The Time I Went to the Zoo by Che

.  we went to the zoo in Martinique and had loads of fun. I am going to tell you about the animals. There so much animals I only got to pick three. They are coatis, golden pheasants and capybara. Let talk about the golden pheasants shall we

The golden pheasant lives in western China, but population have been established by the United Kingdom, Canada the united states, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. In England they may be found in East Anglia in the dense forest landscape of the Breckland as well as Tresco on the isles of Scilly.

The adult male is 90-105 cm (35 -41 in) in length, its tail accounting for two- thirds of the total length. It is not possible to mistake this creature with its golden crest and rump and the bright red body. The deep orange “cape” can be spread in display appearing as an amazing black and orange fan that covers all the face expect its bright yellow eye with a black pupil. Males have a golden-yellow crest with a hint of red at the tip which I think is cool. The face throat, chin, and the sides of the neck are rusty tan. The feathers on the neck are both yellow in all colors and the sides and cape is light orange. The upper back is green, and the rest of the back is golden-yellow. The top was blue whereas the part near the tail is red. Other characteristics of the male is the end of the tail. They are spotted with black dots. As well for the beginning of the tail. The male also has a scarlet breast, and scarlet and light chestnut flakes and underpart. The legs and toes are dull-yellow.

The female (hen) is much less showy, with a duller mottled brown plumage that is similar to the common pheasant.  She is darker and more slender that the hen of the species, with a shorter tail (half her 60-80 cm). the female breast and sides are barred buff and blackish brown, and the abdomen is plain whiteness. She has a white face and throat. Some feathers may later in their lifetime grow some male colors. Lower legs and feet are a dull yellow. Both female and male have yellow feet and yellow bills.

They feed on the ground of grain, insects, leaves and invertebrates, but they roost is in the trees. While they clumsily in short boosts. They like to run and sprint on the ground. If startled, they can suddenly burst upwards at great speed and with a weird wing sound. Golden pheasants lay 8 to 12 eggs at a time and will then incubate these for around 22-23 days! They tend to eat berries, grubs, seeds, and other types of vegetation. The male has a loud sound like Quinn, the call is send out in the breeding season.

The scientific name is chrysolophus pictus. The golden pheasants are commonly found in zoos, but sometimes they make a different breed have babies that are similar lady Amherst’s pheasant in their history. There are also different mutations of the golden pheasants known from birds in captivity, including the dark-throated, yellow, cinnamon, salmon, peach, splash, mahogany and silver. In farming, the wild type is referred to “red-golden” to differentiate it from these mutations. Now it is time for us to talk about the Capybara.

 

the capybara is one of the largest living rodent in the world. The capybara is also called (this                                               is going to sound weird) chiguire and carpincho. It has close relatives called the guinea pigs and rock cavies, but there are more like capybara. For example, the agouti, the chinchilla, and the coypu. Native to south America, the capybara inhabits savannas and the dense forest, mostly for hiding, anyway the capybara lives near large open bodies of water.  It is most likely that they can be found in groups of up to 100 Capybara, but usually live in groups of 10-20 capybara. The capybara is not a dangerous anima. But is sadly hunted and killed for the capybara meat and the skin, also for grease from it thick fatty skin which is used in trades. I am just wondering but who would want to do that

The capybara has heavy, barrel-shaped body and a short head, with reddish-brown fur on the upper part of its body that turns yellowish-brown underneath. Its sweat glands can be found in the surface of the hairy portions of its skin, an unusual trait among rodents. The animal does not have down hair, and its guard hair shows little from the over hair. Adult capybaras grow to 106 to 134 cm in length!  Standing 50 to 62 cm tall at the shoulder blade, and weighs around 35 to 66 kg, with an average in Venezuelan llanos of 48.9 kg. the top record weighs are 91 kg for a wild female capybara from brazil and 73.5 kg for a wild capybara from Uruguay. The capybara has slightly webbed feet and very short tails. Their hind legs are a little longer than the forelegs; they have three toes on their rear feet and four toes on their front feet. Their noses are rounded, with nostrils, and eyes and ears are near the top of their heads. The female capybara is kind of heavier than males. I thought the males where heavier than the females.

The capybaras are Herbivores. they eat all kinds of grasses and water plants as well as fruits and bark of trees. They are very picky feeders and feed on the leaves of one species and disregard the other species surrounding it. they eat a greater selection of plants during the dry season ,as fewer plants are available. While they eat grass during the wet season, they have to switch to more better reeds during the dry season. The capybara’s jaw hinge is not perfect, so they chew food by grinding back-and-forth rather than side-side.

They can have a lifespan of 8-10 years, but live less than four years in the wild, because they are “a favorite food of jaguar, puma, ocelot, eagle, and caiman”. The capybara is also the preferred prey of anaconda. Now it is time for the coati.

(Or is it???  Che may have gotten a bit zealous and overly ambitious with his report…)

1 Comment

  • Frances says:

    I love Golden Pheasants! There was one living at a weird commune I stayed at in California where the owner also had ocelots and white peacocks! San Francisco is experiencing an influx of Capybaras as apparently they like the climate here and there are no Jaguars (yet)
    Love your blogs!

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