The animals of the Serengeti follow the rains in a clock-wise fashion in search of green grass. The migration consists of approximately 1.5 million Wildebeest, 300 thousand Zebras, and 300 thousand gazelles, and the predator and other animals that travel with them. The animals spend the rainy season from December to June in the open plains below the Ngorongoro Crater where the grass is green. It is here that the Wildebeest and Zebra calves are born.
Food is so abundant that the calves thrive and predators do not significantly diminish their numbers. When rains stop in June, the plains dry out and the animals move west towards Lake Victoria in search of green pasture and rains. Following the rainfalls, in July the migration moves on to the north, into the Masai Mara, where they catch the last rains even in the middle of the dry season. With the onset of the rains in December the Wildebeest move back into the lush Serengeti plains.
Thompson's Gazelles
Using its' keen senses of hearing, sight and smell, the Thompson's Gazelle may be aware of predators, such as lions, before its grazing companions, the Zebra and Wildebeest. If the Gazelle senses danger, the zebra and wildebeest are warned as well.
The Wildebeest and Zebra also help the Gazelles. They trample the taller grasses, which makes it easier for the Gazelles to graze. The Thompson's Gazelle is cinnamon in color, with a small white rump patch, a bold black stripe and facial markings and a black tail. The males are larger than the females and have ridged horns that curve backwards, with the tips curving forward. Females have short, smooth, slim horns, or none at all.
Wildebeests
The Wildebeests of the Serengeti are constantly on the move for green grass and water. For the young that are born during the journey, it is a dangerous trip. Many are lost or killed by predators such as lions, cheetahs and hyenas. A Wildebeest youngster, known as a calf can stand and run within a few minutes of birth. But, they are particularly vulnerable to predators at this young age, so they stay close to their mothers. Within a few days of birth, a calf can run quickly enough to keep up with the herd.
The Wildebeest typically form into smaller herds, but when grass is in short supply, the herd will merge together into large groups of thousands. Wildebeests weigh between 265 and 600 pounds and can live for 20 years.
Burchell's Zebra
The Zebras of the Serengeti are from the Burchell's specie. They look like large stocky ponies. They weigh between 450 and 500 pounds and can live up to 40 years. Amazingly, the stripe pattern of every zebra is different, just like the finger prints of humans. Scientists can identify individual Zebras by comparing patterns, stripe widths, and color. The zebra's stripes perform another function. They serve as a camouflage to protect the Zebras from predators such as lions and hyenas.
Scientists believe that when they stand together in a herd, the mass of stripes can confuse predators by acting as an optical illusion that blends their figures together. A group of 20 Zebras may look like a very large animal that a lion might be wary of attacking. When a family group is attacked, the other zebras form a semicircle, face the predator and watch it, ready to bite or strike should the attack continue. If one of the family is injured the rest will often encircle it to protect it from further attack.
Cape Buffalo and the Big 5 of Africa
You may have read or heard about the Big Five Animals of Africa. These are the five animals that most people on safari want to see. They are: Lions, Leopards, Rhinos, Cape Buffalo and Elephants. If you pay close attention today, you will have a chance to see each of the Big Five on this safari. The Cape Buffalo lives throughout sub-Saharan Africa, from open grassland to forests, mountains, to coastal areas. They need grassy woodland with plenty of water to thrive.
Buffalo are herding animals and can be found in herds of 100-300. Herds are non-territorial, and travel with the seasons, seeking fresh grass and water. Buffalo communicate by body movements and by making sounds. Most sounds are grunts and mumbling sounds that they make to keep contact with each other. Mothers will make a gargling-like call to their calves in time of danger, which the calves reply to. When Buffalo are startled or angry, they will make a loud, explosive grunt. If you hear this sound while out on safari, it is time to leave the area... quickly.
Trees of the Serengeti
The trees of the Serengeti manage to survive despite difficult conditions. Because the animals like to eat their leaves, the trees here have developed ways of protecting themselves. Covered in spines, thorns and hooks they protect themselves from the ever-present plant eating animals. Some trees produce low numbers of steel-like thorns which are incredibly sharp, earning the name of "the puncture-tree" because they can puncture automobile tires. Another tree, known as the "Wait-a-bit Acacia" has opposing hooked thorns which can entangle an animal.
