domestic ones, are not always nocturnal. Therefore, the eyes of some of them have round pupils, and not vertical ones, since they hunt at dusk, and not in the dark.

Fact 6. The rarest representatives of big cats are white tigers. Strictly speaking, they belong to the Bengal species, and the white color occurs due to a mutation very rarely, in about 0.01% of cases. Bright blue eyes are always attached to white wool with black stripes, and these animals are not albinos.

Fact 7. Lions have the most impressive claws of any cat, they can be up to 7.5 cm long. This is comparable to the length of the teeth of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, the largest predatory dinosaur that ever walked the Earth.

Fact 8. All big cats, except for lions, lead a strictly solitary lifestyle, and also hunt alone. Lions gather in prides, consisting of a male and his harem. Females usually hunt and bring prey, while the male sleeps 20 hours a day. He enters into business only if the pride is in danger, or if it is necessary to protect the territory from the encroachments of another male.

Fact 9. Many large felines are excellent tree climbers. Cougars, for example, spend a decent part of their lives in trees, often attacking the victim from above, and in case of danger, they also often try to hide there.

Fact 10. The voices of all big cats are unique, just like the voices of people. But human ears are not sensitive enough to distinguish between them. But acoustic equipment is quite capable of this.

Interesting facts about sharks

Fact 1. All sharks are indeed dangerous marine predators, but not all of them are dangerous to humans. Three of their species, including the whale shark, the largest fish on Earth, catch prey differently - filtering huge volumes of sea water and filtering out plankton, mollusks and other small living creatures that they feed on. Although in the past the ruler of the seas and oceans was, of course, a giant extinct megalodon, reaching a length of 30 meters, comparable to the height of a 10-story building.

Fact 2. Sharks differ from most other marine life in one interesting feature - they never sleep. The state in which they rest can be called half-asleep at best, and, being in it, they are still partially awake, and also continue to move. It's just that the gills of a shark are able to pass water, receiving from it the oxygen it needs for breathing, only in the process of movement. If the shark stops motionless, it will simply suffocate, so it spends its entire life in motion. The only exceptions are a few species (for example, nurse sharks), whose gills are capable of pumping water.

Fact 3. Sensory organs such as smell and vision are well developed in most representatives of this order of fish. They are indeed able to smell a tiny millionth of the blood that has fallen into the water - this is not an exaggeration, and their eyesight is very sharp. The shark's eye perceives about 2 times more frames per second than the human eye! But the hearing of these fish is mediocre, and even in humans it is sharper than theirs.

Fact 4. Sharks are found in all oceans without exception, as well as in almost all seas. In total, there are 526 of their species in the world, and many of them differ significantly from each other in appearance, lifestyle, and size. Not all of them pose a danger to humans, although cases of attacks are sometimes recorded. The most dangerous region in this regard is the coast of the US state of Florida.

Fact 5. Almost all types of sharks live in salt water, but some of them are able to live in fresh water. These include the blunt-nosed shark, also known as the bull shark, which is much more dangerous than the well-known white. Bull sharks often swim in the mouths of large rivers, and these fish are distinguished by rare aggressiveness. They often attack even inanimate objects like floating debris in a rage, trying to tear them apart and devour them.

Fact 6. The smallest sharks are many thousands of times smaller than the largest. Near the coast of South America, the species Etmopterus perryi lives, the smallest of all - with an average body length of 15-17 cm, the record-breaking individual was only 21.2 cm long. And whale sharks sometimes reach 13-15 meters in length and weigh up to 5 tons, which makes them the largest fish of all.

Fact 7. The white shark is considered the most famous shark in the world. Meeting with her really does not bode well, however, according to statistics, she is one of the last places in the list of living creatures dangerous to people. For example, bees, donkeys or dogs kill people hundreds of times more often than these fish, which can bite through a finger-thick steel bar.

Fact 8. Predatory sharks sometimes prey not only on fish, but also on seabirds. Even large species of them, like white or tiger sharks, are able to jump out of the water to a height of 2-3 meters to catch prey! In the water, they are always cautious, circling around a potential victim for a long time and looking closely at it. If the predator comes to the conclusion that it is within her power to defeat the prey, she speeds up several times with a swift jerk and attacks.

Fact 9. Some sharks, such as lemon sharks, are tameable, and other species are kept in aquariums. But white sharks cannot be kept in captivity - these freedom-loving creatures in captivity declare a hunger strike, and prefer death from hunger to existence in captivity.

Fact 10. Shark liver is simply huge in size relative to the size of the body itself, it accounts for up to 30% of the mass of the shark itself. This is more than any other living beings on Earth. They developed such a large liver in order to compensate for the lack of a swim bladder, which almost all other fish have.

Interesting facts about animals of hot countries

Fact 1. In the animal world of hot countries, amphibians and reptiles are much more widely represented than in cold regions. This is logical, because the cold-blooded inhabitants of the Earth need a sufficiently high ambient temperature to survive. Therefore, the largest cold-blooded creatures are found precisely in tropical and equatorial climates. Such as, for example, crocodiles, monitor lizards and most snakes.

Fact 2. Despite the fact that drought is comparable to a cold winter in terms of barrenness and a decrease in the amount of available food, many more species of animals still live in hot countries than in cold ones. It is easier to exist in such conditions, herbivores have more food, and, accordingly, more food and predators that feed on these same herbivores. Everything is interconnected.

Fact 3. The fastest land animal on earth is the cheetah, a typical representative of the animal world of the hot regions of Africa. These big cats are capable of reaching speeds of up to 130 km/h over short distances, and it only takes them 3 seconds to do so! True, at this pace they can run for only 10-20 seconds, after which they need to stop, otherwise they will pass out from overheating.

Fact 4. It is in hot countries that the largest land and coastal predators in the world are found. These are combed crocodiles, often gaining a mass of more than 2 tons and growing up to 7 meters in length. Previously, polar bears were considered the largest land predators, but then it turned out that this was not so.

Fact 5. The largest land mammals of the earth, such as elephants and rhinoceroses, occupying the second place after them, live in similar conditions. Among other representatives of the animal world of hot countries, they stand out, first of all, in size. Today, in the wild, most of the surviving population of these creatures lives on the territory of national parks and reserves.

Fact 6. A distinctive feature of many animals in hot areas is their visual thinness. The cats and dogs here seem much leaner than their cold-country counterparts, and the Asian buffalo look like they haven't been fed in two weeks compared to European cows. It's just that all of them do not need to build up a fatty layer to protect themselves from the cold, which is why they seem so thin.

Fact 7. The most intelligent animals are anthropoid primates, which also live exclusively in hot countries. As practice shows, they can also adapt to life in the cold, if people help them in this. Monkeys are smart, they are able to learn how to wear clothes, knowing full well what it is for.

Fact 8. Almost all big cats live in hot climates. There are only a few exceptions to this rule - snow leopards and lynx, that's all. However, tigers are also found in cold lands, just less often than in warm ones. But they are well adapted to almost any conditions.

Fact 9. All herbivorous representatives of the animal world of hot countries at the level of instincts know that water always means danger. Where they converge to drink, predators often await them. So often that being on the alert at the watering hole has become the same reflex for them as for many people - to be afraid of unlit spaces.

Fact 10. Unlike their relatives from the cold regions of the Earth, the animals of hot countries do not need to hibernate, since they do not have winter. However, some fish and shellfish go into a state similar to hibernation, waiting out the drought. This is done, for example, by protopters, unique lungfish that wait for the next rainy season, burrowing into the ground. From a practical point of view, this state is no different from hibernation.

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