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South american animals for 2nd form
This document describes several local animal species found in South America, including the chinchilla, vicuña, Andean condor, puma, jaguar, spectacled bear, armadillo, llama, ñandu/rhea, and hornero. It provides details about each animal's physical appearance, habitat range, diet, and behaviors. The chinchilla, vicuña, and spectacled bear are endangered due to hunting for their fur or wool. The document aims to educate the reader about the biodiversity of wildlife unique to the Andean mountain and surrounding regions of South America.
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South american animals for 2nd form
- 1. Local Animals in SouthAmerica 2nd form – Newlands School 2015
- 2. Chinchilla This is thechinchilla. It lives in the Andes in Chile and Peru. It is small and grey. Chinchillas have got two small eyes and a long bushy tail. Chinchillas eat desert grasses and hay. They can run but they can’t fly. Chinchillas are an endangered species because men hunt them for their fur.
- 3. Vicuña This is thevicuña. It lives in the Andes in Argentina, Chile and Peru. It is tall and brown. Vicuñas have got four long legs and a very short tail. Vicuñas eat grass. Vicuñas can run and climb mountains. Vicuñas are hunted for their wool. It is soft and warm.
- 4. Andean Condor This isthe condor. It lives in the Andes in Argentina, Chile and Peru. It is large and black. Condors have two long wings and a long pointed tail. They have got a black neck. Condors can fly high. Condors eat dead animals. Condors travel long distances for food.
- 5. Puma This is thepuma. It lives in the central part of Argentina. It is a large cat. It is brown Pumas have four strong and quick legs and a long tail. They can run fast. Pumas eat meat. They hunt vicuñas and guanacos. Condors sometimes attack pumas.
- 6. Jaguar This is thejaguar. It lives in the North of Argentina and in South of Paraguay. It is a very large cat. It is light brown with black spots. Jaguars have four short and strong legs. They can run fast. Jaguars eat meat. They hunt large or small animals. Jaguars like swimming.
- 7. Spectacled bear This isthe spectacled bear. It lives in the Andes in Argentina, Peru and Bolivia. It is a very large bear. Its body is black or dark brown. Its face is white. Spectacled bears have four short and strong legs. They can climb mountains. Spectacled bears eat plants. They like fruit a lot.
- 8. Armadillo This is thearmadillo. It lives in Paraguay. It is small. It is light brown and has a hard shell on its body. Armadillos have four short and quick legs. Armadillos eat insects. They can be in the water for 6 minutes.
- 9. Llama This is thellama. It lives in the Andes. It is a big animal. It is like a camel. It is brown or white. It has got long and warm wool on its body. Llamas eat grass. They like spitting. Llamas can climb mountains.
- 10. Ñandu - Rheas Thisis the ñandú or rhea. It lives in the Pampas. It is a big bird. It is brown or white. It has got a long neck and two long legs. Nandus /Rheas eat plants and insects. Ñandus/Rheas can’t fly. They can run.
- 11. Hornero This is thehornero. It lives in Argentina and Uruguay. It is small and brown. Horneros have a long bill and a short tail. Horneros can make big mud nests. Horneros eat worms. Horneros are the national birds in Argentina and Uruguay.
Editor's Notes
- #3 http://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=36b92c704412 Chinchillas are crepuscular (most active around dawn and dusk) rodents, slightly larger and more robust than ground squirrels. They are native to the Andes mountains in South America and live in colonies called "herds" at high altitudes up to 4,270 metres (14,000 ft). Historically, chinchillas lived in the Andes of Bolivia, Peru, and Chile, but today colonies in the wild remain only in Peru and Chile.[3] Along with their relatives, viscachas, they make up the family Chinchillidae. The chinchilla (whose name literally means "little chincha") is named after the Chincha people of the Andes, who once wore its dense, velvet-like fur.[4] By the end of the 19th century, chinchillas had become quite rare due to hunting for their ultra-soft fur.[5] Most chinchillas currently used by the fur industry for clothing and other accessories are farm-raised.[6] Chinchillas are currently listed as a critically endangered species by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to a severe population loss approximated at a 90% global population loss over the last 15 years. The severe population decline has been caused by Chinchilla hunting by humans. [1]
- #4 http://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=21de0915203a The vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) or vicugna[2] is one of two wild South American camelids which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes, the other being the guanaco. It is a relative of the llama, and is now believed to be the wild ancestor of domesticated alpacas, which are raised for their coats. Vicuñas produce small amounts of extremely fine wool, which is very expensive because the animal can only be shorn every three years, and has to be caught from the wild. When knitted together, the product of the vicuña's wool is very soft and warm. The Inca valued vicuñas highly for their wool, and it was against the law for anyone but royalty to wear vicuña garments. Both under the rule of the Inca and today, vicuñas have been protected by law, but they were heavily hunted in the intervening period. At the time they were declared endangered in 1974, there were only about 6,000 animals left. Today, the vicuña population has recovered to about 350,000,[1] and although conservation organizations have reduced its level of threat classification, they still call for active conservation programs to protect populations from poaching, habitat loss, and other threats. The vicuña is the national animal of Peru; its emblem is used on the Peruvian coat of arms.
