Rainforest Animals By 4AP
Contents
Green Treefrog Postman Butterfly White Rhinoceros Giant Panda Red Flying Fox Orangutan Vervet Monkey Mandrill Gorilla
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Bengal Tiger Leopard Keel-Billed Toucan Eclectus Parrot Saddlebill Stork Indian Peacock Acklins Iguana Flap-Necked Chameleon Nile Crocodile King Cobra
22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
Glossary
42
Green Treefrog
The green tree frog is an amphibian which lives in tropical rainforest in Australia.
Appearance The green tree frog is (3-6cm)long. It has big eyes. It's body is covered by green skin.
Diet The green tree frog eats small animals. It also eats crickets, moths and flies.
Life cycle The green tree frog breeds from March to October in southen areas and from April to September in northern areas.
Did you know? • Male green treefrogs can repeat their call up to 75 times per minute. • Most rainforest frogs have pads of sticky hairs on their fingers and toes and loose sticky skin on their bellies, which make them great climbers helping them to escape their predators. Many of these frogs live in trees for safety. • The green tree frog's Latin name is Litoria aurea. • Green Tree Frogs are sometimes called the “The smiling croaker.”
Postman Butterfly The Postman Butterfly is an insect that lives in the Tropical Rainforest in Brazil through Mexico.
Appearance The Postman Butterfly 's size is up to 3-in (8cm) wingspan. The Postman Butterfly's has an exoskeleton (tough bony or leathery covering).
Diet The Postman Butterfly likes to eat flower nectar and pollen.
Life Cycle The Postman Butterfly's head is orange with a pair of recurved black spins. It's dupa is brown and it has golden spots on the abdomen and thorax.
Did you know? • Their eggs are yellow and unlike other butterflies, they are toxic. • These butterflies are found in the region from Central America to southern Brazil.
White Rhinoceros The White Rhinoceros is a mammal that lives in tropical rainforests and marshy areas in central South America.
Appearance The White Rhinoceros is a animal that is covered in thick grey skin. It has a huge body, large head and a broad chest. On it's head it has 2 horns. It is 5-6 feet (1.52 m) tall and weighs 6,000 lbs (2.721 kg).
Life cycle The White Rhinoceros only mates in spring. It can reproduce at 6 or 7 years old but the black female can only reproduce at 8 or 9 years. The White Rhinoceros can live up to 40-50 years old.
Diet The white and black rhinoceros are both herbivores. They feed on various types of vegetation like grass, leads, shrubs and branches.The type of food they eat is low energy.
Did you know? •When you look at a White Rhinoceros it seems that it has a big brain but it doesn't •The White Rhinoceros has bad eye sight •The White Rhinoceros is the largest living animal •The White Rhinoceros horns are made from fibre •The word rhinoceros comes from 2 Greek words that mean nose-horned
Giant Panda The giant panda is a mammal that lives in tropical bamboo forests in western or southwestern China.
Appearance The giant panda is a mammal that is covered with black and white fur. It can grow up to 5-6 feet long and it can weigh up to 90-130 kg
Diet
Giant pandas are technically carnivores. They usually eat, bamboo shoots, bamboo stems, bamboo leaves and bamboo. Sometimes they eat smaller mammals if they can catch them.
Life cycle The giant panda lives for up to 15-25 years. It's life cycle is the same as a human's - cub, young adult and adult.
Did you know? • Giant pandas eat up to 85 pounds of bamboo shoots each day. • The first giant panda came to the United States in 1936. • Giant pandas have 6 fingers on each hand.
Red Flying Fox The Red Flying Fox is a mammal that lives in tropical rain forests in northeastern Australia and southeastern Asia.
Appearance The Red Flying Fox is a animal that has a furry body, and it weighs 280-530 grams. The Red Flying Foxes wingspan is 5ft (1.5m) long, and it's wings are covered in smooth skin.
Life Cycle The Red Flying Fox does not breed until 3 to 4 years of age. Healthy Flying Foxes can exceed 30 years of age. Red Flying Foxes typically live to be around 12 to 15 years old. Red Flying Foxes typically have one pup annually, between October and November.
Diet The Red Flying Fox likes to eat fruit, flowers, and it also likes to eat rainforest fruits (eucalyptus and syzygium).
Did you know? •The Red Flying Fox is the only mammal that can fly! •The Red Flying Fox is the smallest in Australia (others are black!) •The Red Flying Foxes hang in a close group on the branch (20,000 or more!) •Little Red Flying Foxes may fly more than 50 miles (80 km) in a single night!
