These endemic birds species can only be found in Nigeria and nowhere else on earth. By revision, Jos Plateau Indigobird was discovered on the Jos plateau in northern Nigeria in 1968, Rock firefinch was discovered on the same plateau in 1998, while the Ibadan Malimbe was discovered in southwestern Nigeria in 1951.

The fourth endemic bird species found in the wetter regions of southern Nigeria is the Anambra Waxbill. This was discovered in 1902.

Ibadab Malimbe Bird

This rare bird species are also endemic to Nigeria like the other ones we mentioned here some days back. Again, it means ‘Ibadan Malimbe’ is only found in Nigeria and no where else in the world. This weaver bird with the scientific name — ‘Malimbus ibadanensis’ is of the family ‘Ploceidae’ which was first discovered in 1951. It is found in southwestern Nigeria, including the city of Ibadan which it’s named after.

It is a ‘passerine’ — have three toes in front and one behind, which makes perching possible. Unlike the village weaver we recently discussed here (same family with this), the Ibadan Malimbe is monogamous and also breeds only in rainy season. The male builds the nest, but the nestlings (babies) are fed by both parents.

It was common within its range, but forest clearing made it rare recently.

*It is currently endangered.

Jos Plateau Indigobird

This is a unique bird that is endemic to Nigeria. By endemic, it means it is only found in Nigeria and no where else in the world. It was discovered in 1968 on the Jos plateau, northern-Nigeria, and it is one of the black finches.

It lays its eggs in the nest of Rock firefinch (also endemic to Nigeria) because they cannot incubate their eggs. The amazing thing about this bird is that it takes the exact number of the host’s egg out to avoid suspicion. This process of laying eggs in another bird’s nest is known as brood parasitism.

The male mimics the song of the Rock firefinch to rear the chicks because they dominate the nest after hatching. The mimicry of the host’s song led to the discovery of the Rock firefinch in the same area as other endemic species.
The JOS PLATEAU INDIGOBIRD is classified as ‘least concern’.

*There are four endemic bird species in Nigeria.

Anambra Waxbill

It was discovered in 1902.

The four endemic bird species are ‘passerine’ — that is, they have three toes in front and one behind. Except for Ibadan Malimbe, which is a weaver, the other three are finches. Finches are small bird species (songbirds) with small conical-bill, having attractive colours.

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Some animals are chemical warriors where their exoskeletons have developed spines, hollow hairs, stings and rotating sprays. Some use them for defense and some use it to subdue their prey. A few animals have done this, but the more excellent is the scorpion. The scorpions venom is a ‘neurotoxin’. This type of venom affects the nervous system — which leads to paralysis.

Not all scorpion bites are harmful to humans, but there is one species that is very harmful to people and kills about 1, 000 people a year in southern US and Mexico before antivenom was found (thank goodness it was): The bark scorpion.

Although scorpions are usually found in warm countries, they are very interesting and tough animals, because they can withstand being frozen for weeks and can survive being underwater for two days!

Among the first creatures to colonise land was the scorpion. And they flourish in the driest of conditions. It lives and survives in the harshest of the dry environments: The Namib desert, in the South West Africa.

Nepidae, or water scorpion.

If you were a kid in the 80s and before, there is a good chance you encountered one of these as they are mostly found in stagnant or slow-moving freshwater habitats like ponds, marshes, canals and streams. We were always playing in those areas, and remember our group screaming and climbing out as fast as we could, and hollering as we split up into random directions — where we were running to, no one knows, but we never returned to that body of water where the triumphant water scorpion occupied it with a few fishes. Probably more than happy they have the pond back and that those noisy kids have left.

If only we knew, because they are one creepy looking insect that looks like it could pack a nasty punch, while in fact, it does not sting with that long tail. It does not sting, period. However, it can bite, although we we encountered many terrifyingly close, but none of us were ever bitten.

• They are found worldwide except Antarctica.

