Cheetah: The cat that barks like a dog!

With its exceptionally elongated body and legs, small head, blunt non-retractable claws and flexible spine, this dog-like cat is built for speed. No wonder it is the fastest land animal at sprinting speeds of up to 110 km/h.

Like a Formula One race car, its tail acts as a wind-deflecting rudder for making sharp turns while chasing prey at top speed. Aerodynamic exteriors notwithstanding, there’s more under the bonnet: XL-size heart, lungs, liver and nasal passages for delivering power!

The cheetah though spotted, has a striking ID-mark to distinguish it from other spotted cats - the black ‘tear-streaks’ running from eyes to nose. Also, it does not roar but makes bird-like chirruping noises and high-pitched yelps that can be heard at great distances. Yet, it hisses when angry and purrs when contented just like a domestic cat.

Cheetahs hunt by day either alone or in family groups, stalking their prey to within a short distance before making a 20-30 second sprint. The slashing claws of its front paws make first contact with a leg of the prey, bringing it down for the kill. The cheetah then locks its jaws on the prey’s throat, suffocating it to death.

But after the kill, when the exhausted cheetah pauses to recover from the chase, very often scavengers like hyenas and sometimes even lions, move in for the meal. No match for these competitors, the only growling now left in the cheetah is in his empty stomach as he slinks away.

The female cheetah reaches sexual maturity at two years of age and can breed all year round. A litter of up to six little blind cubs are born after a 3-month pregnancy. Many cubs are snatched away by other big cats and hyenas.

The cubs stay with their mother for about a year and a half when the mother leaves to breed again. However, the litter continues to stay together for several months more.

Adult female cheetahs without cubs, tend to live alone while males often form lifelong bonds with litter-brothers and roam in all-male groups called ‘coalitions!’

Copyright © 2007 Noël Gama
www.noelgama.com

Clown Anemone fish: Of the 'Finding Nemo' Fame

‘Where’s Nemo?’ Nemo as in ‘a-nemo-ne’ fish. Poor Nemo, doesn’t have a name of his own. Even the name ‘anemone fish’ is borrowed from his host, the sea anemone. He is better known as ‘clownfish’ because of his gaudy, clown-like markings and his ungainly swimming motion.

But not only did Nemo inspire writer-director Andrew Stanton to create the animation film, “Finding Nemo,” he’ll get you as well – hook, line and sinker - as you take a peek into his real life.

One, he is called anemone fish because he lives a symbiotic existence among the poisonous tentacles of the sea anemone. He is immune to the poison due to a coating of the anemone’s mucous over his scales, thus tricking the anemone into thinking it is part of itself.

But there’s more - when predators chase the anemone fish, a poor swimmer, he simply takes refuge among the waving tentacles of the sea anemone. However, he does lose his immunity to the anemone’s tentacles when away from it for over a day.

Anemonefish feed on plankton and the anemone’s parasites as well as leftovers of their host. On the other hand, the anemones themselves not only benefit from the food dropped by the feeding fish but also by the increased water circulation caused by the fish’s movements among the tentacles, thus providing the anemone with oxygen.

A family unit of anemone fish occupies a single anemone. During breeding, the males become aggressive and select a nesting site on a bare rock or even inside the anemone’s mouth! You guessed it - the eggs are also coated with the anemone’s mucous.

After the female releases the eggs into the nest, the male fertilizes them and tends over them.

Just because Nemo is a fish and a clown, you may assume that he has an uninteresting life. But this clown wears two masks - all clown fish are born male and can change sex at will!

Anemone fish have dormant reproductive organs inside them to become female when the occasion calls for it. When a female dies, the dominant male changes into a female and a non-dominant male takes over as the dominant male.

Its not surprising that the biggest threat to Nemo is the aquarium trade but not only are they found in abundance in their natural habitat, they breed very well in captivity too.

Copyright © 2007 Noël Gama
www.noelgama.com