Animals in Africa

Rhinoceros

Scientific name

Black: Diceros bicornis
White: Ceratotherium simum

Weight

Black: 1 to 1.5 tn. (2,000 to 3,000 lb.)
White: More than 2 tn. (4,000+ lb.)

Size

About 60 in. at the shoulder

Life span

35 to 40 years

Habitat

Grassland and open savanna

Diet

Herbivorous

Gestation

16 months

Predators

Humans

CONSERVATION STATUS:

Critically Endangered

There are 2 species of African rhino

Rhinos can gallop up to 30 miles per hour

Black rhino population down 97.6% since 1960

Habitat

Where do rhinos live?

The African rhino is divided into two species, the black rhino and the white rhino. White rhinos mainly live in South Africa, but they have also been reintroduced to Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe. Southern white rhinos have been introduced to Kenya, Zambia, and Cote d’Ivoire. The majority of the black rhino population—98%—is concentrated in four countries: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Kenya. South Africa houses 40% of the total black rhino population. There are some black rhinos in the region spread between Cameroon and Kenya. (Source)

African Elephant

Scientific Name
Loxodonta africana, Loxodonta cylotis

Common Names
African Bush Elephant, African Forest Elephant

Classification
Mammal

Close Relatives

Elephants are the largest land animals living in the world today, their great stature and thick grey skin gives them an overpowering presence. Africa is home for two of the three living elephant species: the African bush elephant and the African forest elephant. Select a link to access specific information, or continue reading for an overview of African elephants.

Both the African bush elephant and African forest elephant were once considered the same species, known simply as the African elephant. Their classification is still under debate which is a very common occurrence. Traditionally, a species is one that may interbreed with another; therefore it requires proof that African bush elephants may not breed with African forest elephants. Today, a more common approach is sequencing specific parts of the elephant's DNA and comparing the differences (phylogenetics); this may also serve as proof for a new classification. The exact requirements are 'fuzzy' at best, and therefore it is perhaps a decision left up to the reader. Differences in appearance (morphogenetics) are sometimes valid and helpful, but the variance between species can sometimes be misleading, even the variance between in-species males and females is often extreme.

Due to their size, elephants do not have any predators in the wild; even a keen hunter such as a lion may try, but is not able to overpower these creatures. Elephant calves however may be preyed upon particularly if the mother is not nearby, otherwise the mother will often assist in protecting the calf.

Continue on reading about their description

Giraffe

Scientific Name
Giraffa Camelopardalis

Common Names
See overview, below

Classification
Mammal

Close Relatives
Okapi

The giraffe is from the Giraffidae family which has only one other member, the Okapi. The giraffe has a very long list of common names to account for the high number of subspecies. There is only one accepted species of the giraffe, but many subspecies that may one day prove to be a new species. The scientific name Giraffidae camelopardalis represents the family (Giraffidae) and species (camelopardalis). To represent subspecies by their scientific name the species name is abbreviated, followed by the sub species scientific name. The following lists the large number of subspecies with their scientific names: Nubian Giraffe (G. c. camelopardalis), Somali or Reticulated Giraffe (G. c. reticulata), Smoky or Angolan Giraffe (G. c. angolensis), Kordofan Giraffe (G. c. antiquorum), Maasai or Kilimanjaro Giraffe (G. c. tippelskirchi), Rothschild, Baringo or Ugandan Giraffe (G. c. rothschildi), South African Giraffe (G. c. giraffa), Thornicroft or Rhodesian Giraffe (G. c. thornicrofti), and the West African or Nigerian Giraffe (G. c. peralta).

