A tumblr for Why Animals Do The Thing's IG posts!

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What’s a face lick between family members? Help me name this tongue interaction: I keep wanting to call it a mlem, but that one is already taken! #woodlandparkzoo #giraffe #tongueouttuesday #animaltongues #zookreepers (at Woodland Park Zoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/B733BeGBqqO/?igshid=tvs6h4y4l24y

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Got the #mondayblues ? Here’s some late-summer photos of baby African elephant Fitz, from the Louisville Zoo, to brighten your day. He was about a month and a half old in these photos: just brave enough to start exploring the habitat a little on his own, as long as mom Mikki was just a few steps away. #babyelephant #elephant #africanelephant #cute #allears #zooanimals #zooborns #louisvillezoo (at Louisville Zoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/B53XzxRhvCG/?igshid=eaauocdvh2z9

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Nothing to see here. Just Gidgee, a juvenile rednecked wallaby, staring balefully at the intruding camera while holding onto a nipple she doesn’t want to lose track of. 🤣🦘🤣 While that thought may have you thinking “ouch!”, marsupial nipples are highly specialized and are meant to extend that far when the joey is close to permanently leaving the pouch! When a joey is born and manages to crawl into the pouch, the nipples it finds there are also super tiny - once it latches on to one, the nipple actually grows so that it fills the joey’s mouth and they can’t disengage. This works really well since marsupial babies are born very premature and do most of their development in the pouch, so they need to be kept latched on to a food source until they’re functional enough to find the nipple again on their own. As the joey grows, the nipple changes size in parallel - and the concentration of the nutrients in the milk adjusts too - always staying large enough to fit in their mouth. Joeys continue to nurse during the period when they’re exploring outside of the pouch, and often after they’ve grown big enough they’ve had to pretty much leave it for good: and so the nipples adapt, to be long and flexible, so they can be easily accessed by a joey from the outside. After a joey weans, that teat will shrink back to being tiny, and wait for a new tiny bean baby to be born and start the process all over again! #sorrytointerrupt #marsupial #wallaby #redneckedwallaby #zoo #zooanimals #zooborns #nursing (at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5Yd1YPhgPe/?igshid=1r0zmub7hx5md

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A man in his prime. At 19, Kwame - a Western Lowland Gorilla - has really come into his own. This silverback was transferred last year from the @smithsonianzoo in DC to @woodlandparkzoo in Seattle to join (and lead) a group of females whose venerable male had passed away earlier in the year. It was perfect timing for Kwame, as in the wild, males begin to assume leadership roles in their troop right around his age. On this cool autumn day, Kwame seemed right at home balancing his responsibilities: foraging through the fall foliage, calmly interacting with the girls, and posing for guests. #gorilla #westernlowlandgorilla #zoo #zooanimals #woodlandparkzoo #nationalzoo #fallfoliage #autumn (at Woodland Park Zoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5TYa6FBLTk/?igshid=18d58m1arkcrj

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Surrounded by cichlids, Daisy the #hippo naps in surprisingly clear water. Hippopotami each produce hundreds of pounds of poop a day, and mostly while they’re soaking. When large groups of hippos congregate in rivers, the sheer amount of excrement that accumulates can result in such deoxygenated water that aquatic life downstream literally suffocates! When hippos are in human care, that preference for pooping underwater can make it very hard for their pool water to stay clear enough for zoo guests to actually see the animals: new exhibits, like this one that opened at the Fort Worth Zoo in 2018, are designed with truly heroic water filtration systems to address that problem. Another solution? Those cichlids aren’t just in the tank because pretty fish add another visual dimension. These African cichlids evolved to live in warm freshwater habitats, and many species are herbivores or detrivores (animals that eat dead organic material): so they help keep the hippo pool clean by nibbling up both bits of hippo poop and the algae that tends to grow in such well-fertilized water. #hippopotamus #fortworthzoo #cichlids #mixedspecies #naptime #herbivore (at Fort Worth, Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2mjeoqhojZ/?igshid=cu72gemysjf3

