Clement Van Burden - Blog Posts

Now we are moving to a small but vey charismatic family: The hippos. I think this is an animals that is loved by the majority. Looking at its massive size combined with its features is understandable why. 

However don’t get mistaken. This animal is a fierce and the one to blame for the most fatalities in Africa. it is a very territorial animal that won’t hesitate to charge if threatened or feeling its territory invaded. The biggest problem with humans happens usually at nights, when the animal leaves the rivers to graze moving various kilometers away from river basins, encountering unaware humans. Running it’s the only option but not a sure escape since despite its weight, hippos can reach up to 50km/h. 

Hippos depends on rivers because it’s skin, which is actually pink, cannot resist the sunlight and will dry fast. And despite living its majority of time in water, they are unable to swim. 

5 subspecies have been named but just three are recognized nowadays and they are still subjected to changes. 

Male hippos fights are barbaric and they mostly happen to get the best spot in the river which will attract the most females. Once a male is dethrone, the new king won’t hesitate on killing the offspring of the old king in order to began leaving its own genes. 

Hippos in Colombia? Unfortunately, yes. Not because I don’t like them (I’m Colombian) but because they have become a threat to other endemic species of the country. Hippos were brought to Colombia illegally by narco’s most famous Pablo Escobar and were put in its private zoo. When he was killed, the zoo closed but the hippos and some other animals were left in the area. While some animals died, the hippos however, flourished. Today, they occupied a vast area of the country and they begin to clash with other animals such as the inoffensive manatees. 

While they yet don’t represent a threat to humans (some attacks have been registered) because they are not as territorial as in Africa. (It is believe because they have a larger area to develop) if the quantity keeps growing, they will become as dangerous as in Africa. For now, people greeted in towns because of its natural charm and can become touristic attraction. There are some possible solutions to this issue. One will be to sterilize all males, which is kind of unthinkable because of how expensive this could be. Other will be to send them to various zoos around the world, which is still not enough and  the last one will be to kill them all. I have an opinion about it but I would love to hear yours.

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New design, Better Illustrations! I was thinking for a while in a way to improve the layout of this blog and I feel that this way is much better. I think the layout should highlight the drawings so I decided to remove many other elements that somehow stole its attention. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Thanks again for your support, likes, reblog and follows, means a lot. If you like this content it will help me a lot if you follow my Tumblr or if you share it. Also, every comment is very welcome. I am not an expert in the topic so if you have something to add, or something you thinks is incorrect, I will be more than happy to discuss it with you. Thank you! 

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Vicuña The last species of the family and the smallest too. And like many small things it is also the most precious treasure. The wool of the vicuña is among the most expensive textiles worldwide. A meter square can reach an impressive $3000 US. being mostly exclusive for the most prestigious high couture brands in the world. 

In a move that I found very smart from the governments where the animal can be found, is that the exportation of these animals is strictly prohibited making these countries the only ones who can manage the vicuña’s wool business. Good for them!

Once widespread in millions, it was vastly hunted when the conquerors discovered America (A repeated story), until 1950 where its numbers plumped to mere 10.000. Today is heavily protected and its situation is stable. However,  Scientist state that its stable population depends of the different laws of protection. If those laws would be lifted, the animal will be at the brick of extinction in just five years.

The next family is a very grumpy cute looking giant. 

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I’ve been improving the illustrations of the animals making it more realistic in order for the information to be clearer. Can you tell the difference of these ones compare to the previous ones?

Thanks again for your support, likes, reblog and follows, means a lot to me. Don’t forget that if you want to buy some of the posters of the previous families of animals you can find them here: Poster of Species   On my Instagram account, I’m planning to post part of the illustration process. Don’t miss it:  Species of the World See you next time.

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The Guanaco is a smaller member of the camelidae family also inhabits the andes in South America. 

The information found about this animal is a little bit confusing. While some pages put the animal in an endangered status, some others put it in a Least Concern status. However looking at the numbers of some of the subspecies, I came to the conclusion that it might be a endangered species.

