Eagles and vultures survive Tbilisi Zoo flooding

The Tbilisi Zoo’s eagles and vultures survived the devastating floods of June 13, 2015, in which more than 300 animals died and the zoo was completely destroyed. Animals housed in the upper part of the zoo all survived. These included the eagles and vultures.

The zoo has an Andean condor, Cinerous (black) vultures, Griffon vultures, Long-legged buzzards, Golden eagles, Imperial eagles, and Steppe eagles.

The Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) is from South America and is distinctive for its large wingspan of 3.2 metres (10 feet 6 inches) and featherless pink neck and face.

The Cinerous vulture (Aegypius monachus) is also known as the black vulture, monk vulture or Eurasian black vulture, is one of the world’s heaviest flying birds. It has dark black feathers with a blue-grey neck and head.

Griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) have white heads with white neck feathers and a yellow-white beak.

The Long-legged buzzard (Buteo rufinus) has a variety of colours, although usually an orange-brown tint with white underwings, and a pale head. Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) are quite common in the Northern Hemisphere. They don’t look golden – instead, they look dark dusty brown with lighter golden-brown feathers on the back of their necks (the nape).

The Eastern Imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca) is found in southeastern Europe to central Asia. It has golden-brown feathers with a lighter feathers interspersed throughout. It also has a yellow eye lid and base of the beak. The Steppe eagle (Aquila nipalensis) has a pale throat, brown feathers and blackish flight feathers and tail. It is found from Romania to Nepal, and the steppes of Mongolia.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...

Apes go to the movies - and remember the scenes

Apes remember major events in movies, even after a single viewing. That’s the findings of primate research in Japan (New Scientist, September 17, 2015). Researchers at the Kyoto University in Japan conducted experiments with two species of apes – chimpanzees and bonobo primates – to test their memory and recall. Instead of using food to test memory, they used films. The researchers made two short movies to show to the apes. Fumihiro Kano and his colleague, Satoshi Hirata, starred in the films with another person dressed as an ape. They wanted to have strong dramatic scenes to see if the apes remembered them. In the first 30-second movie the character ape bursts through a door on the right hand side (there is also a door on the left hand side) and attacks the two researchers (characters) 18 seconds after the start. After 24 seconds a human character choses one of two weapons next to each other and launched a revenge attack on the ape. In the second 30-second movie t...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog