"Sitatunga The sitatunga or marshbuck (""Tragelaphus spekii"") is a swamp-dwelling antelope found throughout central Africa, centering on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, parts of Southern Sudan, Ghana, Botswana, Zambia, Gabon, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. The species was first described by the English explorer John Hanning Speke in 1863. The sitatunga is a medium-sized antelope. Males reach approximately at the shoulder, while females reach . Males typically weigh , while females weigh . The sitatunga has a shaggy, water-resistant coat which varies in colour. The body and feet of this antelope are specially adapted to its swampy habitat. Only"
"a single calf is born. Lifespan recorded in captivity averages 22 to 23 years. The sitatunga is confined to swampy and marshy habitats. Here they occur in tall and dense vegetation as well as seasonal swamps, marshy clearings in forests, riparian thickets and mangrove swamps. Habitat loss is the most severe threat to the survival of the sitatunga. The species has been classified under the Least Concern category by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), and under Appendix III (Ghana) of the Washington Convention (CITES). Though the population is sporadic in some countries, the animal"
"before dusk, and at night, and spend a large part of this time feeding. Basically sedentary, they rest in flat areas and reed beds, especially during the hotter part of the day. They seldom leave their swamp habitat during the daytime. Though sitatunga commonly form pairs or remain solitary, larger groups have also been observed. A study in Kenya recorded a herd of as many as nine individuals, comprising an adult male, four females and four juveniles. Loose groups may be formed but interaction among individuals is very low. Individuals generally associate only with their own sex. The sitatunga is"
"is common in many areas such as the Okavango Delta and Bangweulu Swamp. The scientific name of the sitatunga is ""Tragelaphus spekii"". The species was first described by the English explorer John Hanning Speke in 1863. Speke first observed the sitatunga at a lake named ""Little Windermere"" (now Lake Lwelo, located in Kagera, Tanzania). In his book ""Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile"", Speke called the animal ""nzoé"" (Kiswahili name for the animal) or ""water-boc"" (due to its resemblance to the waterbuck). The scientific name has often been misstated as ""T. spekei"", and either Speke or"
"long-term changes in the water level, that affects the nearby vegetation and thus bears upon their diet. Vast areas of Bangweulu and Busanga are burnt every year, placing animals like the sitatunga at grave risk given the inflammability of swamps. The sitatunga has been classified under the Least Concern category by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), and under Appendix III (Ghana) of the Washington Convention (CITES). In Senegal, intensive hunting for meat and habitat degradation have made the sitatunga very rare. Formerly it was common throughout Gambia, but now it is confined to a"
"preference for crops due to seasonal food variations. Another study showed that annual floods affect the seasonal movement and diet of the species. These floods force the animals out of the reed beds onto the flooded grasslands when the water levels are high. At low water levels the cattle take over the flooded plains and send the sitatunga back to their original place. Females are sexually mature by one year of age, while males take one-and-a-half-year before they mature. Breeding occurs throughout the year. When females gather, the males compete among each other for the right to mate, showing polygyny"
"few inaccessible swamps; a population has been introduced in the Abuko Nature Reserve. On the other hand, though the animal is hunted by locals primarily for food, Botswana still supports a large portion of the total population. The species is of great economic significance for northern Botswana, that produces some of the world's biggest sitatunga trophies. Its status is unclear in Chad, Ghana, Guinea, Burundi and Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Significant populations still exist in countries such as Cameroon, Central African Republic, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Tanzania and Zambia. The inaccessibility of its habitat has rendered population"
"during which time the male ensures that no other male can approach the female. Gestation lasts for nearly eight months, after which generally a single calf is born. Parturition occurs throughout the year, though a peak may occur in the dry season. Calves are hidden adroitly, and brought out of cover only in the presence of many other sitatunga. The mother gazes and nods at the calf to summon it for nursing. A calf follows its mother about even after she has given birth to another calf. The mother suckles and licks her calf for about six months. The calf"
"reclusive sitatunga, of which the park holds an estimated 500-1,000 animals, and offers great opportunities for sightings of the rare blue monkey. Elephant are faring increasingly well and several breeding herds and bachelor bulls traverse the park and the surrounding game management area. Several of the plains like Chikufwe are home to common reedbuck, buffalo, sable antelope and Lichtenstein's hartebeest, which are often encountered in the dry season. A small population of plains zebra occurs in the park. Roan antelope, defassa waterbuck and Sharpe's grysbok occur but are rare and seldom seen, whereas warthog numbers are increasing and they are"
"in their swampy habitat, often leading to reed beds. These tracks, up to wide, can lead to feeding grounds and nearby riverine forests. The sitatunga hold small home ranges near water bodies In savannas, they are typically found in stands of papyrus and reeds (""Phragmites"" species and ""Echinochloa pyramidalis""). They share their habitat with the Nile lechwe in the Sudd swamps and with the southern lechwe in Angola, Botswana and Zambia. The sitatunga is native to Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mozambique,"
"almost indistinguishable from the nyala, except in pelage and spoor. Speke pointed out that, though ""closely allied"" to the waterbuck, the sitatunga lacks stripes and is spotted instead. The coat colour varies geographically, but, in general, is a rufous red in juveniles and chestnut in females. There are white facial markings, as well as several stripes and spots all over, though they are only faintly visible. White patches can be seen on the throat, near the head and the chest. A pair of inguinal scent glands are present. The coats of males darken with age, becoming gray to dark brown."
