Category Kids Queries

Ostrich is the fastest two-legged animal. Although they’re flightless birds, ostriches can zoom 43 miles an hour (70 kph) and use their wings for steering when being pursued by a predator. When you are travelling at such high speeds it is important to be able to see where you are going and the ostrich is well equipped in this department. Their eyes are the largest of any land animal, and, at 5 centimetres in diameter, they are bigger than their brains!

The Kalahari is a harsh environment for ostriches, however, as far as predators are concerned. Lions, leopards, cheetahs and hyenas all stalk the night. The ostrich is never perfectly at rest, having always to keep an eye out for any of the predators that would happily make a meal out of them.

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Cheetah is the fastest land animal. Cheetahs can sprint for up to 60 seconds at speeds reaching 75 miles an hour (120 kph). Cheetahs have between 2,000 and 3,000 spots, which help them to camouflage themselves. Previously, cheetahs were wide-spread across African and Asian continents, but now they are confined mostly to dry open grasslands of Sub-Saharan Africa, with the majority inhabiting natural reserves or parks. When a cheetah hunts, it gets as close as possible to its prey before trying to outrun it with a burst of speed. The cheetah then uses its paw to swipe the animal to the ground and then suffocates it with a bite to the neck.

It then eats as quickly as possible while looking out for scavengers such as lions, leopards, hyenas, vultures, and jackals, who will steal from the very shy cheetah.

Unlike most other cats, cheetahs prefer to hunt during the day, particularly early morning or early evening.

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For the same reason tigers have stripes: to help them hide while hunting. The cats’ coloration blends with tall grass, and the shifting shadows beneath trees and brush. Leopards, for instance, become virtually invisible when they sneak up on prey before pouncing at the last instant.

A cheetah’s spots cover nearly its entire body and may serve as camouflage by offsetting shadows in the gray-hued grasses they inhabit. Camouflage is not only essential for stalking prey but also for protecting cheetah cubs from predators

The jaguar is covered in ‘rosettes’ for camouflage in its jungle habitat. The spots vary over individual coats and between individual Jaguars. The ‘rosettes’ may include one or several dots and the shape of the dots varies. The spots on the head and neck are generally solid, as are those on the tail, where they may merge to form a band. The underbelly, throat and outer surface of the legs and lower flanks are white.

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Scientists have a few theories about the fashionable fur of these African equids (the family of mammals that includes horses). Some suspect it’s a type of camouflage to keep these herd animals from standing out in a crowd. The stripes break up the animal’s shape (a tactic known as disruptive coloration) as well as help it blend in with its neigbors, making it hard for a lion to see where one zebra ends and the next one begins. A more recent theory suggests that the zebra’s coloration repels bloodsucking insects, which don’t like to land on stripes. The stripes might be a natural pest control.

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(1) Sharks tend to target lone swimmers, so swim in a group.

(2) Leave the water immediately if you’re bleeding.

(3) Stay out of the water during the dawn and twilight hours, when sharks are on the prowl.

(4) Don’t wear shiny watch-bands or jewelry that sharks might mistake for dish scales.

(5) Avoid swimming in river mouths, areas between sandbars, or near drop-offs.

(6) Don’t swim near fishermen or diving seabirds. No reason to become shark bait!

(7) Wear a disguise. A company in Perth, Australia, designed a line of wet suits to make surfers, divers, and snorkelers appear less appetizing to sharks. The suit’s bold stripes mimic the coloration of dangerous marine creatures, such as sea snakes and lion-fish, which shakes avoid.

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Before you run screaming from the water, let’s get one thing clear: Shark attacks are incredibly rare. Far more people are injured by their toilets each year than by hungry shark. You have a 1 in 3,700,000 chance of being killed by a shark. And for every person who dies in the jaws of one of these fearsome fish, two millions sharks perish at the hands of humans.

But shark attacks do happen – an average of 19 attacks per year in the United States (and one fatal attack every two years). Researchers believe such attacks are typically a case of mistaken identity. A shark sees a swimmer’s hands and feet flashing in the murk and confuses them for the scale of a tasty fish. A surfer is a dead ringer for a sea lion or turtle when seen from below. Most shark attacks or humans are bump-and-runs – a quick taste of wet suit or surfboard or skin that tells the shark it has bitten the wrong animal. A bump from a little species might result in a few stitches. Bump-and-runs from great white sharks, which reach more than 20 feet (6 m) in length, can be much more serious.

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