The climate of Africa, located in a zone of high illumination and caressed by the generous rays of the sun, is very favorable for the habitat of a wide variety of life forms on its territory.
That is why the fauna of the continent is extremely rich, and about African animals there are many wonderful legends and amazing stories. And only human activity that does not influence the best way to change the ecosystem, contributes to the extinction of many species of biological creatures and the reduction of their populations, while causing irreparable harm to nature.
However, in order to preserve in its unique form animal world Africa V Lately reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, natural and national parks are being created, which invariably attract the attention of many tourists with the opportunity to get acquainted with the rich fauna of the continent and seriously study the unique world of tropical and subtropical nature.
Scientists all over the planet have long been fascinated by this amazing diversity of life forms, which has been the topic of many scientific research and full of fantastic facts and fascinating reports O African animals.
Starting the story about the fauna of this continent, it should be noted that heat and moisture in this vast territory, close to the equator, are distributed unevenly.
This was the reason for the formation of different climatic zones. Among them:
- evergreen, moisture-rich equatorial forests;
- impenetrable boundless jungle;
- vast savannas and woodlands, occupying almost half of total area the entire continent.
Similar natural features, undoubtedly leave their mark on the diversity and unique features nature of the continent.
And all of the above climatic zones, and even the deserts and semi-deserts breathing merciless heat are filled and teeming with living organisms. Here are just some of the most common representatives of the fauna of the fertile hot continent, wild animals of Africa.
a lion
The king of beasts is rightfully ranked among the most large predators continent. The favorable and favorite habitat of this terrestrial animal with a characteristic thick mane, whose body weight sometimes reaches 227 kg, are shrouds, which attract these frantic creatures with an open landscape necessary for freedom of movement, the presence of watering holes and enormous opportunities for have a good hunting.
A variety of ungulates live here in abundance. animals of Africa- frequent victims of this cruel predator. But it should be noted that due to excessive extermination in South Africa, Libya and Egypt, such wild freedom-loving and strong creatures themselves became victims of unbridled passions and ill-treatment, and today are found mainly only in Central Africa.
Hyena
A mammal up to one and a half meters long, an inhabitant of savannas and woodlands. In appearance, these animals look like angular, disheveled dogs.
Buffalo
Huge herds of these impressive animals with large horns roam the shrouds, living mainly south of the desert Sahara. These are formidable opponents for their enemies, in a group they are even capable of attacking, but they feed on grass and plant leaves.
Lemurs in the photo
Baboon
A primate of the genus of baboons, with a body length of about 75 cm and a huge tail. Most often, such animals are yellowish in color, found in the forests of southern and eastern Africa, and are also common in open areas of these territories.
Baboon
Lives in South Africa. Possesses long muzzle, similar to a dog, covered with thick fur, has impressive fangs, powerful jaws, curved and pointed tail.
The appearance of males is decorated with a large white mane. Their main enemies are crocodiles, hyenas, leopards and lions, which they are quite capable of fighting back with their sharp fangs.
In the photo there is a baboon
Gorilla
A primate living in the wilds of the forests of a hot continent. Gorillas are considered the largest anthropoids. The body length of male individuals corresponds to height tall man, in some cases approaching two meters in size, and the weight of their huge body is estimated at 250 kg.
But females are smaller and much lighter. The shoulders are wide, the head is massive, the arms are huge in size with powerful hands, the face is black.
Chimpanzee
A monkey distributed in the equatorial part of the continent, found in the mountain and rain forests of the tropics. Body length is about one and a half meters. Their arms are much longer than their legs, their ears are almost human-like, their fur is black, and their skin is wrinkled.
Chimpanzee monkey
Monkey
Scientists refer to great apes and is small in size. Some species of monkeys have a tail, but they may not have one. Their fur is long and thick. The color of the fur varies: from white-yellow and greenish to dark. Monkeys can live in jungles, swamps, as well as mountainous and rocky areas.
Okapi
Quite large artiodactyl animals, weighing about 250 kg. are relatives of giraffes, belong to African forest animals and feed on fruits, leaves and shoots various plants, growing in the bosom of tropical nature.
