Without the wolves as predators, elk populations grew leading to massive erosion to the park. This can even affect the health of rivers.Ī study took place in 1995 when gray wolves were reintroduced back into Yellowstone National Park after 70 years without wolves. Plant species suffer, which causes animals that use those plants as food or shelter to suffer. When the deer population is allowed to roam freely and graze wherever they like, the overgrazing causes negative effects to the ecosystem. When predators such as red wolves are not present, there becomes an overpopulation of animals such as deer. But you may not realize they give life as well. As predators, wolves are often villianized. Red wolves play an important role in the health of the ecosystem. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in reintroducing red wolves back into the wild. Zoo Knoxville not only participates in the Red Wolf SAFE (Saving Animals from Extinction) program, but we also partner with the U.S. At one point there were only 17 red wolves left in the world. The American red wolf is one of the rarest animals on the planet. Written By: Scarlett Rockhold, Communications Manager Discover more of their unexpected survival secrets below.A Predator’s Role in Balancing the Ecosystem These are only some of penguins’ surprising skills. When they then release these air-bubbles as they swim towards the surface, the air coats their bodies like a lubricant, allowing them to achieve the great speed that lets them go airborne once outside the water. For small, flightless birds, that seems like an incredible feat, and Penguins achieve it by trapping air bubbles under their plumage before diving. There’s another, amazing technique Penguins use to escape predators, and that’s jumping out of water up to nine feet straight. Curiously, Penguins have been observed tobogganing not only to escape predators or move faster, but also just for fun. Penguin bellies are not just useful for camouflage: when on land, they are also the tools that provide them with their fastest escape technique, tobogganing, the word that better describes when penguins slide on their belly to gain speed on ice. In the case of penguins, it allows them to stay hidden from both predators and preys when in the sea: their white belly blends them with the bright sea surface, while the black feathers make them disappear into the dark bottom of the ocean. Their typical black and white coat is more than just a fabulous look: the colour arrangement provides penguins with counter-shading, a method of camouflage used by many animals where their top colour is much darker than their underside. Countershadingĭisguise is another fundamental skill for the survival of penguins. Huddling together allows them to find shelter from the extreme cold and unforgiving snow storms, but also functions as protection to fight off some of the many, deadly predators that inhabit Antarctica. Strength in numbers is the most known survival strategy for penguins. What strategies do they adopt to survive in one of the most inhospitable environment in the world? Strength in numbers Predators like the petrel are just one of the many dangers encountered daily by penguins. After a tense stand off, the arrival of an adult adelie, a smaller, but extremely feisty species of penguin, finally set the petrel on the run. Rejoined by their fallen companion, the chicks assembled into a defensive circle that allowed them to protect each other from all sides. When the petrel grabbed him by the neck with its strong beak, it looked like there was little or no hope left for the clumsy chick, but a tactical fall allowed it to escape and slide away back to its group. The chicks initially tried to flee, but struggled with running on land, and, in a case of ironically unhappy feet, one of them slipped and fell, becoming an easy prey to the predatory bird. As these chicks made their way to the sea without their parents’ supervision for the first time, a predatory giant petrel swooped in for what it thought would prove a quick kill.
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