Another issue was that some pages state that it is composed by four subspecies, some other just recognized two ( Guanaco and Guanaco Norteño) saying that the differences are not yet proved and the distribution is unclear.

This just proves how much is still to be done in the animal kingdom and how easy can become a topic of controversy among biologist. Time will give the reason to either of the two theories while some other questions surely arise. Fascinating!

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Thanks again for the interest on my Tumblr. If you like the content please follow me. Every ten days a new animal explained and illustrated. Likes and reblog are also highly appreciated. To me is so interesting to study animals and share what I learn. I also think is important people get to know about them too, because we cannot protect what we don’t know exist.

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Unlike the horses, this time is different. If Asia has camels as war machines, South America has its equivalent: The Llama.

I don’t think there is any other animal that involves cultural symbolism, evolution of a civilization and an inexhaustible source as the Lama for the Inca culture. This animal was vital in the bloomed of Inca’s civilization.

Its wool made them capable to conquer highs that were unthinkable in any other way, not just because its endurance but because its wool that protect Incas from the freezing temperatures. 

Regarded also as a noble symbol, Incas were often buried with llamas and one of it’s Gods, Urcuchillay, was depicted as a Llama. 

Probably it’s only enemy are the pumas, making this animal, as the camel, an infalible machine against nature. Studying this family made think of how hard can be for life to thrive in certain conditions. It makes feel as is nature is really testing its inhabitants in a fearfully battle for survival, where the loser, the one that cannot adapt will be invariably, extinct.

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Now it’s the time for the less glamorous horse’s cousins, the Ass. An animal that shockingly is doing way worst than horses in terms of conservation and yet this really have had to do the dirty job. While the horse is exhibit proudly as a man companion and sometimes an extension of human’s soul, the Ass, on the other hand is like the one that is better not to be shown and the one in charge of the hardest and dirtiest jobs. Incredibly this obvious disparagement is reflected as well in its quantity due that from the four subspecies that exist, one is extinct and the other two are close to suffer the same fate.

Nonetheless, ass as regarded as stupid animals and are usually portrayed as such, nonetheless is an animal that is close in intelligence to the horse, if not the same. Besides, they are excellent mothers and can defend their offspring furiously. An animal to keep an eye on, to care and value as another really important animal that was crucial in the evolution of humanity. More love for this misunderstood animals, please.

Nubian Wild Ass: Believed extinct in the wild, some estudies of DNA were done to a feral population living in the Caribbean island of Bonaire (Keep in mind that this animal is from Africa) The DNA results were positive as a nearly pure DNA of the believed extinct Actual Nubian Wild Ass. Although further studies need to be done, give a little of hope to the survival of this animal. Somali Wild Ass: The fate of this animal was saved by a project in the Zoo of Basel in Switzerland, that has been able to keep the captive animals in a robust number.

Atlas Wild Ass: Extinct in 300 AD, this animal was used in the roman circus and hunting. It is estrange that many animals with the name “Atlas” on it, has been extinct as we will see further.

Donkey: A new friend to take care of and be grateful.

PD. My next family will be the camelidae, so if you know about this family or have good pictures of them, you are very welcome to help me with this investigation. Thanks! Also, happy new year, more posters in my store: Here 
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Przewalski's Horse:

The Przewalski Horse is the only truly wild horse that remains. Extinct at some point for more than 30 years, it was the zoos who actually brought them back. By 1940′s its number began to decline rapidly and by 1969 after a fruitless search, only one individual was spotted in the wild. Only a handful of this animals were surviving in some of the zoos of Europe.

A breeding program began in the Netherlands by 1977. By 1979 the program was able to maximize the genetic diversity from the almost 400 individuals spread in 16th different facilities. By early 1900s, the number of horses increased by over 1500. The horse is now reintroduced to its natural habitat and today it’s numbers remain stable. 

