Pygmy Hippopotamus

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The pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis) is a large mammal native to the forests and swamps of western Africa (the scientific species classification means "of Liberia", as this is where the vast majority live). The pygmy hippo is reclusive and nocturnal. It is one of only two extant species in the Hippopotamidae family, the other being its much larger cousin the common hippopotamus.
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The pygmy hippopotamus displays many terrestrial adaptations, but like its larger cousin, it is semi-aquatic and relies on proximity to water to keep its skin moisturized and its body temperature cool. Behaviors such as mating and giving birth may occur in water or on land. The pygmy hippo is herbivorous, feeding on whatever ferns, broad-leaved plants, grasses and fruits it finds in the forests.
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A rare nocturnal forest creature, the pygmy hippopotamus is a difficult animal to study in the wild. Pygmy hippos were unknown outside of West Africa until the 19th century. Introduced to zoos in the early 20th century, they breed well in captivity and the vast majority of research is derived from zoo specimens.
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The survival of the species in captivity is more assured than in the wild: the World Conservation Union estimates that there are fewer than 3,000 pygmy hippos remaining in the wild.Pygmy hippos are primarily threatened by loss of habitat, as forests are logged and converted to farm land, and are also vulnerable to poaching, hunting, natural predators and war.
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Description
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Pygmy hippos share the same general form as a hippopotamus. They have a graviportal skeleton, with four short legs and four toes on each foot, supporting a portly frame. The pygmy hippo, however, is only half as tall as the hippopotamus and weighs less than 1/4 as much as its larger cousin. Adult pygmy hippos stand about 75–83 cm (30–32 inches) high at the shoulder, are 150–177 cm (59–70 inches) in length and weigh 180–275 kilograms (400–600 pounds).Their lifespan in captivity ranges from 30 to 55 years, though it is unlikely that they live this long in the wild.
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Data refer : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmy_hippopotamus
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Hummingbird

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Picture Of Hummingbird
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Hummingbirds are birds in the family Trochilidae, and are endemic to the Americas. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings 15–80 times per second (depending on the species). They can fly backwards, and are the only group of birds able to do so.Their English name derives from the characteristic hum made by their wings.
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Liger

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Liger History
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The liger is a hybrid cross between a male lion and a tigress. It is the largest of all extant felines.
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Documentation of ligers dates to at least the early 19th century in Asia. A painting of two liger cubs was made by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire(1772−1844). In 1825, G.B. Whittaker made an engraving of liger cubs born in 1824. The parents and their three liger offspring are also depicted with their trainer in a 19th Century painting in the naïve style.
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Two liger cubs born in 1837, were exhibited to William IV and to his successor Victoria. On 14 December 1900 and on 31 May 1901, Carl Hagenbeck wrote to zoologist James Cossar Ewart with details and photographs of ligers born at the Hagenbeck's Tierpark in Hamburg in 1897.
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In Animal Life and the World of Nature (1902–1903), A.H. Bryden described Hagenbeck's "lion-tiger" hybrids:

• It has remained for one of the most enterprising collectors and naturalists of our time, Mr Carl Hagenbeck, not only to breed, but to bring successfully to a healthy maturity, specimens of this rare alliance between those two great and formidable felidae, the lion and tiger. The illustrations will indicate sufficiently how fortunate Mr Hagenbeck has been in his efforts to produce these hybrids. The oldest and biggest of the animals shown is a hybrid born on the 11th May, 1897. This fine beast, now more than five years old, equals and even excels in his proportions a well-grown lion, measuring as he does from nose tip to tail 10 ft 2 inches in length, and standing only three inches less than 4 ft at the shoulder. A good big lion will weigh about 400 lb [...] the hybrid in question, weighing as it does no less than 467 lb, is certainly the superior of the most well-grown lions, whether wild-bred or born in a menagerie. This animal shows faint striping and mottling, and, in its characteristics, exhibits strong traces of both its parents. It has a somewhat lion-like head, and the tail is more like that of a lion than of a tiger. On the other hand, it has no trace of mane. It is a huge and very powerful beast.
  

