By
the midday heat, the Green-billed toucan has retreated to a shaded area
of the treetop. Its huge but lightweight beak serves among others
things as the regulator of its heat balance. Depending on the ambient
temperature, the blood that flows through its bill can be cooled or
heated. This natural air conditioner allows the Toucan to stay cool on
the hottest days here in the jungles of South America. |
On
the southern edge of the Atacama the desert fox is searching for food.
His sensitive sense of smell and hearing helps it to track down small
mammals, lizards and insects. But also it does not disdain carrion. It
travels many kilometers every day on the way to its next meal. Though
today is a bad day for the fox. The rare rain in this region blurs all
tracks and the noise of the precipitation deafens it to the sounds
around it. |
Such
as in the fairy tale the pool frog is sitting on the edge of the
isolated pond and with his call he attracts the females in heat. If a
female passes by he clings to her until she lays her eggs and the male
can inseminate them. However, he is not very picky about his choice so
it can happen that the male out of sheer love madness mixes up the sex
of its partner. |
The
Rock Monitor observes the area from its safe tree hole in the old
acacia. With the rising midday sun, the lizard withdraws here to wait
the hottest hours of the day. Only when the temperature cools down in
the afternoon it leaves its hole in search of food. Then from its hole
it is able to overlook the enemy from a distance, and eventually able
to withdraw to the back of its cave. |
Unimpressed
the proboscis monkey is sitting at the treetop of a coastal mangrove
and eating calmly the young shoots that it can reach with no effort.
Due to the bloated stomach caused by the fermenting leaves, the
bright ruff in its shining coat and an unrealistically large nose it
has been given the nickname „Dutch Monkey“. The original inhabitants of
Borneo saw the similarities between the apes and the Dutch traders of
the 17th century. |
In
the afternoon, a pack of lions have gathered at a waterhole on the
western edge of the Kruger National Park to wait for nightfall. Part of
the pack is also a young lion which will have soon reached sexual
maturity. The leader of the pack and the females still tolerate his
presence, but soon he will have to leave the pack and go his own way.
But until then he is allowed to flex his muscles. |
A
cold westerly wind is blowing from the Atlantic over the Cape Cross, a
peninsula on the Skeleton Coast in North Namibia and propels the patchy
morning fog into the arid inland. But the male seal is not bothered by
the cold wind nor interested in the fog. Now, immediately after the
birth of the seal pups, the bloody battles for best area and the
largest harem begin to decrease. Thus, the male seal finds little time
to recover from these exhausting confrontations. |
At
dusk when it’s cool the Bennett Wallaby has left its shady hiding place
in the bushes in order to go and search for succulent grasses and
ferns. However the quiet stillness of the evening in the Narawntapu
National Park in Tasmania is deceiving and the Wallaby must constantly
be on guard. The Tasmanian Devil and stray dogs are hunting the
graceful marsupials. Even the smallest noise interrupts the Wallaby
while eating and it searches for the direction from which the sound
came and quickly searches for an escape route. |
In
the morning the leopard has moved back on a branch of the Acacia where
it uses the coverage of the branches to observe the bushland under it.
Its attention is on a group of Springbok antelopes, that are grazing
between the bushes nearby. Yet, they are too far away to be worth the
effort for the leopard. But it has time and can wait until the herd
moves in its direction and the leopard gets its opportunity. |
On
the Atlantic coast of Argentina , lies the animal sanctuary called
Punta Tombo. This is the location of the world´s largest colony of
Magellanic penguins. During the breeding season, which lasts from about
September until the end of March, about four hundred thousand
penguins inhabit this location. Males and females constantly take turns
during breeding. A parent penguin goes out in the morning to hunt for
food, while the others take care of the offsprings. But now, in
February the young penguins almost have their wings so the parents get
a break too. |
At
nightfall, the Praying Mantis has chosen a spot under a village lamp to
wait for insects that are attracted by the bright glow of the light. It
remains at this point for hours without the slightest movement and
observes the area with its compound eyes. If a careless insect comes
too close, it will catch it with its leg in a split second. Once in the
clutches of the Mantis, the victim has no chance of an escape and ends
up as dinner. |
The
polar bear has caught a scent and looks while standing upright in the
direction of the wind that brought the seductive scent. For about 6
months, the polar bear had hardly any food. And now, in December it
waits at the edge of the Hudson Bay for the coast to freeze. Once the
ice pieces can carry it, it will migrate to the sea and hunt seals. At
the end of its hunting season the bear will have gained 100 kg to make
it over to the next summer. |
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