The Nepidae or water scorpion is a predator, and an ambush one at that. It hides in the plants and waits for it prey to swim by. It does not sting with that long tail, and you are likely wondering, ‘what’s the use of it then?’
Well, that tail is like a snorkel, and it protrudes from the water so that the water scorpion can breathe. It can bite, though- from its ‘probiscus’ — an elongated nose/mouth part.

A lot of the research says it is not a painful bite to humans, but some say its bite can hurt…- they just really are one of the creepiest-looking insects!

Scorpions have poor vision, but luckily, they are well supplied with senses that they use to locate prey and danger — even at distances and its direction. It has two organs that touch the ground and track scent trails.

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Loris Facts – Most of us are aware of the Loris (both kinds) that lives in India, Sri-Lanka, Assam, Southeast Asia, Indonesia and the Phillipines. They are part of a unique group of primates — they are ancient tree dwellers that move slowly. However, the most amazing thing about them is their strong grip. If you watch one move, one limb is airborne, but the other three are firmly grasping a branch.

If we held onto a branch for a minute or two (supporting our weight) our muscles begin to ache — not a loris, they can hold on for 24 hours! This is because they have a special mesh of blood vessels in their wrists and ankles, and they generously supply the muscles in their hands and feet with oxygen.

Pottos

In West Africa, they have a cousin — another animal to join this wonderful group — the harmless ‘Potto’.

• Just an extra bit of information — the word ‘loris’, is a dutch word that means ‘clown’. The Lorises and Potto look comical, so this name makes absolute sense

You might be lucky enough to see a potto in the tree, and then see its ‘scrotum’ and yell. ‘That is a male!’
Pottos have large scent glands in their genital area, so it might be a female, but because of those glands, which are paired (two) and larger in female pottos, she can be mistaken for a male. So like the spotted hyena, they have a pseudo-scrotum.

• Classified as ‘near threatened’.

Gelagos / Bushbabies Facts

There is a third primate that belongs to the group you find lorises in and pottos, and that is gelagos (or bushbabies), but unlike them, these primates have a long tail. They live in East and West Africa, and these cute primates have varying sizes as some are as small as mice (as shown you yesterday: The Rondo dwarf gelago.) and some are as large as a domestic cat.

• Loris’ are not found in Africa and the harmless Potto inhabits the canopy of rainforests in tropical Africa: from Nigeria, Guinea to Kenya and Uganda into the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo. All bushbabies are also harmless.

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African Porcupine: The Prickliest Rodent

African Porcupines are the heaviest of all rodents and categorised as ‘Old World’ and ‘New World’ species. Those of the ‘old world’ are found in Europe, Asia and Africa while the ‘New world’ species are natives to North and South America. There are 29 species of porcupines all over the world. The crested species of family Hystricidae is our point of discussion as many are found on African soil.

The “quill pig” as latinised, weighs between 12-35 pounds (5.4-15.8Kg). They have soft hair with sharp quills at the back, sides and tail region. The quills are almost a foot long which are used as defensive tools against predators. The big cat– leopard is recorded to be one of the main predators in their habitat.

The quills are used for African traditional decorative clothing and aesthetics in many cultural and tourist centres, including Museums of Natural Histories.

They live in grasslands, deserts and forests. They give birth to between 1-4 babies and by two months of age, the young ones begin to live on their own. They have an average life span of about 5-7 years.

• Conservation status is ‘least concern’.

African Porcupines are not an easy prey animal. Those quills have sometimes penetrated vital parts of a predator and have killed them.
There is one predator that mainly hunts them and that is the leopard — an experienced leopard knows to go for its legs, first. The inexperienced leopards only get a painful face-full of quills.

However, there is one other predator skilled in hunting these dangerous, prickled rodents: The lions found in the Kalahari.

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Most species of African baboon are not at all fussy what they eat and will just about eat anything — insects, lizards, roots and fruit. Some will even hunt, and eat baby antelope, but one species — which was once considered a true baboon, but now is found in its own genus, is a vegetarian: The Gelada monkey, found in the Ethiopian Highlands.

