animaloftheweek

[animaloftheweek]

Fun Fact Friday: Wattled Ploughbill

Image Credit: Dubi Shapiro

Fun Fact! The Wattled Ploughbill(Eulacestoma nigropectus) is monogamous(meaning they mate for life) and both partners care for young. They build cup shaped nests high in the canopy!

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Info Dump Thursday: Wattled Ploughbill

Image Credit: Chris Wiley

The Wattled Ploughbill(Eulacestoma nigropectus) from New Guinea is part of a monotypic genus and its closest relatives are the sittellas. They mainly feed on insects and are specialized at finding bugs around bamboo. They are skilled at using their beaks to tear at bark on trees or bamboo to find insects underneath.

They only grow up to 5 inches(12-14 cm)!

Wattled Ploughbills are mostly found in the cloud forests up to 10 meters above the ground, making them hard to spot! However, they have a distinctive call to listen for if you're searching for these little guys.

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Weirdness Wednesday: Wattled Ploughbill

Image Credit: marcthibault

The Wattled Ploughbill(Eulacestoma nigropectus) is a funny looking animal, with the males having large bright red wattles for attracting mates!

These birds will also hang upside down on branches, bamboo, or bark while foraging for food! Along with that, they have slightly hooked beaks, which is uncommon for passeriformes!

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Conservation: Wattled Ploughbill

Image Credit: Markus Lilje

Conservation Tuesday! The Wattled Ploughbill(Eulacestoma nigropectus) is currently listed as Least Concern. Luckily, New Guinea's forest and natural habitats are well preserved and so these little birds can thrive. However, they are still affected by deforestation and invasive animals like rats.

[animaloftheweek]

Animal of the Week: Wattled Ploughbill

Image Credit: Jim Moore

Meet the animal Monday! The Wattled Ploughbill(Eulacestoma nigropectus) is an island dwelling bird from New Guinea! The males have a black chest and belly along with a large wattle while the females are an olive color all throughout and lack the wattle.

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Say Goodbye Sunday: Owston's Palm Civet

Image Credit: Unknown

Oh little civet, it's been amazing getting to know you, but now it's time to move on so we can meet next week's animal. Goodbye, Owston's Palm Civet!

If you haven't gotten to know Owston's Palm Civet(Chrotogale owstoni), Here's the og post!

Research Credits under the cut

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Support Saturday: Owston's Palm Civet

Image Credit: Newquay Zoo

Owston's Palm Civet(Chrotogale owstoni) is endangered, and is in desperate need of support. Some ways to support them are to avoid buying products that require capturing civets, such as perfume with civet oil(luckily most perfumes now use synthetic civet musk), civet coffee(Kopi Luwak), and, of course, civet meat.

If you live in areas where these civets are(Vietnam, Laos, and southern China), avoid setting up snares or traps, even if they are meant for other animals.

Another way to help is to donate to or volunteer for Save Vietnam's Wildlife, which is an organization dedicated to protecting animals like the Owston's Palm Civet.

And, like always, you can support artists as well! Here are some stickers I was able to find:

Owston's Palm Civet by thezoogirl

Owston's Palm Civet by Arulia108

Owston's Palm Civet by CarnivorousFern

[animaloftheweek]

Fun Fact Friday: Owston's Palm Civet

Image Credit: Chien C. Lee

Fun Fact! Owston's Palm Civet newborns weigh about as much as a deck of cards!

Owston's Palm Civets are also adapted to mainly eating fruit and soft bodied animals, and have been known to struggle eating anything larger or bonier than that. This is interesting behavior for a feliform, which usually eat whatever they can get.

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can there be submissions for animals you probably haven’t done yet

Yes! Anyone who wants to can

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Info Dump Thursday: Owston's Palm Civet

Video Credit: Scarce Worldwide

Owston's Palm Civet(Chrotogale owstoni) is an omnivorous viverrid with long snouts for foraging for earthworms, insects, and fruit. Their small, thin bodies and narrow muzzles allow them to reach prey that many other animals can't.

