Blogs

In Costa Rica, along the Pacific coast, near the town of Quepos is Manuel Antonio National Park. There in a small area surrounded by picturesque beaches, you may see many monkeys, sloths, colorful crabs, red-eyed green tree frogs, some bats, butterflies and various other birds and creatures.

Why is it that Pygmy creatures are more attractive than full-sized animals? Do they retain some of the tiny new-born charm into adulthood? By nature of being a pygmy they all have that special small but powerful, little-big-guy demeanor. They are all fascinating. Of course, it can be advantageous in the wild to be tiny. Big fat animals must eat a lot to maintain their bodies but the little guy can survive on some smaller dishes. Here is a top 10 list of some of them (more than 10 now).

The Chinese have an astrological system with a 12-year cycle. Animals represent each year in the cycle with certain characteristics. These are the “Chinese astrological signs” or the “zodiac symbols” for the given years. The word “zodiac” comes from the Latin “zodiacus”, which in turn comes from the Greek “zoidiakos kuklos”, meaning “circle of the zodiac”, or “circle of animals”. This is using the root of the word “zoo” meaning animal which is now used in English to mean animal park (short for zoological park) and also used in the word “zoology” meaning the study of animals.

The Pygmy Tarsier which was once thought to be extinct, and not seen since the 1920s, has been rediscovered on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi by a group of scientists from Texas. Only last year on the same island, a different species of tarsier was identified (Tarsius sangirensis) by a group of international scientists. Logging and other threats to the habitat of the tarsiers threaten its existence. The inhabitants of the volcanic island are also a threat to the tarsier as they hunt and eat them. Pictures below.