Female baboons, like all female monkeys and apes, have a regular breeding cycle. When she enters her breeding time/oestrus, she shows it really well — her bottom swells — this is a great sign to the males — one that they cannot miss!

What is interesting to note is that if she is not able to fall pregnant, in her next cycle her bottom will even grow bigger. In the wild, the males show the female attention and it is unlikely they will not mate with her.
However, this often does not happen in captivity, and the female baboons cannot breed as they should, so the poor things, when in oestrus, have to walk around with huge red/pink bottoms.

Young African baboon are usually carried under the belly by their mothers due to various safety measures and it’s also very easy for mothers to tend their young ones on this positions. Older babies are carried on the back.

5 different types of African baboons

As some of us know, there are 5 different types of baboons in Africa. The first one is the most unusual of all five and has a different social system compared to the other baboon species, it is also the northernmost of the baboons. This interesting and complicated baboon is the Hamadryus baboon.

It is native to the semi-desert regions of the Horn of Africa; also a corner of the Arabian Peninsular in Yemen and also found in the southwest of Saudi Arabia.

Their basic grouping is called a ‘harem’, which consists of one male leader, females and their young and one or two males called ‘followers’. One harem may join one or two other harems and form a band of Hamadryus baboons. This happens during the day, and at night the band of about 400 individuals, then usually join up with other bands to form a troop of about 1, 000 baboons, for protection purposes and warmth.

You may think this is chaotic, but each male leader controls his harem, and if any stray too far he herds them back, and also if they mistakenly socialise with the ‘outsiders’. A savage bite, by the leader, is sometimes delivered to steer them back to where they belong.
This complex social structure can continue for a number of years, and like the Mandrill monkey (not a baboon, but a monkey) the leader ‘steps down’ without fighting and allows another male to take his place.

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Drosophila is the common tiny fruit fly we see around fruit joints and in our kitchens at home. The flies are not harmful and does not carry pathogens hence, they are not vectors. They are known to clean themselves at all times. Those pesky fruit-flies bothering you are actually very interesting insects.

Drosophila melanogaster was first used in the laboratory by H. T. Morgan in 1906, who found out that the unit of heredity was Chromosome. He chose to use Drosophila because of its small size for convinience, short life cycle (7 days) and much similarities with human organs.

There is 75% of human disease genes that have recognizable match with the genome of the fruitflies. It means we can investigate 75% of the known diseases that affect humans using Drosophila. Their brain is composed of 100,000 neurons with which they carryout complex activities including learning, flight navigation among others.

Courtship behaviours in Drosophila have again, a lot of similarities with that of humans including “copy mating”, where a female Drosophila can later accept a male Drosophila when she sees that he was accepted by another female (usually a much older one) after her rejection.

There are five stages of the courtship behaviour which is almost the same with that of humans and may lead to mating or not:

1. Orientation (male faces the female)
2. Tapping (male uses its foreleg to tap the female, a way of saying “hi”)
3. Wing vibration (the male vibrates its wing, known as courtship song, a way of introducing himself via singing)
4. Licking (the male licks the female genitalia, as a gift to help clean her)
5. Attempted copulation (the male attempts to copulate with the female by mounting her back), if she accepts, it could last for 5 minutes. If the female doesn’t find his courtship behaviour worthy of her, she rejects him by extruding her ovipositor.

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Lizards are the most varied group of African reptiles — there is 6, 500 species in the world. Only is Southern Africa there are about 400 species, and that is about a third of the reptiles native to Africa — compare that to about 273 species found in America.

• Agama lizard, one of Africa’s most popular lizards.

Male agama lizards fiercely protect their small area of land from other rivals, that often challenge him for his perfect territory — this he needs to attract the girls. When a male encounters a rival (another male), there is a lot of head-bobbing, and some might think they are dancing, but no. This is the start of the agama-battle.

As the rival approaches, the other male starts bobbing (nodding, shaking up and down) his head quite fast. The rival notices and bobs back, like he is recognising and returning the greeting to the defender, but this defender will fight and show no mercy. So, it is up to the rival to turn around or fight.

