The February 2003 questions at a glance:
• Do panda bears eat anything besides bamboo?
• What are the best things to see and do in Costa Rica?
• Ever get bitten by a snake?
• What do you know about African lions and elephants?
• What do you know about capuchin monkeys?
• Are bats a type of bird? If not, what are they?
• Why do they kill rhino's for their horns?
• How long can a lion live after it's born?
• What can you tell me about walruses?
• Have you ever been to Alaska?

Meaghan, age 10-20 asks:
Dear Jack,
Do panda bears just eat bamboo or do they eat other stuff???? I did a report on them and every one said they just eat bamboo because I said they ate stuff besides bamboo in my report?? So do they just eat bamboo or bamboo and other stuff. Thank you if you answer me .

Jack says:
Dear Meaghan,
Pandas mostly eat bamboo. In fact, the leaves, branches and stems of bamboo form 99 percent of a panda's diet. Occasionally however, the panda will eat other types of plants when bamboo is not available. An adult giant panda weighing 220 pounds has to eat about 30 pounds of bamboo leaves a day to stay in good condition. Can you imagine how many salad bowls that would fill?
-- Jungle Jack

Kathy, age 41-60, asks:
Dear Jack,
We are traveling to Costa Rica in May of this year. We have read lots of information and books. However, we would like to see if you have any special itineraries for parks, sights, places to stay, etc. Thank you for your assistance.

Jack says:
Dear Kathy,
Costa Rica is a wonderful country and the wildlife there is spectacular. If you would like to get a full list of the places we visited on our travels through Costa Rica please check out www.junglestore.com. Go to the bottom of the page and type 'Costa Rica' in the search box. You will then get a list of all of my shows from Costa Rica. Double click the shows you are interested in and you will see a list of the places we stayed and the parks we visited. You can also visit our journals section and read the journal on Costa Rica. Hope you have a great trip!
-- Jungle Jack

Shane, age 10-15, asks:
Hi! Jack,
Ever get bitten by a snake?
Your friend, Shane!

Jack says:
Dear Shane,
Yes, about 30 years ago I was working on a film called the 'Forgotten Wilderness'. We were doing a segment with a 14-foot anaconda that weighed 120 pounds. I was in charge of holding the head while we took the anaconda into a pond in Florida. The snake opened its mouth and quickly clamped down on my index finger while we were in the water. We found a large stick to put into the snake's mouth so I would be able to remove my finger. Luckily it was still attached, although it had several puncture wounds. Since anacondas are not poisonous I was in no real danger and the doctors even managed to save my finger. I learned a valuable lesson about having respect for all animals.
-- Jungle Jack

Julianna, age 10-15, asks:
Dear Jack,
What do you know about African Lions and African Elephants? They are my favorite animals and I want to know more about them.

Jack says:
Dear Julianna,
I love lions and elephants too and I can never get enough of watching them. The lion is much different from other cats like the tiger. Lions are very social animals and live in big groups called prides. They are very large cats and the males can weigh as much as 520 pounds. Females lions are about 25% smaller than male lions and they do not have the large shaggy mane around their faces. Lions mainly live in open, grassy plains throughout Africa. The lion's diet is made up of lots of different things. They can catch animals as small as hares and as large as giraffe! African elephants are the largest land mammal. In fact, an adult bush male can get as tall as 13 feet and weigh as much as 15,500 pounds! In order to keep such a big body healthy, elephants spend about 3/4 of their lives feeding and looking for water. They have to eat about 200-330 pounds of food and drink about 20-40 gallons of water each day. Can you imagine trying to fit all that into your refrigerator?
-- Jungle Jack

Brittany, age 10-15, asks:
Dear Jungle Jack,
One of my favorite animals is the Capuchin Monkey but I can't seem to find anything about them, their behavior or their diet. Can you help?

Jack says:
Dear Brittany,
Capuchins are all very intelligent animals. There are a few different kinds of capuchins, but I am going to focus on the white-faced or white-throated capuchin. If you want information on other types of capuchins do a search on the internet. There are several good websites all about capuchins. I have seen the white-faced capuchins in the wild before and they are fascinating to watch. They live in groups of 3-30 animals in the forests and mangroves of Central and South America. These particular capuchins are cream and black in color and have a long prehensile tail. They eat fruits and insects and can live to be as old as 44 in captivity. They are active during the day and seem to enjoy spending lots of time grooming each other. Females are about 35-40 cm long and males are about 35-45 cm long. Of course they are much longer if you include their amazing tails.
-- Jungle Jack

Morgan, under 10 years old, asks:
Dear Jack,
I would just like to know one thing, are bats a type of bird? Or if they are not what are they?

Jack says:
Dear Morgan,
Bats are not a type of bird but a type of mammal. In fact, bats are the only mammals capable of powered flight. I recently filmed bats in a cave in Florida and I was amazed how they use echolocation to find their food and fly effortlessly in the dark. Echolocation is the use of high frequency sounds that bounce off prey and return to the bat. This also helps bats navigate at night. About 70% of bat species feed on insects and the rest eat fruit, flowers, nectar and pollen. Bats eat millions and millions of insects each night which helps to keep the insect population down. Without bats we would have a serious problem with mosquitoes!
-- Jungle Jack

Hannah, under 10 years old, asks:
Dear Jack,
Why do they kill rhino's for their horns?

Jack says:
Dear Hannah,
The rhino is Kathaleen's favorite animal and we have filmed them many times in Africa. As you probably already know, the rhino is very endangered because of poachers killing them for their horns. The rhino horn isn't actually a horn at all, but compacted hair. It is similar to our fingernails, but a whole lot bigger. The two main reasons why people kill rhinos for their horns are medicinal and decorative. Some people grind up the rhino horn and take it as a medicine and other people carve the rhino horn into a handle for a dagger. It is very sad that people continue to do this. The rhino was almost driven to extinction, but luckily it's numbers are increasing with the help of dedicated conservationists.
-- Jungle Jack

John, age 10-15, asks:
Hey Jack - How long can a lion live after it's born?
Thanks, John

Jack says:
Dear John,
I used to raise lions when I first started working with animals 30 years ago. Lions are my favorite member of the cat family and I always enjoy watching them in safari parks and in the wild. Many lion habitats in Africa are being destroyed rapidly which is putting more and more pressure on lion populations. Lions usually only live to about 11 or 12 years old in the wild.
-- Jungle Jack

Corey, under 10 years old, asks:
Dear Jack
I need info on the walrus. I am doing a school project. Thank you. I really like your show.

Jack says:
Dear Corey,
The walrus can weigh an astonishing 2,600 pounds and be 10 feet long! Their skin is over an inch thick in order to protect them from the tusks of other walruses. Both males and females have tusks which can grow as long as 26 inches. They use their sensitive whiskers and snout to find mussels, clams and cockles on the sea floor. They also eat fish and occasionally invertebrates. Walruses like cold weather and live on the seasonal pack ice in the shallow waters of the Arctic sea. They are very social animals and often communicate vocally with each other. I'm so glad you like our show. Hopefully we'll be able to film an adventure with a walrus soon!
-- Jungle Jack

Lucie, under 10 years old, asks:
Hey Jack -
My name is Lucie and I love your show. Here is my question, have you ever been to Alaska?
Catch you later, Lucie

Jack says:
Dear Lucie,
Yes, I have been to Alaska several times. There are so many animals to film in Alaska and so much to see that I could never get bored of travelling there. If you want to read about our experiences you can check out our journals. Did you know that Alaska is the largest state in the US and that 5% of Alaska is covered by glaciers? It's a fascinating place with an abundance of wildlife. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes to watch animals.
-- Jungle Jack