"Species in Umbelliferae and Acanthaceae are preferred in Saiwa Swamp National Park (Kenya), and Fabaceae species are preferred in Bangweulu and Busanga (in Kafue National Park). They feed mostly in the wetland fringes. Diet preferences may vary seasonally in swamps where water levels change notably. Like the gerenuk, the sitatunga may stand on its hindlegs to reach higher branches of trees, or even use its horns to pull down the branches. A study recorded forty major species eaten by the animal, the majority of which were herbs. Sweet potato was the most preferred crop. The study predicted an increase in"
"the males possess horns; these are spiral in shape, have one or two twists and are long. Sitatunga are active mainly during the early hours after dawn, the last one or two hours before dusk, and night. They are not territorial. Sitatunga are selective in what they eat and feed mainly on new foliage, fresh grasses, aquatic plants, sedges and browse. Females are sexually mature by one year of age, while males take one and a half years to mature. Breeding occurs throughout the year but peaks in the dry season. Gestation lasts for nearly eight months, after which generally"
"the species. The sitatunga is placed under the genus ""Tragelaphus"" and in the family Bovidae. In 2005, Sandi Willows-Munro of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Durban) carried out a mitochondrial analysis of the nine ""Tragelaphus"" species. mtDNA and nDNA data were compared. The results showed that sitatunga plus bongo (""T. eurycerus"") form a monophyletic clade with the mountain nyala (""T. buxtoni"") and kéwel (""T. scriptus""). The greater kudu (""T. strepsiceros"") split from this clade approximately 8.6 million years ago. Within ""Tragelaphus"", the kéwel, bongo, sitatunga and nyala (""T. angasii"") are particularly close relatives. The bushbuck, that includes both imbabala (""T. sylvaticus"")"
"and kéwel, and sitatunga are genetically similar enough to hybridise. Hybrids between bongo and sitatunga have proved to be fertile. The sitatunga is more variable in its general characters than any other member of the tribe Strepsicerotini, that consists of the genera ""Taurotragus"" (elands) and ""Tragelaphus"", probably because of their confinement to swampy and marshy habitats. On the basis of physical characteristics such as hair texture, coat colour and the coat stripes, up to ten subspecies of the sitatunga have been described. However, these factors may not be reliable since hair texture could vary with the climate, while pelage colour"
"covers an area of and along with the adjoining Bori and Panchmarhi Sanctuaries, provides of unique central Indian Highland ecosystem. Satpura National Park, being part of a unique ecosystem, is very rich in biodiversity. The fauna comprises tiger, leopard, sambar, chital, bhedki, nilgai, four-horned antelope, chinkara, gaur, wild boar, wild dog, sloth bear, black buck, fox, porcupine, flying squirrel, mouse deer, Indian giant squirrel. There are a variety of birds. Hornbill and peafowl are the common birds. The flora of the national park consists of mainly sal, teak, tendu, aonla, mahua, bael, bamboo, and a variety of grasses and medicinal"
"Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is extinct in Niger, where it formerly occurred in the Lake Chad region, and is feared to be extinct in Togo, where its habitat has been taken over by dense human settlements. While it is localised and sporadic in western Africa, the sitatunga is still common in the forests of central Africa and certain swampy regions in central, eastern and southern Africa. Habitat loss is the most severe threat to the survival of the sitatunga. Other threats include the increasing loss of wetlands, that has isolated populations; and"
"not territorial. Males may engage in locking horns with other males and attacking vegetation using their horns. They may perform feinting by raising their forelegs with the hindlegs rooted in the ground as a threat display. Sitatunga interact with each other by first touching their noses, which may be followed by licking each other and nibbling. Alarmed animals may stand motionless, with the head held high and one leg raised. Sitatunga may occasionally emit a series of coughs or barks, usually at night, which may cause other animals to join in, and these sounds can be heard across the swamp."
