Swan Acts As An Icebreaker For The Ducks

The clever muted swan (Cygnus olor) acts as an icebreaker for the ducks as the weather front the #BeastFromTheEast as they call it or Snowmageddon arrives in the West Midlands, England. Not too much snow yet, but the canal is frozen and the waterfowl like the swan and the ducks are in search for some food. The banks of the canal are not totally covered in snow, that is why they are trying to get to the edge of the water in search for some food. As the rest of the world is having a good laugh at the British for panicking over a few flakes of snow and a mere minus 7, for these birds it’s no laughing matter as they’re not really used to this kind of temperature. When the swan starts breaking the ice, the ducks quickly use this opportunity to follow, using the swan as an icebreaker.  Definitely not “lovely weather for the ducks”.  The Swan uses its chest and feet to break through the ice. It’s very unusual to see a swan alone as they’re mostly in pairs. Just a mile down the canal, there are 20-40 swans at the time, but this one choose to be by itself. Well with the ducks. Mute swans are a permanent resident in the UK, they don’t migrate (though they may move around in winter to find better feeding grounds) Mute Swans tend to form large groups on preferred waters, for post-breeding moult. Also, they often congregate on favoured waters during the winter. They are Britain's largest bird and one of the heaviest flying birds in the world.

Gorilla Lope Staring Out Mum Then Baby Brother Shufai

Lope seems to have a staring contest. He came out from the inside and starting staring at mum Ozala who was sitting outside amidst the wood shavings. She was holding his stare at first, but then seem uncomfortable and started to do her own thing. Lope was still staring, while mum was ripping the bark of a stick with her teeth. Finally he sat down, sun glaring into his eyes, but then he started staring down his little brother Shufai. 

Lope The Gorilla Is Having A Boisterous Day And Mum Is Not Happy

Lope is having one of his days where he has to annoy everybody. These are little clips from the day. He's chasing his little brother Shufai around the inside enclosure and mum is really on his radar today. He keeps pinching her, grabbing her or maybe he's trying to grab Shufai who is in mums arms. She just can't get a minutes peace. You can see her running after him when she finally had enough, but Lope is too quick and runs outside. Later outside when Ozala and Shufai are sitting in the winter sun, Lope can't stop clowning around, that's when mum grabs him as to say enough is enough and Lope just walks off in his strut.
Then Dad Oumbi comes into the picture, following Lope and you would expect him to bounce in any minute, but I'll guess his body language says it all and Lope is not sticking around.
The best bit is at the end, something I haven't seen before and it really made my day. Little Shufai is running up to Lope and climbs on his back. Almost like, hey I've got you big bro and they run off together.

Miniature Donkey Is Having A Funny Moment

he miniature donkey is having a funny moment, pulling a face and making some noise. Some people looked quite worried for the Donkey not knowing what was going on, but he was just having a go at his mate. His mate casually turned around to face him, just to see what was happening. They having a little nudge on the head and both just carrying on as normal. The two Donkeys William and Jack are from the Twycross Zoo in England.
Not sure who is who, in the process of finding out. I will update the text as soon as I know! :-)
Please note: some of the video is looped.

Baby Bonobo Gets Startled

The Baby Bonobo (pygmy chimpanzee) gets startled after making a discovery in the hay. Not quite sure what the youngster found, but it's funny to watch.

Asante Enjoys Her Chunk Of Snow

Another Snow one, last one. Well unless we get more snow at some point :-)
Asante the western lowland gorilla found some more snow and after loosing half of it before, she now seems to distance herself from the others to just enjoy it in peace. She keeps looking if anybody else is coming her way. Ducking down a little, like she wants to hide. The only one was Biddi getting her share quickly, leaving Asante to enjoy hers.

Time To Hit The Hay

Time to hit the Hay for this Chimpanzee from the Twycross zoo in England. As the zoo nearly closes the door, the animals are getting ready to go to sleep. While all the other chimps choose to go inside, this one preferred the clear night under the stars. She made herself, what looks like a really comfy bed by getting all the wood shavings together from the enclosure and making a nest. She has a good look around, starts to yawn and starts to wrap some more shavings around herself and covers herself. She seemed to be really pleased with what she has done, it almost looks like a little smile. Chimpanzees and bonobos are known to construct night nests. They can also build nap nests to rest in the afternoon, but these nest are normally not as well constructed as the night nests. Great apes (including us) are unique in that we build sleeping platforms, or beds. Other primates sleep on branches.

Gorilla Asante Loses Some Of Her Snow To Lope And Ozala

Asante managed to grab some snow as it melted quickly that day. When she had her hands full she quickly run off with it. I think she was planning on going inside, but then Lope came around the corner and I'm not sure if he tried to grab some snow of Asante or if it just fell. Ozala followed Lope with Shufai on her back and picked up some of the dropped snow as well. When mum sits down to eat her snow, little  Shufai is just looking at her as to say Is it nice? Can I have some please. :-)

Mum And Baby Bonobo Playing Tag

Mum and Baby Bonobo having a great time with what looks like they're playing tag. Running after each other around a rock in their enclosure.

Formally called the pygmy chimpanzee, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee the Bonobos are part of the great ape family and are our closest living relatives, sharing around 98% of our DNA. Like so many animals these ape species are listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and is threatened by habitat destruction and human population growth.

Twycross Zoo is the only zoo in Great Britain that breeds the Bonobos, which are often mistaken for chimpanzees.

