A Dream for a Better World

Procapara picticaudata, is also named Tibetan Mongolian gazelle, Mongolian gazelle or gazelle. Under the strong sunshine, body of procapara picticaudata looks khaki. Therefore, the animal is called Tibetan Mongolian gazelle. Body length of procapara picticaudata ranges from 84cm to 96cm and it weighs 11kg to 16kg. Procapara picticaudata has small and sharp ears. The flesh of the animal is tender and delicious, rich in minerals including various kinds of amino acids. Fur of procapara picticaudata is quite soft and it is the high quality raw material made of advanced leather clothes. In addition, horns of procapara picticaudata, enjoying a high reputation in China and abroad, are considered as the precious and traditional Chinese medicine. Horns can also be made of various high quality adornments.
Procapara picticaudata has four thin limbs as well as small hooves. Male procapara picticaudata has horns but female ones do not have them. So it is not difficult to distinguish them. Brown body hairs of procapara picticaudata are thick, straight and coarse and the abdomen part is white. Procapara picticaudata is a kind of highland animal and it mainly perches upon alpine meadow as well as steppe zone with altitude ranging from 3000m to 5100m. The animal prefer those areas rich in plants and water. In some highland desert and semi-desert areas, a small quantity of procapara picticaudatas can also be traced. Procapara picticaudata mainly lives on various grass including cyperaceae and poaceae. The animal often comes out to look for food in the morning and at dusk. As seasons alternate, procapara picticaudatas live in groups of different sizes. In spring and winter, the group is larger and more than a hundred ones can been witness staying together. Procapara picticaudata does not have acute sense of smelling but has excellent sense of hearing as well as vision.
In the past, procapara picticaudata could be found everywhere in Qinghai-Tibet plateau. As mentioned above, a group of more than a hundred procapara picticaudatas can be traced in spring and winter. However, such scene only occurred in the past years. In recent years, people rarely see the large group of procapara picticaudatas. Instead, dozens of them in a groups can be usually seen. As the animal is very precious, local people have never stopped hunting. In addition, reclamation and mining have also destroyed their habitats. Naturally, the quantity of procapara picticaudatas has decreased rapidly. Apart from people’s unreasonable activities, natural disaster has also killed the animal in a large number. At the beginning of the year 2008, according to relative statistics, more than 5,000 procapara picticaudatas were killed by terrible snowstorm. In addition, on the vast snow field, procapara picticaudatas could easily suffer from snow blindness. In such case, they can not see anything and finally die due to starvation. Nowadays, procapara picticaudata, the unique animal in Qinhai-Tibet plateau, has been listed as the protected animal. Procapara picticaudata often appears alone in those areas where people live. Therefore, reproduction and development of the animal are frequently disturbed. We can not avoid and resist natural disaster which does harm to procapara picticaudatas but we should try our best to reduce hunting and protect them.

Yarkand hare is the unique species in China. Yarkand hare is small with light color hairs. Body length of the hare ranges from 29cm to 43cm and the tail is about 6cm to 11cm long. Yarkand hare is not heavy and it weighs 1.2kg to 1.6kg. The most obvious difference between yarkand hare and snow hare is the tip of ears. The former one has relatively bigger ears and the tip of ears is black. Body hairs of yarkand hare are short and straight and the color could change as season alters. Female yarkand hare has three pairs of nipples, two pairs of which are at chest and the rest one pair could be found at the abdomen. Yarkand hare is the typical desert species, mainly living in rivers and Lop Nur with altitude ranging from 900m to 1200m in Tarim Basin, Euphratica forest, semi-desert grassland near to Taklamakan Desert, and flooding area of Tarim River etc. Yarkand hare usually comes out in the morning or at dusk but the track also changes according to season alternating. When winter comes, in order to avoid enemies, yarkand hare often comes out to look for food before daybreak or after twilight. During daytime, yarkand hares usually hide in shrubs but they also come out in summer at daytime to drink water. Yarkand hares mainly live on roots of some plants such as reed, apocynum, licorice and camel thorn etc.
There is not subspecies for yarkand hares and they only scatter in the region around Tarim Basin of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is estimated that there are about 200,000 yarkand hares, if counted by the 10,000 ones spreading in outer suburbs of Tarim Basin. At present, compared with some quite endangered animals, yarkand hares are lucky. Even so, the animal also lives in unfavorable situation. Skin of yarkand hare can be made of clothes and the flesh is also very delicious. Since 1960s, the quantity of yarkand hares in some regions has decreased rapidly. In some cities and towns, yarkand hares basically have been extinct. In 1950s, there were yarkand hares in a large number living in the lower reaches of Tarim and Lop Nur. At that time, each local person could get 20 hares on average. At the beginning of 1960s, more than 10,000 pieces of skin were collected in a county. In 1980s, people could still collect furs more than 10,000, which meant that the quantity, to some extent, had increased. Skin collection directly has caused the decreasing of yarkand hares. In addition, as the population has become larger, people have to develop more native land for use in transportation and as arable land. In such case, habitat of yarkand land has reduced. Naturally, yarkand hares’ survival has been seriously threatened. Nowadays, local government has taken some measures to protect yarkand hares such as forbidding hunting, management of market and propaganda of animals’ protection etc. Yarkand hare has been listed as the animal protected by laws in China but it is difficult to foresee its future at present.

