Traveling through the jungle in Africa. The most impenetrable jungle

The heart of the "dark continent" - mysterious world. Dense thickets, a land of shimmering shadows. A world of harsh trials, filled with life. The more closely you look at it, the more variety you see. The African jungle is still a mysterious, unusual, unexplored place. The heart of Africa is not black at all, it is green. And this is the jungle...

The sun rises over the equator, the African jungle awakens. This is a huge green belt stretching from Uganda in the east to Sierra Leone in the west. Its territory is five and a half thousand kilometers. There is more light, warmth and water here than anywhere else in Africa. Ideal conditions for plants. And they are everywhere here. An endless sea of sun-worshipping leaves glisten as the African morning dawns.

But there are killer trees in the jungle, filled with poison. And I came up with it all to protect yourself.

How can you survive in harsh conditions jungle? There are opportunities for this, but only for those who can cope with their prey. Here, sometimes even the most skilled hunters remain hungry.

And 40 meters above there is a completely different world. Here is the engine of all jungle life. The leaves absorb the energy of the African sun and transform it into plant food.

Monkeys have become excellent at jumping from one tree to another while traveling under the forest canopy. This is paradise for colobus monkeys. (By the way, also lives exclusively in tropical forests!) They chomp contentedly all day long. But these leaves are not as harmless as they seem. They are protected deadly poison, which is a cocktail of tonin, strychnine and cyanide. Surprisingly, the colobus body can produce bacteria that neutralize these poisons. The poison swallowed in a day is enough to kill a large animal several times.

The crowned eagle does not feed on leaves, but on monkeys. You can't hide from it even under the foliage. A few beats of its powerful two-meter wings, and it already carries its prey to its nest.

Inhabited by more than one generation of people. They learned to get their own food.

New tender leaves do not yet have poisonous protection. But in order to survive, the trees have so much foliage on them that even the hungriest monkeys cannot eat.

The forest canopy is a storehouse of valuables. But only for those who can get them.

The most desired delicacy that the jungle gives in spring is honey. But in order to get it, you need to climb to a height of forty meters, using the branches of vines, and then also withstand the onslaught of bees. In the spring, getting food in the forest is not an easy task, but later there is abundance. It's like a sign of kindness from nature. Before the onset of the rainy season, the forest gives its best.

Fruits. Sheer temptation. And the birds - as always - come first. This is a hornbill.

And this is an African gray parrot. The climate in Africa has not always been the same as it is today. For centuries, wet cycles were replaced by dry ones. changed too. It grew during wet periods and contracted during dry periods. IN at the moment Africa is going through a wet period in its history. And the forest has grown greatly. It rains here every day. In some areas, the annual rainfall is 10 meters. Anyone who lives here has to put up with frequent rains.

How many more mysteries does this amazing forest called African jungle...

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Longest neck

At the very beginning of this century, a “living fossil” of okapi was found in the jungles of Africa - relatives of the giraffe, which was considered extinct long ago. Okapi is not tall more donkey. And his neck is short. And, like the giraffe, it eats grass and leaves. The common ancestor of the giraffe and okapi looked like a short-necked runt. But over time, some of these animals moved to the open spaces of the savannah, where it was possible to “graze” in plenty only on the treetops. Therefore, animals with long necks survived. Gradually the giraffe grew one long neck, that he became completely different from his distant ancestor. And okapi remained a copy of its great-grandfather.

Gorillas are the largest great apes They also live in Africa. A gorilla in the jungle has almost no enemies, except people, of course. Most of the day, gorillas are on the ground, and not in the trees like other monkeys. Gorillas are vegetarians. They eat leaves, fruits, and tree bark. But in zoos, gorillas very quickly get used to different food, begin to eat meat and fish, and drink milk.

Relatives of the cat

Our domestic cat has 37 relatives. These are forest and reed cats, lynxes and manulas, servals and ocelots, snow leopards and leopards, jaguars and pumas, leopards, panthers and cheetahs, tigers, lions and others wild cats. Cats are the most agile predators. All wild cats hunt in approximately the same way: they sneak up on their prey, then freeze in anticipation. And having chosen an opportune moment, they overtake their victim with one throw. However, our domestic cat hunts mice in the same way as the African leopard hunts antelopes.

