Thank you to everyone who followed along and all the awesome people I've connected with on this journey. This has been an awesome challenge for me, and I hope you learned along the way. Maybe one day we'll start this back up. Til then, keep supporting AZA accredited zoos and wildlife conservation.
Today is the 4th anniversary of #AnAnimalADay. 4 years ago today, I decided to brighten up Twitter, and now Bluesky, with fun animal facts. I did so for the last 1,460 days straight, never repeating an animal. With that said, I think it's time for a break. #AnAnimalADay is going on indefinite hiatus
A Malayan tiger looking regal as all get out while lounging on a platform in a zoo. Photo from Wikipedia.
A close-up look at the head of a Malayan tiger. It's truly one of the most beautiful and spectacular species we share our planet with. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Malayan Tiger! 1 of the 6 tiger species alive today, it's native to certain parts of Malaysia, and it faces numerous threats from humans. Poaching and habitat destruction are killing these beautiful big cats. We must support conservation efforts to save tigers worldwide.
A closeup shot of the head of a black mamba. Just looking at it, you wouldn't realize its the ferocious snake of legend. Photo from Wikipedia.
A young black mamba in a tree on the savannah. They're excellent climbers and will go into trees to hunt or avoid large savannah animals that might step on them. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is one of the most infamous snakes of all-time: The Black Mamba! Native to sub-Saharan Africa, it's the second longest venomous snake on earth (up to 15ft long). Despite its fearsome reputation, this deadly snake is only aggressive to humans when cornered or threatened.
A chinstrap penguin chilling on a rock near the ocean. This image makes it pretty obvious how they get their name. Photo from Wikipedia.
An adult chinstrap penguin with some juveniles, which haven't molted their grey baby feathers yet. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Chinstrap Penguin! Pretty easy to see where this wannabe boyband member gets its name. They're native to Antarctica/S. Pacific, and they can swim up to 50 miles in a single day in search of food. To sleep, they micro-sleep in 4second increments thousands of times per day
A male red-bellied lemur walking through the trees in its rainforest habitat. Photo from Wikipedia.
A female red-bellied lemur, as distinguished by the lack of white markings around the eyes down through the nose. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Red-Bellied Lemur! This primate, like all lemurs, is native to Madagascar. They're adorable and form monogamous mating pairs, and then those pairs join other pairs to form small groups that forage together, mostly for fresh fruits, thus being an important seed spreader.
A snowflake moray coiled around an undersea rock. It gets its name from the colorful pattern of its body. Photo from Wikipedia.
A closeup of the snowflake moray's head. These eels have poor eyesight but make up for it with an amazing sense of smell. Photo from Wikipedia.
Despite the name, today's #AnAnimalADay is no wuss: The Snowflake Moray! This marine eel is abundant in the Indo-Pacific from Africa to Hawaii, and it has a strong jaw and slightly blunted teeth, both of which are perfect for cracking through tough crab shells (the main staple of its diet).
These are better fun facts than I provided, this is what #AnAnimalADay is about
A rosy-faced lovebird sitting in a tree. Both males and females have the identical green and blue plumage with the red/pink facial plumage that gives them their common name. Photo from Wikipedia.
A pair of courting rosy-faced lovebirds sitting on a branch together. This image gives you and example of how these birds would sit together and sleep. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay has an adorable name to match it's beautiful colors: The Rosy-Faced Lovebird! This member of the parrot family is native to Africa, and if the name wasn't cute enough, when they sleep, the sleep upright with their faces turned together and touching. True lovebirds indeed.
An Indian python chilling in a tree. Photo from Wikipedia.
The Indian python, like the one shown here, features prominently in the story "The Jungle Book," as the snake Kaa was an Indian python. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Indian Python! Although much smaller than its cousin the Burmese python, this is still one of earth's largest snakes. It can reach more than 11ft long, but it's a shy snake that rarely attacks. Due to their size, they're slow on land but move quickly in the water.
A male, or drake, harlequin duck perched on a rock near the water. Photo from Wikipedia.