Son Shows Huge Silverback Gorilla How To Handle Snow

The Gorilla Family from the Twycross zoo in England woke up this morning to freezing weather and some snow. Even though the family doesn't like to stay outside in the cold, they do love to eat snowballs! Oumbi the big Silverback Gorilla was the first to go outside to get himself some white stuff.  He did his tightrope walk to the other site of the platform where he gathered the fresh snow together and ended up with a huge chunk of snow on his hand. He started eating a little of his snow outside, but then decided he wanted to take it inside as he prefers to eat it inside. Oumbi started to cross the rope again, but as you can see in the video, holding the chunk of snow in one hand and crossing the rope wasn’t as easy as it looks for him as he starts wobbling and dropping some of the snow. The big ape decides it would be safer to get back to the platform. A little later Lope had the same idea as dad, but just look at little Lope go. With no fuss at all, he gathers the snow into his hand and just dismounts from the platform like a pro. Smooth as a baby’s bottom. Oumbi can’t be outdone by his son and gives it another go. This time he changed his method and just stuffs it all in his mouth to carry. This works a lot better and he successfully dismounts the platform, walks towards the inside and as you can see enjoys the snowball ‘ice cream’ inside.

Chimpanzee Uses CD As Mirror To Check Face

The Chimpanzee from the Twycross Zoo in England managed to get hold of a CD, presumably from a keeper and she loves it. The ape is holding the CD delicately in front of her face and uses it as a mirror to keep checking herself out. Maybe the next beauty blogger for some beauty tips. It looks like something in her eye or on her nose got her attention and she is trying to rectify it with help of her reflection on the CD.  She’s really quite focused on what she is doing. I was trying to read what kind of CD it was when she flips the CD around, but wasn’t able to read it. :-) She then takes the CD in her mouth and walks off with it.

Bonobo Family Spinning Competition

The Bonobo Family from the Twycross seemed to be having a spinning competition. First up is mum showing how it's done. She is really going for it. You can really see her long legs which sets them apart from the Chimpanzee. She's looking around to see if she's been watched or not. The primate is even spinning on one leg. Next up is dad, he's taking the stage/Platform near the window to show his skill and performing for the crowd. Looking at him ‘breakdancing’, I think mum deserves the stage, she's definitely better at it. Last but not least is the little baby bonobo, who is copieng mum and dad with a little twirl. Formally called the pygmy chimpanzee, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee the Bonobos are part of the great ape family and are our closest living relatives, sharing around 98% of our DNA. Like so many animals these ape species are listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and is threatened by habitat destruction and human population growth.

Twycross Zoo is the only zoo in Great Britain that breeds the Bonobos, which are often mistaken for chimpanzees.

Aardvark Advances Towards His Valentine Lands Him In ‘Hot Water’

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Baby Elephant Pushes Bigger Elephant Off The Rocks

Aayu, the Asian Elephant from Chester Zoo in England showing his strength against Indali by keep pushing her and trying to drive her of the rocks. Aayu who was born to Sithami Hi Way doesn't give up and when Indali moves to the side it only takes a big shove to succeed.
Aayu Hi Way and Indali were born a month apart last year.
Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. There is a rapid decline in population. Elephant is predominantly threatened by loss of habitat and poaching.
Did you know that African elephants have large ears because it helps them to cool down in the sun. Asian elephants have smaller ears, as they’re tend to live in the much cooler jungle.

Lope The Gorilla Is Having A Boisterous Day

Lope is having one of his days where he has to annoy everybody. These are little clips from the day. He's chasing his little brother Shufai around the inside enclosure and mum is really on his radar today. He keeps pinching her, grabbing her or maybe he's trying to grab Shufai who is in mums arms. She just can't get a minutes peace. You can see her running after him when she finally had enough, but Lope is too quick and runs outside. Later outside when Ozala and Shufai are sitting in the winter sun, Lope can't stop clowning around, that's when mum grabs him as to say enough is enough and Lope just walks off in his strut. 

Then Dad Oumbi comes into the picture, following Lope and you would expect him to bounce in any minute, but I'll guess his body language says it all and Lope is not sticking around.

The best bit is at the end, something I haven't seen before and it really made my day. Little Shufai is running up to Lope and climbs on his back. Almost like, hey I've got you big bro and they run off together.

Animal Eyes - Windows To The Soul

Eyes can reveal hundreds of stories and emotions, here is a selection of 34 different animal eyes; what are they? See how many animals you correctly identify. Many people still believe and cite that “the eyes are the window to your soul” and it seems to be true for many of our emotional states.  Wide-open eyes can communicate our fear or surprise, whilst squinting can display anger, hatred or a need to visit the optician.  Day-dreamy eyes were often believed to portray love and affection and of course the drowsy eyes when sleep beckons. Naturally, animals are no different and their emotional state can often seem recognizable and obvious to us. The day-dreamy gaze of the lemur, the fearfully alertness of a lookout meerkat or the intensely focused stare of a hungry big cat are all too obvious.

Interesting eye facts:

Domestic cats are generally nocturnal and can open their pupils super-wide to benefit from the smallest amounts of light. At brighter times the pupil can revert down to a thin vertical slits if necessary. The large cats such as lions and tigers have human-like circular pupils.

Animals with a horizontal slit pupil, such as some sheep, deer and goats benefit from an expanded panoramic view, which helps early detection of predators, even when eating with their head down. The eyeball rotates when they lower their head keeping the pupil line parallel with the ground.

Snakes have two sets of eyes – one set used to see, and the other to detect heat and movement.  They also don’t have eyelids, just a thin membrane covering the eye.

Pigeons are known to have extraordinary vision and can see millions of different hues, and have better colour vision than most animals on earth.

Eyes on horses and zebras point sideways, giving them amazing peripheral vision, to the point of almost being able to see behind them, but it also means they have a blind spot right in front of their noses.