Despite the barbaric destruction of all living things, especially the cutting down of perennial plantations, evergreen forests still occupy about a third of the total land area of our long-suffering planet. And the equatorial impenetrable jungle dominates this list, separate territories which still pose a huge mystery to science.

Mighty, dense Amazon

The largest forest area of our blue, but in this case green planet, covering almost the entire basin of the unpredictable Amazon. According to environmentalists, up to 1/3 of the planet's fauna lives here , and also more than 40 thousand only described plant species. In addition, it is the Amazon forests that produce utmost of the oxygen for the entire planet!

The Amazon Jungle, despite the keen interest of the world scientific community, is still extremely poorly researched . Walk through centuries-old thickets without special skills and no less special tools(for example, machete) – IMPOSSIBLE.

In addition, in the forests and numerous tributaries of the Amazon there are very dangerous specimens of nature, one touch of which can lead to a tragic and sometimes fatal outcome. Electric stingrays, toothy piranhas, frogs whose skin secretes a deadly poison, six-meter anacondas, jaguars - these are just some of the impressive list of dangerous animals that lie in wait for a gaping tourist or a sluggish biologist.

In the floodplains of small rivers, as many thousands of years ago, in the very heart of the jungle, people still live wild tribes who have never seen a white man. Actually, and white man I’ve never seen them before.

However, they definitely won’t experience much joy from your appearance.

Africa, and only

Tropical forests on the black continent occupy a huge area - five and a half thousand square kilometers! Unlike the northern and extreme southern parts of Africa, it is in the tropical zone that optimal conditions for a large army of plants and animals. The vegetation here is so dense that rare rays of sun can delight the inhabitants of the lower tiers.

Despite the fantastic density of biomass, perennial trees and vines strive to reach the top in order to receive their dose of the far from gentle African sun. Feature African jungle– practically daily heavy rains and the presence of vapors in stagnant air. It is so difficult to breathe here that an unprepared visitor to this inhospitable world may lose consciousness out of habit.

The undergrowth and middle tier are always lively. This is an area inhabited by numerous primates, who usually do not even pay attention to travelers. In addition to wild noisy monkeys, here you can calmly watch African elephants, giraffes, and also see a hunting leopard. But The real problem of the jungle is giant ants , which from time to time migrate in continuous columns in search of better food sources.

Woe to the animal or person who meets these insects on the path. The jaws of goosebumps are so strong and agile that they already within 20-30 minutes of contact with aggressors, a person will be left with a gnawed skeleton.

Rainforests of Mama Asia

Southeast Asia is almost completely covered with impenetrable wet thickets. These forests, like their African and Amazonian counterparts, are a complex ecosystem that includes tens of thousands of species of animals, plants and fungi. Their main localization area is the Ganges basin, the foothills of the Himalayas, and the plains of Indonesia.

A distinctive feature of the Asian jungle – unique fauna, represented by representatives of species found nowhere else on the planet. Of particular interest are the numerous flying animals - monkeys, lizards, frogs and even snakes. Moving in low-level flight, using the membranes between the toes in wild multi-tiered thickets, is much easier than crawling, climbing and jumping.

Plants in the humid jungle bloom according to a schedule known to them, because there is no change of seasons here and the wet summer is not replaced by a fairly dry autumn. Therefore, each species, family and class has adapted to cope with reproduction in just a week or two. During this time, the pistils have time to release a sufficient amount of pollen that can fertilize the stamens. It is noteworthy that the majority tropical plants manages to bloom several times a year.

Indian jungles have been thinned out, and in some regions almost completely cut down over the course of centuries. economic activity Portuguese and English colonialists. But on the territory of Indonesia there are still impenetrable virgin forests, in which Papuan tribes live.

