5 Animals That Seem To Be Terrible At Surviving

This planet is full of extremely competitive and warm-hearted ecosystems. And the animals that manage to survive under these conditions have many useful adaptations that allow them to thrive. Some animals have to be able to sprint at high speed to evade predators. Others have to cope with icy temperatures and some can adapt to a variety of conditions and habitats. For this reason, in some of the most demanding areas of the world, you often find robust, aggressive creatures. But there are also some pretty helpless creatures that don't make much sense at all. There seem to be a few species that hardly have any survival instincts or that don't have any useful adaptations or the desire to multiply. In today's video I will only introduce a few species that fit into this category and we start with some of the strangest creatures in our oceans. The seagulls are a group of large bonefish, of which three species currently live. The moonfish or sea is the most famous member of this species. However, the giant moonfish is even more impressive, as the largest specimens can weigh over 2.7 tons. The other marine species, which bears the nickname Rudwinka moonfish, is smaller and streamlined and got its name because it was only discovered in 2015 and was often confused with the other species. There are a few other smaller, closely related fish of other species, but today I will mainly focus on the larger marine species. The moonfish has no conventional shape. Compared to other fish and together with its unusual fin structure, this means that it is not the fastest swimmer. Most predators in our oceans can catch them easily and they react very relaxed when they are hunted. They can move at fast speeds and often jump out of the water. But in some cases they just seem to find their way with their fate. Seagulls are often observed throwing the fish around and biting off pieces. Sometimes they also attack the fish and then swim away when they get bored. Seagulls are not considered particularly tasty fish or fish that are detected by most predators. For this reason, you often see pictures of seagulls that lack meat. If you want to feel them, it is usually quite easy to find them because they like to sunbathe close to the water surface. That's why they also have their common name moonfish. They spend most of their time driving thoughtlessly through the ocean and feeding on mammals. Every now and then they also swim into divers. Although they are loved by many divers, it is not the best idea to touch them because they are usually completely covered with parasites. There are over 40 types of parasites that can be found in and around sea lions. If the situation gets really bad, look for other ways to help. Sometimes seagulls land near sunken seas, which then feed on the numerous parasites of these huge fish. If you think that it is already difficult to be an adult sea lion, it will be much worse when it comes to life. A female sea lion can lay more eggs than any other known vertebrate. But since millions of sea lions do not suddenly lurk in our oceans, up to 300 million eggs can be produced at the same time. No wonder most of these young fish can't do it. At the beginning of their life cycle, they are pretty hopeless. When they hatch, they are only about 2.5 mm long and look like small, spiky ball fish that they are closely related to. The sea currents throw these tiny creatures around until they can join together with their own to form a swarm. And if you are lucky enough to make it to adulthood, you can grow up to 60 million times your original weight. It is surprising that the jellyfish have been able to survive for millions of years in our battled oceans. But nowadays we make it much harder for them. Jellyfish often mix plastic bags with jellyfish and try to eat them. And since they spend so much time on the water surface, fast-moving boats can prove to be deadly. I really hope that these strange fish can survive for at least a few million years, because they are one of the strangest and most striking creatures in our oceans. Many of the island ecosystems of the world have been separated from the rest of the world for millions of years. This means that many endemic animals can often be found in the most remote island states. New Zealand is a country that has long been dominated by birds. But before people arrived on its coasts, the birds were much larger. Hedgehogs and giant mollusks roamed the forests and grasslands of New Zealand. But excessive hunting by humans soon led to their extinction. This shows us that even powerful predators, which are one of the largest of their kind, can still fall. But there is a very desperate parrot that has managed to survive. The kakapo is a very cute and lovable bird. But many people have only seen one specimen. Sorko is a kind of icon of nature conservation, because he has garnered so much attention. And that is mainly due to a certain clip. During the filming of Last Chance to See, Stephen Fry and Mark Kowaldyne meet Sorko and he seems to like Mark a little too much. Sorko tried to mate with Mark's head and began to dance. If you want to watch the whole video, you can find it on the BBC YouTube channel under the title Checked by a Rare Parrot. Oh God. Look, he's so happy. Sorry. One of the funniest things I've ever seen. This video is not only very funny, but also shows one of the main reasons why kakapo can only survive very badly. They are hardly ever afraid of predators. This brave approach is the result of the fact that there are no native threats in New Zealand. But today the story is quite different. Like many other island states, New Zealand has a problem with invasive species, where psams, rats, cats and birds of prey cause the most problems. The non-native predators feed on many native birds and their eggs. This is one of the reasons why the kakapo is suffering today. Most birds are ferocious and fly away, even if there is only a slight chance that they are in danger. But the kakapo is the heaviest parrot in the world and cannot fly. Tragically, there are only less than 250 kakapos in the world today. But nature protectors do their best to save these enchanting birds. One might think that the kakapo could easily recover from extinction, as it can grow up to 100 years old. That's enough time to get new kakapo babies. Unfortunately, this is not the case, as they only rarely mate and everything depends on when a native fruit is ripe. Kakapos only mate every five years and this is due to the ripening of the native fruit. When the time has come, the males make a surprisingly