There is a lizard, native to Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan that moves a bit differently to other lizards — it runs, pretty fast, on not four limbs, but stands up and actually ‘runs’. The bipedal movement is the one they use the most to move from A to B. This unusual lizard is the Sitana.

Chameleons – African Reptiles

A chameleon’s eyes are so interesting because they can move independently of one another. Like it can have one eye on a fly, but the other eye is moving around to look out for enemies, like birds and snakes, sometimes, but rarely monkeys, but their greatest enemy is mankind. Many of them are stolen from the wild for the pet trade, man starting unnatural forest fires or/and using pesticides that poison and kill many, and the chameleon is not poisonous and does not attack mankind. They are peaceful African reptiles.

Chameleon’s eyes look unusual. Their shape is unique among animals, with no upper or lower eyelid. Instead, they have one big eyelid per eye that’s shaped like a cone. It covers the eye nearly completely, leaving just enough opening to expose the pupil.

Chameleons are reptiles that are part of the iguana suborder. These colorful lizards are known as one of the few animals that can change skin color. However, it is a misconception that chameleons change colors to match their surroundings.

According to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), there are 171 species of chameleons. With so many different species, there are many different sizes.

The largest chameleon is the Parson’s chameleon, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. It can grow up to 27 inches (69.5 centimeters) long. The Madagascan, also known as the Oustalet’s chameleon, is also very large and grows up to 23 inches (60 cm) long.

The smallest chameleon has a special distinction. It is also one of the smallest vertebrates ever discovered. The leaf chameleon grows to just 0.5 inches (16 millimeters) and can sit comfortably on the head of a match.

Unlike other animals, chameleons continue to grow throughout their lives. As their old skin gets too small, they will shed it in bits and pieces, dissimilar to snakes that shed their skin all at once.

Skin of many colors

Changing skin color is an important part of communication among chameleons. According to the San Diego Zoo, a chameleon’s skin changes colors in response to its emotions, such as anger or fear, changes in light, temperature or humidity.

The brighter the color, the more dominant the male is, and the more attractive he is to females. A submissive male is usually brown or gray. Females use their colors to accept or reject a suitor, and their color can also indicate that she is pregnant.

A new study has found that chameleons can rapidly change color by adjusting special cells, called iridophore cells, in each layer. The chameleons can change the structural arrangement of the upper cell layer by relaxing or exciting the skin, which leads to a change in color, researchers found. [Photos: How Chameleons Change Color]

Habitat
Chameleons live in Madagascar, Africa, Spain, Portugal and Asia in rain forests, savannas, semi-deserts and steppes, according to the San Diego Zoo. They typically stay in trees or bushes, though some species do live on the ground. For example, the horned leaf chameleon lives in dead leaves on forest floors according to the National Wildlife Federation. [Photos: 11 Colorful Chameleons of Madagascar]

Habits
Most chameleons have a prehensile tail that they use to wrap around tree branches. Their hands and feet have large toes that help them cling to branches.

Besides changing skin color, chameleons have another feature that no other animals have. Their eyes can move independently of each other, enabling them to look in two different directions at once. Chameleons have a full 360-degree view and can focus their eyes quickly and enlarge what they are looking at like a camera lens.

Chameleons are loners. In fact, most of the time females don’t want males to even come near them. During the rare moments when the female is willing to be touched, the male will approach for mating. A brighter colored male chameleon is more likely to convince a female to mate than a duller colored male.

Diet
Chameleons eat insects and birds. To catch their prey, they creep along very slowly. Once the prey is in reach, their suction cup tongue shoots out and sticks to the insect. Their tongues can be as twice as long as their bodies when stretched out to catch prey, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. The insect is drawn back into the lizard’s mouth to be digested by strong stomach acids.

Water is very important to chameleon growth and health. They either slurp water up using their tongues or the inhale it.