It’s not worth catching their eye, since feasting on a white-faced fish has been an incomparable pleasure for them since the days of the legendary James Cook.

"Savannah" is a Portuguese word; it means “steppe with trees.” Savannah is also called open forest. I somehow prefer the second option)))
And when it comes to savannah, one always imagines an African savannah with sun-scorched grass and sparsely standing acacias, with strolling elephants and running zebras and antelopes. Something like this:

We looked at the savannahs on the world map:

And they focused their attention on African savannah(I’m going to talk more about the savannas of other continents a little later). This typically African landscape occupies about 30% of the entire continent.
Senka and I have already talked about the savanna of Africa more than once, and he already knows many of the animals, but since we traveled here for a long time on the black continent (we walked along the Sahara, yes Ancient Egypt studied), we decided to continue our acquaintance with the types of forests on our planet according to this picture:

Topic start .
... and at the same time repeat the information we already know + supplement the knowledge with new interesting facts.
I haven’t made books using G. Doman’s method for a long time now and I’m sad for the time when my son read and absorbed them avidly interesting information while practicing reading skills; But I still continue to make some reading materials with various pictures to make it more interesting to read, like this:

I post the sections “Savannah of Africa” and “Jungles of Africa” of this “book” here, so if someone decides to repeat the lesson, they can copy it, diluting it with their own photos, or make books using Doman’s method, selecting the basic information. Now we have mini-lessons, more even repetition, so I didn’t talk much, Sena had to work more: read and answer questions.
Text from our book:
African savannas are spaces entirely covered with tall grasses and separately standing trees or groups of them. In rainy times, grasses grow quickly and can reach a height of 2 - 3 m and higher. The trees are covered with leaves at this time.

But as soon as drought comes, the grasses burn out, some types of trees shed their leaves and the savanna takes on a yellow color. Yellow and black, because fires often occur here during dry periods.
The dry season lasts here for about six months. During this time, there are only occasional showers.

During drought, countless herds of antelope wander, making long journeys to places where water can be found. And they are followed by predators - cheetahs, leopards, hyenas, jackals...

When the rains begin, the dusty yellow-black region turns into an emerald green park with shady trees. The air, hazy from fire smoke and dust, becomes transparent and clean. The first tropical showers after a drought make a strong impression. It's always hot and stuffy before it starts to rain. But then a big cloud appears. Thunderclaps are heard. And then a downpour hits the ground.

With the onset of the rainy season, antelopes return to their former pastures.
The most characteristic of grass savannas is tall elephant grass,

and among the trees here there is an oil tree and an oil palm, a ramp, and a baobab is often found. Along the river valleys stretch gallery forests with many palm trees resembling wet tropical forests.
Grass savannas give way to shrub or acacia savannas. The grass here is narrower in height, only 1-1.5 m, and the trees are represented mainly by several types of acacias with a dense crown in the form of umbrellas.

There is also a baobab tree, which is also called monkey tree or breadfruit tree.

Tree-like acacias are found everywhere in Africa, except in mountainous and humid areas. tropical forests. They may look like mighty trees almost twenty meters high, or like low shrubs, but acacias always have feathery leaves, curved spines or long thorns and sweet-smelling flowers that attract bees. Thorns and thorns are a means of self-defense, although one type of acacia has more tricky way remain untouched and uneaten. At the base of each thorn this acacia grows an egg-shaped swelling. It dries out and a colony of small ants settles in it. As soon as any animal encroaches on the young shoots of the plant, ants pour out from this growth and attack the newcomer.

More animals live in savannas than anywhere else on earth. Why? Millions of years in tropical Africa Only rain forests grew. Then changes happened. The climate has become drier. Large areas of rain forest have disappeared, giving way to open forest and open spaces, covered with grass. Thus, new power sources were born. The “pioneers” moved to the newborn Savannah. One of the first were giraffes to leave the jungle. Many antelopes also came here. For them, the savannah was paradise - so much food!
The animal world is simply amazing in its richness and diversity! In the savannah you can see zebras and ostriches grazing nearby. IN warm water lakes, in their mud "baths", bask hippos and rhinoceroses. Lions rest in the shade of spreading acacia trees. The largest animals on land, elephants, tear off branches with their trunks. And monkeys scream in the treetops. And also a huge number of species of insects, snakes, birds...
In the savanna you can also see towering cone-shaped termite mounds.