Giraffes move in loose herds on the open woodlands and grasslands of the African Savannah. Eating mostly at dusk and dawn on leaves and fruit, the Giraffe's main food source is the acacia tree. They will drink where possible, but can survive where it is in short supply. To drink, a Giraffe must spread its front legs so its head can reach the water. It has a distinctive walking style as it moves both legs on the same side forward at the same time. At a gallop, the Giraffe can reach speeds of up to 55 km/hour and rhythmically moves its head backwards and forwards to pull forward its weight. Even though the Giraffe is a quiet animal, it does make a distinctive flute-like noise as well as grunts and moans. It has a sharp sense of hearing and can alert animals of nearby predators. Giraffe are not territorial; however they will stay within a certain area and have a male hierarchy. Mating can occur at any time of the year and calves are born after a gestation of 16 months. When caring for their young, the female Giraffe will leave their calves together during the day to feed. A calf will grow very fast when young, even up to an inch per day. By two months, the calf will be feeding on leaves and by six months, it will be quite independent of its mother. Full grown, a Giraffe will grow up to four to six meters and live up to 28 years (in captivity, not as long in the wild). The Giraffe does not have many predators, but if threatened, the Giraffe has two defence methods, it will kick its aggressor with its front legs or it will use its long neck and densely boned skull as a mallet against another Giraffe. The main predator of the Giraffe is the human. Not many African animals will attack a full grown Giraffe, but a calf will be attacked, usually by a Hyena. 

Vervet Monkey

Scientific Name

Chlorocebus pygerythrus            

Common Names

Vervet 

Classification

Mammal             

Close Relatives

The vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), or simply vervet, is an Old World monkey of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa. The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus Chlorocebus. The five distinct subspecies can be found mostly throughout Southern Africa, as well as some of the eastern countries. Vervets were transported to the islands of Barbados, Saint Kitts, and Nevis in conjunction with the African slave trade.  They inhabit East Africa near a source of water, these mostly vegetarian monkeys have black faces and grey body hair color, ranging in length from about 19 in (50 cm) for males to about 16 in (40 cm) for females.

In addition to very interesting behavioral research on natural populations, vervet monkeys serve as a nonhuman primate model for understanding genetic and social behaviors of humans. They have been noted for having human-like characteristics, such as hypertension, anxiety, and social and dependent alcohol use. Vervets live in social groups ranging from 10 to 70 individuals, with males changing groups at the time of sexual maturity. The most significant studies done on vervet monkeys involve their communication and alarm calls, specifically in regard to kin and group recognition and particular predator sightings.  Read more >>

Source: http://www.africanfauna.com/

Read More

AFRICAN TRIBES

Afar

The Afar people live primarily in Ethiopia and the areas of Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia in the Horn of Africa.

The Afar are also known as the Danakil, an ethnic group in the Horn of Africa. They primarily live in the Afar Region of Ethiopia and in northern Djibouti, although some also inhabit the southern point of Eritrea. Afars speak the Afar language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family.

  

 Anlo-Ewe

The Anlo-Ewe people are today in the southeastern corner of the Republic of Ghana. They settled here around 1474 after escaping from their past home of Notsie.

The Anlo Ewe are a sub-group of the Ewe people of approximately 6 million people, inhabiting southern Togo, southern Benin, southwest Nigeria, and south-eastern parts of the Volta Region of Ghana; meanwhile, a majority of Ewe are located in the entire southern half of Togo and southwest Benin. They are a patrilineal society governed by a hierarchal, centralized authority. Their language (self-name Anlogbe) is a dialect of the Ewe language, itself part of the Gbe language cluster. The Ewe religion is centered on a supreme god Mawu and several intermediate divinities.

Amhara

The Amhara are the politically and culturally dominant ethnic group of Ethiopia. They are located primarily in the central highland plateau of Ethiopia and comprise the major population element in the provinces of Begemder and Gojjam and in parts of Shoa and Wallo. The Amhara (Amharic: አማራ?, Āmara; Ge'ez: አምሐራ,ʾÄməḥära) are an ethnic group inhabiting the central highlands of Ethiopia. According to the 2007 national census, they numbered 30,870,651 individuals, comprising 30.89% of the country's population. They speak Amharic, an Afro-Asiatic language of the Semitic branch, and are one of the Habesha peoples.

  

Ashanti
The Ashanti live in central Ghana in western Africa approximately 300km. away from the coast. The Ashanti are a major ethnic group of the Akans in Ghana, a fairly new nation, barely more than 50 years old. Ashanti, or Asante (pronunciation: /ˈæʃɑːnˈtiː/ a-shahn-tee), are a nation and Akan people who live predominantly in, and native to Ashanti, Asanteman, and in Ghana and Ivory Coast. They speak the Akan language and the Asante dialect, and are of Akan origin. Prior to European colonization, the Ashanti people developed a large and influential empire in West Africa. The Ashanti later developed the powerful Ashanti Confederacy or Asanteman and became the dominant presence in the region. The Asantehene is the political and spiritual head of the Asantes.

