Some of the animals we photographed in East Africa
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Masai Giraffe
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Quickfacts
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— also known as the Kilimanjaro Giraffe is a subspecies of giraffe
— have jagged spots on their bodies & 2 to 5 horns on the heads
— a masai can get pregnant at age 4 - about 50 to 75% of the calves die in their first -few months due to predators.
— the mother will try to stab predators such as hyenas or lions with its sharp hooves.
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Reticulated Giraffe
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Quickfacts
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— also known as the Somali Giraffe
— Reticulated Giraffes can interbreed with other giraffe subspecies in captivity or if populations are low in the wild
— has large, polygonal liver-colored spots outlined by a network of bright white lines
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Lion
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Quickfacts
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— not solitary - social system - teamwork and division of labor within the pride
— females do 85 to 90 percent of the pride's hunting - males patrol & protect pride
— laziest of the big cats - 6 to 20 hours a day sleeping & resting
— when lioness is in heat - pair mates every 15 minutes for four to five days.
— hunt as a team forming a semicircle and creep up
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Agama Lizard
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Quickfacts
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— found in open savannahs in Kenya, Ethiopia and throughout East Africa
— terrestrial but also arboreal and prefer to flee to a tree when in danger
— not poisonous, but can give a very painful bite
— prefer to eat ants and termites with occasional beetles and grasshoppers
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Mongoose
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Quickfacts
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— small cat-like carnivores - agile & cunning
— mostly feed on insects, crabs, earthworms, lizards, snakes, and rodents
—when imported into the West Indies for the purpose of killing rats, they destroyed most of the small, ground-based fauna
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