Savanna Animals

 

Savanna Animals

Which animals live in the grasslands?

Some grassland are hot while some are quite cool. But they are all home to large herds of grazing animals such as antelopes, buffalo and horses, and the animal that prey upon them, such as the big cats like lions and cheetahs.

What is reason behind 'antelopes' long legs?

Antelopes have long legs and powerful muscles providing leverage and increasing leg stride and speed. Antelopes can run very fast for extended periods of time. This gives them an advantage over many predators, such as the cheetah, which relies on sprinting and can be tired out by the antelope's stamina.

What is the speed of an antelope?

The pronghorn antelope can run at 67 km/h for well over 16 km and at 98 km/h over nearly 200 m.

Grazers

Grasslands in the tropice are the home of vast herds of antelopes of various kinbds. In the last century, herds of 70 million stringboks, hundreds of kilometers long, were at times seen in South Africa.

Do all antelopes have the same horns?

There are over 60 species of antelopes living in Africa and southern asia. each has different shaped horns.

What is the giant eland?

The biggest antelope is the giant eland of Africa. It has now become rare. It stand over 1.8 m tall at the shoulder and weighs almost 1,000 kg. the smallest is the royal antelope, which is no bigger than a hare.

Fastest runner

The cheetah, displays an amazing turn of speed over a short distance to catch gazelles.

What is odd about the cheetahs?

The cheetahs are not like the other big cats. In fact, some scientists think that they are not that closely related. They have a much longer, flatter head than other cats. They also have permanently extended claws on the end of very long legs.

What is the difference between buffalos and bisons?

Buffalos are huge cow -like animals that live in Africa and southern asia. they are identifiable by their huge curved horns. But the north American bisons are very different. They have huge low-slung heads, a big hump and a shaggy coat. They were once common in both Europe and north America.

Why are horses called odd-toed?

Yes. All members of the horse family have just one toe (a hoof) on each foot. For this reason, they are called odd-toed animals.

What are flightless birds?

The world's biggest birds are all flightless birds, including the ostrich and the cassowary. They have very long legs and long necks. The biggest of them all is the north African ostrich. It lives on the fringes of the sahara desert. It grows up to 2.74 m tall. Emus reach up to 1.8 m tall. Emus have no need of flight feathers , so their plumage is wholly for show.

Emu

The emu is a huge bird that is found in Australia. It has virtually no wings and cannot fly. But like the ostriches and cassowaries, it can run very fast on its long, powerful legs. Emus are rather nosy birds. They feed on fruit and insects but may often steal coins and keys.

What do you know about the moa?

Eminent Victorian naturalist Richard owen found the bones of the biggest bird moa. The bones were found in new Zealand. They showed that until 1,000 years ago, there was a bird called the moa which was as tall as an elephant. When the first bone was found in 1839, some people did indeed think that it belonged to an elephant.