We read about all the animals of the savannah:
- our homemade book (or rather, Senya read it himself), but unfortunately, I did not have a file with facts about animals;
- ,
- books by Kipling and one more wonderful book"Funny Animal Stories" by T. Wolf:

We listened to enz. Chevostik "Animals of Africa" and watched "Safari with Kuzya":

Finally, my son enjoyed watching all the episodes (some more than once)! I myself really liked this cartoon (or rather, the animated series), but before Sena was not interested, but now I simply devoured all the episodes.
Animals were used to replicate .
Then I wanted to take out from a distant drawer the no longer needed savannah model that my son and I once made... From the pile of animal figurines, I asked my son to find the inhabitants of the savannah and populate our model:

The savannah, lifeless at the very beginning, became like this:

They played with some things, even adding fabric - a lake - for a “riot of colors”:

We played out watering situations for animals.
But (as I already wrote) Senya won’t sit with toys for a long time, so I immediately wanted to start a new topic))

Jungle

In Africa there are not only deserts and savannas, there are also tropical rain forests. Why rain? Certainly! Because it rains there very often! There is another name for such forests - jungle, which means "impenetrable thickets."
We know that the largest jungle exists in the Amazon River basin ( Rain forests Amazon) in South America. We remembered where there is still a jungle:

I hope we will talk about all the jungles of the planet, but for now we have examined the African ones in more detail.
Text from our book:
The heart of Africa is not black at all, it is green. And this is the jungle...

These forests are not at all like ours, where in the summer the ground is shaded by leaves and in the winter there is snow. Tropical forests are always hot, humid and dark. The forest is so dense that it is impossible to see anything in the distance; everything is blocked by bushes, vines climbing trees, fallen tree trunks overgrown with ferns and moss. Shrubs and small trees rise above these rubble, from which individual tree giants eventually grow. The branches of the lower plant layer are intertwined so densely that the crowns are not visible through them tall trees top tier. And these trees are huge, they are crowned with lush crowns, and their trunk-columns rest below on board-like outgrowths on the roots, a kind of supports. Each such trunk rises 40 m or more. And there, at a 40-meter altitude, there is a completely different world. Here is the engine of all jungle life. The leaves absorb the energy of the African sun and transform it into plant food. Great apes, gorillas and chimpanzees, as well as numerous monkeys and baboons live here.

The forest canopy is a world of extremes, a world of scorching sun, hot winds, heavy torrential rains. Drought gives way to rain, the seasons differ sharply from each other. The jungle palette is changing. Green foliage gives way to red, yellow, light green and orange. But this is not old, but new foliage. In the jungle, spring dresses up in autumn colors.
The most desired delicacy that the jungle gives in spring is honey. But in order to get it, you need to climb to a height of forty meters, using the branches of vines, and then also withstand the onslaught of bees.

In the spring, getting food in the forest is not an easy task, but later there is abundance.
Figs are bearing fruit here all year round, so it is easier to observe wild animals near these trees.

Okapi is always cautious and very timid, it is very difficult to meet him and at the slightest danger he takes off running.
Not afraid of the thick one tropical vegetation And African elephant. You can also see a leopard on the branches of trees. There are many insects and snakes in the jungle. But most of all, birds love tropical forests, but it is not so easy to see them here. The feathered inhabitants of tropical forests are well camouflaged and, at the slightest danger, immediately hide in the foliage.

We liked this video:

IN this material talks about the life of animals tropical zone. The article is illustrated with photographs of tropical forest animals.

In an African forest.