They were first discovered more than a hundred years ago by the famous traveler Stanley in the virgin forests near the Congo River. The neck of these animals, unlike giraffes, is quite proportionate in length. In addition, they have big ears, remarkable for their expressiveness, eyes and tasseled tail.
Okapi animal
Duiker
The animal belongs to the antelope subfamily. These creatures are not at all large sizes, most often living in hard-to-reach wooded areas. They have a cautious and timid character.
And their name means “diver”. The animals earned this nickname for their ability, when escaping, to hide at lightning speed in the bosom of various bodies of water; they also quickly disappear into the thicket of the forest or thickets of bushes.
Antelope duiker
Crocodile
A dangerous dangerous reptile, often found in many rivers of the African continent. These are such ancient animals that they are considered relatives of dinosaurs, which long ago became extinct from the face of our planet. The evolution of such reptiles, adapted to the life of water bodies of the tropics and subtropics, is estimated at millions of centuries.
In the present, such creatures have changed little in appearance, which is explained by their habitation in areas where the climate and conditions external environment have undergone minimal changes over the past huge period of time. They have a lizard-like body shape and are famous for the strength of their teeth.
Hippopotamus
These animals are also called, which is also a very common name. Today, representatives of the artiodactyl family, due to significant extermination, live only in the eastern and central regions African continent., and they can mainly be observed in national parks. Their appearance is characterized by a massive body and thick short limbs.
Pygmy hippopotamus
It differs from the usual one mainly in size and measures one and a half meters or a little more. The animals have a long neck, disproportionate legs with a small head.
The skin is quite thick and has a brown or dark green color. The pygmy hippopotamus lives in reservoirs with slow flow, similar creatures can also be found in the thickets tropical forests.
Pictured is a pygmy hippopotamus
Marabou
It is considered the largest of land birds, reaching a height of one and a half meters. The head is devoid of feathers, the powerful beak is impressive in size, calm state resting on a fleshy protrusion of the neck, covered with feathers and representing a kind of pillow. The general background of the plumage is white, only the back, tail and wings are dark.
Marabou bird
Ostrich
The bird is the largest among the feathered kingdom of the huge planet. The height of the impressive bird reaches 270 cm. Previously, these creatures were found in Arabia and Syria, but now they are found only in the vastness of the African continent.
They are famous for their long necks and are capable of developing enormous speed. An angry person can be violent in his defense and, in a state of excitement, is dangerous even to a person.
African ostrich major representative birds
Flamingo
This beautiful bird is a relative. Such beautiful creatures can be found near shallow waters salt lakes and in lagoons. Half a century ago they were extremely numerous, but over time the population of these owners of unique bright pink feathers suffered significant damage.
Ibis
- relatives of storks, these birds are also known for being extremely revered in ancient times in Egypt. They have a small body, thin, slender and long legs with swimming membranes, extremely useful for birds, most living in water. Their neck is graceful and long, and the color of their plumage can be snow-white, bright scarlet or gray-brown.
In the photo there is an ibis bird
Vulture
These birds of prey prefer to feed on carrion. Vultures are small in size, have a weak and thin beak, with a tweezer-like, long hook at the end.
Although not distinguished by great physical strength, the birds became famous for their incredible ingenuity, one example of which was their incredible ability to crack ostrich eggs with sharp objects.
Bird vulture
Turtle
On African continent There are many species of various sizes and colors. They mainly inhabit lakes, rivers and swamps, feeding on aquatic invertebrates and fish.
Some of these reptiles reach incredible heights gigantic size, having a shell length of up to one and a half meters and a weight of about 250 kg. – famous centenarians, many of them live more than 200 years.
Python
It is one of the largest reptiles in the world and is related to boas and. The length of some reaches 6 meters. Their color can be of a wide variety of shades, plain or with fancy patterns.
It is interesting that such snakes, impressive in size and appearance, are not poisonous, but are capable of strangling the victim with the force of their muscles.
Python is considered one of the largest reptiles
Gyurza
Unlike the python, it is deadly poisonous. On the African continent it lives mainly on the northern coast. Reptiles are quite large, usually more than a meter in length. Their head is triangular in shape and has a uniform color, the back is light brown or gray, a pattern in the form of spots and lines is possible.