Orangutan The Orangutan is a mammal that lives in tropical rain forests in south eastern Asia in Bornea and Sumatra.
Appearance The Orangutan has brownish orange colored fur. Male Orangutans can grow up to 1.5m and weigh 82kg. Females can grow up to 90cm and weigh about 40kg. Although their skeletons are similar to humans, their arms are longer then their legs!
Diet Orangutans eats leaves, fruits, shoots, bark and insects. Although Orangutans eat lots of things, 90% of their diet is fruit. One of their favorite fruits is durian. Orangutans eat bark for added fiber and carbohydrates.
Life Cycle Orangutans can live about 30 years, however, in captivity they can live up to 50 years old. Similar to humans, the Orangutan grows for eight months in the womb. It will stay with their mum for about seven to eight years before leaving.
Did you know? •The Orangutan's Latin name is Pongo Pygmaeus. •Orangutans have 32 teeth, the same as humans. •Orangutans have long arms in comparison to their body. When they stand up straight, their arms can still reach their ankles. •The Orangutan is the largest living arboreal animal.
Vervet Monkey The Vervet Monkey is a mammal that lives in tropical rainforests in Africa, south of the Sahara.
Appearance The Vervet Monkey is 40-63cm tall, and weighs about 2.5kg. Its body is generally greenish olive or silvery grey, although males are recognised by their pale blue scrota. These monkeys have long arms and legs that allow them to move at speed on the ground.
Diet The Vervet Monkey feeds on fruits, seeds, roots, blossoms, nuts, and insects. They collect food using their hands, and they make regular trips to the water hole. They are omnivorous.
Life cycle The Vervet Monkey can live up to 20 years in the wild, and 24 years in captivity. They take 5 years to become fertile, depending on food supply. A single infant is born 5-6 months after mating. They give birth once a year and very rarely there will be twins.
Did you know? • The Vervet Monkey's Latin name is Chlorecebus aethiops. • Its predators are leopards, eagles, snakes, and hyenas. • The Vervet Monkeys are killed for bushmeat. • The Vervet Monkeys are excellent swimmers and jumpers. • They spend a lot of time in trees, but they tend to climb down head first.
Mandrill The mandrill is a mammal. It lives in tropical rainforests in Western Africa.
Appearance The Mandrill is 3ft (90cm) tall and weighs 120lbs (55kg). Their body is covered by yellow and black fur. Mandrills are easily identifiable by the blue and red shins. Males are more colourful then females.
Diet
In the wild mandrills eat fruit, seed, greens, roots, ants, spider, worms, bird eggs and small vegetables.
Life cycle Female mandrills need to grow to four to five years old before they are strong enough to breed. Gestation is about six and a half months resulting in a single offspring weighing one or two pounds (4-9kg). Only females care for the infant. Mandrills can live for 30 years in the wild and 40 years in captivity.
Did you know? • The mandrill is the biggest monkey in the world. • Even through mandrills are vegetarian, they will kill and eat anything they can overpower. • Male Mandrills are the heaviest monkeys in the world. • The Mandrill is a character in ‘The Lion king'. • The Mandrill is from Western Africa.
Gorilla
The Gorilla is a mammal that lives in tropical rainforests in central Africa near the equator.
Appearance Gorillas are covered in fur. They are up to 6 ft long and around 177kg. Gorillas have two legs and two arms. Gorillas also have 10 fingers, 10 toes and small ears. They are usually very strong and very heavy as well. Gorillas have a broad chest, wide shoulders and very short legs. It also has long powerful strong arms.
Diet Gorillas eats fresh leaves, buds, barks, roots, vines and delicious fruits.
Life cycle A Gorilla can live up to 35 to 50 years old. They mostly live on the ground,but they can also climb. When Gorillas are on the ground they walk on there finger knuckles. Troops of Gorillas spend half of their day searching for food to eat. For the rest of there day they lay in the sun and play with their children. If another Gorilla threatens comes the silver back protects them, by beating his chest.
Did you know? •Gorillas is one of the most intelligent animals. In 1972 scientists started teaching Koko the Gorilla to "speak" using sign language! •Male Gorilla's fur becomes silver or grey when they get older. They are called 'silver backs'. •Gorillas usually do not sleep in the same nest for more than one night. •An adult Gorilla's brain weighs twenty ounces.
Bengal Tiger The Bengal Tiger is a mammal that lives in tropical rainforests in India and South-Eastern Asia.