Offspring
Chameleons are different from many African reptiles because some of the species, like the Jackson’s chameleon, have live births. These species can give birth to eight to 30 young at one time after a gestation of four to six months. While the young are born live instead of in an egg, they started as an egg. These mothers incubate the eggs, minus a shell, inside of her body instead of laying them in a nest.

Other chameleon species lay eggs that have an incubation period of four to 24 months, depending on species, according to the San Diego Zoo. The size of the chameleon predicts how many eggs she will lay. Small chameleon species lay two to four eggs while larger chameleons lay 80 to 100 eggs at one time.

No matter what species, chameleons become mature at 1 to 2 years of age. The exception is the Madagascan chameleon. It has been labeled as the vertebrate with the world’s shortest life span, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Their eggs hatch in November, the young become adults in January, they lay eggs in February, and then the entire adult population perishes after a lifespan of just three months.

Classification/taxonomy
The taxonomy of chameleons, according to the ITIS, is:

Kingdom: Animalia
Subkingdom: Bilateria
Infrakingdom: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclass: Tetrapoda
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Chamaeleonidae
Subfamilies: Brookesiinae, Chamaeleoninae
Genera & species: Within the two subfamilies are nine genera and 171 species. A few examples — Calumma parsonii (Parson’s chameleon), Furcifer oustaleti (Oustalet’s chameleon), Brookesia minima (pygmy leaf chameleon), Chameleo jacksonii (Jackson’s chameleon)

Conservation status

According to International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, many species of chameleon are endangered. Some species that are considered in danger of extinction are the tiger chameleon, Elandsberg dwarf chameleon, Namoroka leaf chameleon and the Decary’s leaf chameleon.

While concrete data on wild lizards and verifiable reports concerning captive specimens are rare, it’s clear that the larger species of chameleon live longer than most of the smaller species do. Parson’s (Calumma parsonii), veiled (Chameleo calyptratus) and Oustalet’s (Furcifer oustaleti) chameleons are all large species, known to survive for five to eight years in the wild.

In captivity, most have similar or longer lifespans; veiled chameleons are known to live for at least 10 years, and some experts suspect that Parson’s chameleons can reach two decades. Larger species vary in their maturation rate; veiled chameleons mature quickly and can reproduce at 4 to 5 months of age, while most panther chameleons need 12 to 18 months to mature.

Chameleons do not have ear openings, but they are not deaf. They can hear higher frequencies of sound. They curl up their tails to show aggression or ready to fight for their protection. They possess tiny teeth which are difficult to see, for crushing insects but does not have a replacement for the teeth when lost, like in humans.

Geckos African Reptiles Facts

Geckos are clever little things, and many have figured out that the lights humans use in their homes, attracts many insects. So some set up their territories close to or in your home to feast on those delicious insects.

• They are not poisonous or venomous, and are calm/docile lizards, a frightened gecko, though, can bite (but not often) when handled.

Skinks

Skinks are probably the biggest family of lizards. Around the world, there is about 1, 400 of them. They are beautiful lizards — there scales fit so neatly into one another — they shine and move fluidly. In Africa, we are familiar with a certain type — commonly called ‘legless lizards’. Some of them do have legs, but ridiculously small they can no longer be used for what they should be doing. Skinks are not poisonous. A widespread lizard in Africa.

General Reptilian – General Africa facts

The first crocodiles to appear on earth, dated -through fossil records, was in the late Triassic period, 250 million years ago alongside the tortoises and EARLY dinosaurs. And a few million of years later, after the dinosaurs were wiped out, the mammals appeared…. But, the crocs and tortoises always remained.

• Turtles are tortoises. Seriously.

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African Flamingos do not have a breeding season, but breed when it rains as that helps them get supplies — like sticks, stones, mud and feathers to build a nest, and there is a greater food supply. So, they are unlikely to breed during droughts. Another interesting reason is that, like lionesses in a pride, a colony chooses to breed at the same time.

Humans continue to be a threat to flamingos — more than any other predator. When you see an attractive flamingo colony, please try to not get close as our closeness can stop them from reproducing.