- #5 http://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=078329e9e1cd
- #6 http://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=0763f74bd951 The Argentine cougar, commonly known as puma (Puma concolor cabrerae) is a subspecies of cougar native to western and central Argentina.[1] It weighs between 32–82 kg (70-180 lb). In San Guillermo National Park, 80% of their diet are vicunas, while 11% is from mice and 9% from hares, they also prey on guanaco.[2] When harassed byAndean condor, they may abandon their kills, which cause them to kill 50% more prey than North American cougar.[3]
- #7 http://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=0e240369f04e The jaguar (/ˈdʒæɡjuːər, ˈdʒæɡjʊər, ˈdʒæɡjuːɑr/ or /ˈdʒæɡwɑr/;[3] Brazilian Portuguese: [ʒɐˈɡwaʁ], Spanish: [xaˈɣwar]), Panthera onca, is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species native to the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southwestern United States and Mexico across much of Central America and south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. Apart from a known and possibly breeding population in Arizona (southeast of Tucson), the cat has largely been extirpated from the United States since the early 20th century. This spotted cat most closely resembles the leopard physically, although it is usually larger and of sturdier build and its behavioral and habitat characteristics are closer to those of the tiger. While dense rainforest is its preferred habitat, the jaguar will range across a variety of forested and open terrains. It is strongly associated with the presence of water and is notable, along with the tiger, as a feline that enjoys swimming. The jaguar is largely a solitary, opportunistic, stalk-and-ambush predator at the top of the food chain (an apex predator). It is a keystone species, playing an important role in stabilizing ecosystems and regulating the populations of the animals it hunts. The jaguar has an exceptionally powerful bite, even relative to the other big cats.[4] This allows it to pierce the shells of armored reptiles[5] and to employ an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of prey between the ears to deliver a fatal bite to the brain.[6] The jaguar is a near threatened species and its numbers are declining. Threats include loss and fragmentation of habitat. While international trade in jaguars or their parts is prohibited, the cat is still frequently killed by humans, particularly in conflicts with ranchers and farmers in South America. Although reduced, its range remains large. Given its historical distribution, the jaguar has featured prominently in the mythology of numerous indigenous American cultures, including those of the Maya and Aztec.
- #8 http://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=21e22adf465a The spectacled bear is the only bear native to South America and is technically the largest land carnivore on that continent, although as little as 5% of its diet is composed of meat. South America's largest obligate carnivorous mammal is the jaguar (Panthera onca). Among South America's extant, native land animals, only the Baird's (Tapirus bairdii) and South American tapirs (T. terrestris) are heavier than this species.[5] The spectacled bear is a mid-sized species of bear. Overall, its fur is blackish in color, though bears may vary from jet black to dark brown and to even a reddish hue. The species typically has distinctive beige or ginger-coloured markings across its face and upper chest, though not all spectacled bears have "spectacle" markings. The pattern and extent of pale markings are slightly different on each individual bear, and bears can be readily distinguished by this.[6] Males are a third larger than females in dimensions and sometimes twice their weight.[7] Males can weigh from 100 to 200 kg (220 to 440 lb), and females can weigh from 35 to 82 kg (77 to 181 lb).[8] Head-and-body length can range from 120 to 200 cm (47–79 in), though mature males do not measure less than 150 cm (59 in).[9][10] The tail is a mere 7 cm (2.8 in) in length, and the shoulder height is from 60 to 90 cm (24–30 in). Compared to other living bears, this species has a more rounded face with a relatively short and broad snout. In some extinct species of the Tremarctinae subfamily, this facial structure has been thought to be an adaptation to a largely carnivorous diet, despite the modern spectacled bears' herbivorous dietary preferences.[11][12][13]
- #9 http://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=3fe6ea1cc07e Armadillos
- #10 http://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=0f047b420650
- #11 http://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=2d884402a69e Rheas are large, flightless birds with grey-brown plumage, long legs and long necks, similar to an ostrich. Large males of R. americanacan reach 170 cm (67 in) tall at the head, 100 cm (39 in) at the back[6] and can weigh up to 40 kg (88 lb),[7] The lesser rhea is somewhat smaller as they are only 90 cm (35 in) tall at the back.[6] Their wings are large for a flightless bird (250 cm (8.2 ft))[6] and are spread while running, to act like sails.[8] Unlike most birds, rheas have only three toes. Their tarsus has 18 to 22 horizontal plates on the front of it. They also store urine separately in an expansion of the cloaca.[6] Distribution and habitat[edit] Rheas are from South America only and are limited within the continent to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. They are grassland birds and both species prefer open land. The greater rheas live in open grasslands, pampas, and chaco woodlands. They prefer to breed near water and prefer lowlands, seldom going above 1,500 metres (4,900 ft). On the other hand, the lesser rhea will inhabit mostshrubland, grassland, even desert salt puna up to 4,500 metres (14,800 ft).[6][9][10] A small population of rheas has emerged in northeastern Germany, after several couples escaped from an exotic meat farm near Lübeck in the late 1990s. Contrary to expectations, the large birds have adapted well to the conditions in the German countryside.[11] Currently there is a population of well over 100 birds in an area of 150 square kilometres (58 sq mi) between the river Wakenitz and the A20 motorway, slowly expanding eastwards.[12] A monitoring system has been in place since 2008.[13
- #12 http://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=35b521cf7f8f The horneros are members of the genus Furnarius in the family Furnariidae, native to South America. Horneros are brown birds with rather short tails and fairly long bills. They are known for building mud nests that resemble old wood-fired ovens (the Spanish word "hornero" comes from horno, meaning "oven"). While many Furnariids have different nests, the hornero nest is the reason for the common name applied to the entire family; ovenbirds(though unrelated to the ovenbird, which is a parulid warbler). The size and exact shape of the hornero nest varies depending on the species. They generally lay two to four eggs, although the breeding behavior of the bay hornero is virtually unknown. Adult horneros can frequently be seen sitting on top of their nest. Disregarding the uncommon and relatively shy bay hornero, horneros are typically fairly common and highly conspicuous birds. They are generally noisy. All horneros are partially terrestrial, and commonly seen walking on the ground with a relatively upright posture. The rufous hornero is a national emblem of Argentina and Uruguay, two of the several countries it inhabits.