African Elephant

Essentially an animal of open grasslands, the African elephant is adaptable enough to live happily in a variety of habitats within its sub-Saharan African homeland. But wherever it lives, the elephant never strays far from a supply of drinking and bathing water.

Habits

Elephants are social animals with strong family ties. So close are the relationships that they even bury their dead with twigs and leaves. They also grieve over their loss, staying by the "grave" for many hours. Cow (females) and their calves, live in family units under the leadership of a mature female, to whom every other member of the group is related. Young bulls (males) are driven from the family when they reach puberty to live in separate bachelor herds. Adult bulls live alone and join a family unit only briefly when a female is ready to mate. Herds may wander great distances, but they never move far from water. Elephants like baths every evening, so they stay close to any available pool or stream. They'll make do with a shower, squirted from the trunk, if water is scarce. After bathing they coat their skin in dirt for protection from insects.

Communication

When elephants are foraging for food out of sight of one another, they communicate by making rumbling noises similar to gargling. If an elephant senses possible danger, it will alert the others by stopping the noise. Conflicts between elephants are communicated by a threat display in which the superior will twirl its trunk or throw dust into the air. Sometimes an elephant will also make the trumpeting noise for which it is famous. The display is also used to warn enemies. If its signals are ignored, the threatened elephant may charge at its attacker. But charges are rarely carried through; at the last moment, the elephant either stops short or turns aside.

Breeding

Elephants mate when they are 14 to 15 years old. Courtship involves a display of affection between the cow and bull in which they caress each other with their trunks. A single calf, standing about 33 inches high and weighing approximately 250 pounds is born 22 months later. The calf is suckled for at least 2 years and remains in the family until after the birth of its mother's next calf. A cow usually gives birth about every 4 years and will often have two or three calves with her at the same time. Cows defend their young vigorously, charging any intruders.

Food and Feeding

Elephants are entirely vegetarian. They eat a wide variety of grasses, foliage, fruit, and small braches and twigs. They gather food with the aid of their trunk and then place it into their mouths. The few teeth elephants have are used to grind their food. Once an elephant has lost all its teeth, usually around the age of seventy, it can no longer feed itself and it dies of starvation. Elephants have gigantic appetites. Night, early morning, and evening are their favorite eating and drinking times, but they also eat all day on the move.

Key Facts

• Height: Males 10 feet to shoulder. Females a little smaller.
• Weight: Males up to 6 tons. Females up to 4 tons.
• Sexual maturity: 14-15 years.
• Mating: Any time.
• Gestation: 22 months.
• Number of young: Usually 1 calf.
• Lifestyle: Live together in family units, adult males are solitary.
• Diet: Entirely vegetarian-grass.
• Lifespan: About 70 years.

Did you know?

• Elephants will eat up to 500 pounds of vegetation a day and drink up to 40 gallons of water at a time.
• An elephant can walk faster than a man, maintaining a steady speed of 5-51/2 miles per hour. A herd on the march can easily cover a distance of 50 miles a day.
• When water is scarce during the fry season, elephants will dig for water n the sandy bed of a river that has stopped flowing.
• The largest tusk ever recorded was 10 feet long and weighed nearly 230 pounds.

Leopard

The solitary leopard is extremely difficult to spot in the wild. It is renowned for its sharp vision and keen sense of hearing, and for its unique ability to avoid detection.

Habits

Except for a brief time during mating and when the female is rearing her young, the leopard leads a solitary life within a defined territory. Like other members of the cat family, the leopard marks its territory with urine. It will also shred the bark of particular trees within its territory. In areas rich in game, territories are smaller than in those areas that have less prey. The territories of males are usually larger than those of females and will often overlap several females' territories. However, males never share portions of their territories.

Breeding

Male and female leopards come together to breed for only 6-7 days when the female is in heat. The male is drawn to her by the strong smell of urine she sprays on trees during this time. After mating, the male returns to his territory, leaving the female to give birth and care for the young alone. The birth takes place in a hidden lair after a gestation period of 3 months. If the female carried her young for a longer period of time, it would restrict her ability to hunt, preventing her from killing enough food for herself and her cubs. But the short gestation period means that the cubs are born underdeveloped; they are helpless and weigh only 15-20 ounces. While the cubs are still small, their mother carries them to a new hiding place every few days to lessen their chance of falling prey to lions, hyenas, or even male leopards. At this stage in their growth, the spots on their coats are so dense that they appear to be solid gray. Their milky blue eyes, characteristic of the young of all species of cat, open after 9 days. The cubs generally stay with their mother for 2 years.

