2020-03-14 The Week Junior

14 March 2020•The Week Junior 11

Goodweek /Badweek

Peccary

MountSnowdon

Microplastics (tiny particles of plastic)

have been found near the summit of

Mount Snowdon,the highest

mountain inWales. An activistcalled

LauraSanderson gathered samples

from alakenearthe top of Snowdon

and found an average of three pieces

of microplastic per litreofwater.

Reusing chopsticks

ACanadiancompany hasreused more

than 25 million chopstickstoc reate

newproducts liketables and chopping

boards. ChopValue cleans and

compresses used chopsticksfrom

restaurants. The chopsticksare also

used in decorations at therestaurants

wherethey werefirst usedfor eating.

Why do flamingos’knees

bend backwards?

Flamingos’knees appear to bend

backwards, but this is actually not

the case. The backwards joint

towards the middle of their leg is

actually their ankle! Their knee is

positioned higher up and is hidden

by feathers. This is similar to many

wading birds. So technically,

flamingos arestanding on their

tiptoes, and the lower part of their

leg is actuallyalong foot.

GOOD

●LIFESPAN IN THE WILD:Around 10 years.

●HABITAT:Desert scrubland, grasslands and woodland

areasthroughout the southern US,Central Americaand

some parts of South America.

●DIET:Plants, including beans,cacti androots. Sometimes

they willeatsmall animals such as birds and lizards.

●FUNFACT:Peccaries mark their territory by rubbing

ascent gland on their rump on torocksort rees.

W

b

AS

KA

Z

O

OK

EEP

E

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Awild peccary has been filmed running at about 30mph

in the US state of Arizona. The video,shot fromamoving

car, hasbeen watched millions of times online. Most

people weresurprised that the pig-likecreatures were

so speedy.Watchithere: tinyurl.com/TWJ-Peccary

AdrianWalls

Head of birds, ZSLLondon Zoo

Enjoyunlimited visitstoZSLLondon and WhipsnadeZoos, plusahost of other benefits

with ZSL Membership.Findout moreatzsl.org/membership/zsl-membership

Red pandas aretwo species

LAMB

DAVIS

·REUTERS

·ALAMY

·NAT

URE PICTURE

LIBRAR

Y·R

EX SHUTTERSTOCK

·ZSL

Animal

week

BAD

ofthe

S

cientists have discovered thatredpandas

areactually two species, not one, as had

been thought. After one of the most detailed

studies into the animal’sDNA (achemical that

carries all the information aboutaliving

thing’sbody and characteristics), itwas

discovered that Chineseredpandas and

Himalayanredpandas areactually different

species.Aspecies isadistinct group of

animals or plants that have the same

characteristics andcanreproducewith each

other.The study’sresults wereannounced

in February.

The world’sred

pandaslive in trees

and mountains in

Bhutan, China, India,

Myanmar and Nepal.

However,across the

populations, the animal’sfur has different

patterns, so itwaslong suspected that there

might be morethan one type ofredpanda,

but therewas never any evidence. After

testing 65 animals, theresearchers in China

found that the two types of panda have

slightly differentDNA.Itisthought this

happened after their populations became

separated byariver about 250,000 years ago.

Red pandas areconsidered endangered.

Thereare thought to be only around 10,

remaining in the wild and their numbers are

decreasing because of hunting and loss

of habitat. Experts hope that this

discovery will help to save them by

keeping the two species separate.

This means thatconservation

ction planscanbetailored to the

ds of each species.

decre

o

a

need

DISHOF

THED

AY

About 90%

ofthe

redpanda’s diet

isbamboo.

Himalayan

redpanda.

Flamingos

walk on tiptoe.