"a length of up to in the hindlegs and in the forelegs. The pointed toes allow it to walk slowly and almost noiselessly through the water. Moreover, the colour of the coat provides an excellent camouflage. Hearing is acute, and the ears are so structured that the animal can accurately determine the direction from where a sound has originated. This adaptation is of profound use in habitats where long sight is of very little value due to the density and darkness of the environment. Sitatunga are active mainly during the early hours after dawn, the last one or two hours"
"Catopuma Catopuma is a genus containing two small Asian felines, the bay cat (""C. badia"") and the Asian golden cat (""C. temminckii""). Both are typically reddish brown in colour, with darker markings on the head. They inhabit forested environments in Southeast Asia. The bay cat is restricted to the island of Borneo. Originally thought to be two subspecies of the same animal, recent genetic analysis has confirmed they are, indeed, separate species. The two species diverged from one another 4.9-5.3 million years ago, long before Borneo separated from the neighboring islands. Their closest living relative is the marbled cat, from"
"Eastern bettong The eastern bettong (""Bettongia gaimardi""), also known as the Balbo (by the Ngunnawal People who used to keep them as pets), southern bettong and Tasmanian bettong, is a bettong whose natural range includes southeastern Australia and eastern Tasmania. Two formerly recognised species, ""Bettongia cuniculus"" (Tasmanian bettong) and ""Bettongia gaimardi"" (eastern bettong), were placed into a single species with two subspecies by Wakefield in 1967: The introduction of the red fox and European rabbit to Australia led to the extinction of the mainland subspecies during the 1920s. The Tasmanian subspecies still exists. In 2012, a small population was reintroduced"
"Reserve, Krau Wildlife Reserve, and Ulu Gombak Wildlife Reserve in Malaysia, and the Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand. Siamang The siamang (""Symphalangus syndactylus"") is an arboreal black-furred gibbon native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The largest of the gibbons, the siamang can be twice the size of other gibbons, reaching 1 m in height, and weighing up to 14 kg. The siamang is the only species in the genus Symphalangus. The siamang is distinctive for two reasons. The first is that two digits on each foot are partially joined by a membrane—hence the name ""syndactylus"", from"
"Pseudophilautus simba Pseudophilautus simba (Sinharaja shrub frog) is a species of frogs in the family Rhacophoridae endemic to Sri Lanka. It is only known from its type locality in the Morningside Forest Reserve, adjacent to the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, near Rakwana, southern Sri Lanka. The holotype, a mature male, measures in snout–vent length, and the paratypes, three mature females, SVL. Body is elongate. Head is dorsally convex. Snout is truncate in lateral aspect, snout angle category 5 (angle of snout ~ 97°). Canthal edges are rounded. Loreal region is flat. Interorbital space is convex. Internarial space is flat. Tympanum is"
"and sitatunga being each other's closet relatives. Other hybrids have been documented, such as a male common eland x greater kudu resulting from an accidental crossing from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in the 1970s. Notable mixed inherited traits were pointed ears as the eland's, but a bit widened like kudu's. The tail was half the length of that of an eland, with a terminal tuft of hair as in kudu. The individual was, however, azoospermic as analysis showed that it completely lacked germ cells, which produce gametes. Spiral-horned antelopes as a whole are not an endangered group of"
"Siamang The siamang (""Symphalangus syndactylus"") is an arboreal black-furred gibbon native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The largest of the gibbons, the siamang can be twice the size of other gibbons, reaching 1 m in height, and weighing up to 14 kg. The siamang is the only species in the genus Symphalangus. The siamang is distinctive for two reasons. The first is that two digits on each foot are partially joined by a membrane—hence the name ""syndactylus"", from the Ancient Greek ""sun-"", ""united"" + ""daktulos"", ""finger"". The second is the large gular sac (found in both males"
"evergreen forests and southern secondary moist mixed deciduous forests in its ranges. The sanctuary has fauna like tiger, leopard, dhole (wild dog), jackal, palm civet, jungle cat, Indian wild boar, Indian porcupine, sambar, spotted deer, muntjac (barking deer), mouse deer, gaur (Indian bison), Indian hare, lion tailed macaque, bonnet macaque, common langur, giant flying squirrel, king cobra, etc. Great Indian hornbill, Malabar grey hornbill, Malabar trogon, Ceylon frogmouth, Malabar pied hornbill and Malabar whistling thrush are some of the birds found in the sanctuary. Otters and mahasheer fish are found in the Sitanadi river. This research facility was founded by"
