March 2019 - Favorite World Press

The FWP weekly digest of wondrous wildlife happenings
and other interesting items from the natural world

Creatures to meet | Things to learn
Things to do

Lisa S. French

In the southern hemisphere, the Antarctic autumn which begins in late March/early April also marks the start of emperor penguin parenting season. The only species on earth that nests in winter, emperor penguins are dependent upon the formation of sea ice which must be solid enough to support the 46 breeding colonies of thousands of 50 to 100-pound birds that return from the sea to the barren, beak-chillingly cold polar landscape to start their feathered families. Once the serially monogamous birds pair off with mates, come late May/early June, female emperors will lay one egg which they transfer to their male parenting partners for safekeeping before traveling distances of up to 70 miles back to the sea to feed on fish, krill, and squid. During the 65-75 day incubation period, the male penguin carefully wedges the single egg on its feet below a loose fold of highly vascularized featherless skin called a brood pouch which warms the egg to about 100°F. To ensure every egg in the colony stays equally toasty while exposed to average winter temperatures of -49°F, these paternal penguins huddle together in massive groups for warmth, rotating in an orderly procession from the outside to the inside of the huddle so that no bird is left out in the cold.

Male emperors fast throughout the two month incubation period surviving on fat reserves, often losing as much as half of their body weight. Once the penguin chicks emerge from their shells into the frozen world of the Antarctic, the papa penguins prop the hatchlings on their feet, tuck them up safely under the brood pouch for warmth, and feed them a milky substance produced by a gland in their esophagus. When the female penguins return to the colony in July, the hungry, weakened male transfers the chick to its mother’s brood pouch for care and feeding before embarking on his own long march to the sea to fatten up. When the male penguin rejoins his family, the dedicated parents take turns feeding and guarding the chicks ensuring the little ones are shielded from the harsh elements until they grow a thick layer of protective down and are able to stand on their own tiny webbed feet.

Learn about the importance of maintaining the Antarctic home of these fascinating, flightless birds from ecologist Michelle LaRue and on April 25th ruffle your feathers in honor of World Penguin Day.

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Lisa S. French March 27, 2019

Evolving Elephants

Unlike their Asian elephant cousins, both male and female African elephants grow tusks over the course of their lifetimes which they use for defense, debarking and moving trees, and digging for roots, salt, and water. These long incisors used as tools for daily living have made elephants targets of ivory poachers across the continent of Africa for centuries and to devastating effect. While it is extremely rare for male African elephants to be born without tusks, the 3 to 4 percent of wild female African elephants that never grow tusks have a distinct evolutionary advantage as they are more likely to survive periods of intense poaching. Scientists believe that through the process of natural selection, tuskless female elephants are passing this trait on to their daughters. As intensely hunted big tusked male elephants, known as tuskers, are eliminated from the population through poaching, the offspring of smaller tusked males and tuskless females spread the tuskless trait.

Researchers are now studying tuskless populations in heavily poached areas across Africa to determine what this growing phenomenon means for the future of the species. According to Dr. Joyce Poole of Elephant Voices, 51 percent of 200 adult females 25 years or older in Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique that survived the rampant poaching that took place during the 15-year civil war are tuskless. Since the civil war ended in 1997, 32 percent of female elephants born in Gorongosa are tuskless. In the early 2000s in Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa, 98% of 174 females were also observed to be tuskless. While current populations of tuskless elephants appear to be healthy and thriving, scientists are continuing to study the impact of tusklessness on both individual and group behaviors as well as on other plant and animal species in their native ecosystems. Through critical ongoing research, we’ll learn more about how these iconic, highly intelligent, and empathic animals are continuing to evolve and adapt to the growing human-induced pressures that impact their survival.

For breathtaking photos of some of Africa’s last great tuskers, check out Land of Giants by Will Burrard-Lucas.

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Lisa S. French March 19, 2019

Swinging Sifakas

You’d have to travel all the way to the island of Madagascar off of the eastern coast of Africa to find the wooly, wide-eyed, white-helmeted Coquerel’s sifaka in its native habitat. One of nine species of lemurs, these diurnal (active in day and night) highly intelligent primates, known as prosimians, evolved millions of years before monkeys and apes, their simian relatives. Primarily treetop dwelling herbivores, the long-legged sifaka is impressively agile, propelling itself distances of over 30 feet as it leaps and swings through the canopy of its dry forest home. For graceful ground travel, sifakas employ a two-legged sideways hopping movement, using their elegantly outstretched arms for balance. Sifakas other amazing creature features include a horizontally projecting set of lower front teeth used for grooming known as a “tooth comb” and a handy secondary tongue which helps keeps that tooth comb spic and span. Living in matriarchal social groups of three to ten animals, sifakas maintain contact with their troop known as a “conspiracy” through various vocalizations including the distinctive shi-fakh, shi-fakh sound from which this lemur species gets its name. Due to 90% loss of their forest habitat and increased hunting of culturally sacred lemurs for food, Coquerel’s sifakas have declined by more than 50% over the past 30 years. As of 2018, all nine sifaka species are listed by the IUCN as critically endangered. To learn how you can support conservation of the Coquerel’s sifaka and other lovable lemurs both in the U.S. and Madagascar, swing on over to the Duke University Lemur Center.

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Lisa S. French March 10, 2019