Most of Africa's forests are located between two tropics: the Northern (Tropic of Cancer) and Southern (Tropic of Capricorn). In this part of the earth, all seasons are similar to each other; throughout the year average temperature and the amount of rainfall remains almost constant. Therefore, almost all animals in this zone lead sedentary image life - after all, they, unlike the inhabitants of temperate and cold climatic zones, there is no need to make seasonal migrations in search of suitable places to live.

Hippopotamus.

The name of this animal translated from Greek means “river horse.” It weighs more than three tons.

Water is the natural habitat of this huge mammal, where the hippopotamus spends most of its time. However, with such a thick, squat figure, it is not easy to swim, so usually hippos do not go far into the water, but stay in shallow water, where they can reach the bottom with their paws. The sense organs - movable ears, nostrils equipped with closing membranes, and eyes with protruding supraeyes - are located on the upper part of the muzzle, so that the hippopotamus can be almost completely submerged in water, continuing to breathe air and carefully monitor everything around it. In case of danger threatening him or his cubs, he becomes very aggressive and, no matter where - in water or on land - immediately attacks the enemy.

Mothers give birth to their young either on the shore, or more often right in the water. In the latter case, newborns, as soon as they are born, swim to the surface so as not to suffocate. Hippopotamuses give birth during the rainy season, during which time the mother has an abundance of milk due to the abundant and varied food. To feed the cubs, the female climbs onto land and stretches out comfortably on her side.

Hippopotamuses never live alone; they gather in groups of several dozen individuals. Often, both in water and on land, adult males play with growing cubs. Moving on land. Hippos always follow the same familiar paths.

Feeling in danger, the hippopotamus emits a threatening roar, and opens its huge mouth as wide as possible, showing the enemy its unusually long lower fangs. This threatening posture usually produces the desired result.

Crocodile.

Only sometimes crocodiles can swim into sea water; usually they settle along the banks of rivers and lakes in areas with warm and hot climates. Crocodiles are much more comfortable and calm in the water than on land. They swim with the help of their paws and tail; Large individuals can spend about an hour under water. During the hottest hours of the day, crocodiles lie on land with their mouths wide open: due to the lack of sweat glands, they can only get rid of excess heat in this way, like dogs who stick out their tongues in the heat.

The female crocodile lays her eggs in a hole specially dug on the shore, not far from the water. The cub breaks the shell using a special horn located on its head, which soon falls off.

Young crocodiles feed mainly on fish, but also birds and insects. Only as adults will they be able to cope with more large mammals, which need to be caught, pulled from the shore and kept under water for some time.

A crocodile does not need teeth for chewing food, but only for grabbing prey and tearing pieces of meat from it.

Even such terrifying reptiles, like crocodiles, have enemies - animals that hunt for crocodile eggs. The most dangerous of them is the monitor lizard, big lizard. Having discovered an egg, he begins to unusually quickly dig the ground near him, distracting the female crocodile, who usually stands guard, and having stolen the egg from the nest, he takes it to a place inaccessible to crocodiles and eats it.

Like many other land animals that live in water for long periods of time, crocodiles' ears, nostrils and eyes are located on the top of the head so that they remain above the water when the animal swims.

Most small crocodile: Osborne's caiman, its length is 120 centimeters.

Chimpanzee.

Thanks to its intelligence and learning ability, it is the most famous of all monkeys. Although chimpanzees are excellent climbers, they spend a lot of time on the ground and even travel on foot. But they still sleep in trees, where they feel safer. This is one of the few animals that uses various tools: chimpanzees take a broken branch into a termite mound, and then lick insects from it. These monkeys are practically omnivores. Communities living in different regions often eat differently.

The chimpanzee's "vocabulary" consists of different sounds, but in communication they also use facial expressions; their faces can take on a variety of expressions, often very similar to human ones.

As a rule, only one baby is born to chimpanzees; twins are extremely rare. The cubs spend their entire childhood literally in the embrace of their mother, tightly clinging to her fur.

Chimpanzees live in fairly large societies, but not as closed as other apes, such as gorillas. On the contrary, chimpanzees often move from one group to another.

The strongest males, defending their primacy, uproot small trees and wave this club with a threatening look.