Zoos are controversial but I personally think they are crucial at the conservation of the species (I’m talking about zoos that are actually working on precede the life of many species, not the ones that are created just for our own selfish enjoyment). There is of course room for improvement but a zoo is not what it used to be 40 years ago. There is a better understanding of the behavior of the animals today and this allow us to make better enclosures that are a more friendly space for the animals inside. 

On the other hand, we are making the world an uncertain place. Many of the habitats are being vanished from earth and many species have seen their numbers drastically reduced because of this. Maybe the zoos are the new futuristic Noah’s Arc. A place for recovery, where endanger animals can survive in this uncertain times. Then, we can have more time to learn how to live on earth without destroying it and put them back where they belong once everything is safe again.

If is not for zoos, the Przewalski Horse would have vanished from earth many years ago.

PD. I change a little the layout. What do you think?

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Tarpan: Many reasons collided that resulted in the extinction of this wild horse. It was an important source of meat for many cultures and while humans were flourishing in the Eurasian continent, the Tarpan’s populations began to decrease. The Tarpan horses also were persecuted because of the damage they caused to hay storages. Breeding domestic horses with Tarpans also was a problem because the offspring were impossible to tame. Tarpans survived the longest in the southern parts of the Russian Steppe. By 1880 most Tarpans were hybrids, and pure breeds became extremely rare. In 1879 the last scientifically confirmed Tarpan in the wild was killed accidentally while being capture. The last captive Tarpan died in 1909 in a Russian zoo. 

Domestic Horse Countless of breeds of domestic horses that are divided in three categories: the Hot Blood, the Cold Blood and the Warm Blood. The horse has been crucial in to the evolution of the humans. It was one of the first animals domesticated and thanks to them we hav been able to conquer the world shorting distances, carrying or agriculture. We won’t be what we are now if is not because of the taming of the horse.

The three categories are divided like this: The Hot Blood of spirited horses are used for speed and its endurance. The Cold horse have the ponies and dwarf horses but also the biggest ones and are mostly used to heavy work and the warm blood which is a mixing of both is focusing in creating for specific riding purposes, mostly in Europe.

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Now is the turn of the Equidae Family. Not a huge fan of this family but I most say that it was very interesting to study them. Some of the members of this family are sadly extinct, while many others are on the brink of extinction. This animal has a beauty that is hard to express with words. I guess that is why appear in so many paintings through history.

Feral Horse: The feral horse is a free animal that was once domesticated. Somehow, escaped and become feral. The most famous ones might be the mustangs in North America. However the biggest population is found in Australia with more that 400.000 individuals. In Australia they are called Brumby. They can be found mostly everywhere and it’s name change depending on where is found and what type of breed used to be. Life always will find its way to survive.

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A poster with all the Tayassuidae species and subspecies along with the conservation status of each of them.


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I am selling the poster of the Tapirus (Tapir) family along with the Rhinotermitidae (Rhinoceros). Soon I will put this poster on sale but I want to make some posters for some of the genus of this family.


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White Lipped Peccary 

This peccary has five different subspecies. Oddly, I could not find it’s common names. Just the latin ones. Very little information about each of them and more as a general information of the species. 

The two main threats to their survival are deforestation and hunting. Natural predators include the jaguar and puma and of course, us. They can be very aggressive when cornered and maintain contact with the herd by making a low moaning sound.

The herds can be immense with up to two hundred individuals, which can be beneficial to avoid attacks from predators, specially the jaguar. 

Tayassu pecari pecari: Can be found in Colombia (west), Venezuela, Guayanas y Brasil (north of the Amazon river).

Tayassu pecari aequatore: Colombia (south east) and Ecuador.

Tayassu pecari albirostre: Brasil (South of the Amazon), Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and north of Argentina.

Tayassu pecari spiradens: From the north of Colombia to Costa Rica.

Tayassu pecari ringens: From Nicaragua to the south of México.

