South American Safari
Jaguar
The jaguar (Panthera onca), the second-largest big cat, is well adapted to predatory life in the rainforest. It has a large head that hold powerful jaws and sharp teeth which can pierce the skull of its prey. This is actually more efficient than the bite-to-the-neck system that other big cats use. Its body is virtually all muscle. Jaguars can drag prey 3-4x their own body weight for up to a kilometer. It can also kill smaller prey with one smack of its paw. Despite other cats' distaste for the water, jaguars, like tigers, love to swim. The constant rain in the rainforest doesn't bother jaguars, and they can catch fish quite easily. They are wonderful climbers, too. Jaguars have extra dots in the centers of their spots. This unique spotting pattern, called a rosette, provides excellent camouflage.
Spider Monkeys
Spider monkeys live in the canopy of the rainforest. They have long limbs and a prehensile tail which are perfect for swinging through the trees. The tail also helps to anchor the monkey to the trees as they nab fruit, nuts, young leaves, eggs, bark, honey, aand spiders- their faveorite delicacies. With one swing of its arm, a spider monkey can fly up to 40 feet!
Toucan
Toucans have big bills that work like a pair of tongs. They enable the bird to eat rainforeest fruit and nuts. Toucans also are flexible. When they cannot fit into a relatively small tree hole to sleep in, they curl up into a ball (which seems impossible with those huge beaks!)
Asian Adventure
Sloth Bear
Sloth bears have long claws that are perfect for gouging holes in termite nest mounds. They also have prehensile lips and a gap between their front teeth to suck the termites out of the hole they gouged with their claws. The claws also serve as formidable displays when threatened.
Sloth bears are also brillant climbers. They eat fruit (figs and mangoes) off the trees, and knock honeycombs off the trees, and eat them on the ground. This action has earned them their nickname, "honey bear."
Sloth bears are also brillant climbers. They eat fruit (figs and mangoes) off the trees, and knock honeycombs off the trees, and eat them on the ground. This action has earned them their nickname, "honey bear."
Orangutan
Orangutans have 7-foot long arms, perfect for swinging through the Bornean rainforest trees. They have opposable big toes to grab branches and food with their feet. Adult males have cheek pads and a drooping laryngeal throat pouch which do not only serve to intimidate other males & assert dominance, but also help the orangutan keep others away from his territory. Orangutans originally had claws, but they eventually grew into nails, leading to the development of tactile "finger pads" on their digits.