Genet is also called luwak and large Indian civet. Genet has relatively large body which is also long and slim. Body length of the animal ranges from 65cm to 85cm and the maximum length can be up to 100cm. The tail length is 30cm to 48cm and it weighs from 6kg to 11kg. The color of body hairs of genet is mainly grey yellow and brown. Head, forehead and lip of genet are grey white. Black spots can be found on both sides of the body of genet. Genet has a special feature relating to secretions which could give out odor. When the animal is confronted with enemies, it will release the secretions to drive enemies away. In fact, people can make use of the secretions as deodorant by refining as well as dilution.
As for the habitats of genets, people can mainly trace them in Asian countries such as Indochina, northeast part of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, Kashmir and China. In China, genets mainly scatter in various regions located at the south part of Qinling and Yangtze River except Taiwan and they perch upon shrubs and grassland of tropical rainforest as well as subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest of hills and mountains with altitude lower than 2100m. Genets like living alone and they often stay in rock cave, tree holes and soil cave. Like various animals, genets also come out at night but stay at caves during daytime. Most genets have fixed route every day and they always leave secretions on protruding objects including trunks, tree stump and stone ridge etc so as to mark their domain and communicate with peers. Genets are alert and have sensitive sense of hearing and smelling. In addition, they are also good at climbing and swimming. Genets mainly live on small mammals and also eat some plants. Occasionally, they also steal crops and poultry as food.
Genets have great economic value. The skin can be made of high-quality coat. The secretions is also important material for perfume industry. Therefore, human being are motivated to hunt the animal by its great value. According to some survey, in 1950s, there were more than 200,000 genets in China. Gradually, the quantity has decreased rapidly over long term hunting. In 1981, people have collected 5,000 to 6,000 pieces of furs of the animal. An optimistic estimation showed that there were less than 20,000 genets at the beginning of 1980s. At the beginning of 1990s, genets were rarely found in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Anhui and Guizhou etc. Genet has become one of the endangered animals in China. Genet’s trouble is contributed to the following factors. First, people have engaged in over-hunting upon the animal for the purpose of great benefit. Second, over-cultivation of land has reduced habitats of genets which could not survive after losing homes. Third, some poison for mice has also killed genets by mistake. At present, genet has been listed as a kind of protected animal in China but more effective measures are urgently needed. After all, laws for protection and reserves can not solve all the problems.