                                                         


Bakongo

The Bakongo people (aka. the Kongo) dwell along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire, Congo (Brazzaville) to Luanda, Angola.

The Bakongo, or the Kongo people (Kongo: “hunters”), also referred to as the Congolese, are a Bantu ethnic group who live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire(Republic of Congo) to Luanda, Angola. They are primarily defined by the speaking of Kikongo, a common language. They are the largest ethnic group in the Republic of Congo.

In the late 20th century, they numbered about 10,220,000.

Bambara

The Bambara are a large Mande racial group located mostly in the country of Mali but also in Guinea, Burkina Faso and Senegal, west Africa.  They are considered to be amongst the largest Mandé ethnic groups, and are the dominant Mandé group in Mali, with 80% of the population speaking the Bambara language, regardless of ethnicity.

Bemba

The Bemba are located in the northeastern part of Zambia and are the largest ethnic group in the Northern Province of Zambia.

The Bemba (or 'BaBemba' using the Ba- prefix to mean 'people of', and also called 'Awemba' or 'BaWemba' in the past) belong to a large group of Bantu peoples mainly in the Northern, Luapula and Copperbelt Provinces of Zambia who trace their origins to the Luba and Lunda states of the upper Congo basin, in what became Katanga Province in southern Congo-Kinshasa (DRC). They are the largest ethnic group in Zambia. Bemba history is a major historical phenomenon in the development of chieftainship in a large and culturally homogeneous region of central Africa.

Berber

Berbers have lived in Africa since the earliest recorded time. References date back to 3000 BC. There are many scattered tribes of Berber across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt.
The Berbers (Berber: Imazighen/Imaziyenin plural, and Amazigh in singular) are the ethnicity indigenous to North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are distributed from the Atlantic Ocean to the Siwa Oasis in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Niger River. Historically they spoke Berber languages, which together form the "Berber branch" of the Afro-Asiatic language family.  Since the Muslim conquest of North Africa in the seventh century, a large portion of Berbers have spoken varieties of Maghrebi Arabic, either by choice or obligation.  Foreign languages like French and Spanish, inherited from former European colonial powers, are used by most educated Berbers in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia in some formal contexts such as higher education or business.

Bobo

The Bobo people have lived in western Burkina Faso and Mali for centuries although the area occupied by the Bobo extends north into Mali. They are known for their masks which are worn with elaborate outfits for celebrations. Primarily agricultral people they also cultivate cotton which they use to trade with others. 

In much of the literature on African art the group that lives in the area of Bobo-Dioulasso is called area of Bobo-Dioulasso is called Bobo-Fing, literally 'black Bob.' These people call themselves Bobo and they speak the Bobo language, a Mande Language.

Bushmen/San

The 'Bushmen' are the oldest inhabitants of southern Africa, where they have lived for at least 20,000 years. Their home is in the vast expanse of the Kalahari desert.

The San people (or Saan), also known as Bushmen, or Basarwa – all considered pejorative to some degree – are members of various indigenous hunter-gatherer peoples of Southern Africa, whose territory spans Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. There is a significant linguistic difference between the northern people living between the Okavango River in Botswana and Etosha National Park in northwestern Namibia, extending up into southern Angola; the central people of most of Namibia and Botswana, extending into Zambia and Zimbabwe; and the southern people in the central Kalahari towards the Molopo River, who are the last remnant of the previously extensive indigenous San of South Africa.

Chewa

The Chewa, also known as the Cewa or Chichewa is an African culture that has existed since the beginning of the first millennium, A.D. They are primarily located in Zambia, Zimbabwe, with the bulk of the population in Malawi.

There are two large Chewa clans, the Phiri and the Banda, with a population of 1.5 million people. The Phiri are associated with the kings and aristocracy, the Banda with healers and mystics.

Dogon  The Dogon are a cliff-dwelling people who live in Southeastern Mali and Burkina Faso. Among the people groups in Africa they are unique in that they have kept and continued to develop their own culture even in the midst of Islamic invasions which have conquered and adapted many of the current people groups

Fang

The Fang are especially known for their guardian figures which they attached to wooden boxes containing bones of the ancestors. The bones, by tradition, are said to contain the power of the dead person, in fact, the same amount of power that the person had while still alive.

