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Nordens Ark
Nordens Ark (Ark of the North) is a zoo located on the ''Åby Manor'' in Bohuslän, Sweden. Nordens Ark was opened in 1989 and is operated by the Nordens Ark Foundation (Swedish: ''Stiftelsen Nordens Ark''). Nordens Ark is on the west coast of Sweden, not far from the border with Norway. Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, was appointed as Nordens Ark Supreme Protector in 1989. Nordens Ark has been a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) since 1992 and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) since 1994. Nordens Ark is open to visitors every day of the year and receives around 100,000 visitors per annum. History Historic letters show that King Håkon of Norway lived at Åby Manor in 1307, establishing that the manor is at least that old and making it one of Bohuslän's oldest estates. In 1661, Margareta Hvitfeldt purchased the property, consisting of some 90 farms and cottages. After her death in 1683, the property was managed until 1975 by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sotenäs Municipality
Sotenäs Municipality (''Sotenäs kommun'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Kungshamn, with around 3,500 inhabitants. The present municipality was created in 1974 through the amalgamation of previous units. The name was taken from the old Sotenäs Hundred. Population figures Approximate inhabitants of the larger population centres in the municipality. Source: Statistics Sweden (2002). They are here ordered after size. *Hovenäset 200 * Ulebergshamn 300 * Bohus-Malmön 400 * Bovallstrand 500 * Väjern 900 * Smögen 1,400 * Hunnebostrand 2,000 *Kungshamn 3,000 (seat) History Västra Götaland County has been inhabited for several thousands of years. The province, Bohuslän, is among the internationally most known because of its pre-historical remains. The oldest remains in Sotenäs Municipality are from around 6000 BC. From the younger Stone Age are several burial monuments ( dolmens). From the Bronze Age and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-naped Crane
The white-naped crane (''Antigone vipio'') is a bird of the crane family. It is a large bird, long, about tall, and weighing about , with pinkish legs, a grey-and-white-striped neck, and a red face patch. Distribution The white-naped crane breeds in northeastern Mongolia, northeastern China, and adjacent areas of southeastern Russia, where a program at Khingan Nature Reserve raises eggs provided from U.S. zoos to bolster the species. Different groups of the birds migrate to winter near the Yangtze River, the Korean Demilitarized Zone, and on Kyūshū in Japan. They are the only cranes found in South Korea. They also reach Kazakhstan and Taiwan. Only about 4,900 to 5,400 individuals remain in the wild. Its diet consists mainly of insects, seeds, roots, plants, and small animals. Due to ongoing habitat loss and overhunting in some areas, the white-naped crane is evaluated as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I and II of CITES. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snow Leopard
The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia''), also known as the ounce, is a Felidae, felid in the genus ''Panthera'' native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia, Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is estimated to number fewer than 10,000 mature individuals and is expected to decline about 10% by 2040. It is threatened by poaching and habitat destruction following infrastructural developments. It inhabits Alpine climate, alpine and subalpine zones at elevations of , ranging from eastern Afghanistan, the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau to southern Siberia, Mongolia and western China. In the northern part of its range, it also lives at lower elevations. Taxonomy (biology), Taxonomically, the snow leopard was long classified in the monotypic genus ''Uncia''. Since Phylogenetics, phylogenetic studies revealed the relationships among ''Panthera'' species, it has been considered a member of that Genus ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rocky Mountain Goat
The mountain goat (''Oreamnos americanus''), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a hoofed mammal endemic to mountainous areas of western North America. A subalpine to alpine species, it is a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs and ice. Despite its vernacular name and both genera being in the same subfamily (Caprinae), the mountain goat is not a member of ''Capra'', the genus that includes all other goats, such as the wild goat (''Capra aegagrus''), from which the domestic goat is derived. Instead, it is more closely allied with the takins (''Budorcas'') and chamois (''Rupicapra''). Classification and evolution The mountain goat is an even-toed ungulate of the order Artiodactyla and the family Bovidae (along with antelopes, gazelles, and cattle). It belongs to the subfamily Caprinae, along with true goats, wild sheep, the chamois, the muskox and other species. The takins of the Himalayan region, while not a sister lineage of the mountain goat, are nonethele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Forest Reindeer
