Olympic games and wildlife

This video is called Archer Fish Water Pistol – Weird Nature – BBC wildlife.

From Wildlife Extra:

Wildlife Olympics – And the Olympian that kills wildlife

Olympian wildlife killers

Sadly, at least two olympic competitors have been practicising their sport by killing wildife. [United States] Olympic Shooter Corey Cogdel seems to be proud of her ability to shoot animals, especially in Africa, and there are many images of her on the web with some of the animals and birds she has shot. And [United States] gold medallist Kim Rhode has also been featured as a celebrity hunter on US websites.

Gold medalists of the natural world

August 2012. Humans aren’t the only ones that display incredible feats of athleticism – IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) has suggested the following gold medalists of the animal kingdom.

These animal athletes, some of which are listed as threatened on The IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM, are the fastest sprinters, the highest jumpers and the most graceful gymnasts in the natural world. The Cheetah is the obvious gold medal winner in the 100m -reaching speeds of up to 70mph in short bursts. In field events, the Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius) could win the high jump as it can jump 115 times its own height! In the gymnastics events, the graceful Agile Gibbon (Hylobates agilis) and dancing birds-of-paradise would wow us with their moves. While celebrating the achievements of talented athletes across the world this summer, we should also take the time to appreciate these incredible species.

Archery – Smallscale Archerfish (Toxotes microlepis) Archerfish shoot down land based insects (flying insects or insects on branches) and other small animals with water shot from their specialized mouths. The Smallscale Archerfish is listed as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.

Boxing – European Hare (Lepus europaeus) The European Hare mating season peaks in spring during a time called “March Madness.” Females choose their partners according to their strength by “boxing” with them-when females and males stand on their hind legs and hit each other with their paws. As females are slightly larger than males, only strong males impress the females and get the chance to mate. The European Hare is listed as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.

Shooting – Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) The fruits of the Himalayan Balsam open explosively with a popping sound, ‘shooting’ the seeds to some distance. A prolific seed producer, each plant produces about 2,500 seeds and its dispersal technique helps the plant colonize new areas. Native to the Himalayas, but naturalized in Europe and elsewhere, it tends to become an invasive species and out-compete other plants. It has not yet been assessed for The IUCN Red List.

Shot Put – Lammergeier (Gypaetus barbatus) The Lammergeier, also known as a Bearded Vulture, is one of the largest of the old world vultures. This bird wins the prize for shot put because it drops large bones from great heights in order to shatter them and eat the nutritious marrow inside. The Lammergeier is listed as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.

Weightlifting – Rhinoceros Beetle (Xyloryctes thestalus) This beetle is able to carry loads of more than 30 times its body mass and is among the strongest animals on earth. In comparison, the heaviest individual weight lifted by a human in an Olympic competition was 263.5kg by Hossein Rezazadeh, a weight that was about one and a half times his own bodyweight and equivalent to lifting four average-sized people. Found in Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico, this species has not yet been assessed for The IUCN Red List.

From the mythical home of the Olympian Greek Gods – Zeus olympius Zeus olympius is a species of fungus that until this year was only found on Mount Olympus, the mythical home of the Twelve Olympians of the ancient Greek world. This fungus is found growing on dead branches of the pine tree Pinus leucodermis and was recently discovered in a second location in south-west Bulgaria near the Greek border. This species has not yet been assessed for The IUCN Red List.

Issues involving species survival and conservation will be discussed at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Jeju, Republic of Korea, from 6 to 15 September 2012.

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