Capra ibex is al called wild goat. Capra ibex is similar with goat but it is larger in shape. Body length of capra ibex ranges form 115cm to 170cm and the should height is about 100cm. Capra ibex weighs approximately 50kg. Tail of capra ibex is about 10cm to 20cm. There is beard on capra ibex’s chin but male ones’ is longer than that of female capra ibexes. Capra ibex has four short limbs which looks sturdy. Like some animals, hairs of capra ibex also change as seasons alter. In summer, hairs are yellow brown while they change into light color in winter. Special horn is the obvious feature of capra ibex. Compared with female capra ibexes, male ones have stronger horns. Generally speaking, the length of capra ibex’s horn is about 100cm while the longest one is about 147.3cm. The two horns, like two scimitars inserted in capra ibex’s body, make the animal majestic and unique. As the capra ibex grow older and older, ridge of horns will be more and more. Therefore, the ridge can reflect capra ibex’s age just like the tree ring can tell people trees’ age. A saying in the folk tale describes a kind of goat could hang itself with its own horns, which is the capra ibex.
Among all kinds of goats, capra ibex is the excellent one for climbing. Capra ibexes mainly live around bare rocks of plateau and gravel rocky hillside areas with altitude up to 3500m to 6000m. Even in winter, the animal also does not move to lower region. Capra ibexes like staying in groups and they are quite alert, which can be related with the fact that capra ibexes have various enemies such as lynx, wolf, jackal and snow leopard which are well-known ferocious animals. At present, capra ibexes scatter in Afghanistan, Iran, Mongolia, north Italy, the Caucasus, Siberia, Kashmir, Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Arabia, Ethiopia and China etc.
In Pyrenees Mountain of north part of Spain, the only capra ibex died in the year 1892 and then, people have not witnessed the animal until now. In Ethiopia, it was estimated that there were 400 capra ibexes in 1989. In 1996, there were only 250 capra ibexes found and the distribution area is also shrinking gradually. In China, the survival of capra ibex also makes people worrying. Before 1960s, sparse population could be found in the distribution of capra ibex. From 1960s to 1980s, as the transportation developed and the population also increased, people had more demand for meat. Consequently, a large number of capra ibexes were hunted and killed. In 1990s, there were about 40,000 to 50,000 capra ibexes in Tianshan Mountain, 3000 to 4000 in Gansu and less than 1000 in Xinjiang. In 2005, experts made a research upon the animal in Xinjiang and found that there were only about 8.43 capra ibexes in a group on average. It is no doubt that rapid decreasing of capra ibexes is closely related with people’s unreasonable hunting. At present, the relevant government has formulated laws and set up national reserves to protect the endangered animal. As for the final effect, we are waiting to witness.

Wolverine is a kind of animal whose outlook is similar with bear as well as mink and is also the largest existing ferret division terrestrial animal in the world. Wolverine is not large and the body length ranges from 80cm to 100cm with weight up to 8kg to 14kg. The body and four limbs of wolverines are as strong as those of bears’ while they also have long tails which minks possess. Tail of wolverine is about 18cm long. Wolverine has brown hairs on the body and there is yellowish white semi-circular strip on the back butt in crescent shape. Therefore, wolverine is also called “crescent bear”. Male wolverines are much bigger than female ones. As seasons alter, hairs of wolverine also change. Wolverine changes hairs twice a year and in October, the animal has dark color hairs while summer comes, wolverine has light color hairs. No matter the hairs in winter or in summer, they can protect wolverines from being attacked by enemies. Wolverine is cold temperature zone animal and people could trace it in streams, rivers, frozen soil and naked rock of forest. The animal does not have fixed habitat which is always set up with two exits for escaping and it often comes out at night. Wolverine is alert, good at swimming as well as climbing. In the nature, the animal nearly does not have natural enemies. Wolverine is not large but it is the most aggressive one among all small carnivores because it can eat various animals such as deer, fox, wild cat and some large herbivores. The called “crescent bear” is powerful so most preys can not escape after being caught. In addition, the cute animal also steals people’s food.
As for the specific distribution area of wolverines, people have found them mainly in vast region of northern hemisphere including arctic area, Alaska, north part of Canada, Siberia, Scandinavia, Russia and Baltic Sea. In the past, wolverines were also found in south part, for example, California of America. In China, the animals has been traced in north part including Daxinganling, Inner Mongolia and north part of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. During Qing Dynasty of China, wolverines were witnessed in other regions of north part. However, as vast forest has been developed, their habitats were destroyed. In such case, the animal has to shrink back to some other north and west parts. According to some surveys from the year 1989 to 1992, there were about 183 wolverines in Daxinganling, covering more than 80,000 square kilometers. At present, it is estimated that there are only about 200 wolverines in China. Habitat shrinking and disappearing of wolverines is the direct and fatal factor for their decreasing. In addition, as the quantity of many animals has decreased due to people’s hunting as well as killing, wolverines can not obtain enough preys. People also hunt wolverines to get their skin which can be made of clothes resisting coldness. Nowadays, wolverine has been categorized as an animal under China’s level one protection but more practical measures for protection are needed.

