FeedaMail: Animal of the day

	Animal of the day
	(Sponsor this newsletter) The Mountain Tapir - a Whistling Swimmer The Mountain Tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) lives in South American cloud forests and wetlands high in the Andes mountains of Ecuador, Columbia and Peru. Since they live at altitudes up to 14,000 feet, they might get too cold if not for their woolly coats, which are longer than those of most tapir species. They sometimes migrate with the seasons to avoid the annoyance of certain insects. They are the smallest type of tapir. Expectant mother Mountain Tapirs have a long wait: It can take 400 days before the baby tapir is born! When they are first born, Mountain Tapirs weigh about twenty-six to thirty kilograms (twelve to fourteen pounds)--that's lighter than a miniature poodle--and grow to be up to 250 kilograms (550 pounds). The adults are about 1.8 meters (six feet) in length, about .8 meters (2.5 to three feet) tall, and solid black or dark brown. The babies are brown with cream-colored spots and stripes over their bodies. They stay with their mothers for a year to eighteen months, and can live up to 30 years. When they are grown, they live alone. Mountain Tapirs are nocturnal, sleeping during the day and foraging at night. They are well-suited to traversing mountainous terrain and are also excellent swimmers. Their feet spread out when set down and contract when lifted, so that they keep from sinking in mud and have little difficulty pulling out of it. They are so comfortable in water that they often flee to it when threatened. The sound they most often make is a high-pitched whistle which might be mistaken for a bird's chirp. Sadly, the forests where Mountain Tapirs live are shrinking. The trees are being cut down for lumber and to make room for mining and farming. Experts of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) believe that unless the situation changes drastically, the Mountain Tapir may be extinct in a few years. There are only about 2,500 Mountain Tapirs left in the wild, and very few zoos have breeding pairs in captivity. Humans also threaten the Mountain Tapir more directly: Poachers hunt them for food and their woolly hides, and locals sometimes use various parts of the tapir in home remedies. In addition to poachers, Mountain Tapirs are hunted by mountain lions, spectacled bears and jaguars. Ferns, grasses, leaves and other plants make up the Mountain Tapir's vegetarian diet. Plant seeds often pass undigested through their systems and grow where they fall. In this way, the tapirs help to renew their own food source. Picture of the mountain tapir by Elissa Berver, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Read More »
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FeedaMail: AP Top Science News At 5:38 p.m. EDT

	AP Top Science News At 5:38 p.m. EDT
	(Sponsor this newsletter) Long shots: Galaxies from 13.2 billion years ago WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Hubble Space Telescope has captured snapshots of never-before seen galaxies far, far away. Try 13.2 billion years ago.... Read More » Mars rover photographs featured at Smithsonian WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ten years after NASA landed two rovers on Mars for a 90-day mission, one is still exploring, and the project has generated hundreds of thousands of images from the planet's surface.... Read More » Utah avalanche was largest in modern history SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The avalanche near Salt Lake City last year that carried enough rock, dirt and debris to bury New York's Central Park under 66 feet of rubble was North America's largest such disaster in modern history, according to University of Utah scientists.... Read More » Report doesn't resolve debate over Great Lakes TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) -- The debate over how to protect the Great Lakes from voracious Asian carp appeared no closer to settlement Tuesday following release of a federal report with options that could cost billions and require extensive re-engineering of Chicago's busy waterway network.... Read More » Fast-moving erosion threatens Hawaii coastal homes HALEIWA, Hawaii (AP) -- Alice Lunt didn't worry too much when she saw waves splashing close to her home on Oahu's North Shore on Christmas Eve. She had seen the ocean edge close before. But before dawn, a neighbor woke her with a call.... Read More »
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