There is usually a tender friendship between female chimpanzees. It is not uncommon for a mother to entrust her cub to another female for a time; Sometimes such nannies take, in addition to their own, two or three other people’s cubs for a walk.

Gorilla.

Despite its terrifying appearance, this large monkey, more than two meters tall, is very friendly; males from the same flock usually do not compete with each other, and in order for the leader to be obeyed, it is enough to widen his eyes and utter an appropriate cry, hitting himself on the chest with his fingers. This behavior is just an act and is never followed by an attack. Before a real attack, the gorilla looks into the eyes of the enemy for a long time and silently. Gaze, right in the face, means a challenge not only in gorillas, but in almost all mammals, including dogs, cats and even humans.

Baby gorillas stay with their mother for almost four years. When the next one is born, the mother begins to alienate the older one, but never does it rudely; she seems to invite him to try his hand at adulthood himself.

Having woken up, the gorillas go in search of food. They devote the remaining time to rest and games. After the evening meal, they arrange a kind of bedding on the ground, on which they fall asleep.

Okapi.

These are relatives of the giraffe, its height is slightly less than two meters, and its weight is about 250 kilograms. Okapi are extremely timid animals and are distributed in a very narrow geographical area, therefore not studied enough. It is known that they live in thickets of bushes, and their coloring, which at first glance is very unusual, actually makes them completely invisible in natural environment habitat. Okapi live solitary lives, and only mothers are not separated from their cubs for a long time.

With stripes on the back of the body and on the legs, the okapi resembles a zebra; these stripes serve them for camouflage.

Okapi resemble some types of horses, but the differences are quite noticeable; for example, males have short horns. When playing, okapi lightly hit each other with their muzzles until the defeated one lies on the ground as a sign of the end of the game.

When the mother hears the special calling cry made by the cub in case of danger, she becomes very aggressive and decisively attacks any enemy.

Asian jungle.

Some species of animals that inhabit the Asian jungle, such as elephants, rhinoceroses and leopards, are also found in Africa; however, over thousands of years of evolution, the inhabitants of the jungle have developed many features that distinguish them from their African “brothers”.

Monsoons are the name given to winds that periodically blow in tropical zones Asia. They usually bring heavy rains, which promote rapid growth and renewal of vegetation.

The monsoon season is also favorable for animals: during these periods, plant food is plentiful and varied, which provides the most best conditions their growth and reproduction. Just like the Amazon forests, the Asian jungles are very dense and sometimes impenetrable.

Tapir.

They say about the tapir that he is a fossil animal; Indeed, this species, inhabiting several remote regions one after another, has survived on earth since very ancient times, surviving several geological eras.

black-backed tapir can walk on the bottom of the lake!

The female tapir is larger than the male. The most noticeable feature in the structure of the body is the elongated upper lip, forming a small and very mobile trunk, with the help of which tapirs can pick leaves and tufts of grass - their usual food. They live in Asia black-backed tapirs. Their color is very expressive: black and white. It may seem that these contrasting colors should make them very noticeable, but in fact, from a distance they look very much like an ordinary pile of stones, which are many around. The cubs, on the contrary, have a pockmarked skin with small specks and stripes. In the second year of life, this color will gradually be replaced by an even black color with a characteristic white band - a saddle.

More often, tapirs eat leaves, shoots and stems of aquatic plants. They love water very much and swim well. They always walk along the same familiar paths, which over time turn into well-trodden paths, ending, as a rule, in a “gutter” - a convenient descent to the water.

The most terrible enemies of tapirs are various types felids on land and gharials in water. Very rarely does a tapir try to defend itself; he has practically no means for this and always prefers to run away.

The tapir's body is squat, its legs are short, and there is almost no neck. The movable trunk is a very sensitive organ of smell. - with its help, the tapir explores the surface of the earth and surrounding objects. Vision, on the contrary, is very poorly developed. Asian cats.

