By SOKHA HY
Personal Blog
April 29, 2017
At High Park
Toronto
High park zoo was established in 1890's and it has been a popular attraction. Today Zoo is home to a variety of animal species from around the world.
Let's introduce you to Emu.They are the second largest flightless birds in the world next to the ostrich. Their calls consist of loud booming. Drumming and grunting sounds that can be heard up to two Kilometres away. The soft-feathered, brown birds reach up to 2 meters in height and weigh up to 45Kg. They can travel great distances at fast, consistent trot and can sprint at 50km/hour.
Over eight weeks of incubation, he will lose a third of his weight and will survive only on stored body-fat. Newly hatched chicks are active and can leave the nest within a few days. they stand about 25 centimetres tall and have distinctive brown and cream stripes for camouflage, which fade after three months or so. The male stays with the growing chicks for up to 18 months, defending them and teaching them how to find food.
They are great eyesight and hearing. Emu are farmed for their meat, oil and leather. Through time, they lost the ability to fly as this skill was no longer necessary to their survival. They developed long, strong, powerful legs instead.
The natural enemies of emus are wedge-tailed eagles, and dingoes that take young emus. Nest robbers such as various lizards, mammals and birds the male emu off the nest and then drop stones on the eggs to break them.
Life span: 25-28 years (longer in captivity)
Incubation: 56 days
Diet: berries, fruit, grain, grasses, Vegetation insects, gravel is a requirement.
Habitat: sparsely wooded level plains
Idiosyncrasies: cannot fly, long strong, powerful legs.