Whooping crane is the unique species in north America. Whooping crane is also called cough crane and is the most sparsely and endangered crane in the world. It is estimated that there are no more than 2000 whooping cranes on the earth. Whooping crane has naked and red cheek as well as head. Its neck and flying feathers are black and feathers of other parts are black. In addition, legs and feet of whooping cranes are black. The body length of whooping crane is about 1.27m and the height is probably 1.5m. Whooping crane is the tallest bird in north America. Developed organs are salient features of the precious animal. Whooping cranes mainly perch upon wetlands of north America, especially in natural wetlands where whooping cranes could obtain enough water, food, entertainment and comfortable rest. The tall bird likes flying spirally into the sky leisurely. As the trachea develops quite well, hoot of whooping crane is resonant. As for the food of whooping cranes, they mainly live on crustacean, frogs and other kinds of small aquatic animals but they rarely eat fish. Courtship of whooping cranes is also very special because they often display hoot, fluttering, nodding and some amazing action when showing love. The dance which aims to get companions always starts from late autumn. Sometimes, whooping cranes also show the similar action mentioned above when they protect nests or tighten anus. As whooping cranes are 3 years old, they start to produce eggs. Whooping cranes could lay two eggs every year but only one could survive due to the fight between the both.
As a kind of precious bird on the earth, whooping crane encounters great challenge for survival. During the recent 100 years, as people have hunted them in a large number and taken away their eggs frequently, the number of whooping cranes has decreased rapidly. Like many other unlucky animals, whooping cranes’ habitats have also been seriously destroyed. In the year 1931, people found 21 whooping cranes in Mexico Gulf of Texas where whooping cranes spend the cold winter. However, 6 of them died aftermath due to a hurricane. In 1937, the U.S government purchased the land and set up the reserve. Hereafter, people found the nest of the whooping cranes in northwest part of Canada. Whooping cranes are in big trouble. In order to save the precious bird, people have made efforts to protect and keep it since the middle period of the 20th century. In 1966, the State Wildlife Management Agencies of U.S and Canada got an egg of the bird each to build a group of whooping cranes fed by human beings. People have followed the practice for many years and they have totally taken away 60 eggs. At present, there is a group of 25 whooping cranes made by the agencies in America. In 1982, the number of wild whooping cranes has increased to 90. So there were 127 whooping cranes on the earth including those fed artificially. Nowadays, the quantity of whooping cranes is still not large and the work to protect and breed the bird is a kind of long-term and difficult job.

The name of Douc langur comes into being due to the male douc langur’s butt which is with white triangle spots. Douc langur is one of the most colorful primates in the world. Male douc langurs are larger than female ones. Body length of the animal is about 61cm to 76cm and tail length ranges from 56cm to 76cm. Douc langur weighs about 7kg to 10kg. Most hairs on the body of douc langur are grey and black and its face is yellow with a lap of sparse white hairs. There is a black circle around the animal’s eyes. The long tail and the triangle butt of douc langurs are also white color. People could find two round spots on the upper part of male douc langur’s butt but female ones do not have the feature. Douc langurs mainly live in tropical forest. They always stay in the trees and rarely come down. Douc langur often come out at daytime and move around canopy of trees. Unlike many creatures, douc langurs never drink water. Douc langurs mainly live on leaves, buds as well as fruits. The animal is good at jumping with elegant action. Generally speaking, it can jump about 6m. Douc langur is a kind of social animal and there are about 10 douc langurs in a group. Occasionally, some small families could stay as a big family temporarily. Among the groups, we can see female douc langurs often help male ones to comb hairs to improve relationship.
Douc langurs scatter in some southeast countries such as Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia etc. In Hainan province of China, people have also traced them. Hainan island is a small area and douc langurs there have mysterious behavior. In addition, the quantity is quite small. Therefore, people have little knowledge about the animal. In the year 1893, a person from a natural museum in Germany said that they obtained a specimen of douc langur in 1882. Since then, people have never found the animal in Hainan for about 100 years. During recent years, experts in China have also tried to trace the animal but they end in vain. So people think that the animal has been extinct since 1882. Fortunately, people have found douc langurs in Vietnam. It is said that there are at least 116 douc langurs in the country. In Cambodia and Laos, people have also found the precious animal. It is estimated that there are no more than 1000 douc langurs in the world. As for those surviving, people think that maybe they do not encounter the threat of people’s hunting which always destroys other animals’ life. Even so, the living environment for douc langurs is still unsatisfactory. In the past, wars in Vietnam destroyed vast forest upon which douc langurs perched. Nowadays, in order to develop economy rapidly in the country, people have also replaced forest with farmland. Therefore, how to protect the ideal habitat of douc langurs is still a big problem. In addition, hunting and killing of the animal also can not stop completely. Douc langurs have a unknown future.

