Wild About Otters isn't just about otters. You'll also learn about 30 species of freshwater fishes, frogs, snakes and turtles found throughout Africa and Asia. Venture into jungles and rainforests, and encounter multi-species habitats that mirror the otters' native lands. Here's a peek into the lives of a few of the mysterious and magnificent animals you'll see in our newest exhibit.
These striking snakes live in rainforests from India to China, and into Southeast Asia—and they've adapted extremely well to life in the trees. Their bright green color camouflages them as they slink through branches. Since these snakes are unusually slim (about the width of a thumb), they are light enough to move from branch to branch while holding half their body in midair!
Rodents, lizards, frogs and small fishes make up their diet. In fact, these snakes have been known to dart their heads into the water to catch a fish while still anchored to a branch-much like a yo-yo. They have unusual keyhole-shaped pupils, and intense binocular vision that helps them find prey items while camouflaged in trees.
Camouflage keeps many animals safe from predators, but the camouflage of Vietnamese mossy frogs is about the most elaborate in the animal kingdom. An uneven texture of bumps, along with a red, green and black montage of colors appears to transform these frogs into clumps of moss or lichen—helping them blend flawlessly with their habitat. When frightened they fold into a ball and play dead.
These frogs have sticky discs at the end of each toe, making them skillful climbers in the flooded caves and mossy banks where they live. Large eyes help this tiny (three inches long) "ribbitter" detect insects.
Three yellow stripes on its head distinguish this turtle from other species of box turtles. Its dome-shaped upper shell (carapace) is olive, brown or nearly black, and its bottom shell (plastron) is yellow or cream colored.
Most species of box turtles have a hinged plastron, allowing the turtle to withdraw into its shell and "box" itself in. This leaves no body part of the plant-eater exposed. The semi-aquatic species prefers living in marshes, swamps, rice paddies and ponds where there is little water movement. Malayan box turtles are native to Southeast Asian rainforests.
Be warned: This is not your average fish! Archerfish have the remarkable ability to shoot insects off branches with amazing accuracy—up to a distance of four feet away.
Once this living squirt gun spots unwary prey, it spits a jet of water to knock its victim off branches and into the water, where the fish is quick to swallow its prize. If an insect is close to the surface, archerfish usually jump out of the water to snag the prey.
 Just like humans, all of these species' survival depends on having a place to call home. The vine snake and Malayan box turtle live in rainforests where logging and land-clearing for housing and farms is an everyday threat. At one time rainforests covered 14 percent of the Earth's surface. Now it's estimated that less than half of those areas remain. As a result, biologists fear that tens of thousands of species are going extinct each year due to habitat destruction. Archerfish and Vietnamese mossy frogs face similar threats to their habitats. |