February 23rd, 2018
Many people believe that hippos are slow and clumsy because of their size, but this is a dangerous misconception. In the gif you can see how a hippopotamus can act on land, but here is a video that shows a hippopotamus chasing a motorboat in national park Chobe in Botswana.
The boat driver manages to accelerate in time before the huge animal emerges from the water:
In 2014, a hippopotamus attacked a boat on a river in Niger, killing 12 schoolchildren—seven girls and five boys. This data from the country's authorities is provided by Agence France-Presse. The incident occurred near the country's capital, Niamey. There were at least 18 people in the pie. Most of them were 12-13 year old children who were on their way to school located on the other side of the Niger River. Authorities did not specify how exactly they died.
Hippopotamuses, which often approach Niamey in search of deep places in Niger, are terrifying local residents. Experts note that adults are most aggressive when their young are around them. In such situations, hippos often attack cattle grazing on the banks of the river.
Photo 1.
Hippos are rightly considered one of the most dangerous African animals. But they pose a danger only to those who themselves try to threaten them. In fact, the hippo's personality has traits that many of us would envy. In this article we will try to tell you more about these amazing animals.
The life of a hippopotamus is somewhat reminiscent of the life of a retired heavyweight boxer. Calm, outwardly clumsy and phlegmatic, a little gloomy, but not an aggressive homebody. There are practically no enemies, all the neighbors know him well and are the first to greet him, and those who don’t know him try to stay away just in case. He doesn’t hurt little ones, and he can even provide help on occasion. Home, family, wealth - he has everything, and he doesn’t need anything that belongs to others. But if the “gopniks in the gateway” pester you, then...
Don't believe me? Judge for yourself: predators are afraid to attack a hippopotamus because it is too terrible in anger, and it is well armed. Despite the fact that the hippopotamus is a herbivore, its teeth are perhaps the most terrible ones imaginable, especially the lower fangs. They grow throughout their lives and reach a length of over half a meter. In a fit of rage, a hippopotamus easily bites a giant Nile crocodile in half.
The African fat man is also no stranger to cunning and ingenuity. There is a known case when a hippopotamus, while grazing on the shore, was attacked by a lion. Probably, the king of beasts was too hungry, or something happened to his head, because lions usually avoid hippopotamuses. But, one way or another, this lion set his sights on the grass-chewing hippopotamus, and he paid for it. He didn’t even begin to tear him with his fangs and trample him with his strong legs, but simply grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him into the water, where it was deeper. There the poor lion choked to death.
Here's another case: a hippopotamus resting in the river was attacked by... a shark. It was a fairly large (about two meters) specimen of the so-called herring shark, which lives mainly in the ocean. But by some miracle it was carried not just into the Mediterranean Sea, but also into the Nile Delta. And I must say, the herring shark is unusually aggressive and dangerous. Her teeth are long, sharp, curved back and form a continuous palisade. In her element, she does not let anyone through: a fish, a sea animal, a person - everything goes to feed her.
And this predator decided to feast on the hippopotamus, but literally attacked the wrong one. Unlike the case with the lion, the hippopotamus did the opposite with her - he dragged her out. sea monster to the shore and trampled it there. Who will now doubt that hippos have brains?
Of course, there is a predator on earth - cruel and merciless, capable of destroying any animal. This is a man. But people, oddly enough, don’t need anything from hippos (as, in fact, hippos don’t need anything from people). They do not have valuable tusks or horns, and their teeth are not listed on the market. All that a hippopotamus has is just meat, and even that is far from a delicacy. During slavery, whips were made from the skin of hippopotamuses to drive slaves, but slavery was officially abolished, and the production of whips disappeared with it. So even people don’t touch hippos.
And the hippopotamus opens its mouth 180 degrees. In terms of this indicator, no land animal can compare with it; it can simply bite a person in half and crush a boat.
