AFRICA HISTORY GEOGRAPHY FLORA GEOLOGY LINKS
African fauna
Much of Africa's unique diversity of animal species is due to its physical geography. The Sahara desert, in particular, formed an almost insuperable barrier which, by preventing access from the north, enabled the fauna to flourish largely undisturbed. Of the 19 orders of mammals, no less than 15 are represented in Africa; and of the world total of about 210 species of hoofed mammals (ungulates), almost half (95 species) can be found in Africa. But although the large mammals are of particular interest, birds, reptiles, fish, and insects are also significant. The bird fauna, in particular, is surpassed in variety only by that of South America. Quite apart from its resident birds, Africa is of exceptional importance as a wintering ground for migrants. Each year as many as several hundred million birds migrate to Africa from Europe and Asia.
Grasslands: The most spectacular aggregations of mammals are to be found on the extensive savannas, the more or less open grasslands that occupy much of Africa south of the Sahara. Not only can wildlife be more readily seen in open country, but because many of the grassland species live in herds, they occur in huge numbers. The commonest species thus frequently provide the greatest spectacle, seasonally massing together to trek in search of grazing and water.
Herbivores: Africa's perennial grasslands are an unsurpassed biological powerhouse. In terms of biomass or carrying capacity they rank among the most productive in the world. The grassland species include such grazing animals as zebra, wildebeest, and hartebeest; partial grazers such as the elephant, buffalo, impala, and Grant's gazelle; and, in suitable habitats, such browsers as the giraffe, black rhinoceros, and eland.
Predators: The superabundance of herbivores has stimulated the evolution of a variety of carnivores, each occupying a distinct ecological niche. They range from the coursing species (cheetah, wild dog, hyena) to the stalking species (lion and leopard) and the scavengers (hyena and jackal), besides many small predators, such as the serval, bat-eared fox, banded mongoose, and several species of vulture.
Grassland bird species: These are typically game birds, such as the francolin and guinea-fowl, the ground hornbill, kori bustard, secretary bird, and the flightless ostrich, largest of living birds, besides many other smaller species.
African forest animals, less spectacular than the grassland fauna because less easily seen, are nevertheless of great interest. They include a diverse variety of primates, covering an extremely broad spectrum from the archaic lemurs, the most primitive of the primates, to the anthropoid apes, the most advanced. Of the four living species of great apes, three - gorilla, chimpanzee, and pygmy chimpanzee - live in Africa. Between these two evolutionary extremes are about 29 species, including the guenons, mangabeys, baboons, mandrills, and colobus monkeys. The forest-dwelling hoofed herbivores are mostly leaf-eaters (browsers). Among them are the forest elephant, okapi, bongo, bushbuck, numerous duikers, and the giant forest hog.
Forest bird species: The rich variety of forest bird species includes the turacos, hornbills, barbets, and parrots, as well as such rarities as the bare-headed rock fowl and the Congo peacock, the only African representative of this Asiatic tribe.
The extensive African wetlands range from the vast swamps of the upper Nile drainage system to the huge lakes which are so notable a feature of the Rift Valley. They are of unusual biological diversity and richness, as exemplified by Africa's 2,000 species of freshwater fishes, compared with Europe's 50. They range from the primitive lungfish to the Nile perch, which can reach a weight of more than 130 kg.
This hugely varied aquatic life supports a great number and variety of aquatic and semi-aquatic birds, not only the fish-eaters such as the fish eagle, pelican, kingfishers, herons, and cormorants, but such highly specialized feeders as the flamingos. For sheer spectacle it would be difficult to better the huge flocks of flamingos inhabiting the Rift Valley lakes. Perhaps the most bizarre is the whale-headed stork, with a massive hooked bill used for extracting mudfish from the swamp bed.
Reptiles: These include the monitor lizard, python, and crocodile. The importance of the crocodile in the ecology of African wetlands has only recently been appreciated, too late to prevent the near-elimination of this valuable reptile over much of its range.
These extensive wetlands serve as natural reservoirs; they collect water during the rainy season and hold it during the dry. As the dry season advances, herds of grass-eaters, driven from the savannas by lack of pasturage and water, fall back on the wetlands. Springbok, gemsbok, and eland, for example, migrate from the Kalahari Desert into the wetlands of the Okovango Delta. There they join the more permanent residents of the flood-plain, such as the waterbuck, as well as such typical woodland species as kudu, roan, and sable antelope, among others. These dry-season floodplain concentrations are exceptionally impressive.