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[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Photo was taken in Safari, Ramat-Gan
The combined African Park and zoo are popularly known as the "Safari" opened to the general public in 1974 as an African animal park. In 1981, a modern zoo was established in the middle of the park, populated with animals brought from the former Tel Aviv Zoo, which had closed.
The African Park and the zoo within occupy 250 acres and include 1,600 animals of different species: 68 species of mammals, 130 species of fowl, and 25 species of reptiles.
The Safari is the largest animal collection in the Middle East and is unique in the world, because of the large herds of mixed species of African animals that roam the spacious African Park. The zoo contains a variety of animals from around the world.
Outstanding are its breeding herds of both African and Asian elephants, the gorilla and orangutan families, the hippo herd and the pride of lions.
The Safari's educational purpose is to promote the conservation of nature- from the belief that we love what we know, and we preserve what we love.
Flamingos are large wading birds with very long legs and neck, an abruptly turned-down bill, and an unfeathered face. They are found in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and the Caribbean area. Wild flamingos are sometimes seen in Florida, but they do not naturally nest in the United States. Flamingos are white, pinkish white, or vermilion, with black flight feathers (remiges); they stand from 90 cm to 1.5 m (3 to 5 ft) tall. Flamingos feed on minute animal and vegetable matter, such as algae and diatoms, or on small molluscs or crustaceans. When feeding, the flamingo places its head and bill upside down below the surface of the water. Using its thick, fleshy tongue, the bird forces muddy water through the serrated edges of its bill, thus straining the water and trapping the edible material in it.
Flamingos, highly gregarious throughout the year, nest in colonies; in some species, such as the lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor), these colonies may number as many as 2 million birds. The nest is a cone of mud up to about 45 cm (1.5 ft) high, and one or two whitish eggs are laid in a shallow depression at the top of the cone. Both sexes incubate the eggs. The young hatch after about a month and have a straight bill, which begins to develop a bend within a few weeks.
The 4 to 6 living species and 14 extinct species of flamingos constitute the family Phoenicopteridae, which is usually placed in an order of its own--Phoenicopteriformes.
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