Cuon alpinus belongs to canine. The animal looks like dog and wolf but it is smaller than wolf and larger than red fox. The body length of cuon alpinus ranges from 95cm to 103cm and it weighs 13kg to 20kg. Cuon alpinus has four short limbs as well as short tail. Body hair of the animal is quite thick and coarse and it could change colors as seasons alter. In China, cuon alpinus could be found in many regions such as Jining, Xinjiang, Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan,Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangdong etc. In other countries, people have traced them in east part, south part, southeast part and middle part of Asia. Although cuon alpinus scatters in many regions, the quantity in each region is quite small. The number of cuon alpinus is far less than that of fox and wolf. Habitats of coun alpinuses are very complicated because people can track them from tropical forest to mountain forest with altitude of 25mm to 3500m. Cuon alpinus mainly lives in rock gaps and natural caves. Cuon alpinus is a kind of social animal and some of them often live together. The rare animal sometimes eat cane, corn and other plants but it mainly feeds on other animals such as mice, hare, horse, deer and wild pigs etc. It even can successfully catch preys from wolf, bear, leopard and other ferocious animals due to perfect cooperation of group battle.
The meat of cuon alpinus can be considered as medicine, which was recorded in some medical literature of ancient times. Therefore, like many other animals with medical effects, cuon alpinus should not escape the misfortune of being hunted and killed. Since the ancient times, people have started to kill cuon alpinus. In the modern world, the quantity of cuon alpinus has also decreased rapidly. In 1960s, some department could collect more than 30 covers of cuon alpinus from Sichuan province every year. In recent years, they can not collect any covers in the region. In east part of Tibet, they could just collect dozens of covers. In Guizhou and Hubei, less than 10 covers of cuon alpinus could be collected every year. In northeast part of China, people are able to get one to two covers every year. We can see that the distribution density of the animal is very low and it is in dangerous situation. As the natural environment has been destroyed to varying degrees, habitats for cuon alpinus have naturally occupied. In addition, the number various animals which cuon alpinus lives on has reduced. Therefore, the animal can not get enough food. Then cuon alpinuses have to catch livestock as food. In such circumstance, people often kill them as harmful animals. In the past, people always consider cuon alpinus as harmful animal but now, the government has listed it as endangered animal and set up reserves to protect it. In some regions, people like it very much because it can eat those animals which often destroy people’s crops. Even so, the government should further improve people’s awareness to protect the rare animal.

Iberian lynx is the largest existing feline in Europe at present and biologists generally consider it as one of the felines with the smallest quantity in the world. As Iberian lynx has mysterious whereabouts, people have little knowledge about it. Iberian lynx and Eurasian lynx are similar in shape but it is smaller. The weight of most Iberian lynxes ranges from 10kg to 15kg and the body length is about 85cm to 115cm. Iberian lynx has a cat face. The animal has well-developed sense of sight and smell so it could perceive preys 300m away. Hairs on the ears can help Iberian lynx probe various sound. Covered by the hairs, Iberian lynx also could attack enemies sneakily. Iberian lynxes are good at climbing and they sleep during daytime and come out to look for preys at night. Iberian lynx is a solo traveler in the nature. The rare animal lives on small mammals, birds, small reptiles and amphibians and 80% food of Iberian lynx is the hare. Male grown-up Iberian lynx eats a hare every day. As the quantity of hares in Spain has decreased rapidly, Iberian lynx has to hunt for other animals. Iberian lynxes mainly scatter on Iberian Peninsula located in southwest part of Europe and they live in mountains and forests of Spain and Portugal. At present, some Iberian lynxes are kept in Coto Donana National Park of Spain.
In the past, Iberian lynxes were found all over the Iberian Peninsula. But nowadays, the distribution area has become much smaller. According to some survey made by the World Conservation Union in 1990, Iberian lynx would be extinct before the year 2011. In 2000, people found 400 Iberian lynxes in the world but in the year 2005, there were only about 100 Iberian lynxes. At present, people are trying their best to take measures to protect Iberian lynxes but only 100 to 200 ones have been found in Iberian Peninsula. In fact, the decreasing of Iberian lynxes is caused by following reasons. First, people ever considered Iberian lynxes as harmful animal and killed them in large number. Although zoologists have launched the work to protect them in 1988, the situation was not good. Some farmers could still peel off the skin unscrupulously. Second, as the Spanish government has developed natural resources at random, the habitats of Iberian lynxes have been destroyed. In addition, many criminals like the skin of Iberian lynxes very much because it could be sold at great price. Third, a large amount of hares do harm to the agriculture so farmers inject a kind of mucinous pox virus into hares’ body. Therefore, many hares died. What is worse, after Iberian lynxes eat those hares, they will also die. In addition, some lucky ones have to suffer from hunger. Fourth, local government has built a highway through Coto Donana National Park. Consequently, some Iberian lynxes are killed by vehicles every year. In a word, the quantity of Iberian lynxes decreased by 80% from 1960s to 1980s due to people’s unreasonable activities. Now, Iberian lynx has been listed as an endangered animal but it seems a belated effort.