The Umbrella Acacia still has to defend itself from giraffe which love its leaves, even when it is very large. While the inner branches are soft and green, it produces thorns on the outer branches where the Giraffes can reach. But those thorns still don't stop the giraffes! They simply use their 18-inch tongues to reach around the thorns. The Whistling Acacia has a species of stinging ant lives in the fruit of the tree. This of course makes it quite uncomfortable for an animal to lunch on the fruit. Another type of Acacia tree produces an unpleasant chemical in its branches, bark, and wood, earning it the common name of "Stinking Acacia. The odor helps deter animals from eating its leaves.
Giraffes
The Giraffe loves the leaves of various species of acacia trees. The Giraffe uses its 18 inch tongue to reach around the thorns of the acacia tree and eat only the leaves. If it swallows a thorn, the Giraffe's thick sticky saliva coats and provides protection from its sharp point. Giraffes obtain a lot of water from acacia tree leaves. They can go a long time without drinking. When bent over and drinking at a watering hole, Giraffes are vulnerable to predators.
For this reason, they often drink together in herds and take turns watching for predators. At 18 feet in height, Giraffe's are the tallest of all land animals. They weigh up to 3000 pounds and live about 25 years. Their back legs are shorter than their front legs giving them a distinctive walking gait, moving both right legs forward, and then both left legs. At a gallop, however, the Giraffe simultaneously swings the hind legs ahead of and outside the front legs, reaching speeds of 35 miles an hour.
Mt. Kilimanjaro
Mt. Kilimanjaro is the tallest free-standing mountain in the world and the highest peak on the African continent. It rises to 19,336 feet. Kilimanjaro is one of the world's most accessible high summits, and has been climbed by visitors from around the world. Mt. Kilimanjaro is an inactive, triple volcano, which means it has three craters and three peaks.
The volcanoes are inactive but the crater on the main summit of the mountain still emits volcanic gases. Scientists believe that that the volcanoes last erupted more than 100,000 years ago.
Cheetah
Over short distances, a Cheetah can sprint up to 70 miles per hour. The Cheetah's body is perfect for speed--- long muscular legs, a small head set on a long neck, a flexible spine, special pads on its feet for traction and a long tail for balance. Animals Cheetahs prey upon include Gazelles, Impalas, Antelope and birds. The tan color of the fur helps them to blend into tall grass, making them difficult to locate in the wild.
Mothers will help younger cubs to hunt by catching a victim safely by the head, releasing it in close proximity of the cubs, and encouraging them to chase after it and attack. Unlike other big cats, such as Lions and Tigers, cheetahs gently purr and chirp to communicate with each other.
Lions
Lions live in a family, known as a Pride. The average Pride consists of about 15 lions. A typical pride might have 5 to 10 females, their cubs, and 2 or 3 males. The males might be brothers and work together to protect their Pride. When resting, Lions seem to enjoy each others company and exhibit lots of touching, head rubbing, licking and purring. Male Lions will fight other male lions trying to take control of his Pride. If a new male Lion takes over a Pride, he will kill all of the young cubs so he can breed with the females. A male Lion will work hard to defend the Pride from other Lions.
Lions cooperate when they hunt. Working together they can catch and kill animals as large as buffaloes, rhinos, hippos and giraffes. Females do most of the hunting, usually by surprising their victims. The killed animal is not always shared equally within a pride. The males typically eat first. The females will eat before their cubs and may not even share. In addition to their own kills, using intimidation, lions will take over kills made by other animals. Litters consist of two or three cubs that weigh about 3 pounds each. Lions cubs can hunt for themselves when they reach 2 or three years of age, are fully grown between 5 and 6 years and normally live about 13 years.
Hyenas
As you've just learned, spotted Hyenas live Clans, which are like an extended family of grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, and cousins. A Clan can consist of as many as 100 Hyenas. The center of Clan life is the Den, a burrow typical dug by other animal species. The Den is where the cubs are raised and where the Clan gathers. Hyenas establish and defend their territory. Clan members don't always cooperate, and fight often. The females can be aggressive even among themselves and will compete for dominance over each other. Hyenas are very vocal animals.
They communicate through whoops, grunts and whining. They make a laughing noise when they are frightened. They "whoop" when they call the clan together for a hunt or a battle. The spotted hyena scavenges food from other animal kills and hunts on its own. It eats animals of all types and sizes. The powerful jaws and digestive system of the Hyena allow it to process and obtain nutrients even from the skin and bones of a kill.
