What South American animal spends its life high atop the rain forest canopy hanging upside down, peacefully grazing on leaves?
This odd creature crawls laboriously down to earth once every 7 to 10 days to eliminate, then heads back to the uppermost branches to defy gravity for another week.
The mysterious mammal is a sloth, and like most animals of the rain forests it is endangered because its home is being destroyed at a staggering rate. Fifty to 100 acres of the tropics are demolished every minute, more than 4,000 acres a day.
The tropical rain forests, and what`s happening to them, will be the focus of free lectures at Lincoln Park Zoo beginning Wednesday. Each lecture will Wednesday and the following Sunday for five consecutive weeks.
Dennis Meritt Jr., assistant director at Lincoln Park, says the destruction of the rain forests affects more than its inhabitants.
``When the trees are cut, the soil gets washed away, eventually into the oceans,`` he says. ``No one knows how the fish will be affected by the relatively sudden change in nutrients. The tropics generate their own rain. Well, that`ll disappear too, affecting global weather.
``How about all the potentially useful plant products for pharmaceuticals and insecticides that scientists haven`t even had the chance to study? There are species that haven`t even been discovered. We don`t even know what we`re killing.
``If something isn`t done very soon, the forests will be gone forever,``
Meritt adds that he hopes the lectures will clear up misconceptions about the tropics. ``Some people still believe that it`s an evil place full of vampire bats. I`ve spent years crawling around the Amazon actually looking for the vampire bats, and finally after about 12 years I found a few.``
The lecture series, made possible by a grant from the Dr. Scholl Foundation, will begin with Dr. Russell A. Mittermeir, primate project director for the World Wildlife Fund-U.S., and Mark J. Plotkin, ethnobotany project director for the group. Each will discuss his experiences in rain forests all over the world.
Dr. William Burger, chairman of the Department of Botany at the Field Museum of Natural History, will talk about some unusual partnerships between plants and animals Jan. 16 and 20. For instance, some male bees use orchid aroma to attract female bees, and some ants defend certain plants with their lives.
Rain forest reptiles will be the topic on Jan. 23 and 27, with Dr. Max A. Nickerson, head of the Vertebrate Zoology Division of the Milwaukee Public Museum. His presentation will include rare behavioral information that he discovered in South America.
Dr. John W. Fitzpatrick, associate curator of birds at the Field Museum, will talk about the prehistoric-like hoatzin and tropical bird adaptions on Jan. 30 and Feb. 3.
Meritt will conduct the final lecture on Feb. 6 and 10, talking about efforts to save rain forests. A guided tour of the zoo`s tropical animals will conclude the session.
Advance registration for the series or any lecture is required. Seating is limited and tends to fill quickly. Call the Lincoln Park Zoo`s Education Department at 294-4649 for details. For zoo membership information, which will help you to be among the first to know about lecture series, call 935-6700.
What: Lecture series on tropical rain forests
Where: Lincoln Park Zoo`s Crown-Field Center auditorium.
When: Begins Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m., for five consecutive Wednesdays and Sundays.
How much: Free, but registration is required.