Crested ibis, considered as the auspicious bird in legend, is a rare and precious bird in the world. The whole body length of crested ibis is about 79cm and the weight is roughly 1.8kg. The feather of crested ibis is white and a part of its head is red. Crested ibis has long and sharp mouth. The leg of crested ibis is about 9cm. Crested ibis is very beautiful with elegant body as well as dignified and generous action. The bird is quite docile. Crested ibis mainly lives in mountain forests and hilly areas of temperate zone near to wetland such as paddy field, floodplain, ponds, streams and marshes etc. Crested ibis is unsociable, quiet and timid. The bird requires high standard for living environment and it just select big trees as habitat. In addition, paddy field and marshes can be found near to the habitat and it is absolutely very quiet around the habitat. Crested ibis sleeps at night in big trees and looks for food in some farmland without fertilizers and pesticides or clean streams during daytime. Crested ibis mainly feeds on fishes, amphibians, crustaceans, molluscs and some other tiny insects etc. In addition, it also eats some plants such as rice, seeds, leaves and cereal etc. Crested ibis rarely hoots unless it starts to fly occasionally. Crested ibis could produce babies when it is 3 years old. Some record displays that the longest life expectancy is 37 years.
Crested ibis ever widely scattered in East Asia and people could find it in east part of China, Japan, Russia and North Korea etc. Since 1950s, people’s activities have greatly changed the wild environment. Fertilizers and pesticides polluted the environment and forests were also seriously destroyed. In such circumstance, the quantity of crested ibis decreased rapidly. In 1920s, people thought crested ibis in Japan was extinct. At the end of 1960s, people could not find the bird in the Former Soviet Union. From 1970s to 1980s, crested ibis also disappeared in North Korea. Therefore, crested ibis is the exclusive bird in China. People ever traced crested ibis in many regions of China such as Jining, Liaoning, Beijing, Shanxi, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Henan, Shandong, Fujian and Taiwan etc. At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of crested ibis started to decrease rapidly and people generally thought that wild crested ibis had been extinct. However, a study group spent 3 years tracking the bird. Finally, in the year 1981, the last group of wild crested ibis was found in Shanxi province. Then people started to do research for artificial breeding. In 1989, human beings succeeded in breeding crested ibis for the first time. In 1995, there were 35 wild crested ibises and 25 ones fed by people. At present, there are about 2000 crested ibises in the world.
Crested ibis has high value for viewing so some people may still hunt for it. In addition, people are continuing destroying the ecosystem. Therefore, we can not be optimistic about the future of the bird so early and we also should not lower our guard to protect it.

