African Okapi

The Okapi is called African Unicorn, Rain forest Zebra.Their height is about 5 feet at the shoulder, the adults weigh around 460 to 550 pounds. They live about 30 years in captivity, in the wild their lifespan is still unknown. Okapis have a sleek deep brown coat that is almost purple. The sides of its face are a dull red. There are horizontal black and white rings on its hind-quarters, thighs, and tops of forelegs. They eat leaves, fruits, seeds, fungi, and a certain clay that give them their mineral content. It is a mostly solitary animal that only comes together to mate. Okapi are only active during the day and OBVIOUSLY sleep during the night. But still the Okapi surprises us with its uniqueness and scientists have still not found out everything about it. The Credits go to: Okapi Facts
Picture Credits go to: Google.com

African Genet

The small-spotted genet is found in the more dense forest regions of africa. Its spots are round and elongated. Similar to the civet, the genet produces secretions conveying messages about sexual, social or territorial behavior. When angry the genet can squirt a foul-smelling substance that scares enemies. Genets also have retractable claws adapted to climbing and catching prey. Several types of genetsare in East Africa including the forest species the savannah-area species are the most widely distributed species of genets which is found in a variety of habitats.Genets are mainly nocturnal but are often spotted during the day in the rainy season. Genets can squeeze their slender and flexible bodies through any opening larger than their head. They also climb trees to hunt nesting or roosting birds. Female genets are thought to be territorial, as they generally return to the same area if captured and released while males do not. Adult genets are solitary except during periods of mating or when a female is accompanied by her young. A female may have up to two litters a year with two to four young in each. Kittens are born in a burrow, their eyes and ears are shut at birth and do not open for about 10 days. They receive their first solid food at about 6 weeks. Genets mature in 2 years and live about 8 years in the wild. The genet is classified as a carnivore, but it actually is omnivorous and will eat whatever is most available. This can be small mammals (especially rodents, shrews and bats), birds, and their eggs, frogs, millipedes, centipedes, scorpions and various fruit. Credits go to AFW Wild life. Picture credits go to Kostich.com!

African Civet

The African civet lives in the savannas and forests of central and southern Africa. It has short dense fur that is a greyish color with black spots arranged in rows along their bodies. Their legs are short and ,their tail is black with about a third of the base of their tail having striped markings. Their face is solid grey except for a white mouth area and black markings around the eyes that go down the face. Their long necks have bars of white and black running down the sides. They have a short mane of about 1-4 inches in length that runs along their back. This mane goes strait up when the animal is frightened.The African civet are omnivorous. It will eat a variety of fruits, plants, insects, rodents, eggs, reptiles, and birds. They are able to consume animals and plants that are poisonous to most other animals, such as the Stychnos fruit, certain species of millipedes, and carrion that is decayed and pungent. The African civet does not use its paws to catch food; instead it picks it up with its teeth. Small mammals are usually killed by shaking them violently until their neck snaps. These animals are going extint because people are killing them for their fur. Credits go to: Lion crusher

The Straw Colored Fruit Bat

The straw colored fruit bat is found in Africa, and is the most wide spread of the African fruit bats. Its body is about 215 mm and its wingspan can reach 762 mm. Adults can weigh 230-350 grams! The coloration is yellowish brown or blackish. Their wings are long and narrow and are adapted to flying long distances. The wings are also used in climbing. It inhabits forest and savannas and is found at elevations of up to 2,000 meters. It is a very social bat and prefers to nest in tall trees by day but has also seen to find homes and in caves. During daytime they are often noisy and restless and even flies about from place to place. At night groups fly out of the nests in search of ripe fruit. Juice of various fruits are the choice food, though this bat also feeds on the blossoms and perhaps young shoots of the silk-cotton tree.The bats will eat directly into the fruit of palm trees, and has the unusual habit of chewing into the soft wood, probably to get moisture. The straw-colored fruit bats occur in enormous colonies of 100,00 to 1,000,000. Female bats have one young per year, and a newborn can weigh 50 grams. In some areas these bats are hunted and eaten by humans. They are considered a delicacy in the African tribes.
Credits go to: Bat Conservation
Picture credits go to: Google

Black Rhino

The Black rhino normally lives up to 40 years. Both male and female adult rhino's average weight is from 800 to 850 kg, with large adults reaching up to 1000 kg.Black Rhinoceros are found in dry areas as well as savannah and woodland areas with sufficient shrubs and trees to hide in, in the heat of the day. Black rhino are browsers, feeding off a wide variety of shrubs and trees. Toxic plants such as the Tamboti Spirostachys africana with its high latex content are also eaten, having no harmful effects on the animal. The black rhino has a very gritty upper lip that is used to pull off leaves, shoots and thin branches while feeding.Black Rhinos do not defend territories but do have home ranges in variable size that they scent-mark in. The bull scent-marks by either spraying urine onto vegetation or by defecating in certain spots called middens. Middens which vary in number are large collections of dung left by one bull or a number of different adults over a period of time. The bull after dropping his dung scrapes it into the ground with his hind legs and then spreads the dung further by dragging his feet as he walks away from the midden. Dung stuck under the bulls’ feet helps to further spread his scent as his walks through the area.The purpose of a midden is to possibly show information to other adults in the area by the different smells. The black rhinoceros has very weak eyesight but to compensate for that it has a very keen sense of smell and good hearing. The credits go to : AFW Wildlife

Picture credits go to : Google

Aardvark

The name aardvark comes from a word meaning "earth pig." The aardvark has a short neck connected to a massive almost hairless body with a strongly arched back. The legs are short, the hind legs longer than the front ones. The head is elongated, with a long, narrow snout and nostrils that can be sealed. The long, tubular ears are normally held upright but can be folded and closed. The short but muscular tail is cone-shaped. The thick claws on the forefeet are well adapted for digging. Aardvarks are found in all regions from dry savanna to rain forest where there are sufficient termites for food, access to water and sandy or clay soil. If the soil is too hard, aardvarks, despite being speedy, powerful diggers, will move to areas where the digging is easier. Aardvarks are mostly solitary and nocturnal, but sometimes will come out during the day to sun themselves. When aardvarks sleep, they block the entrance to their burrow, leaving only a very small opening at the top, and curl into a tight ball. Especially during the rains, aardvarks may dig themselves new burrows almost nightly. Many animals, including ground squirrels, hares, civets, hyenas, jackals, porcupines, warthogs, monitor lizards, and birds use abandoned aardvark holes as shelter. When pursued, an aardvark will furiously dig itself a hole, and when attacked, may roll onto its back and defend itself with its large claws or use its thick tail to somersault away from its attackers. As it is nocturnal and has poor eyesight, the aardvark is cautious upon leaving its burrow. It comes to the entrance and stands there motionless for several minutes. Then it suddenly leaps out in powerful jumps. At about 30 feet out it stops, raises up on its legs, perks up its ears and turns its head in all directions. If there are no sounds, it makes a few more leaps and finally moves at a slow trot to look for food. Aardvarks are specialized for eating termites. They move from one termite mound to another, dismantling the hills with their powerful claws. Insects are trapped by the aardvark's long sticky tongue (as long as 30 cm), which is covered with a thick saliva. Sometimes the aardvark will press its snout against an opening in a mound and suck up the termites. Aardvarks, with their keen sense of smell, also hunt for the long columns of termites that move outside the mounds at night. The adult aardvark's enemies are human (who sometimes kill it for meat), lions, hyenas and leopards; pythons sometimes take the young. Credits go to : AFW Wildlife
Picture credits go to: Google