conservation

INTERNATIONAL SNOW LEOPARD DAY!

Woohoo! We’re heading to the chilly mountains of Asia to meet one of the more gorgeous and elusive big cats on earth! Happy International Snow Leopard Day! We’re going to celebrate with some fun facts about these neat cats!

• Snow leopards live in the mountains of Central Asia.

• They have some of thickest fur of any animal on earth, up to 5 inches thick.
• Snow leopards can jump up to 50 feet in on leap.
• Snow leopards are carnivores, they eat blue sheep and small mammals.
• Their long tails can grow up to 36 inches, almost as long as their bodies. Their tails help the snow leopard with balance and warmth.

• Snow leopards are endangered.
• Snow leopards are known to be shy and solitary.
• Their feet are built like snow shoes.

INTERNATIONAL SLOTH DAY!

• Sloths sleep up to 20 hours a day.
• Sloths live in the rainforests of South and Central America.

• Sloths are related to armadillos and anteaters.
• Sloths have algae that grow on their fur; it helps them camouflage in the trees.
• There are two main species- two toed and three toed sloths.

• They are herbivores, eating leaves, shoots and fruit.
• Sloths only go on the ground about once a week and they do that to poop and pee. This keeps their scent away from their tree top homes.

• Giant sloths roamed the earth during the time of woolly mammoths, around 11,000 years ago.

• Sloths are great swimmers!
• Sloths have a four chambered stomach.
• Baby sloths cling to their mothers in their first weeks of life.

Check out the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica for more information about these amazing animals and how you can help!

We’re Seeing Red!

Fall has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere and that means many animals are starting to hoard or cache food for the winter! Today we are heading to Europe to meet a small rodent who hoards food for the winter! Let’s go meet the red squirrel!

Range/Habitat: Northern Europe- Asia

Diet: Omnivore: seeds, nuts, fungus and bird eggs
Length/Weight: 5-8 inches/ 9-12 oz
Conservation Status: least concern

Fun Facts:

• Red squirrels coloration depends on where they are located. They can go from red to black.
• Red squirrels can swim.
• They are crepuscular.
• Red squirrels molt their fur generally twice a year. 
• Red squirrels do not hibernate.
• They store caches of food for when supplies might be low in the winter. What seed caches are forgotten help plant new trees.
• Red squirrels are more arboreal.
• They spend most of their waking days foraging for food.