The Week Junior - USA (2022-02-11)

Animals and the environment

February 11, 2022 •The Week Junior 11

Brown bears change up their diet

Sequoia trees

Wildfi res in California are

threatening its ancient sequoia

trees. The trees grow up to 295

feet tall and can live more than

3,000 years. They have bark

that resists most forest fi res,

but recent intense blazes have

burned them down.

Florida Everglades

The US government announced

plans to spend over $1 billion to

restore the Florida Everglades.

The funds will be used to

protect the wetlands preserve,

home to at-risk species like the

American crocodile, from a

warming climate.

Do you have a question for a zookeeper? Send it to [email protected].

Find out more about the Houston Zoo at houstonzoo.org.

“What is the Asian small-

clawed ott er’s favorite

thing to do?” Cadence, 9, Texas

Its favorite thing to do— besides

eating—is playing! You can often

see these otters juggling pebbles

and wrestling one another. Asian

small-clawed otters spend about

half their day in the water, which

is not as much as most other otter

species. They also enjoy hunting

and resting.

OLIFE SPAN: About 10 to 15 years

OHABITAT: Forests, ponds, and streams in Japan

OSIZE: 3.5 to 4.7 inches long

ODIET: Earthworms, insects, and maggots

OFUN FACT: Its colorful underside warns

predators that its skin holds dangerous poison.

Scientists studying Japanese fi re-bellied newts

have found that these amphibians can regrow

their skin without scars. They hope the

discovery could help in developing treatments

for human scarring after surgery.

Jamie Quirk

Natural encounters keeper,

Houston Zoo

ON THIS PAGE: GETTY IMAGES (4); ALAMY; ON LEFT PAGE: GETTY IMAGES (2); ALAMY (2); JACINTA SHACKLETON

F

emale brown bears in Hallo Bay, in

Alaska’s Katmai National Park and

Preserve, are eating signifi cantly less

salmon than they were three decades

earlier, researchers have found.

In 1989, salmon made up 62% of the

bears’ diets. In 2017, the percentage

dropped to 28%. Researchers reached this

conclusion after analyzing bear blood and

hair samples and observing bears in the

area. The exact reasons for the change are

unknown, but a decline in available

salmon is likely to be a key cause.

In place of salmon, the bears have

been eating more berries, sedges (a type

of grasslike plant), and leafy vegetation.

The long-term eff ects, if any, this change in

diet may have on the bears are not yet

known. Eating salmon does help bears put

on fat, and that helps them produce cubs.

Further research is needed to see if these

bears might start struggling to make cubs.

The bears of Katmai Park are famous

for putting on large amounts of weight for

winter. During Fat Bear Week, the public

votes online to pick the biggest bear.

Japanese fi re-

bellied newt

Animal

week

of the

A brown bear

in Katmai

AS

KA

Z

O

OK

EEP

E

R

Good week/ Bad week

BEAR

HAVEN

About 2,200 brown

bears live in Alaska’s

Katmai National Park.