TOEFL Experts Reading Practice 25
Large cats, honey badgers, and ants—what do these animals have in common? They dominate their respective subsets of the food chain as carnivores in the jungles of South and Southeast Asia. Among these, cats are probably the most majestic, the most dangerous, and the most vulnerable to extinction. All cats are carnivores and “apex predators,” meaning that they are at the top of the food chain in their own ecosystem and have no predators themselves. Perhaps the most impressive of the wild cats in Asia are the tigers. With red-orange fur, vertical black stripes, and a white underbelly, tigers are easily recognizable as distinct from other cat species. Their size is also a factor: most tiger species grow to 9 to 11 feet (about 275 to 335 centimeters) in length, and can weigh up to 600 pounds (about 275 kilograms). Tigers may be the most admired of what are known as the “charismatic megafauna”—large animals with broad popular appeal, such as pandas, polar bears, elephants, and lions. As a result, the declining population of tigers is frequently used by environmentalists to call attention to the problem of endangered species.
As recently as a century ago, tigers were commonplace throughout Asia, excluding the Middle East and western Russia. Today, they are found only in small pockets of India, Southeast Asia, and the southeastern edge of Russia. Most of the loss in tiger population and habitat is due to the expansion of the activities of civilization, such as mining and farming, and to the deforestation that happens concurrently. Still, a significant portion of the population decline is a consequence of the ongoing hunting of both tigers and their prey. Indeed, the Bengal tiger, the most populous of all tiger subspecies, only numbers about 2,500 animals in the wild, though that number has increased slightly in recent years.
Other prominent cat species in South Asia include the leopard, found scattered throughout India, Malaysia, and Thailand, and the snow leopard, found in parts of India, southern China, and Central Asia. Both leopards and snow leopards are strong, powerful animals with a yellowish-grey coat with rosette markings, or dark rings encircled around dots of lighter-colored fur. These cats are typically 4 to 6 feet (about 120 to 180 centimeters) in length, and weigh about as much as a typical adult human. Both animals are ferocious in attacking prey, which consists primarily of smaller mammals: they bite the throat of victims until they suffocate. Like the tiger, the snow leopard is considered an endangered species. By contrast, the leopard has the largest global distribution of any wild cat. It is not yet considered endangered, but many subspecies are considered threatened.
The honey badger is perhaps the most fascinating of all the South Asian carnivores. A misnamed species, the honey badger has little in common with the badgers that are widely distributed in North America, Africa, and Asia; it is much more closely related to weasels. Found throughout India and other parts of Asia, the honey badger is long from head to tail, short in stature, and broad in build, with fast reflexes and thick skin, leaving it with few known predators. A common sighting is that of a honey badger attacking a populated beehive, eating all of the honey available, and escaping completely unscathed. Honey badgers are fast enough to snap the neck of a venomous snake unharmed, with jaws strong enough to easily crack the shell of a tortoise. They can live comfortably anywhere from sea level up to elevations of 13,000 feet (about 4,000 meters).
Finally, despite their small size, weaver ants are a dominant carnivorous species in tropical parts of South and Southeast Asia. Worker ants construct unique canopy nests by connecting leaves with spun silk. These nests can become enormous, with as many as a million worker ants living in a single colony that spans dozens of trees. Interestingly, there is almost no overlap between the two groups of worker ants in a colony: “major workers” are typically about 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) in length, and “minor workers” are about half that size. The division of labor is very clear, as major workers are responsible for expanding the colony and hunting for smaller insect prey, while minor workers tend to the colony’s offspring and collect nutritious excretions from smaller insects in or near the colony, in a process known as “milking” or “farming.”
Large cats, honey badgers, and ants—what do these animals have in common? They dominate their respective subsets of the food chain as carnivores in the jungles of South and Southeast Asia. Among these, cats are probably the most majestic, the most dangerous, and the most vulnerable to extinction. All cats are carnivores and “apex predators,” meaning that they are at the top of the food chain in their own ecosystem and have no predators themselves. Perhaps the most impressive of the wild cats in Asia are the tigers. With red-orange fur, vertical black stripes, and a white underbelly, tigers are easily recognizable as distinct from other cat species. Their size is also a factor: most tiger species grow to 9 to 11 feet (about 275 to 335 centimeters) in length, and can weigh up to 600 pounds (about 275 kilograms). Tigers may be the most admired of what are known as the “charismatic megafauna”—large animals with broad popular appeal, such as pandas, polar bears, elephants, and lions. As a result, the declining population of tigers is frequently used by environmentalists to call attention to the problem of endangered species.
As recently as a century ago, tigers were commonplace throughout Asia, excluding the Middle East and western Russia. Today, they are found only in small pockets of India, Southeast Asia, and the southeastern edge of Russia. Most of the loss in tiger population and habitat is due to the expansion of the activities of civilization, such as mining and farming, and to the deforestation that happens concurrently. Still, a significant portion of the population decline is a consequence of the ongoing hunting of both tigers and their prey. Indeed, the Bengal tiger, the most populous of all tiger subspecies, only numbers about 2,500 animals in the wild, though that number has increased slightly in recent years.
Other prominent cat species in South Asia include the leopard, found scattered throughout India, Malaysia, and Thailand, and the snow leopard, found in parts of India, southern China, and Central Asia. Both leopards and snow leopards are strong, powerful animals with a yellowish-grey coat with rosette markings, or dark rings encircled around dots of lighter-colored fur. These cats are typically 4 to 6 feet (about 120 to 180 centimeters) in length, and weigh about as much as a typical adult human. Both animals are ferocious in attacking prey, which consists primarily of smaller mammals: they bite the throat of victims until they suffocate. Like the tiger, the snow leopard is considered an endangered species. By contrast, the leopard has the largest global distribution of any wild cat. It is not yet considered endangered, but many subspecies are considered threatened.
The honey badger is perhaps the most fascinating of all the South Asian carnivores. A misnamed species, the honey badger has little in common with the badgers that are widely distributed in North America, Africa, and Asia; it is much more closely related to weasels. Found throughout India and other parts of Asia, the honey badger is long from head to tail, short in stature, and broad in build, with fast reflexes and thick skin, leaving it with few known predators. A common sighting is that of a honey badger attacking a populated beehive, eating all of the honey available, and escaping completely unscathed. Honey badgers are fast enough to snap the neck of a venomous snake unharmed, with jaws strong enough to easily crack the shell of a tortoise. They can live comfortably anywhere from sea level up to elevations of 13,000 feet (about 4,000 meters).
Finally, despite their small size, weaver ants are a dominant carnivorous species in tropical parts of South and Southeast Asia. Worker ants construct unique canopy nests by connecting leaves with spun silk. These nests can become enormous, with as many as a million worker ants living in a single colony that spans dozens of trees. Interestingly, there is almost no overlap between the two groups of worker ants in a colony: “major workers” are typically about 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) in length, and “minor workers” are about half that size. The division of labor is very clear, as major workers are responsible for expanding the colony and hunting for smaller insect prey, while minor workers tend to the colony’s offspring and collect nutritious excretions from smaller insects in or near the colony, in a process known as “milking” or “farming.”
- Carnivore cats, honey badgers, and weaver ants have each carved out dominant roles in their South and Southeast Asian habitats.