Forests

Forest are extremely important for humans because of :

·        their wood, which can be used as material,

·        the fruit and the animals that humans obtain from the forest,

·        the trees produce oxygen for breathing.

In the past, two thirds of the land on Earth was covered with forest, but a large number of them have been destroyed by excessive clearing in order to obtain wood or create arable land. Around the equator, in the tropical area there is so much light, warmth and humidity. This condition is found only here. That is why Tropical Areas are covered with the densest and richest vegetation, which is called the tropical forest, the rainforest or the jungle. From the tree tops to the dark forest ground, life flourishes here as there is a lot of sunlight and humidity all year round. Some animals that live in the forest are Moose, Brown bear and Turtle Dove. It is not possible to imagine the life of humans without forests                           

  Ramon,  Alexia and Luke B.

 These animals live in the forest

The word “tiger” is taken from the Greek word “tigris”. The tiger is a member of the Felidae family; the largest of the four big cats in the genus Panthera.  Reaching up to 4 metres (13 ft) in total length and weighing up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds), the larger tiger subspecies are comparable in size to the biggest extinct felids. They are territorial and generally solitary animals, often requiring large contiguous areas of habitat that support their prey demands.  

Most of the people are afraid of this creature. This is a very simetrical animal. Of the eight subspecies of modern tiger, two are extinct and the remaining six are classified as endangered. Unfortunately some of these tigers are caught by circus people who sometimes are cruel to these tigers. There is a type of tiger named Golden tabby tiger that are rare because there is only about 30 of them in all. A tigress may have a territory of 20 square kilometres while the territories of males are much larger, covering from 60 to 100 km².

 Mariah Sammut

The giant panda is classified in the bear family, and it lives in a very narrow area in Asia. It lives in various types of forests where bamboo grows, as this is its only food. It is an excellent climber, and it also swims well. On its paw, in front of the thumb, there is also a “false thumb”, which can be bent toward the true thumb and serves for holding bamboo stems and leaves. It lives solitarily and is territorial and it marks its territory by urine, by any odours secreted from the anal gland and by scraping the bark of trees. During the mating period, males fight for females. They build dens in tree hollows or in caves, where females give birth to one or two naked and helpless young. The female looks after them for quite a long period of time, and she often plays with them. Unlike most bears, the giant panda does not hibernate but rather descends to lower altitudes during the winter. Although the panda represents the symbol of the conservation of nature, its survival is endangered.

 Gabriel and Josef

Elephants are huge! They’re the biggest land animals alive today.

     A male elephant, called a bull, can be more than three metres high-that’s about the height of two people standing on top of each other. Because they are so big, elephants need a lot of food. They spend most of the day munching plants. Elephants have big heads and long trunks.

 They also have the largest brain of any living creature - four times bigger than a human brain.

They have good eyesight.

An elephant’s trunk is very special. It’s a nose and a top lip. The elephant uses it to touch.                          

    Elephants live in groups.

Alexei and Luke B.

The cheetah can run at a speed of over 100 km/h and is the fastest land animal.

However, it can maintain such a speed only for a short period of time, because it becomes tired quickly. So it catches prey in fast bursts, but if the prey is more enduring it will not be able to catch it. It lives on African grassland, and it feeds on gazelles and antelopes and other medium­­­-sized and small mammals. It especially likes areas where there are mounds, from where it can stalk its prey. Its paws are strong and the claws are semi-retractable. Its nostrils are large to allow fast oxygen intake while running. Its lungs and heart are also large, and its bones are large. 

 Alexia