Hippos lead a secluded life. You can walk several kilometers along the banks of the Nile and not see a single hippopotamus, and then suddenly it turns out that you passed dozens of animals and simply did not notice them. You can sail a boat a couple of meters from a hippopotamus and not pay attention to it. Among the debris that the Nile carries into the sea, it’s oh so difficult to spot a couple of small black “floats” - this is a hippopotamus escaping the heat, with only its eyes and nostrils exposed. During the day, animals lie at the bottom of the river. Their ears are “plugged” with special membranes that prevent water from entering. So during daylight hours the hippopotamus goes hungry, and only goes out to the promenade at night, and here, in terms of feeding, it has a blast. To feed itself, a hippopotamus has to eat 50-60 kilograms of grass per day.
Of course, among hippos, like any other, there are conflicts. Sometimes during mating season or when distributing food places, it ends in a fight and blood is shed. But often the dispute over brides and territory is resolved quite peacefully. Male hippos periodically find out which of them is bigger. Usually, a contender for power approaches the commander-in-chief of the clan and stands next to him. Both hippopotamuses carefully examine each other, and the one who is not tall shyly retreats back home, and the larger specimen becomes (or remains) the “boss.” A war can only begin if both contenders have the same weight category.
As for hippo traits such as kindness and generosity, here are a few examples.
The famous zoologist Dick Recassel witnessed how one of the antelopes that came to drink was attacked by a crocodile. A hippopotamus resting nearby came to the aid of the animal struggling in the teeth of the alligator. He fought off the antelope from the crocodile, pulled it ashore and began... licking its wounds. " A rare case in the animal world,” comments Recassel. - A real manifestation of mercy, and to a representative of a completely different species! Alas, help came too late. Half an hour later the antelope died from shock and blood loss. But the hippopotamus remained near her for another quarter of an hour, driving away the vultures that had flown down, until the sun forced him to return back to the river.”
And just recently, visitors to a reserve in Kenya had the opportunity to observe the actions of a hippopotamus - almost a professional rescuer. Here is how it was. Wildebeest and zebra crossed the Mara River. The antelope calf, separated from its mother by the current, began to drown. Then a hippo emerged from the water and began to push the baby towards the shore. Soon he safely made it to land and joined his mother, who all this time could only helplessly watch what was happening. Less than ten minutes had passed before the same hippopotamus saved a drowning zebra. He helped her keep her head above the water and, like the “antelope,” pushed her towards dry land.
So these hippos are not such simple animals.
Common hippopotamuses spend almost all their time in water, most often in fresh water bodies. They can occasionally go to sea.
If the animal was previously found in many places globe, then now a very small number of them have survived only in areas south of the Sahara. But even in Africa there are fewer and fewer of them due to the fact that they are being exterminated in large quantities local native population. Hippopotamus meat is their main meat food.
Hippos adapt well to captivity, which is why almost all zoos keep this interesting animal.
Who are hippopotamus and hippopotamus? Many people do not know that these words mean the same animal of the artiodactyl genus. The first name is translated from ancient Hebrew as “beast,” perhaps due to the massiveness of this beast. The second is translated from Greek as “river horse” - hippos really love water.
His body resembles a huge barrel, his legs are thick and so short that his stomach almost drags along the ground when he walks. The length can be up to 4 m, and the weight is simply fantastic - up to 5 tons! After elephants, the hippopotamus is in second place in size, as is the rhinoceros.
The tail is short, but quite mobile, with the help of it it sprays droppings and urine - marks the territory.
The paws have 4 webbed toes. When walking through mud, the toes spread out, and the taut membrane helps prevent slipping and falling through.
The ears are small, but with them he constantly tries to ward off insects. The head resembles a roughly hewn rectangle, and the muzzle is covered with special sensitive hairs.
It contains 36 frightening-looking fang teeth. He uses them as protection or digs the ground.
The eyes are very small, with large folds of the eyelids around them.
These animals communicate unusually with each other - by voice. They even have their own signal sounds to indicate fear, aggression, and danger. They express them with a roar, sometimes the sounds are similar to a horse neighing or grunting. The roar of hippopotamuses is very loud, spreading far across the African expanses.
