World Giraffe Day
The Giraffe Conservation Foundation chose June 21 for World Giraffe Day, pairing the world’s tallest land animal with the Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice. A giraffe can reach leaves well above most other browsers. That long neck contains seven vertebrae, the same count as a human neck. A giraffe also uses its long, grasping tongue to […]
Shark and Ray Awareness Day
Aquariums mark Shark and Ray Awareness Day with a closer look at these relatives. Sharks and rays have skeletons made mainly of cartilage, and both can sense the tiny electrical signals produced by other animals. The horn shark has one of the more unusual eggs in the ocean. Its tough egg case has spiral ridges, […]
World Chimpanzee Day
July 14 marks the day Jane Goodall arrived at what is now Gombe National Park in Tanzania in 1960. World Chimpanzee Day commemorates the start of that work and celebrates what we’ve learned about chimpanzees since. At Gombe, chimpanzees use slender stems to fish for termites. In some West African communities, chimpanzees use stones or […]
World Snake Day
World Snake Day gives zoos and wildlife educators a chance to introduce people to some remarkable reptiles. A rattlesnake, for example, can detect warmth using heat-sensitive pits between its eyes and nostrils. Its rattle is made of interlocking segments of keratin. A new segment forms when the snake sheds, but segments can break off and […]