African Civet

The African Civet is a nocturnal and solitary animal. These animals are related to weasels and mongooses. They are good swimmers and great climbers.

                                                               Classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Viverridae
Genus:	Civettictis

Facts

 Scientific Name :    Civettictis civetta   

Biggest threat :        Habitat loss 

Predators :               Lions, Snakes, Leopards  

Food :                       Rodents, Snakes, Frogs  .

Diet :                         Omnivore 

Life span :                15 - 20 years 

Size :                         Head-body length: 67 - 84 cm 
                                  Tail length: 34 - 47 cm  
                                   Ear length: 5.4 - 5.8 cm

Weight :                    1.4kg - 4.5kg (3lbs - 10lbs)          

 Range :                   across sub-Saharan Africa   

 Habitat :                  Tropical rainforest   

 

     

African bush Elephants

African  Bush Elephants are the largest of any other land Mammals. Males are 3.3 meters tall at the shoulders and 5.5 tonnes in weight, while females are much smaller at 2.8 meters tall and weigh 3.7 tonnes. They have amazing features. Every part of their body is a weapon the feet, the trunk and of course the tusks. They use huge ears for radiating excess heat. The trunk is mainly communicating and feeding tool. 
 
 They eat grass, fruits, herbs, leaves, roots and the bark. They can drink up to 50 gallons a day.  Females and their young form group of 10 individuals called herds. The Males are mostly  solitary. Elephants are also good swimmer using their trunk as a snorkel. 

Classification Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Proboscidea

Family: Elephantidae

Genus: Loxodonta

    

Facts

 Scientific Name :  Loxodonta africana africana   

Other names :         African Elephant   

Biggest threat :      Poaching and habitat loss   

Predators :             Human, Lion, Hyena    

Food :                     Grass, Fruit, Roots etc.    .

Diet :                       Herbivore   

Life span :              60 - 70 years   

Top Speed:             40kph (25mph)

 Range :                 central and southern Africa     

 Habitat :                 Forest, savannah and flood plains    

 

Addax

The Addax one of the most endangered animals in Africa and it is very rare to find.

The addax is also known as the white antelope, lives in the Sahara desert. this pale antelope has long, twisted horns - typically 55 to 80 cm in females and 70 to 85 cm in males. Males stand from 105 to 115 cm  at the shoulder, with females at 95 to 110 cm.
 The color of the coat depends on the season - in the winter, it is greyish-brown with white hindquarters and legs, and long, brown hair on the head, neck, and shoulders; in the summer, the coat turns almost completely white or sandy blonde. 
The addax mainly eats grasses and leaves ,shrubs, herbs and bushes. These animals are well-adapted to exist in their desert habitat, as they can live without water for long periods of time.Now it is only found in isolated places in the Sahara Desert.

Classification

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Mammalia
Order	Cetartiodactyla
Family	Bovidae
Genus	Addax

Facts

 Scientific Name : Addax nasomaculatus

Other names :      White antelope, screw-horn antelope

Biggest threat :     poaching    

Predators :           humans      

Food :                   grass, leaves, roots      .

Diet :                      herbivore                           

Weight :                 60-125 kg / 132-275 lb             

 Range :                 isolated regions of the Sahara     

 Habitat :                desert     

 

African Cape Buffalo

The African Cape buffalo, one of the dangerous animals in Africa.  Its shoulder height is 1 to 1.7 m  and its head-body length is 1.7 to 3.4 m. They can weigh 500 to 900 kg.  They are live in savannas and open forests. These buffaloes are very aggressive and have ruthless behavior. Buffaloes are thought to kill around 200 people every year, first they charge and then they gore their victims. In order to escape the heat, the Cape buffalo spends most of its day lying in the shade. It can often be found drinking water in the early morning and late afternoon, and feeding takes place during the cooler night. The African buffalo mostly feed on fresh grass. They live in herds. They maybe attacked by lions. But the whole herd is well protected and can send a lion flying into the air.

     

African Crake

The African Crake  is a smallish crake, 20–23 cm (7.8–9.1 in) long with a 40–42 cm (15.7–16.5 in) wingspan. The African crake occurs throughout sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal east to Kenya. The African crake feeds on earthworms, termites, ants, beetles and grasshoppers, small frogs,  fish, green shoots, leaves and other seeds. Predators include the Eagles, wild cats and hawks  The African crake is active during the day,light rain, or after heavier rain.

Facts

 Scientific Name :      

Other names :            

Biggest threat :         

Predators :                 

Food :                         .

Diet :                          

Life span :                  

  Length :                    

Weight :                              

 Range :                      

 Habitat :                     

 

Aardwolf

Aardwolf is a dog like mammal inhabiting Southern African plains. They are closely related to hyenas.
They are shy nocturnal creatures preferring to eat termites and other insects. The long, sticky tongues and the slender muzzles makes them excellent for hunting termites. A single Aardwolf can consume around few hundred thousand termites in one night! Something to note is that they do not eat the whole termite colony. They also try to keep the mound intact.

This leads the termites to rebuild their colonies in the same mound and keep supplying the Aardwolves with food. They memorize the exact location of a Termite mound and return there to feed so that they do not have to look for a new source of Termites every day.

Facts

 Scientific Name :      Proteles cristatus

Other names :            Maanhaar Jackal, Protelid

Diet :                          carnivore

  Length :                    55-80 cm

                                   

Weight :                    8-10 kg           

 Range :                    South Africa 

 Habitat :                  open, grassy plains 

 

Aardvark

 The aardvark is a burrowing, nocturnal animal closely related to anteaters and armadillos of America. The strong powerful limbs help to dig burrows and tear up termite mounds. The aardvark can eat up to 50,000 insects each night which it collects with its sticky tongue that it can extend to 30cm. This solitary animal is related to elephants!!! An expert digger, even in hard ground the aardvark can dig faster than several people with shovels!!! It has a keen sense of hearing.  

Classification

Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Mammalia Order Tubulidentata Family Orycteropodidae Genus Orycteropus

Facts

 Scientific Name :      Orycteropus afer

Other names :            earthpig 

Biggest threat :          humans

Predators :                 lions, leopards, pythons and hyenas 

Food :                         ants and termites.

Diet :                           omnivore

Life span :                  Up to 23 years in captivity

  Length :                    Total length: 140 - 220 cm 

                                    Tail length: 44 - 71 cm

Weight :                      110 to 180 lbs (50 to 82 kg)         

 Range :                      Africa 

 Habitat :                     tropical grasslands