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Giant Peccary

is a possible fourth species of peccary, discovered in Brazil in 2003. It was formally described in 2007, but the evidence of its status is been questioned for that reason its evaluation in 2008 was resulted in Data Deficient. In 2011 this species was moved to the Collared Peccary but still some believe it might be another species and further studies have to be done to prove it.

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Chacoan Peccary, Tagua

Due to inhabit in an isolated region of South America, it is very vulnerable to human activity. As soon as is discovered in an area, it disappears. Herds are decreasing rapidly due to habitat loss, fragmentation and hunting. The area where this animal lives is being transformed into ranches, disseminating the species. In order to save the species, a population has been established in North America and some Europeans zoos. Paraguay is also establishing laws to protect it, but they are not highly enforced. 

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Now it’s the turn for the Tayassuidae family, better known as the Peccaries. Closer relatives of the Suidae family (pig) they still belong to a different family. Probably the biggest difference is that all this family inhabit the new continent: America. Let’s begin...

Collared peccary, javelina, saíno, báquiro, musk hog, quenk Collared peccaries are diurnal animals that can live in groups up to 50 individuals. However is ben proved that some animals living in the central Arizona are nocturnal. Usually ignore humans, can attack if feels threatened. As an alarm, can give a sharp bark.


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Babyrousa – deer-pigs

The last one of this big family, the weirdo of the weirdos and one of the most valuable for me, the Babirusa. Since I was a kid I was amazed by this strange animal that tusk can grow so curve that can break its skin and sometimes the skull. 

There are many subspecies still to confirm. So far, three are accepted.

Moluccan Babirusa: This species is poorly known because many of the studies done to this species, where actually done to another subspecies, the North Sulawesi Babirusa.

Togian babirusa: As usual the main threat of this species is the destruction of this habitat. It is also tracked if the animal eats the crops of the villagers. However, the animal is not eaten by the people because the population is mostly muslim therefore, refuse to eat pork.

North Sulawesi Babirusa: In 2006, a male North Sulawesi Babirusa and a female domestic pig were accidentally allowed to interbreed in the Copenhagen Zoo. The offspring were 5 hybrid piglets with teeth most resembling the North Sulawesi Babirusa, while their color was highly variable.

I’ve been having trouble with Tumblr. My post simply don’t appear in the search no matter how strange are my tags. Tumbler didn’t give me any solution so I decided to move to Instagram. I already open an account so if you want to follow me, just click on the link:  Species of the World I will keep posting here until I updated my instagram account. Thanks for the support.

Next, some nice posters of all the boar family and the peccary family.

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Phacochoerus – Warthog

I love this ugly! Since I was a child I feel impressed by his horrendous face. Still somehow to me is beautiful. 

There are six subspecies of Warthog until now but it could be more or less depending on further studies of some of this subspecies.

Common Warthog, Nolan Warthog: Mothers they are very aggressive, they can charge at bigger predators for defending their piglets. it is very a important element of the food chain since has many predators such as humans, crocodiles, hyenas, lions, leopards and even some birds of prey.

Southern Warthog: It can be found in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Central African Warthog: It can be found in Kenya and Tanzania

Desert Warthog, Somali warthog: Morphological differences between Desert Warthogs and Common Warthog have been overlooked until recently, that now they can be distinguished in the wild. Desert Warthog has drooping genal warts, tips of ears that bend backwards, swollen suborbital pouches round the eyes, and a shorter basi-occipital region that makes the head look “egg-shaped”.

Cape warthog: It used to be seen in the South African region but became extinct in 1865. I couldn’t find the reasons or a better image to take as a reference.

Eritrean warthog: Can be found in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia.

The next species is the last one from this huge family and and one of the most estrange from the suidae family: The Babirusa. 

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"Majestic creature born at nights, solace of its solitariness and emulating its colours. As dangerous as beautiful, with eyes that shine as the full moon does. Silent in every step and evasive of any glance, a mystery that surprises its prey, either animal or man, to embrace them in red and disappear before the night succumbs to the sun again."  

- Old Malaysian saying referring to the encounters of its villagers with          the maltese tiger. -

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