Love in the Animal Kingdom

Love is in the air this Valentine's Day, so this month Earthwatch Extra takes a look at the bonding behaviour of a selection of animals from our research expeditions. All of the featured species are endangered and listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: lower risk

The Nile crocodile has a noisy mating ritual in which males attract females by slapping their snouts on the surface of the water, producing loud bellowing noises and squirting water out of their nostrils. Females tend to show a distinct preference for larger males with more impressive displays. Once the female has selected her mate, the two make warbling sounds and rub the undersides of their jaws together. After mating, it takes about two months for the female to lay her eggs, which she then covers in sand. The union doesn't end there though; in the three months it takes for the eggs to incubate, the male sticks around and helps his mate to fend off anything that gets too close to the eggs.

You can experience Nile crocodiles on the Earthwatch expedition Crocodiles of the Zambezi, working alongside lead scientist Dr. Alison Leslie to establish the population status in part of the Zambezi River, Zambia, and to try to identify threats facing the species in the area.

Cinereous vultures (Aegypius monachus)
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: near threatened

 The cinereous vulture, also known as the Eurasian black vulture or monk vulture, is the largest Old World raptor (bird of prey). The species forms monogamous pair bonds that are thought to be life-long. Both sexes help to create an enormous nest on rocks or in a tree. The nest is reused and the vultures add more material to it every year.

On the expedition Wildlife of the Mongolian Steppe, Earthwatch volunteers work with lead scientist Dr. Rich Reading in Mongolia's spectacular semi-desert steppe wilderness. Teams investigate the ecology and movements of a wide range of species, including the argali, Siberian ibex, mountain goats and cinereous vultures.

Beavers (Castor canadensis)
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: lower risk

The beaver is the largest North American rodent. Beavers live in family groups consisting of the male and female and their kits and yearlings. They live in ‘lodges' constructed from small tree trunks and branches plastered with mud. The lodge is built close to deep water so the beavers can exit and enter the lodge underwater without being seen.

Beavers are monogamous, and mate for life. The breeding season gets underway from January to March. After the female gives birth in April, May or June, the males leave the female to ‘hold the baby' and move out of the lodge, returning in late summer.

Volunteers on the Mammals of Nova Scotia expedition work in a range of habitats in spectacular surroundings, observing the behaviour of beavers and other mammals to shed light on how they are affected by climate change. 

Maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus)
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: lower risk

The maned wolf is the largest canid in South America, measuring up to one metre in height at the shoulder. It is listed on the IUCN Red List of threatened species.

Males and females form monogamous pair bonds and share a permanent home range measuring up to 30km². Despite this, they tend to actively avoid each other for most of the time and only become closely associated during the breeding season from April to June.

The Earthwatch expedition Carnivores of Brazil's Grasslands takes place in Emas National Park, Brazil, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve. The park is home to a great diversity of carnivores, including pumas, jaguars, and crab eating foxes, as well as the maned wolf. This 12 year ongoing study aims to shed light on the habitat needs and movements of the carnivores. The information volunteers gather will be used to draw up sound conservation management plans for the species.

African penguin (Spheniscus demersus)
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: vulnerable

African penguins, also known as jackass penguins because of their loud, donkey-like braying calls, are endemic to southern Africa.

These penguins are monogamous and some pairs are known to have stayed together for more then 10 years. Like many penguins, this species breeds in colonies and pairs tend to return to the same nest site year after year. They nest under bushes or in burrows to shade the eggs and young from the heat of the sun. Females typically lay two eggs, which take around 40 days for incubation. The male and female share the incubation duties, taking it in turns to keep the eggs warm using a special flap of skin on the belly, while the other parent goes to fish.

Volunteers joining the South African Penguins expedition help to carry out population surveys on African penguins and other seabirds to establish their breeding success and survival and to trail a unique system that detects and recognises individual penguins as they pass remote cameras. The research takes place at the UNESCO World Heritage site, Robben Island, the location of Nelson Mandela's incarceration and a seabird hotspot.

Editors Notes

Images from top © Mark Eveleigh, © Rich Reading, © Peggy Faucher, © Rebecca Carmichael