Animal of the Week November 15, 2010 -- Take that Backshall

Image: Spectacled caiman, St Louis Zoo. Missouri, Robert Lawton

What do the Beck's petrel (Pseudobulweria becki), Sumatran muntjac (Muntiacus montanus), Worcester's buttonquail (Turnix worcesteri), Madagascar serpent eagle (Eutriorchis astur), Madagascar red owl (Tyto soumagnei), possibly the ivory billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), and Animal of the Week (Animal septimana [Animal annua more like!]*) all have in common? They were all once thought to be extinct, but after painstaking surveying by naturalists, by happy accidents, or simply due to crushing boredom of the dark winter months, they were rediscovered.

The real inspiration for this resurrection of my long forgotten organ was a clip from the BBC. Now don't get me wrong, I don't wish anyone harm, and I enjoy watching Steve Backshall scaling a sheer cliff face topless as much as (if not more than) the next man, but I do find this new bunch of personality wildlife presenters a little tedious -- the animals are never the star of the show, not if Steve's deltoids are on display. So when the animals strike back it causes me a no little mirth.

There was Steve, traipsing through the pantanal or some such South American wetland in search of an anaconda for his series Deadly 60 in which he tracks down some of the world's most dangerous animals. But it was not the enormous boa, big enough to swallow a human, that Backshall should have been looking out for, no, it was this week's animal of the week, Caiman crocodilus (spectacled caiman). For as he turns around to go home, giving up on his search, Steve's foot hits something hard that he gives a couple of kicks before the hard thing explodes out of the water and has a go of Steve's calf with a jaw of ragged teeth, leaving Steve with a bloodied leg.

Of the alligator family, and part of the larger group of crocodiles, caimans are found throughout tropical Latin America. The spectacled is the most widespread caiman and it is the most common of all the crocodilians. Among the crocodilians, spectacled caimans, named for a ridge between their eyes that gives an impression of spectacles, are not particularly large, reaching a maximum of 2.5 m in length. So Steve's life was never in threat (except maybe due to septicaemia), so I needn't feel too guilty for the joy I take from this clip. I believe Steve recovered quickly and was comparing abs with a jaguar a week later.

Here's the clip: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9166000/9166924.stm

A couple of notes. I mean to resurrect AOTW properly. I missed doing it, and bizarrely quite a few people seem to have missed it. I have signed up to twitter. Imagine that: http://twitter.com/animaloftheweek. I reckon I am going to phase out the email -- most of the addresses are going to bounce back all this time, but if you wish to keep receiving the email, then let me know by emailing back at animal_oftheweek@yahoo.co.uk with the phrase "maintain my monkey" in the subject line.

*Yes, I am sure this is incorrect, my classical education is sadly lacking.