The Last Living DINOSAUR

undercoverspill

The Shoebill Stork is one of the rarest birds currently. They have an ancient history that traces back over 60 million years. We take a look at the very interesting bird that has the most unreal appearance.  0:00 Intro 0:31 Dinosaurs 1:30 Shoebill Info 2:15 Behavior 3:01 Pop Culture 4:02 Outro

Transcript

00:00They are one of the most fascinating creatures that currently occupy our planet.

00:14Their unique behavior, along with their interesting physical appearance, has made this mesmerizing

00:19bird one of the most sought-after animals in the world.

00:23Let's take a closer look at the very mysterious Shoebill Stork which is commonly referred

00:28to as the living dinosaur.

00:32The Jurassic era has always been one of the most intriguing chapters in Earth's lengthy

00:36history.

00:38Thanks to a plethora of books and papers written by paleontologists and thousands of fossils

00:43found over the years, we now have a better understanding of the menacing creatures that

00:48once walked the planet.

00:51Through talented filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, we saw the papers and research come to life.

00:56His movie depiction left little to the imagination when it came to visual representation of the

01:06apex predators.

01:13While the globe is filled with many exotic life forms, not many living creatures currently

01:17roaming the Earth resemble those from the Mesozoic era.

01:22The Shoebill Stork on the other hand looks like it was pulled straight out of the prehistoric

01:26time.

01:28The large bird stands about 5 feet tall with an 8 feet wingspan and has a massive beak.

01:35Many have said just how unreal they look at first glance.

01:39Only about 5,000 of these rare birds are estimated to exist today.

01:45Researchers have estimated their lineage dates back over 60 million years.

01:50Even elusive to humans, the extraordinary specimens are natives of the Central Africa regions.

01:56Shoebills are known to live extremely solitary lives, preferring to keep their distance from

02:01one another.

02:03They inhabit the fresh water swamps, and rarely venture far from their nesting spaces.

02:09The birds have proven to be very savvy in their environment, which also serves as their

02:13primary hunting grounds.

02:16The Bills will stand motionless for extended periods of time, scanning the entire area with

02:21their superb vision.

02:24Once they locate their target, a tactical switch is then flipped in the birds as they calculate

02:29the creature's every single movement.

02:33When it's time to finally attack their unsuspecting prey, it's quick and quite ferocious.

02:39Strange fish, snakes, eels, and even baby crocodiles fall victim to the menacing bird.

02:46While these supreme hunters are fully capable of flying, they seldomly are seen soaring the

02:50skies.

02:52When they do choose to take flight, it's normally short distances with the purpose of gathering

02:56resources to bring back to their nesting area.

03:02There are only a handful of the endangered species outside of Africa.

03:07The awareness of their existence was quite low until social media memes spread online.

03:14Some Zelda fans even realizing Loftwing birds featured in the game were based off the Shoe

03:19Bill's years after its initial release.

03:22Many have now become intrigued by these very rare animals.

03:26There are very few zoos around the world that currently house the storks.

03:31Those that have managed to acquire some of these birds get a great deal of traffic as a result.

03:37When in captivity, their life expectancy increases to 50 years, as opposed to 35 in the wild.

03:45Zoos have made breeding a top priority for the endangered species, but only a few have been

03:49successful so far.

03:53What do you think about this rare bird?

03:56Have you seen one up close or do you plan to?

04:00Leave a comment below and let me know.

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