6 facts about the ai-ai — an animal whose name is forbidden to pronounce
The Madagascar rukonozhka ai-ai is the only species of the rukonozhkov family and a regular participant in the anti-rating of the most unpleasant creatures. Among the indigenous population of Madagascar, the rukonozhka has the worst reputation. It is believed that this animal brings misfortune, and the one who killed him will soon die himself. But all this is just superstition, and we want to tell some real facts about this amazing animal.
The Madagascans do not like the little hands so much that there is not even a word in their language for this animal. Or there is, but they are afraid to say it out loud, so as not to invite trouble. Scientists have not been able to find out what the aborigines call this creature, although its existence has been known since the 18th century.
Moreover, there is no mention of the little hands in the folklore of the Malgash - the indigenous population of the island. The animal has such a bad reputation that they didn't even want to make him one of the evil spirits of the forest. Such a Voldemort of local significance.
Everything that they think and cannot say out loud about malgashi's little hands is a treacherous slander. This is an absolutely harmless animal, whose body length reaches 45 cm, and its weight is 3 kg. Ai-ai has big ears like bats and manic yellow eyes with a fixed gaze.
The most unpleasant thing in the appearance of the animal can be considered its paws with very long and mobile fingers. They can cause a shudder by their very appearance. But behind the peduncle has a beautiful fluffy tail, reaching a length of 60 cm.
The centipedes are classified as omnivorous animals. Their diet includes insects, nuts, fruits, mushrooms and even growths on the bark of trees. When searching for plant food, the animal hopes for eyes and nose, but with insects it is more difficult. Ai-ai searches for larvae under the bark using echolocation.
The animal taps the wood with its middle finger and listens to the sound change. Having found food, the little hand crunches through the bark with sharp teeth and impales the victim with a third finger. From him, she eats insects, as from an improvised fork.
Despite their small size, the centipedes live long enough. In captivity, there are specimens that have successfully overcome the milestone of a quarter of a century. But they reproduce slowly. The female gives birth to one baby every 2-3 years. Pregnancy in an animal lasts 170 days.
Babies depend on their mother for a very long time and feed on her milk until the age of 7 months. But even after starting to eat on their own, children are reluctant to leave their mother. Young males stay around her for about a year, and females up to two years.
Unfortunately, there are very few centipedes left in nature and the chance of a tourist meeting her is negligible. The animal has long been listed in the Red Book as endangered. In 1994, only 1,000 animals were counted in Madagascar and about 50 more were found in zoos around the world.
To save ai-ai, scientists settled several pairs of animals on protected islands where there are no people. Such a measure has allowed to increase the population of animals, but it is impossible to say that they are safe yet. The main reason for the extinction of the centipedes was the reduction of the area of forests where they lived.