Appearance
The Bengal tiger is around 2-2.5m long and 159-250kg. It has a yellow or light orange coat, with black or dark brown stripes and a white belly. It's tail is 85-110cm long.
Diet
The Bengal tiger eats deers, wild pigs, young buffaloes, young elephants and even cattle! They get through 18-40kg of meat in one meal. They can catch big animals but prefer either young or old animals because they don't run as fast.
Life cycle Bengal tigers, that live in the wild can live up to 10-12 years but the ones that are in captivity can live up to 26 years. About 103 days after mating a male Bengal tiger, the female gives birth to a litter of 2-3 cubs, but sometimes up to 7. Cubs don't hunt until they are 18 months old.
Did you know? • The Bengal tiger is the second largest tiger in the world. • A Bengal tiger's roar can be heard around 2 miles away. • The Bengal tiger is nocturnal! • Each Bengal tiger can eat up to 50 deers every year. • Due to the Bengal tiger's size and power, it has no natural predator in its natural life.
Leopards The leopard is a mammal that lives in the rain forests in Africa, south of the Sahara, Turkey to Korea and Java.
Appearance The leopard has a yellowish colored fur, with black dots on it. It is about 2.5 long, 80cm tall, and weighs 34–57km.
Diet The leopard has a broad diet, it eats monkeys, antelopes, jackals, peacocks, snakes, sheep, rabbits, fish, and goats.They are also known to eat baby elephants. Baby leopards can eat meat when they are 6 weeks old.
Life cycle The leopard only lives about 21 years. Cubs are born with eyes closed and grey fur. The baby leopard spends 18—22 months before they leave their mum.
Did you know? •The leopard's Latin name is panthera pardus. •Leopard drags it's prey on trees or 100 yards away from the kill site to get animal away from competitors. •The leopard is the smallest in the four big cats. •Leopards are in the felidae family.
Keel-Billed Toucan The Keel-Billed Toucan is a bird that lives in tropical rainforests.
Appearance The Keel-Billed Toucan is colourful bird with a big bill. It is 33-61 cm and it weighs 400g. It has lots of feathers covering its body.
Life Cycle The Keel-Billed Toucan lives In Southern Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia. In the wild they live for 20 years, but in captivity they live for 15 years.
Diet The Keel-Billed Toucan eats small fruits, bird eggs, insects, small rodents and they especially love lizards and fledging birds.
Did you know? • There are 8 species of Toucans. •Keel-Billed Toucans have really strong legs but also thin legs and they also have really sharp claws. •They make nests in high trees to protect themselves from enemies.
Eclectus Parrot The Eclectus parrot is a bird that lives in tropical rainforests in Indonesia and Northern Australia.
Appearance The Eclectus parrot is a colourful bird. The size of the Eclectus parrot is 16 1/2 inches long. It weighs 500g. Their body is covered in a smooth feather-like coat and it has a short tail.
Diet The Eclectus parrot loves to eat fruit, seeds, buds, nectar, pollen, wild figs, banana, pears and apples. Eclectus parrots are very healthy.
Life cycle The Eclectus parrot's life span is about 40 years.
Did you know? • Eclectus Parrots are known to be very noisy birds, but they are very secretive in the forest canopy. • Their Latin name is Eclectus roratus. • When explorers encountered these parrots, the extreme color difference between males and female birds led many to believe they were two species!! • Male parrots are green, and females are red and blue.
Saddlebill Stork The Saddlebill Stork is a bird. It lives in tropical rain forests in Africa, south of the Sahara.
Appearance The Saddlebill Stork is black and white and is covered in feathers. It is 1.5m tall and has a 2.5 meter wingspan. The Saddlebill Stork weighs 5-7kg.
Life cycle The Saddlebill Stork can live up to 26 years. It can breed 3 to 6 eggs in one week and it breeds up to 10 eggs in one year.
Diet The Saddlebill Stork, like most of its relatives, feeds mainly on fish, frogs and crabs, but also on small birds and reptiles.
Did You Know? • It is the tallest bird in Africa. • Male and Female storks share the nestbuilding responsibility. • Sometimes they split the tasks, with the males collecting sticks and the female arranging them to form the nest.
Indian Peacock The Indian peacock is a bird that lives in tropical rainforest in Indian and Srilanka.
Appearance The Indian Peacock is up to 71 or 72ft long(2m). The Indian peacock has long feathers. The Indian peacock has bright colours.
Diet The Indian peacock eats snails, frogs, insects, grains, grass and bulbs.