Vultures
There are five species of vultures in Serengeti, the most common of which is the African White-Backed Vulture known for its fluffy white collar around a long bare neck. The Vulture's digestive system is well-suited to digesting the rotting meat of an animal carcass. The strong acids in their digestive system protect them from any dangerous bacteria in the meat.
Vultures are typically found in large, squabbling groups around animal carcasses. When on safari, guides will look in the sky for groups of vultures flying and descending when searching for a recent kill by Lions or Hyenas.
Leopards
Leopards are among the hardest animals to spot when on safari in the Serengeti. Their camouflage makes them extremely difficult to see on the ground, so looking into tall trees with inclined trunks is the best bet for finding a resting Leopard.
They are nocturnal, mostly sleeping during the day in trees or thick brush and hunting at night. Each Leopard has its own territory, although males and females might share parts of the same territory.
Leopards will hunt for a wide variety of food, including fish, reptiles, birds and mammals such as Rodents, Hares, Hyraxes, Warthogs, Antelopes, Monkeys and Baboons. Lions and Hyenas have been known to take away a Leopard's kill. To prevent this, Leopards bring their kills up into trees.
Ngorongoro Crater
Ngorongoro Crater was formed when a volcano exploded more than 2 million years ago. It is now home to more than 25,000 animals. It is a World Heritage Site, and one of the most unique natural animal habitats in the world.
A large permanent concentration of wild animals can be found in the huge and perfect Crater, the largest un-flooded and un-broken caldera in the world. About 200 feet deep and 185 square miles in area, the Ngorongoro Crater is a breathtaking natural wonder.
Even though animals are free to leave or enter the Crater, most remain because of the plentiful water and food available on the Crater floor throughout the year. Steep inner slopes give way to open grasslands which cover most of the floor with several species of grasses that are the main food source for most of the larger grazing animals.
World Heritage Sites are selected by UNESCO, which is part of the United Nations.
Elephants
The Elephants of the Serengeti live in herds which are led by the matriarch. The matriarch is the oldest female and she can be as much as 60 years old. A herd is made up of one or several family groups consisting of the matriarch's daughters and their children. Matriarchs decide when it is time to eat or move to another area of the Serengeti and the herd rarely strays more than 180 feet from her and each other. When threatened, the herd gathers around the matriarch and moves quickly for cover. Elephants spend as much as 16 hours a day feeding.
That sounds like a lot of eating time, but then, they are very big animals weighing between 7000 and 13,000 pounds. They have several meals during the day and night. Elephants sleep about 5 hours a day, leaning on a tree, standing or lying down. Older elephants teach younger ones. You often see adult elephants "parenting" younger Elephants with trunk slaps or sounds, known as vocalizations.
Elephants have their own language. Elephants rumble or trumpet by blowing through their trunks to communicate with other elephants over long distances. Elephants love to spray themselves with water and then roll around in dirt or dust. A good coat of mud is can protect them from biting insects.
Black Rhinoceros
The number of Black Rhinoceros, also known as Rhino, in Serengeti Park has been reduced to only a handful. Black rhino were once numerous on the Serengeti plains, but their horns are still in demand in many places in the world, resulting in heavy poaching. Poaching is when an animal is illegally killed for its horns, hide or meat. The remaining Black Rhinos in Serengeti Park are under heavy protection by the park's armed anti-poaching rangers to try to ensure their survival. Rhinos are known to have bad tempers especially when they are disturbed.
They have poor eyesight, which is probably why they will sometimes charge without good reason. They have a good sense of smell and hearing. To communicate with other animals they growl, grunt, squeak, and snort. When charging another animal, a Rhino will lower its head, snorts, breaks into a gallop reaching speeds of 30 miles an hour, and strikes powerful blows with its horns.
Kopjes
As you've learned, a Kopje is an isolated rocky hill or knob that rises abruptly from a level surrounding plains. In the Serengeti, Kopjes usually have an abundance of trees and plant life around them.
Many different species of plant life and animals that cannot survive on the plains make their homes in Kopjes. Kopjes provide animals protection from grass fires. When you are on safari, a Kopje is one of the best places to look for animals. Lion are often found high up on the rocks. Kopjes generally have more dew and water for animals, shade and protection against grass fires.
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