Food and Hunting

The leopard usually hunts at dawn or dusk. After waiting silently among the brush or in a tree, the leopard ambushes its prey. The leopard kills by biting its prey on the throat or the back of the neck. It will then take its kill, which may be as heavy as itself, up into a tall tree, lodging it in the branches. Here it is safely stored beyond the reach of scavengers such as hyenas and jackals. After eating, the leopard usually visits a water hole to drink. The leopard eats a wide range of animals, from baboons, warthogs, and medium-sized antelopes to small mammals and birds. Individual leopards will sometimes develop a preference for particular types of food. It is thought that man-eating leopards, which are rare, develop a liking for human flesh after they have tasted it once.

Endangered Species

The leopard has been hunted for its pelt for many years. In the early 1960s, leopard poaching reached an all-time high when an estimated 50,000 leopards were killed in East Africa. Today the leopard is a protected species, but it is still hunted by herdsman, shepherds, and poachers. But it is recognized by farmers as having a useful function: it controls such animals as baboons and bush pigs that damage crops.

Key Facts

• Length: 40-50 inches from head to end of back.
• Weight: 80-175 lbs.
• Sexual maturity: 2-3 years.
• Mating: Year-round in tropics, seasonal in other areas.
• Gestation: 90-112 days.
• Number of young: 2-3 cubs, occasionally up to 6.
• Lifestyle: Solitary.
• Diet: Mammals and birds.
• Lifespan: About 12 years.

Did you know?

• The range of a leopard's hearing is twice that of a human's, and, in dim light, its sight is six times better.
• The leopard likes to drink daily but can go for as long as a month without water.
• Leopards have a highly developed homing instinct. A group found wandering in a suburb of Nairobi was captured and released in the Tsavo National Park, 200 miles away. Within a few weeks, the leopards found their way back to Nairobi.
• Black leopards, once called black panthers, were at one time regarded as a separate species. They are now considered true leopards. Although they are black, their rosettes of spots are still faintly visible, and sometimes they are even born into the same litters as common leopards.

Lion

Known as the king of the jungle, the lion's main habitat is, in fact, the African grasslands. Once common in Africa, Asia, and parts of Europe, this magnificent animal is now a protected species.

Habits

Unlike most members of the cat family, lions are social animals that live in prides (family groups) of 20-30 individuals. Some prides include a single male, while others have as many as four. While there is more than one male, the males are most likely litter mates. Males are strongly territorial and will challenge intruders, and lionesses will fight off other females. Males will often fight until one lion is killed. The winner takes over dominance of the territory, and of the pride.

Breeding

After several seasons with a pride, the male becomes restless and may be disinterested in resisting a challenge from a rival male. If he losses, he will search for another pride to dominate. A lioness has cubs approximately every 2 years. Shortly before giving birth, she chooses a suitable site for her liar, which must be well hidden, safe from potential predators, sheltered, and close to water.  The cubs are born blind and have spotted coats. For the first 2 months, they drink only their mother's milk. At 6 weeks, they begin to accompany their mother to the kill, acquiring a taste for meat and learning how to hunt. By 15 months, the cubs can hunt small prey. When the cubs reach 2 years of age, their mother is pregnant again and they must leave her. Some young females may be allowed to remain in the pride, but all the male cubs are driven out by the dominant male. Normally uninterested in females, the male hardly leaves his partner's side during mating season.

Food and Hunting

Lions hunt at dusk.  They have excellent eyesight and can see well in the dark.  The lionesses usually hunt for the entire pride.  While the lion plays little or no part in the hunt, he always takes precedence at the kill, dragging the prey to a chosen spot, then gorging himself before the female and cubs can eat.  Hunting is an organized event.  During the dry season when water is scarce, lions often lie in wait close to a water hole, waiting for prey to come to drink.  Lions prefer to hunt wildebeest and zebra, as these animals are slower and easier to catch than small antelopes and gazelles.  When prey is scarce, lions eat almost anything,  including carrion (dead or rotting animals).  Hunger may drive them to attack larger prey, including giraffe, buffalo, or even rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and elephant calves.

Miscellaneous

Largest and most powerful of the African carnivores, a male lion in his prime is an impressive sight. Male Lions usually have a tawny mane which gradually darkens with age. Because of their dark manes, old males are known as black-manned lions. When lionesses hunt together, several lie in wait downwind of the herd, while another travels around the herd until she is upwind of it. Suddenly, she breaks cover and chases the frightened herd straight toward the hidden ambush. If hunting alone, a lioness stalks her prey downwind of it. She gets as close as possible without being seen before attacking.