African Flamingos eat vegetation — like algae and also invertebrates — like small larvae like brine shrimp and insects.

The lesser flamingo is the one we mostly see in Africa. This African flamingo has a bigger bill and eats algae and other tiny, microscopic organisms.

The greater flamingo eats larger things, like insects and small fish.
They get their lovely red or pink colour from a pigment found in their food — ‘Carotenoid pigment’.

Difference between lesser and Greater African Flamingos

Greater flamingos have light pink beaks with a dark tip. Lesser flamingos are more pink in colour and their legs are sorter. Their beaks are a dark red with black tip .

Greater flamingos mainly eat organisms found in the mud of the lagoon at Walvis Bay. The flamingos perform a dance when it’s meal time, this is done to loosen the mud. At low tide the holes made by the grazing flamingos can be seen all over the pan.

Lesser flamingos have different eating patterns. Their main diet is microscopic algae that floats in the water. For this reason lesser flamingos can be seen grazing between 13 to 24 hours in a day. The algae also contributes to the pink plumage of the lesser flamingo. They too can survive to be as old as 40 years old in the wild.

African Flamingos are filter-feeders. They dip their beak into water and filters out the water to eat cyanobacterium ‘ Spirulina’. Spirulina, is a living thing — an organism that is rich in vitamins, minerals and proteins. They are responsible for colouring the water blue-green, but also give flamingos their beautiful pink colour.

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African Hippos are territorial, but only in water and not on land. The common African hippo spends up to 16 hours every day in water. When the hippo is under water, as they cannot float and walk on the bottom of the lake or river, they have to rise every 5/6 minutes to take a breath of air and then sink back down to eat some more water vegetation.

We see a mother hippo with a young calf, and one older and they are often seen with another adult, or two mature females. This is can be the mother’s older calves as they can still be near their mother for years, or the rest of their lives. The males leave and breeding bulls change, but the girls stay the same and are tolerant of unrelated young sub-adults — not so much the bulls!

African Hippo bulls are territorial in water, but not out in pastures (grazing) all have home ranges at night, and these can vary between 250 – 500 metres of river land or Lakeshore. At night, African hippos leave the water and follow well-worn paths to grazing areas — at these times they usually separate and graze alone. A question that has sprung up, is that some of you wonder how do the bulls scent mark when in water?

A bull defends about 50-100 metres of water and he defends only breeding rights, not like most animals that defend territory for feeding and breeding rights. Bulls defend, quite aggressively, this area of water and they spread their scent by flinging dung all over the water, quite often, by swishing his tail like a fast vehicle’s windscreen wiper — called ‘dung showering’..

On land they have piles of middens (dung heaps) on pathways leading into and out of the water. Some of these can be so high that they reach the bull’s anus!

The common hippo (also called the river hippo) is the one we see the most — the ‘Agro big-boy’.

African Hippos are herbivores and spends most of their day in water — and are therefore classified as ‘semi-aquatic’.

The common African hippo was found in more areas, but now inhabit East, Central and Southern Africa — their numbers are growing less and are now classified as ‘vulnerable’.

Welcome to Crying buffalo’s hippopotamus-day!
We will start the day by answering 3 most popular questions:

1. The hippo is only native to Africa.
2. We find two species of hippo — the larger and more aggressive hippo, that prefers to live in pods (hippo group) of about 10-15 — the common hippo. And then the smaller (about half the weight of the common hippo), far less aggressive — a shy hippo that tends to be alone (unless with a calf), but can be seen in pairs — the pygmy hippo.
3. Yes, the African hippo is one of the world’s heaviest living land animals.
4. The first is the elephant, then the white rhino (not the black rhino) and close behind, or sometimes heavier is the common hippo.

Facts about the Pygmy African Hippo

Pygmy Hippopotamus is so named because of its short size. This shy and secretive AFrican hippo is found in the swampy areas of a few West African countries, and their current population is less than 2, 000 — 3, 000 individuals, but the true figure is unknown as they are difficult to count being so elusive.