A female, or hen, harlequin duck sitting on a rock. Though not as colorful as the drakes, the hens are still lovely. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Harlequin Duck! This beautiful sea duck native to the Pacific coasts of N.America and Asia dive in the shallows for small mollusks and crustaceans. The males are more colorful than the females so they're easy to tell apart, and they form monogamous mating pairs.
A male lion with a full mane rests on a rock. Photo from Wikipedia.
A female lion resting on a mound of dirt in the savannah. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the African Lion! This so-called "king of the jungle" (they don't live in jungles) has captivated us for literal centuries, and records of them being shown in "zoos" date back to the Roman Empire. The male's trademark mane is an indicator to females of good health for mating
A male Sri Lankan elephant with tusks, known as a tusker. Photo from Wikipedia.
Most of the Sri Lankan elephant population in Sri Lanka lives in protected wildlife preserves, like these females and their young playing in this watering hole. photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Sri Lankan Elephant! This is the largest subspecies of the Asian elephant, with the largest individuals topping the scales at over 12,000lbs! Unfortunately, as humans expand into their territory, they're coming into conflict with these beautiful elephants more often.
A beautiful portrait of a chimpanzee at rest, sitting in a tree. Photo from Wikipedia.
A mother chimpanzee and her adorable baby sitting together eating fruit. photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is one of our closest living relatives: The Chimpanzee! When I say we're close relatives, I mean it, sharing approximately 98.8% of our DNA with chimps. Humans and chimps evolved from a common ancestor that lived 6-7 million years ago, and we've shared our planet ever since.
A yacare caiman lounging in the sun on a riverbank. Photo from Wikipedia.
A close-up view of the awesome teeth and head of a yacare caiman. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Yacare Caiman! This crocodilian of South America is a true success story for conservation. It's population was devastated by overhunting for its skin, but legislation and careful conservation has brought the species back from endangered status. Conservation works, people
A white-tailed eagle in flight after snatching up a fish from the water. Majestic AF. Photo from Wikipedia.
A photo of 2 white-tailed eagles sitting on a tree limb on a snowy day. The bird on the left in particular shows how it gets its common name. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the White-Tailed Eagle! They're widespread throughout Eurasia, but due to humans being just terrible with poaching and habitat destruction, they're now pretty rare. They're one of the largest birds of prey on earth today, with a wingspan reaching up to 8ft across!
A blue shark swimming undisturbed in the ocean. They grow to an average of 10ft long. Photo from wikipedia.
An overhead view of a blue shark swimming. They are torpedo-shaped to help them achieve incredible swimming speeds. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Blue Shark! They're one of the fastest swimmers in the ocean, reaching top speeds over 40mph. Female blue sharks give birth to live young, with litters of pups (yes, a baby shark is called a pup) numbering 25-100 individuals! That's a lot of hungry mouths to feed.
A mantled howler monkey in a tree making a loud howling call. Photo from Wikipedia.
A mantled howler monkey chilling in a tree. They're most often seen at rest during the day. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Mantled Howler Monkey! This is one of C. America's largest monkeys, and it eats just a ton of leaves every day. Problem is, leaves don't provide much nutrition, so it also spends large chunks of the day sleeping. Their loud namesake calls can carry for several miles.
Despite being named after a river, the Nile monitor, like the one shown here prowling, is often found in very dry areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Photo from Wikipedia.
A Nile monitor swimming. They power through the water with their long tails acting as propulsion. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Nile Monitor! As the name suggests it's native to Africa though not limited to the Nile River. It's Africa's longest lizard (capable of growing 7+ft long) and is packing sharp teeth and claws for defense and for tearing through prey items. They're also great swimmers.
A marbled cat, named for its distinct marble patterned coat, in the limbs of a jungle tree. photo from Wikipedia.
A marbled cat climbing down a tree. Like most cats, they're excellent climbers. They scale trees to eat birds and rodents that live in the canopy. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Marbled Cat! This is a small species of wild cat native to the high elevations of India, Thailand, and the Himalayas. It's about the size of your average house cat, but with a super long tail (as long as the rest of its body combined). They hunt in the forest canopies.
Orcas breaching the water's surface near Alaska. photo from Wikipedia.
