I spent today at the Toronto Zoo. I found out really cool things about some of the creatures I saw:
Gorillas
Did you know that Gorillas are the largest of the great apes and only live in some tropical areas of Central Africa?
An adult gorilla’s arms are 20% longer than their legs and they walk using both their arms and legs, supporting themselves on their knuckles.
Gorillas live in family groups of between 6 and 30 other gorillas.
I was relieved to find out that Gorillas are vegetarians and have no interest in BBQ Chicken.
Polar Bears
These guys are the world’s largest land predators. They would happily eat a chicken. They could clear out a whole hen house and still have room for dessert. Luckily, there aren’t too many chickens running around in the arctic so they mostly eat seals.
As I said before, they are really big. An adult male can weigh up to 1500 lbs, a female up to 550 lbs.
The females usually have two cubs which can stay with the mother for up to 2 ½ years.
Turtles
Turtles and tortoises evolved before mammals, birds, (including chickens), crocodiles, snakes and lizards. They’ve been on earth for over 200 million years.
Some turtle species can live for over 100 years.
There are species of turtles found on every continent in the world except for Antarctica.
Turtles can breath through their butts…Now doesn’t that just give the phrase ‘morning breath’ a whole new meaning.