In 1935, four ligers from two litters were reared in the Zoological Gardens of Bloemfontein, South Africa. Three of them, a male and two females, were still living in 1953. The male weighed 750 lb. and stood a foot and a half taller than a full grown male lion at the shoulder.

Although ligers are more commonly found than tigons today, in At Home In The Zoo (1961), Gerald Iles wrote "For the record I must say that I have never seen a liger, a hybrid obtained by crossing a lion with a tigress. They seem to be even rarer than tigons."

Data refer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liger

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Biggest Fruits and Vegetables.

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Biggest Pumpkin
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The largest pumpkins are Cucurbita maxima. They were cultivated from the hubbard squash genotype, crossed with kabocha-pumpkin types by enthusiast farmers through intermittent effort since the early 1800s. As such germplasm is commercially provocative, a U.S. legal right was granted for the rounder phenotypes, levying them as constituting a variety, with the appellation "Atlantic Giant." Process ually this phenotype graduated back into the public domain, except now it had the name Atlantic Giant on its record (see USDA PVP # 8500204).
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“Weigh-off” competitions for giant pumpkins are a popular festival activity. 460 pounds held the world record for the largest pumpkin until 1981 when Howard Dill(of Nova Scotia) broke the record with a pumpkin near 500 pounds. Dill patented the seeds used to grow this giant pumpkin, deeming them Dill’s Atlantic Giant seeds, and drawing growers from around the world. Howard Dill is accredited for all of the giant pumpkins today, most of which are borne from crossing and re-crossing his patented seed with other varieties. By 1994 the Giant Pumpkin crossed the 1000 pound mark. In September 2007, Joe Jutras (of Rhode Island) obtained the title of world’s largest pumpkin with a 1,689 pound, cream colored fruit. He is currently said to be working on producing a giant orange pumpkin, as orange pumpkins tend to be smaller and have thinner shells, but are more desirable in appearance.

Tallest of animal

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Giraffe
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The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant. Males can be 4.8 to 5.5 metres (16 to 18 feet) tall and weigh up to 1,700 kilograms (3,800 pounds). The record-sized bull, shot in Kenya in 1934, was 5.87 m (19.2 ft) tall and weighed approximately 2,000 kg (4,400 lb). Females are generally slightly shorter, and weigh less than the males do.
The giraffe is related to deer and cattle, but is placed in a separate family, the Giraffidae, consisting only of the giraffe and its closest relative, the okapi. Its range extends from Chad to South Africa.
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Giraffes can inhabit savannas, grasslands, or open woodlands. They prefer areas enriched with acacia growth. They drink large quantities of water and, as a result, they can spend long periods of time in dry, arid areas. When searching for more food they will venture into areas with denser foliage.
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More Data ...
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Fighting Giraffes - Excellent Footage

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Miniature horses history

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The History of Tiny Ponies.
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The earliest history of miniature horses was in the 1650 AD records of the Palace at Versailles where King Louis XIV (The Sun King) kept a vast Zoo, replete with unusual animals, including tiny horses.
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Because miniature horses were bred exclusively for size, dwarf traits became common in the breed, especially in the United States. When compared to a full-sized horse, miniaturized horses have huge heads, short necks and other conformational flaws attributable to breeding dwarfism traits. Many believe that the deliberate introduction of dwarf horses (e.g. Bond Tiny Tim) into miniature horse bloodlines makes almost all miniature horses exhibit some dwarf characteristics. That’s why they are so small.
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In the 20th Century, the history changed as small ponies were brought to America where several major breeders established programs:
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• Falabella – This is an Argentinean breed developed by selective breeding for small size.

• Midget Pony – This breed was popularized in the 1960s by the McCoy stud, where smaller ponies were created by selective breeding, using Shetland Pony stock.