Lifecycle The Indian peacock lives for about 20 years. The Female lays 3 to 6 eggs that hatch in about 1 month.
Did you know? •The male peacocks tail feathers are about five times as long as it's body feathers. They have up to 150 feathers on their tails. •The train (1.4-1.6 meters in length) accounts for more than 60% of their total body length (2.3 meters). •Indian Peacocks do most of their foraging in the early morning and shortly before sunset.
Acklins Iguana The Acklins Iguana is a reptile that lives in tropical rainforests in Central America.
Appearance The Acklins Iguana has a yellow and dark brown body. It has a sharp and spiky back, with a small snout. They are 50cm long.
Diet The Acklins Iguana eats fruit, flowers and leaves.
Life cycle After mating with a male iguana, a female digs a nest and lays up to 70 eggs. It buries the eggs to hatch after about 10 to 15 weeks. It then digs it up to the surface. They are able to mate when they are two years old. Its average life span is 15 to 25 years.
Did you know? • Acklins Iguana's use their tail to balance, to swim and to self-defend. • It blends in with the rocks because of its colour. • Some of them are the colour red and yellow too. • Males are bigger than females. • Some of them like to eat mice!
Flap-necked Chameleon The flap-necked chameleon is a reptile which lives in tropical forests in the Mediterranean region.
Appearance The flap-necked chameleon is 10-15 in (25-38) long and has scaly skin. It's body is marked with several dark spots. It has large eyes and a curled tail. They are green, yellow and brown.
Diet The flap-necked chameleon eats insects. It's favourite foods are grass hoppers, butterflies and flies.
Life cycle The flap-necked chameleon lives for 3-5 years. It takes 9 months for a new baby's eggs to hatch.
Did you know? •They change colour when scared. •They change colour when hot/cold. •They are an African animal. •They have a pale stripe on their neck. •Females lays 25-50 eggs.
Nile Crocodile The Nile crocodile lives in tropical rainforests and marshy areas.
Appearance The Nile crocodile is 16-20ft (5-6m) long and 500lbs (277kg). The colour of their body is bronze with a purple belly and yellow and green flanks. They are green and have four short legs and a powerful long tail.
Diet The Nile crocodile likes to eat fish, birds and turtles.
Life cycle The Nile crocodile lives to be over 40 years old in the wild.
Did you know? •Nile crocodiles are carnivores (they eat only meat). They mainly eat fish, but will also go for small hippos, zebras and birds if they get the chance. They will also eat carrion (the meat from animals that they haven’t killed themselves). •Nile crocodiles will also attack and eat humans. Each year it is estimated that between 100 and 200 people are killed by these reptiles. •The Nile crocodile nearly became extinct in the middle of the twentieth century, but they are now a protected species and the population has risen.
King Cobra The King Cobra is a reptile that lives in the tropical rainforest in South Eastern Asia.
Appearance The King Cobra has scaly skin and is the most venomous snake on the planet! Its general size is 10-12 feet long.
Diet King Cobras love to eat frogs and fish. They also enjoy birds and small mammals.
Life Cycle The life cycle of the King cobra snake begins with the egg. The mother cobra protects her nest of up to forty eggs. The eggs then become hatchling snakes.
Did you know? • When it attacks, its bites are full of poison. It squirts poison on its prey. •There are 270 different types of cobras. They live in tropical areas of Africa, Asia and Australia, usually in forests and areas near river. • King cobras are the longest of all the venomous snakes. • The cobra is not only an excellent climber but a super swimmer as well. • Cobras are very fast.
Glossary Arboreal
Living in trees
Amphibian Cold blooded vertebrate Breed
To produce offspring
Canopy Captivity
Layer of rainforest forming a roof over the forest below Living under human care
Carnivore
An animal that eats flesh
Extinct
No longer in existence
Fertile
Natural capability to produce offspring Roughage. The indigestible portion of food.
Fibre
Forage
Searching for food
Gestation
Period between conception and birth Emerge from the egg
Hatch Mammal
Vertebrate. Feed milk to the young. Have fur/hair Nectar Produced by plants to attract pollinating animals Omnivore An animal which eats plants or other animals Prey An animal that is hunted and killed by another for food Reptile Cold blooded vertebrate. Dry scaly skin. Lays eggs Thorax Part of animals body between head and abdomen Vines A climbing or trailing wood stemmed plant Wingspan Distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip
Rainfores t Animals Learn about the habitat, diet, life cycle and appearance of rainforest animals. Includes lots of fun facts!
A class ebook by 4AP at The British School of Guangzhou