Key Facts

• Length: Head and body, 9 feet.
• Weight: 450-550 lbs.
• Sexual maturity: 2 years.
• Mating: Most times of year. Lionesses breed every two years.
• Gestation: 105-112 days. 
• Number of young: 2-5 cubs.
• Lifestyle: Social and territorial, living in family groups.                      Young males may live in small bachelor groups.
• Diet: Wildebeest, Zebra, Impala, Antelope, and Gazelle.
• Lifespan: About 20 years.

Did you know?

• A lion's territory is determined by the size of the pride and the availability of prey and water.
• Lionesses are ferocious when defending their cubs.  Several will act together to chase off a predator or an aggressive male lion.
• Lions kill only when hungry.  Their prey can usually sense if lions are out to kill and, if they are not, will often ignore lions wandering close to them.
• The lion's mane makes his body appear larger and more impressive than it really is, which helps to attract females at mating time and frightens off rival males.
• Male lions take no interest in the rearing of the young and, on occasion, may even try to kill them.

Giraffe

Like human fingerprints, the markings of a giraffe's coat are unique to each individual. When groups are gathered, the patterns act as disruptive camouflage, confusing potential predators. The giraffe's sharp vision and towering height help it to anticipate attack from predators.

Habits

Giraffes are sociable by nature. They live in groups but do not form permanent herds. Bulls (adult males) have an identifiable pecking order, which is established through the ritual of neck wrestling. A strange bull entering an area will be challenged by the dominant male. They will proceed to butt heads (their skulls are particularly strong) until one of them retreats.

Breeding

When a giraffe cow (or female) is ready to mate, she attracts all the mature bulls in the area. The dominant bull wins her by driving off all the other males. The young are born fifteen months later at a calving ground where they remain for the early part of their lives. The same calving grounds are used time after time by many females. That way, when the mothers go off to feed during the day, the calves are left to protect one another. Even so, half of the calves die in the first 6 months from attacks by hyenas, leopards, and wild dogs. As the calf grows older, it begins to roam with its mother. Its main predator is the lion. After calves are a year old, their mortality rate drops below 10 percent. While the mother will mate 5 months after giving birth, her calf is not weaned until it is 15 months old. Young females stay in their mothers' home ranges, but young males wander away at about 3 years old.

Food and Feeding

The giraffe browses for its food, which consists of the leaves and shoots of  trees and shrubs. Thorny acacia trees pose little problem for the giraffe; the giraffe picks off individual shoots and bunches of leaves from between the thorns with its tongue, which can be up to 18 inches long. Plants without thorns are stripped of their leaves as the giraffe pulls the whole length of smaller branches through its teeth. The male and female feed from different part of a tree. The female forages among the lower branches while the male feeds from the higher braches. This behavior ensures that the sexes do not have to compete for the same food within their range.

Key Facts

• Height: Males, 15-17 feet. Females, 12-15 feet.
• Weight: Males, 1,765-4,255 lb. Females, 1,215-2,600 lb.
• Sexual maturity: Males, 3 1/2 years.  Female, 4-5 years.
• Mating: Any time.
• Gestation: 453-465 days. 
• Number of young: Usually 1 calf.
• Lifestyle: Loosely bound groups. 
• Diet: Leaves from trees, shrubs, climbers, vines, and some herbs. 
• Lifespan: About 25 years.

Did you know?

• A giraffe's long neck has the same number of vertebrae, seven as most other mammals have. But the giraffes' are greatly elongated.
• A giraffe is one of the few animals born with horns. A baby giraffe's horns lie flat against the skull when it is born and pop upright during the first week of life.

Hippopotamus

The great African hippopotamus is second in weight only to the elephant. It spends up to 18 hours a day in water to keep cool and minimize heat loss, and to support its huge body.

Habits

The hippopotamus usually lives in groups of 15-20 animals, although the groups can be much larger. The hub of the group is the band of females and their young. This group lives on territory patrolled by a dominant, solitary male who is at least 20 years old. A dominant male is able to defend his territory for as long as 10 years, until a fierce fight with a younger rival male may end his dominance - and even result in his death. Young males who do not have their own groups form small bachelor groups. If a male successfully challenges a rival, he leaves the bachelor group and becomes the dominant male in his new territory.

Breeding

When a female is ready to mate, she will seek out an adult male. After approximately 34 weeks, the female leaves the group and gives birth to a single young. Sometimes the young is born underwater, and it must surface quickly to take its first breath. Within 5 minutes of birth, the young hippo can swim and walk. The mother suckles the young hippo for only 8 months, although it remains with her for several years. A female is often seen with several young following her; the youngest walking closest and the oldest following at the end.