• Miniature Horse - The term “Miniature Horse” was created in the 1970s because some breeders of midget ponies felt that a more deceptive name would make them more salable and desirable. Coining the term "miniature horse” is said to have been a marketing ploy by breeders, and the ancestors of many Miniature Horses were from the same midget ponies of the McCoy stud. The early Miniature horse breeders in America bred extensively with genetic dwarf horses such as the popular stud Bond Tiny Tim, a 19-inch tall dwarf horse that sired hundreds of offspring. This indigenous dwarfism has led to widespread birth defects and the creation of hundreds of tiny horses with serious health problems. The Guide Horse Foundation rescues many of these horses.

• Pygmy Horse – Because of the constant infighting among the Miniature Horse breeders about what constitutes a “correct” miniature horse, some organization have used other names for the tiny ponies. The Guide Horse Foundation uses the term Pygmy Horse to appease show breeders who resented less-than-show quality horses being labeled as “Miniature Horses” when used a Guide Horses.

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Today you can have a miniature horse in multiple registries. A small horse can be a registered Paint Horse, a registered Pony, and also a registered Miniature Horse.

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Data reffer: http://www.guidehorse.org/

Tallest Dog Video clip

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Meet Gibson, a Great Dane that is classified as the world's tallest dog by the Guiness Book of World Records. His owner, Sandy Hall, lives in Grass Valley. More...

Chilli Biggest Cow

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The Giant Cow.
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His name is Chilli and he's described as a gentle giant.
Which is just as well for his handler, Tara Nirula, pictured by his side.
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His owners have contacted the Guinness Book of Records who are currently assessing his credentials and comparing them to other big bovines.
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The black and white Friesian bullock weighs well over a ton and at the same height as a small elephant, casts a shadow over his cattle companions who are about 5ft.
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Chilli the giant bullock stands at 6ft 6ins and weighs well over a ton
Despite his grand stature, Chilli only grazes on grass during the day and enjoys the occasional swede as a treat.
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The heifer, who is almost as high as he is long, lives at the Ferne Animal Sanctuary in Chard, Somerset, after he was left on their doorstep aged just six-days-old.
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Nine years on, Chilli has kept on growing, and staff believe the giant will smash a record for Britain's tallest ever cow.
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Naomi Clarke, manager at the sanctuary, said: "As Chilli was growing up we began noticing that he was bigger than our other cows.
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Chilli dwarfs most horses, is the same height as a small elephant and casts a shadow over his cattle companions who are about 5ft in height.
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"He now stands at 6ft 6ins from the floor to the top of his shoulder and he is massive when he holds his head up.
"We have made an application to Guinness Book Of Records and we are quite confident he will get it."
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Chilli, who is 6ft 7ins long, was left running around on the doorstep of the sanctuary along with his twin sister Jubilee in 1999.
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Over the years, staff noticed Chilli begin to tower over his sister and companions.
But it was only when he failed to fit in a standard cattle cage to have his hooves clipped that they realised just how big he had grown compared to normal bullocks.
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Chilli lives at the Ferne Animal Sanctuary in Chard, Somerset
Miss Clarke said: "For some reason a farmer decided he didn't want Chilli and Jubilee so dumped them with three others on our doorstep nine years ago.
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"He was only six days old and didn't look that big but as the years passed we noticed he was getting rather tall.
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"People would always comment on how much bigger he was from the other cows and bulls when they visited the sanctuary.
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"He does weigh over a ton but is quite lean and not as fat as some of his companions."
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Despite his grand stature, Chilli only grazes on grass during the day and enjoys the occasional swede as a treat
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She continued: "We don't know what has made him so tall. He doesn't eat that much and his feet and head are in proportion - he is just very large.
"He is a very friendly and gentle cow so we hopes he manages to break the record - he deserves it."
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At present, the tallest bovine in the world is 6ft 8ins Fiorino, who lives in Italy.
A spokeswoman for the Guinness Book Of Records said: "I can confirm that an application has been received for Chilli which is currently under research."
Six months ago another bullock vying for a record breaking spot was The Field Marshal who weighed in at 3,000lb.
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At the time he was on course to over take the current British record-holder, his former stablemate The Colonel, who stood 6ft 5in tall and weighed 3,500lb. He died in 2005.
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Data reffer: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-565909/Pictured-The-giant-6ft-cow-big-small-elephant.html