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CAPE BUFFALO:
Buffaloes
can be seen in mixed breeding herds or in small all-male groups
of old bulls or sometimes
alone.
They are entirely grazers, but generally avoid the open grass
plains, preferring the bush
country
for
shade during the day, and are especially fond of wallowing. They
are rarely found far
from
water, as they
also need to drink regularly. Buffaloes weigh up to 800 kgs and
carry massive,
heavily
bossed horns.
If
lions are bold enough to approach a herd, the bulls form a ring
with the cows and calves in the
centre
and
usually drive the lions away. Their sense of smell is very good,
while hearing and sight
are
moderate.
CHEETAH
The
cheetah, sometimes mistaken for a leopard, is a more lightly built
animal, distinguished easily by
dark
"tear marks." Female cheetahs are always solitary but
males sometimes form groups of two or
three.
Cheetahs are specialised predators relying on a concealed
approach to prey, followed by a
swiftchase,
reaching up to 110 kmph.
Cheetahs
rely primarily on eyesight and speed and do not hunt at night.
Unlike the lion, they do not
hunt jointly.
The typical habitat is open plains like the Serengeti.
ELEPHANT
Elephants
are the largest living land mammals, weighing up to 6 tons. Daily
food requirements,
depending
on body size is 100 to 200kg and they can live up to 60 years.
Like the lion, the social
system
of
the elephant is based on close family kin. Daughters remain in
the same family as their
mothers
and grandmothers whilst males leave once they reach adolescence.
Senses of scent and
hearing
are very good
and sight is moderate. If you watch a female herd you may be able
to spot the
matriarch.
Usually this
oldest and largest animal acts as the leader, particularly during
defense when
she
will govern the course
of action.
FLAMINGOS
Flamingoes
are migratory birds, with unpredictable movements, arriving in
hundreds of thousands.
Lesser
flamingos are smaller than the greater flamingo, and their plumage,
with colour resulting from
their
diets, are much pinker. Flamingos are common in soda lakes such
as Natron, Manyara and in
the
Crater.
GIRAFFE
Giraffe
feed almost exclusively on the tender leaves of acacia trees and
they are rarely seen
anywhere but
in areas where these trees grow. For all its great length, the
giraffe's neck has only
seven
vertebrae,
the same as man.
A male giraffe weighs about 800 kgs and stands three and half
meters
at the shoulders and
about 6 metres at the crown.
Giraffes
have good eyesight (over 1 km) and can distinguish colours. They
protect their young from
lions
by
powerful kicks. Giraffe walk with a characteristic gait that brings
both limbs on the same side
forward
together.
LEOPARD
Leopards
are solitary animals, the male only associating with female when
she is in season. The
Leopard
is active by day and night, but where hunted, it remains very
secretive and nocturnal.
Leopards
are traditionally one of the most dangerous of the wild cats.
Its sense of hearing is
exceptional. Whereas
the cheetah hunts by speed, the leopard catches its prey by careful,
stealthy
stalking.
The leopard sleeps
in trees and among rocks and can be seen in all National Parks
and
game
reserves.
LION
Rarely
alone, lions usually live in family groups. Lions have very good
sight, a sharp sense of hearing
and
good sense of scent. Lions usually hunt at night but you may be
lucky enough to see a kill during
the
day. Lions normally hunt as a team, by stealthily stalking their
prey, crouching low to the ground
before
rushing for the kill when close enough.
Weighing
up to 200 kgs, a lion is exceptionally strong and can bring down
a large animal like a buffalo
that
is four times its weight. Lions can be observed in most of the
Tanzania National Parks and game
reserves.
OSTRICH
The
Ostrich is the world's largest bird and the only flightless bird
native to Africa. Males are black and
white,
with naked necks and thighs. Ostriches are very fast runners and
are able to maintain their
pace
for a considerable time. This together with the ability to swerve
sharply enables them to out wit
spredators.
RHINOCEROS
Rhinos
are usually solitary as adults. The most stable association is
that of a mother and calf which
are
usually
found within a well defined home range. Black rhinos, which can
be seen in Tanzania,
are
browsers
and have pointed prehensile lips adapted for browsing off thorny
shrubs. They feed at
night,
dawn, and dusk,
resting during the heat of the day.
They
have a good sense of hearing and smell (scenting over several
km) but their sight is poor at
more
than 30 metres.
Rhinos weigh up to 1600kgs and can live up to 40 years. Rhinos
are an
endangered
species, but can easily be observed in the Ngorongoro Crater and
possibly in the Selous
Reserve.
WILDEBEEST
Wildebeest
live in large herds and are good grazers. Large concentrations
quickly exhaust a pasture
and
so wildebeest aggregations
have to keep moving, a phenomenon which is very pronounced in
the
Serengeti.
In
the Serengeti, the migration is a continuous quest for greener
pastures and water, taking the
wildebeest
over an annual circuit of 800 kms. They have excellent sense of
sight and hearing.
Wildebeest
have many predators, including lions, cheetahs, hunting dogs and
hyenas.
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