Habitat loss has been the biggest problem due to farming, settlements and logging. The Endangered Species Acts covers them not to be traded or their trophies, but the laws are not enforced.
*This rare hippo is currently endangered.

The rare and endangered pygmy hippo spends the day resting in wet or moist places (that is why the rainforest is perfect for them, and no wonder they are smaller because the common hippo would find it extremely difficult to move around in those dense habitats). It rests not only there, but can be found in drier areas, but because they are so shy, they are never far from the safety of the rainforest’s cover.

African Hippos leave the water at night to feed and they do not fight when out of the water. These areas are accessible to all. Like the pygmy hippo, the common African hippo is also mostly a nocturnal feeder.

Hippos sink — they do not float and propel themselves through water — like jumping/leaping forward so that it looks like they are flying. They are remarkably fast and agile underwater — even the calves sink and they suckle underwater and can (all hippos) close their ears to prevent water getting into the inner ear. The calves rise about every five minutes, take a breath of air and then sink down to suckle a bit more.

Sometimes, you may see a hippo feeding off a carcass and think this is an omnivore as it eats meat as well as vegetation. The hippo is a herbivore, so eats vegetation — mainly grass. When it does that it is likely sick and lacking an important nutrient that only meat provides in its natural form — so it eats the flesh to feel better (it cannot dash to the pharmacy to pick up some vital pills). Another reason, is it could be highly stressed and therefore, showing abnormal behaviour.

Bulls can attack and kill calves, but a hippo is a good mother and often plays with her calf underwater and often successfully defends her calf from an attacking bull. The reason why they often injure and chase the bull away, is because of the way they attack. Bulls fight head-on, but the cows attack from the side.

African hippo bulls attract the cows by using vocalisations (sounds) and flinging their dung (that will not work on humans, but it does for hippos!). Hippos mate in the water, and the cow is only partly underwater.

In the dry season, African hippos are more aggressive because there is less water, thus bringing more pods closer together. This also means that dominant bulls have to share and compete in the same waters. During these harsh times, their river source might dry up, or shrink drastically to muddy pools. Hippos will often travel over lands to find a fresher water source — they can travel 40-60 km (24-30 miles) in one night.

During the wet season, usually the height of the wet season, and after an 8-month gestation, hippo cows give birth to one calf. All African hippos tend to give birth in water and the common hippo will do this away from the pod. After about 3 days, she and the calf have bonded and the calf is a little tougher, she returns to the pod.

We have heard this and some may think that all hippos actually sweat blood. No, not actual blood. This is an oily secretion (a type of sweat) that has a pink/red-like colour and this covers their body and protects their skin from long hours in the water, and also acts like a sunscreen. This is found in both species of hippo.

We might see a broad path leading from the water and think a lot of people come here… That is more than likely a hippo path. All hippos are nocturnal and just before it gets dark, they leave the water and follow their branches of ‘hippo-paths’. These well-trampled paths can average 3 – 5 km (1.9 – 3 miles).

Hippos milk is bright pink. The reason is that the hippo secretes two kinds of unique acids called “Hipposudoric acid” and “Norhipposudoric acid”. The former is reddish in color and often known as “blood sweat”, although it is neither blood nor sweat.

During the period that the hippo’s secretions are at their orange-red peak, it’s possible that some could mix with the milk, giving it a pinkish hue.

This important to note; African hippo is the number one killer of human being in the world and its just kill people in Africa because they are only found in Africa. Lifespan of an African hippo it 40yrs in the wild and 50yrs in captivity

I think we confused you with the hippo’s ‘blood-sweat’, so we will clear a few things up. Although this can be called a type of sweat — to make it easier to describe — it is actually not actual sweat as hippos have no sweat glands. Animals have sweat glands to produce sweat which cools the animal when air flows over its surface. Hippos do not need that as the water cools them. They still have glands, though… Not sweat glands, but different glands that produce that ‘blood-sweat’ It is there to protect their skin from the sun, prevent dehydration when out of the water and also protects the skin in long hours in the water.