The Finnish forest reindeer ''(Rangifer fennicus fennicus'' (Finnish:'' metsäpeura'', Russian: ''лесной северный олень''), also known as Eurasian or European forest reindeer is a rare subspecies of the reindeer native to Finland and northwestern Russia. They are found primarily in Russian Karelia and the provinces of North Karelia, Savonia and Kainuu in Finland, though some range into central south Finland. They are distinct from the semi-domesticated mountain reindeer (''Rangifer tarandus tarandus'') in their larger size, longer legs and preference for dense boreal forest habitat, where they are rarely seen by humans, over the open tundra. The Finnish herd migrates seasonally back and forth across the long Russo-Finnish border. Size The Finnish forest reindeer is one of the largest subspecies of reindeer. It is 180–220 cm long and the tail 10–15 cm. The adult male is larger, weighing 150–250 kg, while adult females weigh about 100 k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Przewalski Horse
Przewalski's horse (, , (Пржевальский ), ) (''Equus ferus przewalskii'' or ''Equus przewalskii''), also called the takhi, Mongolian wild horse or Dzungarian horse, is a rare and endangered horse originally native to the steppes of Central Asia. It is named after the Russian geographer and explorer Nikolay Przhevalsky. Once extinct in the wild, it has been reintroduced to its native habitat since the 1990s in Mongolia at the Khustain Nuruu National Park, Takhin Tal Nature Reserve, and Khomiin Tal, as well as several other locales in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Several genetic characteristics of Przewalski's horse differ from what is seen in modern domestic horses, indicating neither is an ancestor of the other. For example, the Przewalski has 33 chromosome pairs, compared to 32 for the domestic horse. Their ancestral lineages split from a common ancestor between 38,000 and 160,000 years ago, long before the domestication of the horse. Przewalski's horse was long ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peregrine Falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae. A large, Corvus (genus), crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, barred white underparts, and a black head. The peregrine is renowned for its speed, reaching over during its characteristic hunting stoop (high-speed dive), making it the fastest bird in the world, as well as the Fastest animals, fastest member of the animal kingdom. According to a ''National Geographic (U.S. TV channel), National Geographic'' TV program, the highest measured speed of a peregrine falcon is . As is typical for avivore, bird-eating raptors, peregrine falcons are Sexual dimorphism, sexually dimorphic, with females being considerably larger than males. The peregrine's breeding range includes land regions from the Arctic tundra to the tropics. It can b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Panda
The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle and a ringed tail. Its head-to-body length is with a tail, and it weighs between . It is well adapted to climbing due to its flexible joints and curved semi-retractile claws. The red panda was first formally described in 1825. The two currently recognised subspecies, the Himalayan and the Chinese red panda, genetically diverged about 250,000 years ago. The red panda's place on the evolutionary tree has been debated, but modern genetic evidence places it in close affinity with raccoons, weasels, and skunks. It is not closely related to the giant panda, which is a bear, though both possess elongated wrist bones or "false thumbs" used for grasping bamboo. The evolutionary lineage of the red panda (Ailuridae) stretches back around , as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maned Wolf
The maned wolf (''Chrysocyon brachyurus'') is a large canine of South America. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, and Paraguay, and is almost extinct in Uruguay. Its markings resemble those of foxes, but it is neither a fox nor a wolf. It is the only species in the genus ''Chrysocyon'' (meaning "golden dog"). It is the largest canine in South America, weighing and up to at the withers. Its long, thin legs and dense reddish coat give it an unmistakable appearance. The maned wolf is a crepuscular and omnivorous animal adapted to the open environments of the South American savanna, with an important role in the seed dispersal of fruits, especially the wolf apple (''Solanum lycocarpum''). The maned wolf is a solitary animal. It communicates primarily by scent marking, but also gives a loud call known as "roar-barking". This mammal lives in open and semi-open habitats, especially grasslands with scattered bushes and trees, in the Cerrado of south, central-west, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Lynx
The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is a medium-sized wild cat widely distributed from Northern, Central and Eastern Europe to Central Asia and Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. It inhabits temperate and boreal forests up to an elevation of . Despite its wide distribution, it is threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching and depletion of prey. Taxonomy ''Felis lynx'' was the scientific name used in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in his work '' Systema Naturae''. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the following Eurasian lynx subspecies were proposed: The following were also proposed, but are not considered valid taxa: *Altai lynx (''L. l. wardi'') *Baikal lynx (''L. l. kozlovi'') *Amur lynx (''L. l. stroganovi'') *Sardinian lynx (''L. l. sardiniae'') Characteristics The Eurasian lynx has a relatively short, reddish or brown coat that is marked with black spots; their number and pattern are highly variable. The underparts, neck and chin are whitish. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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