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Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Central Kalahari Game Reserve is an extensive national park in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana. Established in 1961 it covers an area of (larger than the Netherlands, and almost 10% of Botswana's total land area), making it the second largest game reserve in the world. History The Bushmen, or San, have inhabited the lands for thousands of years since they roamed the area as nomadic hunters. However, since the mid-1990s the Botswana government has tried to relocate the Bushmen from the reserve, claiming they were a drain on financial resources despite revenues from tourism. In 1997, three quarters of the entire San population were relocated from the reserve, and in October 2005 the government had resumed the forced relocation into resettlement camps outside of the park leaving only about 250 permanent occupiers. In 2006 a Botswana court proclaimed the eviction illegal and affirmed the Bushmen's right to return to living in the reserve. However, as of 2015 most Bushmen are blocked f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giraffe Standing
The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis'', with nine subspecies. Most recently, researchers proposed dividing them into up to eight extant species due to new research into their mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as morphological measurements. Seven other extinct species of ''Giraffa'' are known from the fossil record. The giraffe's chief distinguishing characteristics are its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones, and its spotted coat patterns. It is classified under the family Giraffidae, along with its closest extant relative, the okapi. Its scattered range extends from Chad in the north to South Africa in the south, and from Niger in the west to Somalia in the east. Giraffes usually inhabit savannahs and woodlands. Their food source is leaves, fruits, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brown Hyena
The brown hyena (''Parahyaena brunnea''), also called strandwolf, is a species of hyena found in Namibia, Botswana, western and southern Zimbabwe, southern Mozambique and South Africa. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Parahyaena''. It is currently the rarest species of hyena.''Chapter 4: Rich Man's Table'' from David MacDonald’s ''The Velvet Claw'' BBC books, 1992 The largest remaining brown hyena population is located in the southern Kalahari Desert and coastal areas in Southwest Africa. The global population of brown hyena is estimated by IUCN at a number between 4,000 and 10,000 and its conservation status is marked as near threatened in the IUCN Red List. Description Brown hyenas are distinguished from other species by their long shaggy dark brown coat, pointed ears, and short tail. Their legs are striped brown and white, and adults have a distinct cream-colored fur ruff around their necks. Erectile hairs up to in length cover the neck and back and bristles d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Wildebeest
The blue wildebeest (''Connochaetes taurinus''), also called the common wildebeest, white-bearded gnu or brindled gnu, is a large antelope and one of the two species of wildebeest. It is placed in the genus '' Connochaetes'' and family Bovidae, and has a close taxonomic relationship with the black wildebeest. The blue wildebeest is known to have five subspecies. This broad-shouldered antelope has a muscular, front-heavy appearance, with a distinctive, robust muzzle. Young blue wildebeest are born tawny brown, and begin to take on their adult coloration at the age of 2 months. The adults' hues range from a deep slate or bluish-gray to light gray or even grayish-brown. Both sexes possess a pair of large curved horns. The blue wildebeest is a herbivore, feeding primarily on short grasses. It forms herds which move about in loose aggregations, the animals being fast runners and extremely wary. The mating season begins at the end of the rainy season and a single calf is usually born a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panthera Leo Melanochaita
''Panthera leo melanochaita'' is a lion subspecies in Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. In this part of Africa, lion populations are regionally locally extinct, extinct in Lesotho, Djibouti and Eritrea, and are threatened by loss of habitat and prey base, killing by local people in retaliation for loss of livestock, and in several countries also by trophy hunting. Since the turn of the 21st century, lion populations in intensively managed protected areas in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe have increased, but declined in East African range countries. In 2005, a Lion Conservation Strategy was developed for East and Southern Africa. Results of a phylogeographic study indicate that lion populations in southern and eastern Africa are forming a major clade distinct from lion populations in West Africa, Central Africa and Asia. In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group subsumed lion populations according to the major clades into two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Leopard
The African leopard (''Panthera pardus pardus'') is the nominate subspecies of the leopard, native to many countries in Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been fragmented in the course of habitat conversion. Leopards have also been recorded in North Africa as well. Taxonomy ''Felis pardus'' was the scientific name used by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' in 1758. His description was based on descriptions by earlier naturalists such as Conrad Gessner. He assumed that the leopard occurred in India. In the 18th and 19th centuries, several naturalists described various leopard skins and skulls from Africa, including: * ''Felis pardus panthera'' proposed by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1778 based on descriptions by earlier naturalists * ''Felis leopardus'' var. ''melanotica'' by Albert Günther in 1885 from the Cape of Good Hope, Southern Africa * ''Felis leopardus suahelicus'' by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Fox
