Africa

Hyena : Wildlife Southern Africa

SPOTTED HYENA
Few animals have attracted such hatred and disparagement from humans as the Spotted Hyena – long regarded as a cowardly scavenger dependent upon the left-overs from the Lion – regal ‘King of Beasts’. But long-term research projects in Tanzania, Botswana and elsewhere in Africa have shown this perception to be quite false, and have revealed the Spotted Hyena to be a fascinating animal and a highly sociable predator in its own right. Research has also revealed that female hyenas are dominant over males and are responsible for defending group territories. Male dominance is almost universal among mammals, but Spotted Hyena society is dominated by females, with the most senior male subordinate to the most junior female.

Life in the Clan
In undisturbed ecosystems, the Spotted Hyena typically lives in social groups known as clans, which contain around 30 or 40 individuals; clans may number up to 80 in the Serengeti. Female hyenas remain in the clan in which they were born, but the males leave the group when they are between two and three years of age. The communal den – often excavated at the base of a termite mound or drainage gully – is the social centre of the clan, with cubs of all ages belonging to several different mothers. Female cubs typically gain a rank immediately below that of their mother. One female – often the most senior or largest – is the matriarch, or clan leader.
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Hippo : Wildlife Southern Africa

Hippos are the most feared animals in southern Africa. Each year more people are killed by them than by all the other animals together.

Hippos weigh up to two tons and can be four metres long. Hippos are vegetarians and feed exclusively on grass.

Hippos watch strictly over their territories and threaten anybody invading it by what looks like yawning. If the invader does not withdraw, they usually attack without any further hesitation. Smaller boats are particularly at risk, because a rhino can easily topple it over, and as their front teeth are as sharp as razorblades, chances of survival are slim.

Game reserves: Hippos are numerous in the St. Lucia Wetlands Park (Natal), in the Kruger Park, in the Caprivi reserves and in the Chobe Park (Botswana).

Leopard : Wildlife Southern Africa

Habitat: Leopards are more commonly found along riverine forests and bushes. Although less common, they also can be
found along open plains and savanna, mainly in hills and rocky outcrops.

Habits: Leopards normally hunt at night and dusk, staying in secluded spots during the day or lying in high branches of trees.
They are solitary animals by nature, only associating with a female for mating and staying with her only for a couple of days.
Leopards are masters of camouflage and they move silently trough the vegetation to attack their prey at very close quarters. The victim is normally killed with a bite on the back of the neck, and then taken up a tree, where the leopard will feed at leisure, away from scavengers.

Leopards are extremely territorial animals. Their life span is about 15 years, and they can attain a mass of about 70-kg.

Diet: Leopards are the most successful hunters of the cat family. Their prey includes Impala, Bushbuck, Warthog and also the young of Wildebeest, Kudu and Waterbuck. Rodents, ground birds, monkeys, baboons, frogs and fish, also make part of its diet.

Breeding: The female gives birth to one to three cubs after a gestation period of about 105 days. The cubs are kept in secluded spots, like thickets and rocky crevices. They are much darker than adults.
Female Leopards are very dedicated mothers leaving their cubs only when hunting.

Lion : Wildlife Southern Africa

Lions once lived in southern Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia. Today, however, they are confined mainly to the game reserves of Africa, with a few still living in the Gir Forest of India.

An adult male can be 2.4 m long and weigh as much as 238 kg. The female is smaller and lacks the males heavy mane. Lions live in open country, in groups known as prides, consisting of from 6 to 30 members headed by one or two mature males. They hunt co-operatively and, while the females are better hunters and do most of the work bringing down the prey, the males eat first, followed by the females, and lastly the cubs get their share. Lions prey mostly on hoofed animals, although they occasionally consume fallen fruit.

The initial charge of the lion only lasts for 50 to100 m, and if the target is quick enough to keep ahead of the predator for that distance, the lion usually abandons the attempt. Lions spend about 20 hours of each day doing absolutely nothing.
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Oryx : Wildlife Southern Africa

Above all other antelopes the Oryx embodies the spirit of the Africa. It is at home in vast shadeless spaces under a fiery sun sheltered by scant thorn trees. He is the thoroughbred of the desert, built like a polo pony with incredible strength and endurance, but sustained only on sparse desert grass. When deprived of drinking water it uses several measures to minimise its water needs, notably allowing its body temperature to rise from a normal 35.7C to 45C (113F) then using evaporative cooling by nasal panting and sweating. It also concentrates its urine and absorbs all possible moisture.

Diet
Gemsbok mostly feed on nutritious leaves, grasses and herbs. During the dry season they feed on flowers and will also browse for food. To supplement water requirements gemsbok dig for succulents and extensively eat tsama melons.

Breeding
Although the Gemsbok does not have a specific breeding season. Usually only one calf is born after a gestation period of approximately 9 months. Mating takes place between receptive females and the dominant male of the territory.

Behaviour
Female herds, including non-territorial bulls, in search for fodder will move between the territories of dominant bulls. To avoid conflict non-territorial bulls are submissive towards aggressive challenges from territorial bulls. The behaviour of this species is geared to energy and water conservation. In the heat of the day they will lie-up in the shades of trees. Where shade is not available they will orientate themselves to present as little as possible of their body surface to the sun. Lone bulls are common and have been known to kill attacking lions by impaling them with their strong horns.

Habitat
Preferred habitat is arid open grasslands, but they will also utilize a diversity of habitats like western Namib rocky areas, sand dunes of the Namib Desert and the Kalahari semi-desert plains.
Where they are found

Gemsbok are to be found in many game reserves throughout South Africa and have been successfully re-introduced to areas where they once roamed and became extinct.