Fon

The Fon of Benin, originally called Dahomey until 1975, are from West Africa. The Fon are said to have originated in the area of Tado, a town in Tago, at approximately the same latitude as Abomey, Benin.

Most Fon today live in villages and small towns in mud houses with corrugated iron gable roofs. Cities built by the Fon include Abomey, the historical capital city of Dahomey, and Ouidah on the Slave Coast. These cities were major commercial centres for the slave trade.

The Fon founded the Kingdom of Dahomey around 1600. During the early 17th century, the King of Dahomey, Agaja (reigned 1708-1732), conquered most of the current area of southern Benin (except Porto-Novo), to establish direct contact with European traders.

Fulani The Fulani people of West Africa are the largest nomadic group in the world, primarily nomadic herders and traders. Through their nomadic lifestyle, they established numerous trade routes in West Africa. They played a significant role in the rise and fall of the Mossi states in Burkina and also contributed to the migratory movements of people southward through Niger and Nigeria into Cameroon.

Ibos (Igbo) from Nigerian the Ibos live in villages that have anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand people comprised of numerous extended families.

The Ibos do not wear any clothing until they reach puberty and adults begin to wear pieces of cloth and loose cotton shirts.  Women often wear cloth wrapped around their heads as well.

In rural areas of Nigeria, Igbo people are mostly craftsmen, farmers and traders. The most important crop is the yam; celebrations are held annually to celebrate its harvesting. Other staple crops include cassava and taro.

Kikuyu (Gikuyu)

Having migrated to their current location about four centuries ago, the Kikuyu now make up Kenya’s largest ethnic group.

The Kikuyu are of Bantu origin inhabiting Southeast Africa.  They constitute the single largest ethnic group in Kenya, and are concentrated in the vicinity of Mount Kenya.  The exact place that the Kikuyu's ancestors migrated from after the initial Bantu expansion from West Africa is uncertain.

Credit: wikipedia(Maasai warriors jumping)

Maasai

The Maasai, famous as herders and warriors, once dominated the plains of East Africa. Now however they are confined to a fraction of their former range.

The Maasai (sometimes spelled "Masai") are a Nilotic ethnic group of semi-nomadic people inhabiting southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best known local populations due to their residence near the many game parks of Southeast Africa, and their distinctive customs and dress.

Mandinka

The Mandinka (also known as Mandinko or Mandingo) are an ethnic group that live in West Africa, primarily Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau, but some also live in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Cote d'Ivoire.

They are the descendants of the Mali Empire, which rose to power under the rule of the great Mandinka king Sundiata Keita. The Mandinka in turn belong to West Africa's largest ethnolinguistic group, the Mandé, who account for more than twenty million people (including the Dyula, Bozo, Bissa and Bambara). Today, over 99% of Mandinka in Africa are Muslim.

Pygmies

There are many different 'Pygmy' peoples – for example, the Bambuti, the Batwa, the Bayaka and the Bagyeli ('Ba -' means 'people') – who live scattered over a huge area in central and western Africa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Congo (Brazzaville), Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.

A pygmy is a member  of an ethnic group whose average height is unusually short; many anthropologists define pygmy as a memeber of any group where adult men are on average less than 150 cm (4 feet 11 inches) tall.

Credit: flickr.com

Samburu
The Samburu are related to the Masai although they live just above the equator where the foothills of Mount Kenya merge into the northern desert and slightly south of Lake Turkana in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya.

Senufo

The Senufo are a group of people living in northern Cote d'Ivoire and Mali. They are known as excellent farmers and are made up of a number of different groups who moved south to Mali and Cote d'Ivoire in the 15 and 16th centuries.

Tuareg The Tuareg people are predominently nomadic people of the sahara desert, mostly in the Northern reaches of Mali near Timbuktu and Kidal.

Wolof

Credit: forumbiodiversity.com

The Wolof are one of the largest people groups that inhabit modern-day Senegal. They live anywhere from the desert area of the Sahara to the rain forests. Traditionally many Wolof lived in small villages governed by an extended family unit but now most Wolof move to cities where they are able to get jobs.