The hippo’s front teeth are no longer needed to graze grass (they use their tough and thick lips to nip grass), so they have become weapons — used for display, fighting and defense.

Baby hippos are born underwater. Their nose is automatically sealed, as well as their ears, The birthing process is done away from the herd and once born, the Mother goes into seclusion with her calf for a few days before she introduces it to the herd.

• After giving birth in water, she is taking her newborn calf away from the other hippos. Sometimes, hippos might kill a calf, but this is often a young mother that brought the calf back too soon b- like 2 or three days after it was born.

African Hippos look like they are slow. Nope.

Living on earth, the fastest human in 100 m sprint is 28 kilometres per hour, which is 17 miles per hour. Therefore, most animals will outrun a human because a human is unable to keep that top speed, usually for longer than 100 metres.

The average human cannot keep that pace for long, either.

• A hippo runs at 30-40km/h (19-25mph). Faster than the average human.

The post African Hippo Facts appeared first on Kenya Safaris| Tanzania Safaris| 2020/21.

Female African gorillas will remain with an alpha silverback that they feel or is, strong enough to protect them and their infants from leopards and from other silverbacks that might kill their infants.

African Gorillas are very sensitive to our diseases, they have a ‘virgin’ immune system and cannot cope with even our simplest illnesses. For this reason, captive gorillas found in good and responsible zoos are given the same vaccines as human babies and toddlers.

One of the greatest problems gorillas face is weak law enforcement and this is why the mountain gorilla population is slowly rising, because conservationists never gave up and managed to secure the important and vital and fragile support of the Government in that area.

Throughout their habitat (all gorillas) the killing and trade in any gorilla products (including their stolen infants) are illegal,. Due to frustratingly weak law enforcement, gorilla products (like severed hands), and also trade in meat and selling infants continues to be sold in markets and similar throughout the countries they habitat.

African Gorillas are fantastic mothers and usually have their first infant at about 10 years of age, although they become sexually mature at 6 years. Infants are weaned between 2-4 years, but most often only at 3 years. Their painfully slow reproduction rate makes it extremely difficult to increase their populations.

In the Central African Republic, in the Congo, we find Dzanga-Ndoki National Park — this is where you will see the highest density of western lowland gorillas in the world. Although they are the largest population of gorillas — their numbers have not helped them because in 20-25 years their population has dropped by more than 60%, but getting an exact number is difficult because some live in the remotest and densest places in the rainforest.

African Gorilla infants are intelligent and suffer greatly, some even die, when forcibly separated from their mother. In the wild, they remain with her up to 4 years, and if female, they remain with her for the rest of their lives — sometimes mature sons. Some (if) become subordinate males and the alpha male allows them to play and cuddle infants, but not with/to his mature females. And some young males, once sexually mature (about 10 years-old) leave to find and form a troop of their own.

Mountain gorillas have longer hair than the other gorillas as they live in a colder climate. This long hair is most obvious on their infants!

A female gorilla usually has her first baby at around 10 years-old. A male only breeds when he has a troop of his own and that is 12-15 years.

Every day, a gorilla builds a nest to sleep in and to rest during the day, and these nests are very important because conservationists and researchers count them to get a number for the population of gorillas in an area.
It builds a nest the gorilla sits and pulls branches and leaves around its body.

Gorillas are not like chimpanzees, or Bonobos, they live life on the ground. Mature males are too heavy to climb trees, but the Western Lowland males sometimes do. In the heavier species of gorilla, the mature males nest on the ground and sometimes the females and younger (weigh less) gorilla infants nest in the trees.

Cross River African Gorilla.

You get four different types of gorilla and this is the rarest — only about 200-300 of them left in the wild! They inhabit, but kind of scattered around, in at least 11 groups across the lowland mountain forests and rainforests of Cameroon and Nigeria.

Male African gorillas are sexually mature at about 10-years-old, but only get their silver back at 12 -14 yrs, before that happens they are called ‘black-backs’.

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