loud, growling noise to attract the females. They do this every night for about six to eight hours over a period of four months. This strategy would have been very effective if there were more kakapos, but today it is more difficult to find a partner and so the invasive predators know where they are. One could argue that they have survived very well in New Zealand in the past, but unfortunately they have to fight today due to human factors. The big panda is certainly the strangest member of the bear family. Over the years we have learned a lot about his story. Although they are known for their bamboo eaters today, they still have the teeth and the digestive system of a carnivore. This means that they can only absorb very little nutrients with their food, which is why they have to eat almost all the time. Sometimes they supplement their food with insects and insects, but most of their food consists of bamboo. Their complete dependence on a plant species is not a good survival strategy in itself. However, they have developed some adaptations that do not make them completely useless. Over the course of around two million years in which they are plant eaters, they have developed false thumbs that help them to grab bamboo. And because bamboo is poisonous, they have developed antitoxic mechanisms to avoid damage. The destruction of their habitat and other factors caused by humans are responsible for their decline. And although they are an icon of nature conservation, they needed a lot of help to survive. In the wild, they are prevented by their reproduction cycle, as the females only ovulate for about three to four days a year. This means that they find a partner in a very short time and have to mate. And if they succeed, they usually only bring a boy into the world. After birth, the mother has to take care of predators such as snow leopards and yellow-tailed swallows, while the male simply runs away and gives up all his tasks. In captivity, naturalists have great difficulties to arouse the interest of males in mating, and some of them don't even seem to know how to do it. This has led to expert pandas basically showing up as panda porn, and in some cases it has helped the whole world. Despite the fact that they have a very unusual diet and an unusual reproduction cycle, they are slowly experiencing a comeback today. And hopefully there will be more comeback stories like the big pandas in the future. In the early days of our planet, there were huge landfowl animals. About 10,000 years ago, however, they completely disappeared. Today, some of their relatives can still be found in the rainforests of the world, but they are not among the most impressive animals. Today, leopards are divided into two different groups, the three-toothed leopards and the two-toothed leopards. Both groups live a very similar life, and I think you can rightly claim that they lead a life on the overtaking track. They don't seem to have a single defense mechanism against predators, and yet they somehow manage to survive in some of the most competitive ecosystems in the world. The list of leopard predators is very long, but also includes animals such as jaguars, ocelots and harpoons. When leopards are sighted, the game is almost over. They move in slow motion and their fur is fluffy. But one thing they are good at, not being discovered. Their fur fits perfectly with the trees in which they live, and it is difficult for predators to perceive their smell, as algae, fungi and a whole range of insects live in their fur. Basically, they have an entire ecosystem of animals that live on their bodies, but that doesn't help them when they are on the ground. Leopards are relatively safe in the trees, so you could assume that they would stay in the trees all their lives, for reasons that scientists still argue about. Occasionally they leave the safety of the treetops, as they climb down to the ground about every eight days to poop. They could easily stay in the safety of the treetops and poop on innocent animals, as birds do, but they insist on pooping politely on the forest floor. The leading theories behind this behavior are that they cover their fur to avoid predators, or that they poop on the ground because they are descendants of species that poop this way and there was no selection pressure to give up this behavior. If you have ever seen a leopard on the ground, then you know how vulnerable you are in this state. But I am a little unfair to these misunderstood animals. Leopards are surprisingly good swimmers and often emigrate to new areas during floods. And although most three-fingered leopards are plant eaters, some two-fingered leopards are predators of insects and small lizards. Although they are apparently hopeless, their best ability is to remain inconspicuous. And so they have surpassed their more impressive relatives. In the humid tropical forests of Indonesia, you can find a pretty mysterious mammal with a little luck, which almost looks like it belongs to another planet. The barbary or swineherd are a group of very rare pigs. However, their rarity has nothing to do with the fact that they are not good at surviving. Commercial deforestation and wildlife were the main reasons for their decline in the last century. However, they were quite successful animals before human intervention. They spend most of their days feeding on plants and berries on the forest floor. But like most other pigs in the world, they are not very picky and eat as soon as they come across them. Since they are relatively large and aggressive, they have only a few natural enemies in their ecosystem and most of their fights take place among themselves. These animals are known for the large tusks of the males, with which they impress the females and do not use them for fighting, as they cannot withstand much pressure. Instead, they box with their forelegs, just like the bears, but in other situations their tusks can be deadly. Their tusks are the main reason why the bears are on this list, because they can actually lead to the death of their owner. The tusks of the males are bent upwards and never stop growing. And although it happens relatively rarely, they can actually penetrate the skull and lead to the death of the owner. This shows us that the males are actually very difficult to survive in some unfortunate cases. But the females are completely harmless, because their tusks are much smaller. Of course, there are many other animals that could have made it into this video. So if you think you know one, let me know in the comments below. But first of all, thank you for watching and see you next time.