- Zebras & Flamingos-
No animal has a more distinctive coat than the zebra. Each animal's stripes are as unique as fingerprints, no two are exactly alike.
The patterns make it difficult for predators to identify a single animal from a running herd and distort distances.
Zebras are social animals that spend time in herds. They graze together, primarily on grass, and even groom one another. They live in small family groups consisting of a male (stallion), several females, and their young. These units may combine with others to form herds thousands of head strong, but family members will remain close within the herd.
Zebras must be constantly wary of lions and hyenas. A herd has many eyes alert to danger. If an animal is attacked, its family will come to its defense, circling the wounded zebra and attempting to drive off predators.
Average lifespan in the wild: 25 years
Size: Height at the shoulder, 3.5 to 5 ft
Weight: 440 to 990 lbs
Group name: Herd
Size relative to a 6-ft man:
- Flamingos-.
These famous pink birds can be found in warm, watery regions on many continents. They favor environments like estuaries and saline or alkaline lakes. Considering their appearance, flamingos are surprisingly fluid swimmers, but really thrive on the extensive mud flats where they breed and feed.
Flamingos are likely to be the only tall, pink bird in any given locale. They also have long, lean, curved necks and black-tipped bills with a distinctive downward bend.
Their bent bills allow them to feed on small organisms, plankton, tiny fish and fly larvae. In muddy flats or shallow water, they use their long legs and webbed feet to stir up the bottom. They then bury their bills, or even their entire heads, and suck up both mud and water to access the tasty morsels within. A flamingo's beak has a filterlike structure to remove food from the water before the liquid is expelled.
Shrimplike crustaceans are responsible for the flamingo's pink color. The birds pale in captivity unless their diet is supplemented.
Flamingos live and feed in groups called flocks or colonies. They find safety in numbers, which helps to protect individual birds from predators while their heads are down in the mud. Young flamingos are born gray and white and do not turn pink for two years.
Size: 36 to 50 in; Wingspan, 60 in
Weight: 8.75 lbs
Group name: Colony
Size relative to a 6-ft man:
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