A Wonder Along the Ganges Trivia Quiz

Answer: The lammergeier

Vultures are thought by many to be ugly creatures - symbols of death. Whilst the lammergeier does feed entirely on carrion, it lacks the characteristic bald head of a vulture. Instead, this terrific raptor possesses rusty-golden plumage.

The lammergeier is one of the largest birds of prey in the world, with a wingspan just short of 3 metres. Despite its size, it seems particularly vulnerable when observed in the wild. The arrival of birds such as griffin vultures at a carcass will mean the lammergeier will miss out on the majority of a meal. The lammergeier has even been observed being "bullied" by small crows, who tear at the bird's elegant feathers.

The method of bone-breaking is very difficult and usually takes a young lammergeier about 7 years to master. This tactic was the logic behind the old name of this bird - "ossifrage" (bone-breaker). The name lammergeier roughly translates as "lamb-catcher" (or "lamb-hawk").

As mentioned in the question, the lammergeier is present at many mountainous regions in the world. As well as the Himalayas, the great bird can be found in the mountainous terrain around Ethiopia. It was also re-introduced to the Alps, however, its numbers have remained low, making it one of Europe's rarest birds of prey.

Answer: A one-horned grazer

The alternative names of the Indian rhinoceros (the great one-horned rhinoceros and the Asian one-horned rhinoceros) would have helped you to narrow these options down to two. The second part of the answer is usually determined by the physical appearance of the rhino's mouth. Like the African white rhino, the Indian rhino is a grazer. The main adaptation of the white rhino in this respect would be its wide flat lips, which allow it to press its face right up against the grass. This is contrasted with the African black rhinoceros, whose pointed lip makes it perfectly adapted to browsing. The Indian rhino is essentially a grazer and so is physically more similar to the white rhino, however, it is known to occasionally eat woody twigs and leaves and so possesses a slightly pointed lip.

Along with the white rhino, the Indian rhino is the largest species of rhinoceros, reaching around 3000 kg. With such bulk (not to mention the speeds it can achieve - 40 km/h), the rhino is an incredibly dangerous animal. The formidable horn, which is composed of the protein keratin, begins to show at around the age of 6 in the Indian rhino and eventually reaches around 25 cm in length.

Answer: It is almost completely blind

The Ganges river dolphin is typically only slightly longer than an average human.

The clue in the question was that it inhabits muddy waters, resulting in the sense of sight becoming fairly obsolete. Instead, the dolphin depends on echolocation to find its food. Echolocation is the sending out of sound waves which rebound when they reach a solid object. The size and position of the object can be determined by the dolphin after detecting the rebounded waves. Most of the feeding takes place at the bottom of these murky rivers and the dolphin's diet is composed mainly of fish.

Unlike the dolphins found in the open sea, Ganges river dolphins do not form strong communities, but are usually found on their own.

Answer: Both animal's diets are made up mainly of bamboo

The red panda reaches nowhere near 150 kg, but is only slightly larger than a housecat. Also, it is not black and white, but RED.

Although the red panda's diet is made up mainly of bamboo (around 2/3), it eats nowhere near as much as its black and white namesake, whose diet comprises of 99% bamboo.

The red panda (also known as the lesser panda or the firefox) is an endearing creature. Its appeal is enhanced by its mystery - little is known about this secretive creature. They live solitary lives up in the trees of mountainous Nepal, Myanmar, and China and belong to their very own family - the Ailuridae. Another reason for the red panda's likability is its "cuteness" - it is similar in appearance to the raccoon and whilst maintaining the innocent face typical of the weasel family, it does not have the same reputation for being a vicious fighter, but a gentle soul. Its 18 inch furry tail is used for keeping it warm in the colder months.

When in the wild, the red panda's calls are similar in sound to the rapid wiping of a window.

Answer: Musk deer

Musk deer are not part of the Cervidae family and so are not regarded as "true deer." Instead, it is part of its own family - Moschidae.

Another "deer" which is not classed as a "true deer" is the water chevrotain, which, although living in Africa, shares the musk deer's characteristic fangs.

Other features of the musk deer are the lack of antlers and the hooves, which are specially adapted for climbing. The fangs mentioned in the question are used when fighting during mating season.

Answer: The striped hyena

Two of the three larger hyenas (brown and spotted) are only found wild in Africa, as is the smaller member of the Hyaenidae family, the aardwolf.

Unlike the spotted hyena, the striped species does not possess the characteristic laugh. The striped hyena does, however, share the quality of primarily being a scavenger, only occasionally actively hunting prey. It is also omnivorous.

The striped hyena has adaptations for both the cold - growing long fluffy fur in the winter, and the heat - with large ears from which heat is easily lost via radiation.

Answer: The lion-tailed macaque

It is monkeys such as the bonnet macaques that pester those who walk the streets of India. These monkeys can be seen tugging at tourist's clothes as they beg for food. If these methods fail (which they often do), the monkeys will steal scarves, cameras, or anything they can get their hands on. This is a particular problem for shopkeepers, who lose much of their stock to these pesky monkeys.

Like the crab-eating macaques, the bonnets are identified by their pale fur and pink faces.

The lion-tailed macaques are so named because of the tassel at the end of the tail (similar to that of a lion's). As mentioned in the question, they tend to avoid human activity and so live high up in the trees which surround the Ganges. It is smaller than most other macaques (with the males usually only reaching 7 kg and females 5 kg) and are also much darker. They live in groups of around 20, using vocal calls and sometimes violence to establish an order of hierarchy.

Answer: It stores water in special gill pouches

The gill pouches do not completely fill with water, but retain enough moisture to prevent the gill plates sticking together, which would happen if any other fish was to stay out of water for any period of time. Mudskippers do not possess thick scales and so oxygen intake is possible through the skin. However, this is not enough to allow these fish to stay on land for as long as they do. The mudskipper also has elongated fins, allowing it to walk (or skip) on the land after emerging from the water.

Mudskippers have been observed fighting on land in order to establish mating rights. However, such fights have proved largely useless, as neither fish possesses the correct weapons to harm the other. Furthermore, both mudskippers would soon dehydrate during a fight and would have to head back to water before any winner could be established.

The lungfish, unlike other fish, possesses lung-like organs. Rather than simple air bladders (which are used for buoyancy), the lungfish's air sacs are divided up into many smaller sacs which allow for more efficient gaseous exchange.

Answer: The sarus crane

It is the fact that a mating pair of sarus cranes will remain together for a lifetime that has led to them gaining the status of symbols of marital fidelity. A mating pair will join together following an extensive courtship ritual. A courtship ritual features such behaviour as mimicry, wing spreading, bowing, and a trumpeting call.

Both the male and the female will look after the eggs, which are laid between May and July.

The sarus crane stands at around 1.8 m tall. The wingspan of the sarus crane is also impressive at up to 280 cm, just short of that of the wandering albatross, which has the largest wingspan in the bird kingdom.

Answer: The cheetah

There is believed to be only 100 wild cheetahs left on the entire continent of Asia, all in Iran. The last one in India was spotted in 1942 and the reason for its rapid extinction in the wild was a combination of hunting and taking them to be kept as pets. Cheetahs are actually one of the only big cats that, if raised from a cub by humans, can become fully domesticated.

The remaining population in Iran is planned to be used to reintroduce this sub-species into India.

In the areas that surround the Ganges, there are several types of big cat - tigers stalk their prey at the Sundarbans, leopards regularly kill pet dogs on farms, and there is an encouraging growth in the population of Asiatic lions across sub-continent. On top of this, snow leopards (that's right PDAZ :P) can be found in the mountainous areas in Northern India.