They grow to be about 22 inches long(57 cm) not including their tails, which can be almost as long as their bodies(17 in or 43 cm).

Because these civets are rare, little is known about them. They are estimated to live between 10-20 years, but this is more of a guess based on two or three individual civets.

Owston's Palm Civets are the only members of their genus, making Chrotogale a monospecific genus.

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Weirdness Wednesday: Owston's Palm Civet

Image Credit: Newquay Zoo

Owston's Palm Civet(Chrotogale owstoni) is certainly an unusually little thing. For starters, Civets are omnivores, which is actually quite weird for feliforms. They also have scent glands on their underbellies that they use to mark territory. Sometimes, people will extract this scent and use it to make perfume!

One of the weirdest things about civets is that sometimes people will feed civets coffee cherries and then make the civet's droppings containing the partially digested remains into coffee. This coffee(called Civet Coffee or Kopi Luwak) is extremely expensive and mostly unethical for civets.

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Conservation: Owston's Palm Civet

Image Credit: Robert Marc Lehmann

Conservation Tuesday! The Owston's Palm Civet(Chrotogale owstoni) is, unfortunately, Endangered. It has a high extinction risk due to its rapid population decline(over 50% within its last three generations). This is mainly because of over-exploitation, the wild meat industry, snares, and habitat destruction.

[animaloftheweek]

Animal of the Week: Owston's Palm Civet

Image Credit: Himimomi

Meet the Animal Monday! The Owston's Palm Civet(Chrotogale owstoni) is a type of viverrid with an extremly long body and nose. They are solitary creatures who live in Loas and Vietnam.

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Say Goodbye Sunday: Reedfish

Image Credit: Unknown

This week has been quite the adventure! But it's time to move on from the Reedfish(Erpetoichthys calabaricus) and get ready to meet next week's animal! Goodbye, Reedfish!

Research Credits Under the Cut

[animaloftheweek]

Support Saturday: Reedfish

Image Credit: Unknown

There are two main ways you can show support for the Reedfish(Erpetoichthys calabaricus). The first is to learn about the palm oil industry and how it is bad for the environment, and then avoid purchasing products with palm oil from unsustainable sources. One of the easiest ways to do that is to download the Palm Oil Scan app. This app is funded by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums(WAZA) and allows you to scan bar codes on products to see if the product is sustainable.

The second way you can support Reedfish is to avoid purchasing them as pets. I know, they are cute, but it's generally harmful to keep wild-caught animals, unless you are someone who is trying to figure out how to successfully breed and raise them in captivity. If you own a wild-caught Reedfish, don't try and get rid of it, just keep it and try not to get any more.

There are also stickers you can get of the Reedfish! Here are some links to ones I could find.

Ropefish By MapleSquidArts

Ropefish By Dorian NOEL

Ropefish By DangCuteFish

[animaloftheweek]

Fun Fact Friday: Reedfish

Image Credit: Joanna

Fun Fact! Reefish(Erpetoichthys calabaricus) have been described numerous times as gentle, peaceful, and inquisitive despite their predatory nature. They are social and full of personality!

Another fun fact is that their genus's Latin name comes from the Greek language and means "Creeping fish"!

[animaloftheweek]

Info Dump Thursday: Reedfish

Image Credit: Emma Turner at Maidenhead Aquatics

The Reedfish(Erpetoichthys calabaricus) lives in brackish or fresh waters in coastal west/central Africa. They mainly live in slow-moving or still waters where reeds and other aquatic plants grow. They are predatory fish and eat small fish, snails, worms, insects, and crustaceans. They can grow up to 14 inches long(35 cm) but are usually a little smaller. They are nocturnal but can still be found snaking in and out of reeds during the day.

Reedfish are sometimes found as pets and are fairly common in some areas of the world. However, every pet Reedfish is wild caught because Reedfish young have only survived in captivity for a few months at most.