Food and Feeding

The hippopotamus spends up to 18 hours a day in the water keeping cool. It feeds during the hours following sunset. With the exception of mothers and their offspring, the animals leave the water singly to make their way along well-worn paths to their feeding grounds. If the hippo finds a wallow of muddy water, it may remain immersed in it for much of the day. It may feed in the new area rather than returning to its usual feeding ground. For such a large animal, the hippo eats surprisingly little - about 90 pounds a night. This is partly because it stays submerged in water most of the time, which uses up little energy.

Key Facts

• Length: 10-11 feet.
• Height: 5 feet.
• Weight: Males 3,300-7,000 lb. Females up to 3,300 lb.
• Sexual maturity: Males, 7 years (though do not usually breed until age 20). Females, 9 years.
• Mating: Coincides with rainy season.
• Gestation: 240 days.
• Number of young: Single young.
• Lifestyle: Sociable, living in groups of 10-20, but can be up to 150.
• Diet: Entirely vegetarian-grass.
• Lifespan: 45-50 years.

Did you know?

• Because it loses water through its skin much faster than other mammals, a hippo can not survive for long on dry land in hot weather.
• A hippo can stay under water for up to 5 minutes and often walks along the bottom of lakes.
• Turtles, birds, and even young crocodiles often bask in the sun on the backs of hippos.
• The term "sweating blood" comes from the hippo's function of secreting a pink fluid from glands beneath its skin.

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African Elephant

Essentially an animal of open grasslands, the African elephant is adaptable enough to live happily in a variety of habitats within its sub-Saharan African homeland. But wherever it lives, the elephant never strays far from a supply of drinking and bathing water.

Habits

Elephants are social animals with strong family ties. So close are the relationships that they even bury their dead with twigs and leaves. They also grieve over their loss, staying by the "grave" for many hours. Cow (females) and their calves, live in family units under the leadership of a mature female, to whom every other member of the group is related. Young bulls (males) are driven from the family when they reach puberty to live in separate bachelor herds. Adult bulls live alone and join a family unit only briefly when a female is ready to mate. Herds may wander great distances, but they never move far from water. Elephants like baths every evening, so they stay close to any available pool or stream. They'll make do with a shower, squirted from the trunk, if water is scarce. After bathing they coat their skin in dirt for protection from insects.

Communication

When elephants are foraging for food out of sight of one another, they communicate by making rumbling noises similar to gargling. If an elephant senses possible danger, it will alert the others by stopping the noise. Conflicts between elephants are communicated by a threat display in which the superior will twirl its trunk or throw dust into the air. Sometimes an elephant will also make the trumpeting noise for which it is famous. The display is also used to warn enemies. If its signals are ignored, the threatened elephant may charge at its attacker. But charges are rarely carried through; at the last moment, the elephant either stops short or turns aside.

Breeding

Elephants mate when they are 14 to 15 years old. Courtship involves a display of affection between the cow and bull in which they caress each other with their trunks. A single calf, standing about 33 inches high and weighing approximately 250 pounds is born 22 months later. The calf is suckled for at least 2 years and remains in the family until after the birth of its mother's next calf. A cow usually gives birth about every 4 years and will often have two or three calves with her at the same time. Cows defend their young vigorously, charging any intruders.

Food and Feeding

Elephants are entirely vegetarian. They eat a wide variety of grasses, foliage, fruit, and small braches and twigs. They gather food with the aid of their trunk and then place it into their mouths. The few teeth elephants have are used to grind their food. Once an elephant has lost all its teeth, usually around the age of seventy, it can no longer feed itself and it dies of starvation. Elephants have gigantic appetites. Night, early morning, and evening are their favorite eating and drinking times, but they also eat all day on the move.

Key Facts

• Height: Males 10 feet to shoulder. Females a little smaller.
• Weight: Males up to 6 tons. Females up to 4 tons.
• Sexual maturity: 14-15 years.
• Mating: Any time.
• Gestation: 22 months.
• Number of young: Usually 1 calf.
• Lifestyle: Live together in family units, adult males are solitary.
• Diet: Entirely vegetarian-grass.
• Lifespan: About 70 years.

Did you know?

• Elephants will eat up to 500 pounds of vegetation a day and drink up to 40 gallons of water at a time.
• An elephant can walk faster than a man, maintaining a steady speed of 5-51/2 miles per hour. A herd on the march can easily cover a distance of 50 miles a day.
• When water is scarce during the fry season, elephants will dig for water n the sandy bed of a river that has stopped flowing.
• The largest tusk ever recorded was 10 feet long and weighed nearly 230 pounds.