Asia does not have felines that live in groups like lions or cheetahs in Africa. All types of Asian cats are loners; each animal rules its own territory and does not allow strangers there. Only tigers sometimes go hunting in small groups. Representatives of the cat family live everywhere in Asia, even in areas with a climate that is not very suitable for them, such as Far East where he reigns Ussuri tiger. The peculiarity of tigers living in the jungle is their hunting style. It consists of sneaking up to the victim as close as possible, remaining unnoticed, and at the last moment rushing at him with one jump from a place or a short run-up.

The royal, or Bengal, tiger is now quite rare. Found in India and Indochina.

Leopard or black panther.

The panther also has spots characteristic of a leopard, although they are completely invisible against a black background. The black panther is a dark-colored leopard.

Clouded leopard. He jumps from branch to branch as well as a monkey. These cats are sometimes called tree tigers.

Speckled cat.

I also call her the fishing cat. In fact, she really likes to live near water and is a good swimmer. In addition to fish and shellfish, it catches small vertebrates on land. The habits of this animal have been little studied.

Tiger.

Tigers adapt to a wide variety of climatic conditions; they live in flat tropical areas, but are also found in the mountains at altitudes of up to 3000 m and in very cold areas; in the latter case, a thick, more than five centimeters, layer of fat forms under their skin, protecting them from heat loss.

Almost all jungle inhabitants are at risk of becoming prey to a tiger. Only large and warlike pachyderms, and even bulls and buffaloes with strong horns, can feel safe.

Contrary to popular belief, the tiger is not a very clever hunter; he's so heavy. That for a successful jump he needs to start his run from a distance of 10 - 15 meters; if the tiger gets closer to its prey, it risks missing.

A tiger litter usually consists of two, three or four cubs. For eight weeks, the mother feeds them exclusively with milk; then solid food is gradually added to their milk. Only six months later the female begins to go hunting, leaving the cubs for more than a day.

Tigers, like all wild animals, are afraid of humans. However, it happens that an old or sick animal, for which ordinary hunting becomes too difficult, overcomes its innate fear and attacks people.

Monkeys.

Among the numerous species of monkeys, there are animals that weigh no more than 70 grams, and there are also those whose weight reaches 250 kilograms. In Asian monkeys, the tail does not have a grasping function, i.e. a monkey cannot, having caught it on a branch, support its body so that its arms and legs remain free; this is typical only for monkeys living on the American continent.

Orangutan.

The most common monkey in Asia is the orangutan. This is a large monkey that spends most of its time among the branches and only sometimes descends to the ground.

Female orangutans, perhaps more than any other monkey, care about raising their children. Mothers bite their cubs' nails, bathe them in rainwater, and shout at them if they start acting up. The upbringing received in childhood subsequently determines the character of an adult animal.

Nosach.

This monkey owes its name to its huge, ugly nose, which in males sometimes goes down to the chin. The proboscis whale not only climbs trees well, but also swims very well and can stay under water for a long time.

Slender loris.

The pointed muzzle and huge eyes that can see in the dark make this prosimian very cute. During the day, the loris hides in the branches, and at night it gets its food.

Indian pachyderms.

The differences between Indian pachyderms and African ones are not noticeable at first glance. The behavior of both is also very similar: they do not stay in one place for a long time, but move quite long distances in search of suitable food, mainly young foliage. They love water and swim well, sometimes for long periods. They often relax near the water, bathing in muddy mud, which is very beneficial for their skin.

Rhinoceros.

He enjoys the respect of all the other animals, who try to avoid meeting him. Only elephants have no fear of them and easily put them to flight if they bother them. A newborn Indian rhinoceros weighs about 65 kilograms.

Unlike the African rhinoceros, it has only one horn and its body is covered with thick shields of skin. Usually it moves slowly, but if necessary it reaches speeds of up to 40 kilometers per hour.

Elephant.

Although its skin appears rough, it is actually very sensitive thanks to a covering of short and flexible bristles that respond to even the lightest touch.

The mother never allows the baby elephant to leave her. She watches the cub all the time and begins to call him as soon as she notices that he is a little behind.

Female Indian elephant carries the fetus for about 20 months!