Animals are living things; they breathe, move and have senses as human beings. God had created animals with physical abilities to perceive their surroundings through senses and react. Some animals live in forests, some live particularly in rainforests, others are found in oceans.
In the Congo, most animals are found in forests, parks, and others are conserved in zoo as well. The Congo has one of the most well-known and beautiful rainforests called a tropical rainforest; it is the second largest forest following Amazon Rainforest. The Congo’s rainforest is known for its remarkable biodiversity, and the country has some of the rarest species of animals in the world found nowhere else. Thus, the country is considered to be a touristic country because of the variety of animals. If people evaluated the wealth of a country based on biodiversity, the country would surely be rich. Scientists have grouped animals in six different classes based on certain characteristics: birds, fish, amphibians, invertebrates, and mammals. Animals have specific characteristics that make them different from others; they have similarities as well as differences.
The characteristics of each group of animal will be discussed in this essay.Mammals are vertebrate animals; they are called vertebrates because they have a spinal column as humans. Compared to other animals, mammals have a developed brain. They also have hair or fur covering their body. Mammals feed their babies with milk which is why babies are usually attached to their mothers. In addition to these characteristics, human beings are considered to be mammals because they share some identical features. The interesting fact about mammals is that they are found everywhere, continents, oceans, seas, etc. Mammals run or jump; others have the ability to swim.
Mammals need energy in order to survive and maintain their body temperature, so they eat a lot. When it comes to diet, mammals do not have the same diet, it varies; mammals are herbivorous (plant-eaters), others carnivorous (meat-eaters), mammals can also be omnivorous (animals that eat plants and meat) and insectivorous (eat insects). The Republic Democratic of Congo has unique mammals, they all have similar features as others mammals, but the country has rare mammals; such as the Okapi, bonobo, Chimpanzee, African elephants, and others. Okapi is one of the rare species of animals; they are well protected compared to other animals and they are admirable creatures. They are found in park Virunga.
Some other mammals include Gorilla, Black Mangabey, antelope, Giant pangolin, etc. Reptilian is the other category of animals. In contrast to mammals, reptiles do not give birth to live young; reptiles lay eggs, though there are exceptions. The eggs for an anaconda, for instance, hatch in their stomach; they do not have to lay on eggs.
Also, behaviors and diet vary depending on each reptile; some can live without eating any food for a long time, and some reptiles are capable of eating large mammals and other like living insects. Generally, reptiles are covered with scales. Their skin (scales) is considered to be beneficial for designers.
Some designers use it for leather clothes. Other reptiles include snakes, turtles, crocodiles, chameleons, and lizards. The Congo has a variety of unique reptiles such as worm lizards, agamidase, atractaspidids.The third category is the bird. Birds are easily recognized and differentiate among animals as all of them have wings.
So it is a distinguishing characteristic of the bird to have wings; however, some birds have undeveloped wings, this depends on species. Due to their undeveloped wings, some birds are not able to fly. And among birds, some have a remarkable characteristic that differentiate them from others; a category of birds have the ability to speak as a human being such parrots. Many of them use their beaks to eat.
There are terrestrial birds as well as aquatic birds. Terrestrials’ birds can run, jump and fly while aquatic birds swim and dive. Moreover, birds had served as model for humans to invent airplane wings by imitating bird’s wings.
Pygargus vocifer, black kite, black sparrow hawk, Black-winged kite are all sort of special birds found in some country as well as Congo.The fourth category of species is invertebrate; unlike vertebrate mammals, invertebrates are animals that do not have the vertebral column. The lack of the spinal column is their most considerable characteristic; most of them live in fresh water. Invertebrates serve as food for many animals such as fish, so they play an important role in freshwater ecosystems. They are considerably different from other animals; they have particular characteristics as follows. Some invertebrates suddenly change their sexes; they might be born males then become females as they grow, and others also have both reproductive organs. Invertebrates include insects (caddisflies), crabs, crustaceans, jellyfish, ants, etc.
The African giant swallowtail, it is a butterfly, is one of the unique species found in Congo.The last category is Fish. Fishes are created to be surrounded with water, to live with water; they fully depend on water since without it they cannot live. All of them live in oceans, seas, rivers, and in lakes with no exceptions. Fish are mostly influenced by the environment which is the presence of water to preserve their internal body temperature. All of them will die once taken out of water, so in order to survive underwater fish use other organs such as gills to breath. They have a variety of food to eat, some are omnivorous (eat small organisms and plants) and others are carnivorous (eat other fish).
It can be hard for people to understand how fish live; people cannot imagine themselves living underwater, so they ask themselves many questions about fish, such as do they sleep? Yes, fish do sleep; they have a swim bladder that allows them to sleep without going too deep below the surface of water. Acanthocleithron Chapin, sushi, African glass catfish, protopterus are some kind of fishes of the Congo. Animals have many different characteristics because they are created into different categories. Even within these categories there are differences among the animals. These vary from size, shape, and diet. However, none of these animals are more valued than another.
In the Congo, these animals have an increased value. Animals are part of society and people should have considerations for them and treat them with esteem and dignity. Africa, especially Congo, has beautiful and rare species. Unfortunately, people in Congo do not have the concept of caring about animals as they rely on the forests (plants and animals) to remain alive. So many animals are killed and are decreasing every year in the country; consequentially, some species end up disappearing. People should cultivate the good habit of protecting animals because they have important roles in society.