California condor is the largest bird in north America. The weight of a grown-up California condor can be up to 22 pounds. The length of California condor is about 3m. When it spreads out wings, the width of California condor is about nine to ten feet. The big bird can fly up to 5000m altitude in the sky and it also looks for food by the flight of 225km every day. As we all know, California condor lives on carrion including remains of people and other animals.
12,000 years ago, many scavenging birds were extinct. However, California condors were very lucky and they escaped the misfortune successfully. Experts describe that California condor could still survive because they can eat various foods. Climate changing made animals which lived in north America live a hard life. At the same time, their natural enemy, the human beings started to entered into America. Various animals could not bear people’s rampant hunting as well as climate changing and they were extinct one by one. In such case, California condor could get enough food. Experts have make some experiments and found that some other condors just lived on terrestrial animals but California condor also ate dead seal and aquatic animals. A wide range of recipes give California condor long life.
California condor is one of the most endangered birds in North America. In the year 1940, people could find about 100 California condors in North America. In 1967, U.S Federal listed California condor as the endangered bird. At that time, it was estimated that there were only about 50 to 60 wild California condors in the world. In 1971 and 1973, U.S Federal issued laws to protect California condors and punished those who hunted or killed the precious bird. Even though the government took measures to protect California condor, the quantity of the bird still decreased rapidly. In 1975, the rescue team for condor protection was founded in California. In the year 1985, only 9 California condors were remained in the region and people decided to catch all of them for artificial raising and breeding.
From the year 1987 to 1991, all California condors were looped in San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Los Angeles Zoo Breeding Center. Fortunately, people got great success for artificial breeding. For example, people working in the breeding center made fake condor eggs to attract female California condors’ attention. In 1991, as enough California condors were successfully bred, people decided to send some of them back the nature for reproduction in the wild environment. At present, the total quantity of California condors is about 200. Even so, people still can not lower their guard to protect the endangered bird because California birds could be in danger at any time. For example, 3 baby California condors were ever trapped in the fire which occurred in the forest of California and another two nearby also suffered from heavy smoke. California condor is an endangered animal so every one is quite important for the nature and ecosystem.

Blue whale is the largest animal and heaviest animal in the world. It evolutes from the seismosaurus which, the largest animal on the earth, lived in the Mesozoic Era. It is estimated that the body length of seismosaurus is about 50m and the weight is up to 60 tons. At present, people still can not confirm the weight of the largest blue whale in the world. Most data of blue whale is obtained from related analysis of hunted ones in the first half of the 20th century. Some data records that the longest blue whales are two female ones with length of 33.6m and 33.3m respectively. However, the data is controversial. The tongue of blue whale is very large and 50 people can stand on it. Its heart is in the same size as that of car. A baby can crawl over blue whale’s artery and a baby blue whale is even larger than a grown-up elephant. Small blue whale grows too fast and its weight can increase 90kg every 24 hours. As blue whale is very large, people can not weigh it directly. Most hunters weigh it after they cut it into pieces. In such case, people do not know the weight of its blood and body fluid. Even so, they say that a blue whale of 27m is about 150 to 170 tons. Scientists from NMML estimate that blue whales more than 30m will exceed 180 tons.
Blue whales are divided into three types and they are B.m intermedia Burmeister living in southern hemisphere, B.m musculus Linnaeus scattering in North Atlantic Ocean and North Pacific Ocean and B.m brevicaukta Ichihara staying in Indian Ocean and southeast Atlantic Ocean. Blue whales mainly live on krill and they eat food about 2 tons to 4 tons. It is estimated that the life span of blue whale ranges from 30 years to 90 years. In early times, people rarely aimed to hunt for blue whales because they were too large. Instead, human beings killed sperm whales and right whales. When quantity of the two whales has decreased, people start to hunt blue whales. At the end of the 19th century, less blue whales could be found in North Atlantic Ocean. In 1925, followed by Norwegians, people from U.S.A, U.K and Japan also started to hunt blue whales. In 1930, 28325 blue whales were killed by people. At the end of the Second World War, blue whales suffered from extinction. Due to people’s rampant hunting and seriously polluted marine environment, the International Whaling Commission started to forbid blue whale hunting in 1960. At that time, 350,000 blue whales had been killed. At present, less than 50 blue whales live in the world. People’s unreasonable activities have imposed terrible threat on the growth of blue whales. Polychlorinated biphenyl discharged by people concentrated in blue whales’ blood and they therefore suffer from poisoning and death. In addition, the noise pollution of ships has weaken blue whales’ voice so it is quite difficult for them to find spouse. Although people have taken measures to protect blue whales, their future is still unexpected.

