June 2021 Factfile - some news from the past month, animals and our first plant of the month!

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.

Comments

The life of ... a koala

Hello everyone, Today we're talking about koalas. Also known as koala bears, koalas are marsupials. So they're actually not bears. Koalas, phascolarctos cinereus , are tree dwelling and probably best known for spending most of the day sleeping. They live for up to 15 years in the wild although captive koalas generally live for longer. Koalas have a stout, gray body and a cream-coloured chest. They have a broad face, small yellow eyes and big fluffy ears. In adaptation to climbing, their feet are strong and clawed. Adult individuals in South Australia weigh 14kg and are 60-84cm big. Their Eastern cousins are considerably smaller. Koalas are found in Eastern and Southern Australia, where they live in eucalyptus trees. They feed on the leaves of these eucalyptus trees, eating up to 1.3kg a day. With a body weight of up to 14kg, this means they eat just under 10% of their body weight every single day. However, the le...

Coral reefs

Hello! We would love to introduce you to the topic of coral reefs and especially coral reef bleaching, as it is a greatly ignored but certainly significant topic. Have fun! 5 coral reef facts 1. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on the planet and is 2300 km long! 2. Less than 0.1% of the world's ocean surface is covered in coral reefs. 3. At least 25% of all marine animals live there. 4. Coral reefs are often known as the rainforests of the ocean. 5. In 1 square kilometre of coral reef, up to 35 tons of fish can be 'produced'. The 5 biggest coral reefs in the world 1. Great Barrier Reef (near Australia) 2. Red Sea Coral Reef (near Egypt, Israel and Djibouti) 3. New Caledonia Reef (Pacific Ocean near New Caledonia) 4. The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (near Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras) 5. Florida Reef (Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico near Florida) What is coral? Coral is actually made up of small anim...

Announcement: Animal of the week

29.11.2020 Animal Of The Week: Jaguar

Hello, Today (29th November) is world Jaguar day so this week our animal is the Jaguar. The Jaguar is an animal I know pretty much nothing about so I am going to learn a lot too! Jaguars (panthera onca) live for 12 - 15 years. Their heads and bodies are 150-180cm long and their tails are 70-90cm long! They weigh 45 - 110 kg. Habitat Jaguars live primarily in the Amazon Basin, though they can be found in smaller numbers in Central America. They once lived everywhere from central Argentina up to the southwestern United States but since the 1880s they have lost over half of their territory. They are mainly found in tropical rainforests but can live in savannas and grasslands. Diet They eat fish and turtles as they are actually quite competent swimmers as well as deer, iguanas, birds and monkeys; they will eat almost anything! Are they endangered? Jaguars are classed as near endangered and face several threats. South and Central Americ...

Photo Essay || Iceland Series (part 1)

Hi Everyone! I recently went on a school trip to Iceland! It was such an incredible experience (and I'm going to sound cheesy now) but it was also incredible to do it with some of my closest friends! I saw so many incredible things and learnt so much, so I couldn't resist sharing a little Iceland mini series of posts, all about Iceland, both my experiences there and what I saw, but also the way it uses geothermal energy, and the animals, natural landforms and plants that are there. Today I'm sharing some photos of my trip. These are all photos I have taken, and are also the highlights so please bear that in mind as you browse these! I hope it is interesting and inspires you to book a trip to Iceland! The blue lagoon <33 landscapes.... Lost little farmhouses a...

18.10.20 Animal Of The Week: Sloth

Hello, Sorry this didn't come out on Sunday as planned but this week's animal of the week is the sloth because the twentieth of October is Sloth Day. Habitat The sloth resides in Central and South America. It lives in the rainforests there and occasionally drops into the water for a bathe as, believe it or not, they are actually excellent swimmers! Diet Sloths eat leaves, twigs and buds which they find in the rainforest. As they don't have incisors they smack their lips together to make leaves more digestible. Sloths can survive on relatively little food as it takes a while for them to digest it. Sleep and Speed When you think of a sloth, you probably think of this slow, sleepy creature. They actually sleep for about 15 hours a day! Sloths have an extremely low metabolic rate (what basic calories your body needs to survive), which means they move at a slow pace through the trees. On average, sloths travel 40 yards per day ...

Announcement: Factfile

This image is owned by a blog editor.

Ozone layer

Hi everyone, What even is ozone? And the ozone layer? Where does the hole in the ozone layer come from and what does it mean? Is it dangerous? What can be done? Often the ozone-talk can be complicated and confusing, keeping an overview is hard and understanding all the problems always difficult. Let us break it down a bit for you: What is the ozone layer? We'll start with the basics: The ozone layer is part of the stratosphere, which is the second layer of the Earth's atmosphere, between 10 and 50 km above the Earth's surface and made up of protective gases. One of these protective gases is ozone. There is not much ozone in the atmosphere, only 0.3 molecule of ozone per 1 million molecules of air. This is because ozone is chemically unstable and only forms when ultra violet radiation (UV light) hits oxygen and breaks the bonds between the atoms. It fact it is so unstable that even when it has formed, it breaks down again relatively quickly. This leads to ozone turning back ...

Deforestation and why it’s a problem

Hi everyone, Welcome back to another post. Today we’ll be talking about deforestation and its impacts on our earth. Deforestation, the widespread clearance of natural forests, has been happening for thousands of years. One example is Western Europe, where, two millennia ago, 80% of the land was cloaked in dense forest cover. However, over time, a significant portion of this green expanse was sacrificed to create room for crops, livestock grazing, and as a source of fuel and building materials. Presently, a mere 34% of Western Europe retains its woodland. Today, the tropics deal with the brunt of deforestation. Activities such as mining, agriculture, road construction, and the establishment of vast cattle ranches drive the mass clearance of tropical rainforests. This results in the release of huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, exacerbating the global climate crisis. The consequences come in two waves: first, the reduced number of...

Sustainable food choices challenge

Hi everyone, Welcome back to our second challenge! Today we're talking about sustainable food choices. 1. No meat on Mondays challenge The production of meat, especially beef, is resource-intensive and contributes significantly to deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, and water pollution. By dedicating one day a week to plant-based meals, you can decrease your carbon footprint and help to reduce the strain on natural resources. This challenge encourages a more sustainable and ethical approach to food consumption, gaining a better understanding of the environmental impact of meat production. Reducing meat intake is also associated with health benefits, including lower risks of heart disease and certain cancers, making it a win-win for both your personal well-being and the planet. 2. Local / seasonal eating challenge Choosing local and seasonal foods is important in helping to reduce the environmental impact of food production and transporta...

Green World

Search This Blog