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These two meerkats at the #dallaszoo are working the newest, hottest examples of current suricate fashion. Some of it, like those mud balls, are functional as well as fashionable! While you’ll often hear that meerkats prefer to utilize burrows created by ground squirrels, they’re highly skilled diggers who aren’t above digging their own complex tunnel systems. (But who wouldn’t be up for snagging an existing tunnel system and save all the energy of creating your own?) #meerkat #fashion (at Dallas, Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2JvyBqBc34/?igshid=16kgwdmlmisiq

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How many eyes can you see on this Sumatran tiger? If you’re an animal trying to sneak up on her, the answer might be four! Those lovely white spots on her ears are officially known as “ocelli” (singular “ocellus”) but are often called “flashes” or “eye spots.” All #tigers have them, and while nobody can agree on their exact purpose, it’s generally agreed upon that they play some role in communication. Here’s the main theories: - The flashes allow tigers to see each other when following each other dense vegetation. Even young tigers have very well defined ear markings, which would be super useful for a female trying to keep track of multiple cubs at once. - They look like false eyes facing out from the back of a tiger’s head, which might discourage anything trying to sneak up on a cat into thinking it’s been seen. False eyes are a pretty common evolutionary strategy, but they’re more commonly seen in prey species. - The white spots are involved in intra-species communication, potentially aggressive signaling. When tigers are frustrated or upset, their ears swivel so the white spots are visible to anyone in front of them - it’s thought that this might help clearly indicate internal state for a species whose adult interactions with other conspecifics are often violent and sometimes deadly. #tiger #sumatrantiger #socialsignals #eyespots #stripes (at Phoenix, Arizona) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2HSwBhhg28/?igshid=5l1fa3i81tny

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Sluuuurp. It’s not just giant anteaters who have impressive tongues! This ambassador tamandua at Reid Park licks nectar out of a tube with her super-specialized tongue as a reward for targeting her nose to that little green ball. Tamandua are insectivores, and they have the long flexible tongue that comes with that dietary lifestyle. Long tubes with honey or applesauce or some other treat at the end are a great reinforcer for them that still makes use of their specific adaptations - and when the tube is clear, it shows off that incredible tongue to great effect. Swipe ➡️ for a closeup! #tamandua #insectivore #ambassadoranimal #positivereinforcementtraining #animaladaptations #girlswithlongtongues (at Reid Park Zoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/B14zv5-hAmg/?igshid=etvxjplpd59q

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A grizzly bear at the @chahinkapazoo pauses after a swim to see if anyone interesting is at the viewing window. While the exhibit fencing in the background is not the most aesthetically pleasing, it’s actually an incredibly practical and acceptable choice: it’s sturdy enough to safely contain strong animals, has a lean-in at the top to prevent agile bears from being able to climb out, and constructed in a way that allows snow to drift through it. When a facility deals with North Dakota winters, that last is an important design feature - snow piling up too high inside a solid fence might make it possible for animals to escape, and snow plus gusting wind might compromise the integrity of the fence. So while a glass window all the way around (like you see in zoos at lower latitudes) might look prettier to guests and feel less “like a cage”, this exhibit construction is actually a better choice for both animal and human safety. #bears #grizzlybear #zoos #zooexhibit #understandingzoos #exhibitdesign #chahinkapazoo (at Chahinkapa Zoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzJJNKuBKTN/?igshid=1esxvwpwk4zs5

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A member of the herd checks in with a very fresh scimitar-horned oryx calf. Once extinct in the wild, these desert antelope have become a reintroduction success story thanks to some rather unexpected contributors: game ranchers! When wild scimitar-horned oryx populations plummeted thanks to overhunting and being out-competed by livestock, it was exotic game ranches in the US that had a “reservoir population,” and were able to provide the founder stock for an intensive zoo breeding program. The descendants of those original animals are in the process of being released into some of their historic range, and they appear to be thriving. #scimitaroryx #antelope #veryfreshbaby #hoofstock #conservation #wildlifeconservation #zoossavespecies #naturalbridgesafaripark (at Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzGigqXhECz/?igshid=j5dovr42b7hi

