Category Zoology

                        Migrating animals navigate in a variety of ways. Fish use their sense of smell to recognize their migration paths, and are guided by changing water temperatures. Birds use the position of the Sun to orientate themselves. Some birds have magnetic particles in their ear mechanism that can act as a compass. Mammals rely on their memory. Some elephant trails have been in use for hundreds of years.

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                       Many fish migrate, in both fresh water and  the ocean. Tuna make some of the longest migrations. The need to migrate is due to sea temperature, as these fish need the correct temperature in order to breed. They migrate along the coasts of the Atlantic and the Pacific, travelling thousands of kilometres. Herrings migrate in the North Sea, moving south to warmer water in winter.

Picture credit: google

           Caribou and lemmings are migratory animals. Caribou live in herds in the cold northern regions, feeding on lichen. Each year, when snows bury their food supply, they migrate south to warmer regions. The caribou return when the snows thaw.

            Lemmings are small rodents that live in similar regions to the caribou. After a year of abundant food, they breed in such enormous numbers that their food supply runs out. The lemmings then migrate towards the coast in search of more food. Many drown while crossing rivers, but Arctic foxes and predatory birds eat most of them.  

Migration is the mass movement of groups of animals.lt is caused by the animals’ need to find food, by climate changes during the year, and by the need to breed. Sometimes migrating animals travel enormous distances at a time.

Although they have been domesticated for thousands of years, cats and dogs still retain many aspects of their wild ancestors.

The domestic cat has never lost its hunting instinct. Like most solitary predatory wild cats, it eats whenever the opportunity arises. When it is not eating, it spends the majority of its time sleeping.

The ancestors of dogs were pack animals and the modern dog has adopted the family as its pack, accepting its owner as the pack leader. Even the dog’s habit of turning round and round before going to sleep is a relic of the habit of flattening a sleeping place in long grass. The dog still marks its territory urinating on trees and lamp-posts to warn other dogs to keep away.

Care of the young is important because it ensures that the young will grow up and be able to breed to continue species. Animals that do not care for their young, such as many kinds of fish, produce huge numbers of eggs in the hope that a few will survive and reach maturity. Similarly, babies that do not receive care from the parent become independent at an early stage. A newborn deer is able to stand and run about within a few hours, while a human baby takes many years of care before it is independent. Parental care is often easier among animals that live in groups. Lionesses, for instance, may share responsibility for care of their young, and so do gorillas and chimpanzees. Meercats, a small type of mongoose, have a system of care where a family of ‘aunts’ look after the babies for the whole troop.