Hi Everyone!
We’re terribly sorry for missing last month’s fact file (May). We have all had
a busy few months. This is actually the May fact file coming out very late.
The June fact file is cancelled. Because of this, this factfile contains news
from both months.
We are very sorry for the delay in this post. As announced in our last
factfile, this post has a new feature to it; plant of the month. We hope
you'll enjoy it!
News:
Sierra Leone has sold a rainforest for a Chinese Harbour
Sierra Leone has sold 250 acres of beach and protected rainforest for £39m to
build an industrial fishing harbour. It was home to many animals, including
several endangered species. This will also have a disastrous impact on local
communities, tourism and as I've already mentioned, the environment.
Just click here
- It's an article about all the environmental disasters that happened in
May. It shocked me.
Red Squirrels were born in Northern Ireland
Red squirrels have been born for the first time in 30 years in Northern
Ireland after a project was put in place to boost population numbers and
re-integrate them into the area. They were born at Carnfunnock Country Park in
County Antrim. A section of the park was cornered off and other measures were
put in place to stop dogs etc interfering.
Animals Of The Month:
African Wildcat
African wildcats are members of the cat family. They live in Africa
(obviously) and West and Central Asia. They are the closest living relatives
of domestic cats. In fact, they look very similar to tabby cats.
African wildcats evolved from other wildcat species about 131 000 years ago.
The first individuals were domesticated about 10 000 years ago. They are
therefore the ancestors of all domestic cats.
They are listed as
least concerned, however, due to breeding with domestic cats, this might change in the near
future.
Water - Seahorse
The seahorse is a relatively immobile fish and they live in habitats such as
mangrove forests and sea grass that provide food and camouflage shelter. They
also wrap their tails around underwater plants. They are beautiful and
graceful creatures that are very typical of the sea. A baby seahorse is called
a seahorse fry and they eat 3000 pieces of food a day! An adult will eat
shrimp and live for 1-4 years.
They don't have many predators as they are too bony but crabs eat them and
sometimes the father will eat the baby seahorses! There are over 40 known
species of seahorse. And one more fact- the males have babies!
Air - Barn swallow
Barn swallows are birds that you may have in your garden. In Europe, the term
‘swallow’ is mostly used to talk about barn swallows, not swallows in general.
Barn swallows can often be seen darting over fields and meadows in search of
prey, flying insects. They fly low, normally no higher than a few inches over
the ground.
They have a very distinctive forked tail, more deeply forked than other North
American swallows
Plant Of The Month - Lily of the Valley
The lily of the valley is a pretty woodland plant with scented, white,
bell-shaped flowers. It is native to Europe and Asia. However, in North
America, it is considered invasive. The American lily of the valley is it's
relative and is native to North America.
Despite their pretty appearance, the lilies of the valley are poisonous to
both animals and humans! This is due to the high concentration of cardiac
glycosides (cardenolides).
There are several other names for the lily of the valley, including May bells,
Our Lady’s tears and Mary’s tears.
Thank you so much for reading this post and we will be back VERY soon with
another post (a promise to not leave it as long, though we say that every
time!).
P.S. Here's the next vote: Animals and plant vote
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/17/sierra-leone-sells-rainforest-for-chinese-fishmeal-plant
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/environment/environmental-disasters-across-globe-in-may-2021/2271185
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-northern-ireland-57486252
https://africageographic.com/stories/african-wildcat/
https://www.britannica.com/animal/sea-horse
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Swallow/overview
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/plants/wild-flowers/lily-of-the-valley/
Images:
Title image: This image is owned by a blog editor.
African Wildcat, owned by
Wildlife Wanderer
(on flickr.com), is licensed
under
CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Seahorse, owned by
Alex Griffioen
(on flickr.com), is licensed
under
CC BY 2.0.
A Barn Swallow in flight, owned by
Hari K Patibanda
(on flickr.com), is licensed
under
CC BY-NC 2.0.
Lily of the valley, owned by
hedera.baltica
(on flickr.com), is licensed
under
CC BY-SA 2.0.
.png)
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