Hippos live for about 40 years and die more often from diseases. In nature they are not afraid of anyone except the lion. Nobody dares to attack them anymore. And a lion that has encroached on a cub can be drowned in silt by the female in a rage or simply trampled.
The biggest threat is humans. Poaching for hippopotamus meat, tusks and bones is significantly reducing their numbers. Despite the fact that any child knows the phrase “oh, it’s not an easy job to drag a hippopotamus out of the swamp,” these animals have not yet been studied enough. Most likely, this happened because they are difficult to observe, since they spend most of the day in the water.
Do you know what the hippopotamus is doing in this GIF? I'll tell you now.
Hippos do not like to travel; they do not search for food in distant lands, but prefer to grow grass themselves, in their own “garden,” so to speak. They do this in the following way: having limited a certain area for feeding themselves and their family, these animals regularly and diligently fertilize it with their own feces. And in order for the fertilizer to be distributed evenly, the animal “in the process,” so to speak, vigorously twirls its tail, like a propeller. As a result, the hippopotamus’ “vegetable garden,” like that of a good farmer, is always well-fertilized and produces an excellent harvest. And you don’t have to go far to find it.
It is worth noting here that female hippopotamuses, when searching for a betrothed, meticulously monitor not the ability of males to care for the opposite sex, but precisely their success in agriculture. The more powerfully the tail of a male hippo spins, the more feces he produces and the farther he scatters them, the greater the groom’s chances: this means that his family will live in abundance and will not die of hunger. A real marriage of convenience. But perhaps in this case this is the right approach.
In my report on the environment, I will talk about the animal world of one of the six continents on the planet. This is Africa. The fauna of the continent is extremely rich and diverse. Throughout the continent you can find animals, reptiles, birds and insects. They have adapted to life in hot climates.
Fauna of equatorial forests
In the center of the continent is the kingdom of evergreens equatorial forests. The jungle is a paradise for monkeys, gorillas, baboons and other primates. Here they have a lot of food and vines. Dense thickets protect from danger.
Gorilla is the largest representative of primates.
Photo: flickr.com/Scott Chacon
Except for the monkeys, in the wet tropical forests can be found:
- peacocks, banana-eating birds, brightly feathered parrots;
- green mamba, horned and tree vipers and other snakes;
- wild boar, bongo antelope, okapi;
- crocodiles, pygmy hippopotamuses;
- leopards, wild cats, civets.
Most land animals are small in size. They do not have branched horns. They easily make their way through the jungle. It is not herbivores that live here, but animals that feed on leaves and branches.
African leopard - wild cat large sizes and most beautiful beast continent.
Photo: flickr.com/
Savannah
Large animals of the savannah constantly roam. They change pastures. Nature has endowed them with strong legs. Thanks to them, animals can go far to find food and water. They are able to escape from predators or catch up with prey. Many small animals sleep during drought.
Live in the savannah:
- antelopes, elands, gazelles, zebras, buffalos;
- giraffes, African elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses;
- lions, servals, cheetahs, hyenas, jackals and other predators;
- vultures, ostriches, bustards, secretary birds, pelicans, marabou, flamingos and other birds;
- lizards, snakes, turtles;
- termites, ants, bright butterflies, tsetse fly and other insects.
African elephants live in herds and are able to protect their offspring in case of danger.
Photo: flickr.com/Allan Watt
Desert Animals
Sahara, Namib and Kalahari are African deserts. There is no water in them for many kilometers. The air warms up to +60°C, so there is sparse flora and fauna here. But some animals have adapted to such conditions in the following way:
- they can live for a long time without water;
- self-cooling;
- lead a nightlife;
- have pads on their feet for walking on hot sand;
- They are well camouflaged due to their coloring.
the king of this natural area is dromedary camel. In addition to it, in the desert there live, for example, the jerboa, scorpion, fennec fox, and Dorcas gazelle.
Dromedary camels are no longer seen in the wild.
Photo: flickr.com/DennisBernhard
Rare species
There are numerous nature reserves in Africa. Their goal is to preserve and protect representatives of flora and fauna from extinction.
A rare African animal is the okapi. It is a mixture of giraffe, zebra and horse.