Cheetah, whose formal name is Acinonyx Jubatus, is a kind of feline. Cheetahs mainly live in Africa and west Asia and they depend on fast speed to hunt food instead of sneak attack or group attack. Cheetah is the animal which runs fastest in the world and the speed per hour is up to 110km. In addition, cheetah is the animal among all feline animals with the longest history and uniqueness. There are two subspecies of cheetah in the world. One is Asian subspecies and the other is African subspecies. Cheetahs which ever lived in India of Asia have been extinct so at present, cheetahs mainly live in Africa. In Texas, Nevada and Wyoming of America, people ever found the fossil of the oldest cheetah which lived more than 10,000 years ago. At that time, cheetahs could be found in Asia, Africa, America and Europe. Afterwards, as the climate underwent great changes during ice age, various animals were extinct and some cheetahs in Europe, America, some parts of Asia and Africa also disappeared. Cheetahs live in jungle or dry wood and they like living alone. Cheetah is the most docile animal among all feline animals and it does not attack people and other animals actively except when it is hunting. People in ancient times often used it to hunt other animals. Cheetah mainly lives on small and medium animals. although they can have 50% chance to catch preys successfully, their preys sometimes are caught by stronger animals such as lions, hyena and other larger rivals. Therefore, they have to eat preys within the shortest time. If a cheetah can not get a prey or the prey is taken away by other animals for 5 times continuously, it will be starved to death because it does not have strength to hunt food. Baby cheetah have few chance to survive because they are eaten by larger animals or starved to death.
Survival of the fittest is the constant truth in the world. The number of cheetah has decreased due to two major reasons. Cheetah is often beaten down by larger animals and then it is eaten by rivals. Therefore, it is not strange that the quantity of cheetahs would decrease. In addition, people also never give up hunting cheetah. Since the year 1990, wild cheetahs living in some parts of Asia and Africa have been extinct in more than 20 countries. According to experts’ estimation, there are about 10,000 odd cheetahs in the world and 400 to 700 of them live in South Africa. Nowadays, cheetahs still face up to hunters’ illegal hunting. A nation in Africa, is a nomadic people and people do not kill cheetah but they always take away cheetahs’ preys. So poor cheetahs have to hunt preys again. As for endangered cheetah, people have set up some national parks and natural preservation zones to protect cheetahs. People also have started to breed cheetahs artificially. In addition, trade for cheetah skin has been forbidden among countries in the world. Therefore, people have to reduce hunting for cheetahs.

In ordinary people’s mind, hacker is very mysterious and they are young people who are very cute and energetic. They can crack various passwords to intrude computer systems of government, enterprises and individuals. So what is the meaning of hacker? Hacker comes from the word “hack” and among the school slangs of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “hacker” was considered as trick with skillful methods in early times. At that time, the word “hacker” did not contain derogatory sense. People generally consider that hacker came from the laboratory of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1950s and hackers are energetic and keen on solving difficulties. In 1960s and 1970s, the word “hacker” contains complimentary sense and hackers meant those people who abided by laws and put all hearts to computer research. They were heroes for computer technology development. Password cracking, trapdoor, backdoor and Trojan gorse etc are worked out at that time. In 1960s, computer was not very popular but in 1980s and 1990s, computer started to play an important role in the society and there was more and more large database. At the same time, information was also grasped by a small number of people. Therefore, hackers thought it was not equal because they thought that information should be shared by all people. Then they started to pay attention to various databases. In such case, their behavior was also restricted by related laws.
As for hackers, people nowadays always think that they are bad men who steal privacy of others. Actually, an excellent hacker will not steal others’ information at random. But people still have the awareness to prevent the refraction from some hackers. At present, hackers mainly have the following methods to get others’ information. First, they obtain the password of others and the method is the most harmful among all methods. They can get the passwords of those account s with low safety within some seconds. Second, they make use of Trojan gorse to intrude others’ computers and the virus pretends as tool program or game. When users follow the steps, the virus starts to work. Hackers then can get all information of users’ computers and control computers. Third, hackers make use of “www” technology to cheat users. When users browse some websites or pages which have been revised by hackers, hackers can easily achieve their goals. Fourth, hackers send thousands of emails to users with counterfeit IP addresses or pretend as the administrator and send email to users to ask them change passwords then they can send users virus at the same time. However, if users are very careful, they can avoid the cheating. Fifth, hackers use some monitoring tools to intrude users’ computers such as Netxray for windows95/98/nt, sniffit for linux and solaries etc which can easily get users’ information of account and password. Sixth, many systems have various bugs which always attach to operation system or software so it is very easy for hackers’ invasion. There are some other methods for hackers’ invasion and they always look for more advanced ways.
As users, we should not dislike all hackers because some of them are good people. Meanwhile, we have to learn how to protect our computers and prevent some hackers’ intruding.

Today,more and more soil to reduce and the Earth changes crowded.If  will go down for a long time , I think the earth will dead.The earth is very frailty. so from now , we must to streth our both hands and  to protect our earth .please belive ourselves , we can do it !!~