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Cassowary have many stunning and intimidating features - bright coloration, immense size, and a giant talon on each powerful foot - but nothing compares to the regal profile created by the crests on the top of their heads. Called “casques”, the function of these hard, keratinized structures has long been debated by scientists, but a recent thermal imagery may have offered an answer. Many birds in tropical climates have developed areas of their bodies that are full of little blood vessels and not covered by feathers; these “thermal windows” help them vent excess heat from their bodies. In many birds, that structure is the beak - but in cassowary, it appears to be the #casques that help them stay cool! #ratite #doublewattledcassowary #bigbird #adaptations #tropicalstyle #thermalwindows (at Houston Zoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzDxkjvBhWB/?igshid=17kfkf2zu32b2

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I’d heard that #plainszebra were stocky animals with fairly short legs, but their odd proportions didn’t hit home until I saw this dude lay down for a nap in the sunshine! See how the #stripes on his legs kind of fade out and don’t go all the way down to the hooves? That coat pattern identified him as a Chapman’s #zebra - a specific subspecies of the Plains zebra. Sometimes they even have brown “shadow stripes” in-between the normal black and white ones! #hoofstock #sunbath #napinthesun #zoo #drivethroughsafari (at Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzCBd5phE0N/?igshid=1cfoh1qphd6ru

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A #hippo soaks up late afternoon sun at the Dallas Zoo. While it may look like she’s floating, you can just barely see she’s actually stretched out on a rock under the water. Hippos are so heavy that they can’t float, and actually walk along the bottom of a body of water instead of swimming. #hippopotamus #zooanimals (at Dallas Zoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwnLuXcBMjw/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=awh8slpg3dg7

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Ever struggled to sleep when sharing a bed? This painted dog pup certainly sympathizes! He and nine of his twelve siblings had piled into this shelter at the Oregon Zoo for a nap. As soon as one got comfortable, the next would need to shift around and woke everyone up all over again! #puppypile #puppies #painteddog #africanwilddog #siblings #zoo #zooanimal (at Oregon Zoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwiTOmnB7fy/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1w1kmggccw775

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When animal trainers get a chance tour a guide dog school and get to meet adorable puppers, the entirely predictable result is belly rubs. This cutie is a #careerchange #dog - guide work may have not been a great fit for her, but she was doing a great job as an ambassador for the program and will go on to a different job that fits her personal skill set. #guidedogsfortheblind #bellyrubs #bellyrubsplease #guidedog #animalbehaviormanagementalliance #abma2019 #labradorretriever #goldenretriever #workingdog (at Guide Dogs for the Blind) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwF9xFEBDhU/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=r8arhrvif1sc

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See those tiny feathers around this Milky Eagle Owl’s beak? Called “bristles” (even though they’re feathers, not hair), they help her identify things. Owls have great distance vision but not a lot of ability to focus on things close to their faces, so these feathers help them find objects at close range. They’re kind of like cat whiskers for birds! This ambassador #owl at the @oregonzoo has a very luxurious and noticeable set of bristles, but look close and you’ll see lots of birds, like ravens, also have them! #birdsofprey #milkyeagleowl #whiskersonfleek #owls #ambassadoranimal #zoo #abma2019 #abmaconference (at Oregon Zoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv-iPUjh1Pk/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=36dvrjcl4ude

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😍 Cheetah feets! 😍 #cheetah are the only big cats without fully retractable claws - an adaptation that gives them more traction when they run, increasing their ability to make sharp turns. Over time, their claws actually become blunted from all that speedy movement! #bigcats #bigcat #spotted #predator #spots #speeddemon #conservewhatyoulove (at Houston Zoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvtuByrh2gw/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=6m80ionzy2mx