An orca chasing a salmon. As an apex predator, any animal they can catch is fair game for them. Photo from wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the largest member of the dolphin family: The Orca! That's right, you may know it as a killer whale but it's a big dolphin. They can be found in a wide array of ocean habitats and thankfully in the wild this apex predator is chill with humans and won't attack us.
A female yellow garden spider sitting on its web. We know its female because only the females have the bright yellow and black color pattern. photo from Wikipedia.
A yellow garden spider using a fence as an anchor for its web. photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Yellow Garden Spider! This common spider is found from S. Canada all the way to Colombia. Though this somewhat large spider may seem scary, they're not aggressive at all and will only bite as a last resort. Even then, their bite is comparable to a bee sting for danger.
A green milkweed locust in a threat display with its wings spread out. Photo from Wikipedia.
A green milkweed locust feeding on a leaf. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Green Milkweed Locust! I picked a creature with green and weed in the name for no particular reason today. This insect is native to Africa, and when disturbed it will flash its bright red/blue wings as a warning. If continually disturbed, it will release a noxious fluid.
An alpine chipmunk snacks on a little flower. Photo from Wikipedia.
An alpine chipmunk looking adorable while perched on a rock. Photo from NatureRules1 Wiki.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is adorable and you know it: The Alpine Chipmunk! This rodent is found only in the high elevations of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. There's not much water up there, so they get all they need from food. They spend half the year hibernating, which sounds great to me.
A white marlin breaches the surface of the water. photo from Wikipedia.
A white marlin breaching the water. They're prized by anglers for their fight and size. Photo from the Billfish Foundation.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the White Marlin! This billfish (meaning it has that long poker for a nose) is native to the Atlantic and grows to around 9ft at its largest. They're near the top of the food chain in their habitat and most any fish they can manage based on size is fair game, like tuna.
An Ethiopian wolf makes its way across a plateau. Photo from Wikipedia.
The Ethiopian wolf, like the one pictured here, is highly social and lives in packs of around 20 members. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is The Ethiopian Wolf! It's about the size of a coyote, and it's one of the world's rarest canines. They have a hyper-specific diet of Afroalpine rodents, which have highly specific habitat requirements, so this wolf can only be found in areas with this food source.
This poor common water snake had his head tangled up in this netting for quite some time. Dispose of nets properly! Photo taken by me.
The very scared but also I think fairly grateful common watersnake after I freed him from the net and moved him further up river. Photo from me.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Common Watersnake! I picked this snake because yesterday while cleaning up trash on a riverbank, I found one caught in a net (DISPOSE OF NETS PROPERLY FFS). Thankfully I was able to cut him free and relocate him. These snakes are harmless to humans, so I wasn't in danger
A sand tiger shark in an aquarium. This shark mostly hunts along the sea floor at night. Photo from Wikipedia.
A closeup shot of the sand tiger shark's head showing off their wicked array of teeth. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Sand Tiger Shark! Don't let that name and appearance fool you, this is a fairly placid shark with no record of ever fatally harming a human despite spending a ton of time in the shallows so divers see them often. It can grow over 10ft long, but ones that size are rare.
A Cuban tree frog lounging and looking chill as hell on a tree limb in the Caribbean. Photo from Wikipedia.
A Cuban tree frog using its excellent brown camouflage to blend into the trunk of a tree. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Cuban Tree Frog! This relatively large frog (largest tree frog species in N.America) is native to the Caribbean, but its adaptability has sadly made it an invasive species in the US, including as far away as Hawaii. They're voracious predators, even eating smaller frogs.
A common moorhen near the water's edge. This species makes a hissing noise when threatened. Photo from Wikipedia.
A common moorhen has feet with no webbing and widespread toes, as the photo shows. This enables them to evenly disperse their weight as they walk across lily pads. Photo from Wikipedia.
Today's #AnAnimalADay is the Common Moorhen! These waterbirds are native to Africa, Asia, and Europe. As the name suggests, they make their home in marshes and swamps, and they have a nasty habit of nest parasitism (lay their eggs in another bird's nest), both with other moorhens and random birds.