The Cape fox (''Vulpes chama''), also called the asse, cama fox or the silver-backed fox, is a small species of fox, native to southern Africa. It is also called a South African version of a fennec fox due to its similarly big ears. It is the only "true fox" occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, and it retains primitive characteristics of ''Vulpes'' because it diverged early in the evolutionary history of the group. Description ''Vulpes chama'' is a small-built canid, usually measuring long, not including its tail, which is typically . It is tall at the shoulder, and usually weighs from . The skull is very similar to that of '' V. bengalensis'', although the cranium of ''V. chama'' is slightly wider and the maxillary region is slightly shorter. The ears are relatively large and sharp, the muzzle is small and pointed. Pelage colour is silvery-gray, tawny at the back of the ears, with white hairs appearing around the side of the pinna in the center. The colour of the neck and si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bat-eared Fox
The bat-eared fox (''Otocyon megalotis'') is a species of fox found on the African savanna. It is the only extant species of the genus ''Otocyon'' and considered a basal canid species. Fossil records indicate this canid first appeared during the middle Pleistocene. It is named for its large ears, which have a role in thermoregulation. The bat referred to in its colloquial name is possibly the Egyptian slit-faced bat (''Nycteris thebaica''), which is abundant in the region and has very large ears. Although not commonly used, other vernacular names include big-eared fox, black-eared fox, long-eared fox, Delalande's fox, cape fox, and motlosi. Systematics and evolution The bat-eared fox is the only living species of the genus ''Otocyon''. Its scientific name, given by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest, was initially ''Canis megalotis'' (due to its close resemblance to jackals), and later changed by Salomon Müller which placed it in its own genus, ''Otocyon''; its huge ears and different ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black-backed Jackal
The black-backed jackal (''Lupulella mesomelas),'' also called the silver-backed jackal, is a medium-sized canine native to eastern and southern Africa. These regions are separated by roughly 900 kilometers. One region includes the southernmost tip of the continent, including South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. The other area is along the eastern coastline, including Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. It is listed by the IUCN as least concern, due to its widespread range and adaptability, although it is still persecuted as a livestock predator and rabies vector. Compared to members of the genus ''Canis'', the black-backed jackal is a very ancient species, and has changed little since the Pleistocene,Kingdon, J. (1977), ''East African Mammals: An Atlas of Evolution in Africa'', Volume 3, Part A: Carnivores, University of Chicago Press, p. 31 being the most basal wolf-like canine, alongside the closely related side-striped jackal. It is a fox-like a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Wild Dog
The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' Lycaon'', which is distinguished from ''Canis'' by dentition highly specialised for a hypercarnivorous diet, and by a lack of dewclaws. It is estimated that about 6,600 adults (including 1,400 mature individuals) live in 39 subpopulations that are all threatened by habitat fragmentation, human persecution, and outbreaks of disease. As the largest subpopulation probably comprises fewer than 250 individuals, the African wild dog has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1990. The species is a specialised diurnal hunter of antelopes, which it catches by chasing them to exhaustion. Its natural enemies are lions and spotted hyenas: the former will kill the dogs where possible, whilst hyenas are frequent kleptoparasites. Like ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caracal
The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted ears, and long canine teeth. Its coat is uniformly reddish tan or sandy, while the ventral parts are lighter with small reddish markings. It reaches at the shoulder and weighs . It was first scientifically described by German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1776. Three subspecies are recognised. Typically nocturnal, the caracal is highly secretive and difficult to observe. It is territorial, and lives mainly alone or in pairs. The caracal is a carnivore that typically preys upon small mammals, birds, and rodents. It can leap higher than and catch birds in midair. It stalks its prey until it is within of it, after which it runs it down and kills its prey with a bite to the throat or to the back of the neck. Both sexes b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South African Cheetah
The Southeast African cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus jubatus'') is the nominate cheetah subspecies native to East and Southern Africa. The Southern African cheetah lives mainly in the lowland areas and deserts of the Kalahari, the savannahs of Okavango Delta, and the grasslands of the Transvaal region in South Africa. In Namibia, cheetahs are mostly found in farmlands. Taxonomy The Southern African cheetah was first described by German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in his book ''Die Säugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen'' (''The Mammals illustrated as in Nature with Descriptions''), published in 1775. Schreber described the species on basis of a specimen from the Cape of Good Hope. It is therefore the nominate subspecies. Subpopulations have been called "South African cheetah" and "Namibian cheetah." Following Schreber's description, other naturalists and zoologists also described cheetah specimens from many parts of Southern and East A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Warthog
The common warthog (''Phacochoerus africanus'') is a wild member of the pig family (Suidae) found in grassland, savanna, and woodland in sub-Saharan Africa. In the past, it was commonly treated as a subspecies of ''P. aethiopicus'', but today that scientific name is restricted to the desert warthog of northern Kenya, Somalia, and eastern Ethiopia. Subspecies *Nolan warthog (''P. a. africanus'') Gmelin, 1788 – Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan *Eritrean warthog (''P. a. aeliani'') Cretzschmar, 1828 – Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia *Central African warthog (''P. a. massaicus'') Lönnberg, 1908 – Kenya, Tanzania *Southern warthog (''P. a. sundevallii'') Lönnberg, 1908 – Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus sundevallii) female.jpg, Southern warthog ''P. a. sundevallii''female, South Africa Nolan wartho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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