Predators
Lions, Leopards, Cheetahs, Spotted Hyenas and Wild Dogs prey upon the Gemsbok and calves are especially vulnerable, accounting for their very high mortality rate.

Appearance
A large antelope with striking black and white markings on the face and legs, black side stripes on the flanks and a long black tail. Bulls measure 1.2m at the shoulders and attain a mass of 240 Kg. Both bulls and cows have horns. Male horns are shorter and stockier than female horns.

Rhino : Wildlife Southern Africa

The rhinoceros is a large, primitive looking mammal that in fact dates from the Miocene era millions of years ago. In recent decades rhinos have been relentlessly hunted to the point of near extinction. Since 1970 the world rhino population has declined by 90 percent, with five species remaining in the world today, all of which are endangered.

The white or square-lipped rhino is one of two rhino species in Africa. It in turn occurs as two subspecies, the southern and the northern. The southern dwindled almost to extinction in the early 20th century, but was protected on farms and reserves, enabling it to increase enough to be reintroduced. The northern white rhino has recovered in Democratic Republic of Congo from about 15 in 1984 to about 30 in the late 1990s. This population has been threatened by political conflict and instability.

Name: Black Rhinoceros – Diceros bicornis | White Rhino – Ceratotherium simum

The White Rhino: The white rhino’s name derives from the Dutch “weit,” meaning wide, a reference to its wide, square muzzle adapted for grazing. The white rhino, which is actually grey, has a pronounced hump on the neck and a long face.
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Snakes : Wildlife Southern Africa

In all areas of South Africa, there are different species of snakes, most of them harmless, but some extremely venomous.

The Cape Cobra on the right is one of the more dangerous kinds. Its bite paralyses the muscles, respiration and eventually heart failure. One can recognize the snake by its flat throat. If disturbed, it raises its upper body and takes on a threatening posture. The probability of encountering such a poisonous snake is very small, since they all, except the puffadder, quickly disappear as soon as they sense the slightest movement.

Nevertheless, one should never go for a walk without tough and high shoes, particularly not in high grass. One should also avoid reaching into holes in rocks or in the ground. Who follows these simple safety rules, doesn’t need to fear a snake bite. The risk to be bitten by a snake, is then much smaller than to sustain an injury in a traffic accident.

Giraffe : Wildlife Southern Africa

You’ll find giraffes in South Saharan Africa. Note: in prehistoric times this single species ranged over most open areas in Africa. The giraffe range began to shrink 1400 years ago to its present size.

They like it dry: Giraffes live in the dry savannahs and open woodlands, usually associated with scattered acacia growth.
They concentrate near rivers during the dry season, but scatter widely into deciduous woodlands during the rainy season.

Just browsing: These animals are browsers, plucking leaves, buds and fruits from trees such as acacia, momosa and wild apricot.
By spreading their forelegs and extending them forwards, giraffes can collect some food (fallen fruits, grasses) from the ground. Giraffes drink only occasionally if water is available, when unavailable they can survive several weeks without drinking.

Big hearted to be sure: Giraffes, with their extremely long necks, have a higher blood pressure than any other land animal. This high pressure is needed to force blood up their long neck to their brain.To maintain the pressure, a giraffe’s heart is two feet long, weighs 25 pounds and has walls three inches thick.The tallest giraffe on record lived in a London zoo and attained a height of 20 feet.

Giraffes exhibit considerable variations in hair color and pattern, the most common being the reticulated pattern (square block pattern).

Elephants : Wildlife Southern Africa

The African elephant is the largest living land animal and weighs up to 5,400 kg. It inhabits the Savannah, brush, forest, river valleys, and semi-desert regions of Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Besides its greater size, it differs from the Asian elephant in having larger ears and tusks, a sloping forehead, and two fingers at the tip of its trunk, compared to only one in the Asian species.

As vegetarians, elephants require much food, sometimes consuming more than 225 kg of plant matter a day. Their trunk is employed to pull branches off trees, uproot grass, pluck fruit, and to place food in their mouths. The trunk is also used for smell, touch and in drinking, greeting or throwing dust for dust baths. In both sexes, the two incisor teeth of the upper jaw grow to form tusks, and it is for this ivory, used at one time in the manufacture of piano keys, billiard balls, and other objects, that hunters have slaughtered thousands of these magnificent animals.

Elephants live in family formations of between 6 and 200 animals. The leader of the herd is always a female. The young bulls are excluded from the herd at the age of 12 to 15 years when they reach sexual maturity. Then they join small “bachelor herds”. The gestation of the cows takes 22 months. The calves live on mother’s milk for about 4 years. Although elephants are basically peaceful animals, mother cows can become highly dangerous when they feel their calves are threatened.

Crocodiles : Wildlife Southern Africa

Survivors of the dinosaur age, crocodiles are found in the warmer waters of Africa, Asia, Australia, and America. Crocodiles are often confused with alligators, but you can tell them apart by the shape of their tapered snout, and by the way crocodiles’ lower teeth stick out when their jaws are closed.

Crocodiles vary in size. The saltwater crocodile measures up to 10 m in length, while others are no more than 1 m long. Hunted extensively for their skins, large crocodiles are becoming increasingly rare. They eat fish, birds, and mammals, including the occasional human. Crocodiles are cold-blooded. They like basking in the sun, in groups, with their mouths open.

These groups usually consist of individuals who are the same size because crocodiles are cannibalistic, and large crocodiles will eat smaller ones. In contrast, crocodile birds (Pluvianus Aegypticus) wander freely among the basking creatures, picking leeches and parasites from their skins, and food fragments from their mouths.