Anipics

Living Dinosaur?
Shoebill Storks (Balaeniceps rex) are large-bodied, sturdy birds with the height ranging from 110 to 140 centimeters). These birds have big, bulbous bill with the size of over 19 centimeters long. With sharp edges on its large bill, the shoebill can easily decapitate its prey and separate out the vegetation that may have been collected with the preys. The shoebill stork can actually fly as they are strong enough to let itself to lift off with the help of its powerful leap and few heavy wing beats (A complete cycle of moving the wing by a bird when flying). Even though they are scary, shoebills are diurnal meaning that they hunt at daytime. They will rarely hunt at night if the moonlight is bright enough. Sadly, this unusual bird is classified as Vulnerable (VU) by the IUCN. Only 3,300 to 5,300 mature shoebills today are remaining. Habitat loss, disturbance by humans, and illegal bird trade are responsible for their population decline.
Source: https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/shoebill

The genus Bothrochilus (Also known as Leiopython) is the genus consists of seven different species of the “White Lipped Pythons”. These white lipped pythons are non venomous but ofenly confused with venomous snakes due to their triangular head shape. Like other pythons, they feed on small to medium size mammals, frogs, amphibians, and sometimes birds by constricting their preys to death before eating them whole. They are quite large in sizes as they can grow between 1.5-2.5 meters long. Females tend to be larger than males like most of other snake species. In the wild, they are semi-arboreal which means they are living on ground but also in trees.
Sources: https://reptilerapture.net/northern-white-lipped-python-caresheet.html, https://happyserpent.com/snake-profile/white-lipped-python/

Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) are social animals which live in herds. Male will leave his herd when he is about 6-7 years old, and will ready to mate when he is about 10-15 years. On the other hand, female is ready to mate when she is about 15-16 years with the gestation period of 22 months. Asian elephants can be found in Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Sumatra. They survive in several conditions, from open grasslands to deep evergreen forests. These giants consume 150-200 kilograms of food per day and produce over 100 kilograms of dung. The elephant’s dung is important as soil fertilizer and for the dipersal of plant seeds. This is my first time seeing wild elephants. To be honest, I’m surprised to see so many individuals walking in front of me.
Source : https://thailand.wcs.org/Wildlife/Asian-Elephant.aspx

What are the differences between Alpacas and Llamas? Lets explore the facts today!!
1. Alpacas have short spear-shaped ears while llamas have much longer, banana-shaped ears.
2. Alpacas are smaller than llamas weighing at around 150 pounds while llamas can get as heavy as 400 pounds. At shoulder, alpacas stand about 34-36 inches while llamas ranges between 42-46 inches.
3. Llamas have longer faces as alpacas’ face are more blunt.
4. Alpacas are mainly raised for their fiber while llamas are raised as pack animals.
5. Alpacas are herd animals while llamas are more independent.
Source : https://modernfarmer.com/2015/09/difference-between-llama-and-alpaca/
Quick Quiz! : What’s the animal in the picture?🤔