"separation of the lesser kudu and nyala. Ancient hybridization also played a key part in the evolution of the chromosomes in all species. Below is a listing of the diploid number 2""n"" as follows (male/female): Hybridization between bongos and sitatunga produce fertile offspring known as ""bongsis"" and are well documented. These hybrid animals have a diploid number 2""n"" = 33 and all known cases produced female animals, which had developed horns like female bongos while their stripping pattern was intermediate between bongos and sitatungas with an overall orange coloring. The hybridization of these species adds further support in the bongo"
"Sumatran tiger, Sumatran elephant, Asian tapir, sun bear, siamang, crab-eating macaque, Sumatran surili, Sunda loris, clouded leopard, leopard cat, marbled cat, Asiatic wild dog, Malayan civet, Indian muntjac, Sumatran serow and Java mouse-deer. Bird species include: great argus, little green-pigeon, white-rumped shama, white-bellied woodpecker, crested serpent-eagle, Hill myna, helmeted hornbill, wrinkled hornbill, white-winged wood duck, Storm's stork, garnet pitta and grey-breasted babbler. The Park also has an important role in protecting the hydrology of the Kuantan Indragiri watershed. In 1982 the National Conservation Plan highlighted the importance of Bukit Tigapuluh ecosystem and classified the two conservation areas of Bukit Besar"
"which the common ancestor of the genus ""Catopuma"" diverged around 9.4 million years ago. Catopuma Catopuma is a genus containing two small Asian felines, the bay cat (""C. badia"") and the Asian golden cat (""C. temminckii""). Both are typically reddish brown in colour, with darker markings on the head. They inhabit forested environments in Southeast Asia. The bay cat is restricted to the island of Borneo. Originally thought to be two subspecies of the same animal, recent genetic analysis has confirmed they are, indeed, separate species. The two species diverged from one another 4.9-5.3 million years ago, long before Borneo"
"Aratinga Aratinga is a genus of South American conures. Most are predominantly green, although a few are predominantly yellow or orange. They are social and commonly seen in groups in the wild. In Brazil, the popular name of several species usually is ""jandaia"", sometimes written as ""jandaya"" in the scientific form. Many species from this genus are popular pets, although being larger than the members of the genus ""Pyrrhura"", they need a sizable aviary to thrive. The taxonomy of this genus has recently been resolved by splitting it in four genera, as the genus as previously defined was paraphyletic. The"
"Silky sifaka The silky sifaka (""Propithecus candidus"") is a large lemur characterized by long, silky, white fur. It has a very restricted range in northeastern Madagascar, where it is known locally as the simpona. It is one of the rarest mammals on Earth, and is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as one of the world's 25 most critically endangered primates. The silky sifaka is one of nine sifaka species (genus ""Propithecus""), and one of four former subspecies of diademed sifaka (""P. diadema""). Studies in 2004 and 2007 compared external proportions, genetics, and craniodental anatomy supporting full"
"and Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary. KMTR has at least 150 endemic plants, 33 fish, 37 amphibians, 81 reptiles, 273 birds and 77 mammal species. A 1997 Census by Project Tiger produced the following wildlife counts: tiger 73, leopard 79, jungle cat 1 755, wild dog 1 718, elephant (N/A), gaur 232, sambar 1 302, chital 1 966, Nilgiri tahr 8 780, wild pig 187, mouse deer 172, sloth bear 123, lion-tailed macaque 37, bonnet macaque 61, Nilgiri langur 61, common langur 61, slender loris 61, giant squirrel 61, and crocodile 61. Habitat use by the grey junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii) at Mundanthurai"
"Sangu Matamuhari Sangu Matamuhari or Sangu Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary—IUCN category II (habitat/species management area)—situated in Bandarban District, Chittagong Division, Bangladesh. It is part of the Sangu reserve forest. It is under the Lama Forest Division of the Bangladesh Forest Department. Its bio-ecological zone is in Chittagong Hills and Chittagong Hill Tracts. It houses Bangladesh's richest wildlife resource after Sunderbans. It is famous for its remoteness and for its rich array of wildlife, including great hornbills, crab-eating macaques, Asian elephants, sambar deer, Asian black bears, spotted owlets, leopards, clouded leopards, barking deer, Bengal monitors, dholes, and capped leaf"