Okapi are shaped like a horse or a giraffe, and their limbs are decorated with stripes like a zebra.
Photo: flickr.com/cuatrok77
The fastest wild beast Africa is considered a cheetah. It is listed in the Red Book. TO rare species also include pygmy hippos, wild dogs, dwarf elephants, maned wolves and duikers.
Ecological problems
The fauna of Africa is unique. But it is caused irreparable damage by the thoughtless activities of people.
Environmental problems are associated with:
- insufficient cleaning harmful emissions into air, wastewater.
- deforestation;
- import and disposal of chemical waste and electronic waste from all over the world;
- poaching.
All this leads to the extinction of many species of African animals.
International environmental organizations are active on the continent. For example, Greenpeace is fighting against the barbaric deforestation of tropical forests. Environmental problems Africa is also involved International Union Nature Conservancy (IUCN) and the World Wide Fund wildlife.
For those wishing to get to know the nature of the “dark continent” better, we invite you to study Interesting Facts about animals in Africa. Elephant, buffalo, zebra, lion and rhinoceros... Without a doubt, everyone has heard about these representatives of the African fauna. But how much do we know about their habits, characteristics and abilities?
- The fastest animals on our planet live right here in Africa. This is a lion, wildebeest and cheetah. The latter is capable of reaching phenomenal speeds of up to 110 km/h. True, only for short distances. But this is quite enough for him to hunt effectively.
- The African elephant is considered the heaviest animal on Earth. In addition, he has practically no one to fear in this world, because not a single predator would dare to attack him. On average, an elephant weighs about 6 tons. The only one who can threaten his life is a person.
- But the giraffe is the most high representative planetary fauna. It can reach a height of 4-5 meters. The giraffe's tongue alone is 45 centimeters long. The elongated neck gives this artiodactyl a unique advantage: it can easily gnaw the upper untouched branches of trees.
- The zebra is called the most docile and friendly animal in Africa.. This striped relative of the horse gets along well with other ungulates and often forms mixed herds (with ostriches or antelopes). By the way, ostriches, having long necks, always alert zebras to danger.
- Surprisingly, even penguins live within the hottest continent on the planet! And they feel good. Their colonies are located in Namibia and the Republic of South Africa, where the coasts are washed by cold ocean currents from Antarctica.
- The hippopotamus, although a vegetarian, is considered one of the most... dangerous representatives African fauna. Males are especially unfriendly. While protecting their cubs, they often attack other animals and humans. Hippopotamuses are armed with long and powerful fangs, in addition, they reach speeds of up to 40 km/h. You won’t envy the offender of a hippopotamus: it will be difficult for him to escape from this angry animal.
- Hippos, unlike people, do not need sunscreen. After all, their skin has perfectly adapted to the scorching African Sun. It secretes a special substance that protects the animal from burns.
- Hyenas, renowned scavengers, have the most powerful African predators jaws. They bite harder than a lion or leopard. This feature allows them to grind hard and rough food, including bones, with ease.
- The Nile crocodile is the most large reptile in the world. In the equatorial and subequatorial latitudes of Africa it lives Nile crocodile. Its body reaches a length of 5 meters.
- The African buffalo is a fierce and cunning animal. He often attacks a person first and likes to pretend to be dead in order to mislead the hunter. The horns of this animal are strong; even a bullet fired from a hunting rifle cannot penetrate them.
- The symbol of Africa is the lion - a lazy and idle predator.. So, the king of beasts sleeps 20 hours a day. Only severe hunger can force him to hunt.
- Black and white rhinoceros– long-lived animals of the continent. On average they live 50-60 years.
- The most amazing animal in Africa - okapi. It is called differently: Johnson's horse and forest giraffe. Not everyone manages to see okapi in person. Outwardly, it resembles a hybrid of a horse, giraffe and zebra.
- The Tsetse fly is the most dangerous insect in Africa. Over 100 thousand people die from its bite every year! A fly can bite a person or animal in a matter of seconds, infecting them with sleeping sickness.
- The “Five African Animals” (elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, lion and leopard) adorn the banknotes of the Republic of South Africa. These animals appeared on the obverse of banknotes of this state in the 1990s. The most expensive R200 note features a leopard.
Africa is one of the most large continents(second in size only to Eurasia). It is divided into almost two equal halves by the equator line, respectively, from the tropics in the North through the equator and to the tropics in the South (only the very outskirts of Africa are slightly subtropical). The climate can be perfectly imagined without long-winded opuses - heat with great intensity day/night. The nature of Africa should be considered by conditionally dividing it into North and South.
A billion people live on a huge area of 30.3 million square kilometers, a seemingly expanse of 30 square kilometers, but people live extremely unevenly across the continent. This is due to severe climatic conditions, water availability (shortage of quality drinking water reaches almost the size of its apogee). More than two thirds of the population are poor. In the North - the Mediterranean Sea, East and Northeast - the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, West - Atlantic Ocean. Africa is unusual, harsh and amazing.
Flora of Africa
North Africa
Africa, located above the equator, is almost all on the Sahara Plate. The relief is a system of plateaus and plateaus with erosion ulcers, which time immemorial originated on this part of the continent. Before talking about the plants of North Africa, you need to clearly understand that in summer in this part of the continent it can be up to 60 degrees Celsius with a “+” mark, “cold” winter - from 15 to 30 degrees Celsius.
Plants have evolved to grow in such conditions. Two subregions can be distinguished - the desert-tropical Sahara and the savannas of Sudan. About 1.2 thousand plant species have adapted to live in such extreme conditions- it is objectively clear that these are xerophytes and ephemerals, with rare exceptions you can meet representatives of other species.
South Africa
But South Africa is very special and more welcoming. More and more new plant species are taking root in this part of the continent, and now, for example, flowering plants, there are already more than 24,000 species. All of Europe together cannot compete with such diversity; this is almost 10% of the world's plants of this type.
The most favorable for them is a strip of 200 kilometers in width on the coast of the South-West of South Africa (vector - from the West (Clanwilliam) to the East (Port Elizabeth). The Cape kingdom of flora stretches over an area of 5.5 thousand square kilometers, which has a unique species composition plants.
There is no such concentration of so many plant species in a tiny area anywhere in the world. The flora of tropical rainforests stood nearby. For example, near Cape Town (Table Mountain) there are 1.5 thousand plant species in 60 square kilometers.
African fauna
North Africa
Both for plants and animals, North Africa is extremely harsh, demanding in terms of adaptability, the ability to survive and adapt to the most difficult conditions. Very few animals have chosen this region as their home. And those who have chosen are under constant threat of extinction. The following are disappearing: mammals - 40 species (9 species are already on the verge), birds - 10 species, reptiles - 7 species, fish - 1 species.
But although there are few animal species in the North, there are a lot of individuals of these few that were able to adapt. They are very mobile and travel for kilometers in search of food and food.
Typical animals of the Sahara, for example, are antelopes (oryx, addax), gazelles (dama, dorcas), Mountain goat. The value of skins and edibility are the most terrible enemies of animals; they, more than other factors, served as the engine of their gradual movement towards extinction.
There are both migratory and local birds. The desert raven is especially common.
Snakes, turtles, lizards - represent the world of reptiles of North Africa. You can also find a crocodile in some natural water reservoirs.
South Africa
And again - the South is not the North, no matter how banal it sounds. Species diversity animal world South Africa affects any person. Home to more than 500 species of birds, about 100 species of reptiles, many amphibians and insects.
Many residents of other continents go there specifically to see with their own eyes " big five" These are lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros, elephant. They are a universally recognized calling card of Southern Africa.
The stunning diversity of fauna is abundantly represented by rare, exotic animals. Nowhere in the world are there so many stunning individuals. But there are also problems. The problem is the person himself. It exterminates, destroys, and interferes with amazing representatives of nature. Poaching, illegal shooting, and improper management are the enemies of animals in Southern Africa.
There's a lot to think about. After all, whether we show our children and grandchildren amazing images of individuals who existed with us but have passed into history, or maybe we show them to them with our own eyes, depends only on us.
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