Credit: nairaland.com

Yoruba

The Yoruba people live in Southwest Nigeria and Benin. They have developed a variety of different artistic forms including pottery, weaving, beadwork, metalwork, and mask making.

Zulu children Source: africaguide.com

Zulu children

Source: africaguide.com

Zulu

The Zulu are the largest ethnic group in South Africa. They are well known for their beautiful brightly colored beads and baskets as well as other small carvings.

Read More

Deserts of Africa

Credit: wikipedia (Dunes of Algeria)

Deserts of Algeria‎ - The Algerian Desert (Arabic: الصحراء الجزائرية‎) is a located in north-central Africa and is part of the Saharan Africa. The desert occupies more than four-fifths of the Algerian territory. Its expansion starts from the Saharan Atlas, more or less as a stony desert and the farther inland you get the more of a sand dune desert it becomes. In the southwestern parts is the mountain range Tassili n'Ajjer located. This area is a subject of great archaeological interest and was put up on the "World Heritage List" by UNESCO in 1982. The highest official temperature was 50.6 °C (123.1 °F) at In Salah.

Credit: wikipedia (Grand Erg Occidental)

The Grand Erg Occidental (Arabic: العرق الغربي الكبير‎, al-ʿIrq al-Gharbī al-Kabīr), (also known as the Western Sand Sea) is the second largest erg in northern Algeria, behind the Grand Erg Oriental. This true desert region receives less than 25 cm (10 in) of rainfall per year. It contains no human villages and there are no roads through it.

Credit: wikipedia (Grand Erg Oriental)

The Grand Erg Oriental (English: 'Great Eastern Sand Sea') is a large erg or "field of sand dunes" in the Sahara desert. Situated for the most part in Saharan lowlands of northeast Algeria, the Grand Erg Oriental covers an area some 600 km wide by 200 km north to south. The erg's northeastern edge spills over into neighbouring Tunisia.

Deserts of Botswana

Credit: wikipedia (Kalahari Desert)

The Kalahari Desert (in Afrikaans Kalahari-woestyn) is a large semi-arid sandy savannah in southern Africa extending 900,000 square kilometres (350,000 sq mi), covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa. A semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains, the Kalahari supports more animals and plants than a true desert, such as the Namib Desert to the west. There are small amounts of rainfall and the summer temperature is very high. The driest areas usually receive 110–200 millimetres (4.3–7.9 in) of rain per year,and the wettest just a little over 500 millimetres (20 in). The surrounding Kalahari Basin covers over 2,500,000 square kilometres (970,000 sq mi) extending farther into Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and encroaching into parts of Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Kalahari is home to many migratory birds and animals. Previously havens for wild animals from elephants to giraffes, and for predators such as lions and cheetahs, the riverbeds are now mostly grazing spots, though leopards and cheetahs can still be found. The area is now heavily grazed and cattle fences restrict the movement of wildlife. Among deserts of the southern hemisphere the Kalahari most closely resembles some Australian deserts in its latitude and its mode of formation.  Read more >>

Source: wikipedia

Read More

The Lost Kingdoms of Africa

Credit: historyfiles.co.uk

The Lost Kingdoms of Africa

Read More

Cameroon

Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon (French: République du Cameroun), is a country in the west Central Africa region. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of Bonny, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. The country is often referred to as "Africa in miniature" for its geological and cultural diversity. Natural features include beaches, deserts, mountains, rainforests, and savannas. The highest point is Mount Cameroon in the southwest, and the largest cities are Douala, Yaoundé and Garoua. Cameroon is home to over 200 different linguistic groups. The country is well known for its native styles of music, particularly makossa and bikutsi, and for its successful national football team. French and English are the official languages.

Early inhabitants of the territory included the Sao civilisation around Lake Chad and the Baka hunter-gatherers in the southeastern rainforest. Portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and named the area Rio dos Camarões (Shrimp River), which became Cameroon in English. Fulani soldiers founded the Adamawa Emirate in the north in the 19th century, and various ethnic groups of the west and northwest established powerful chiefdoms and fondoms. Cameroon became a German colony in 1884 known as 'Kamerun".

After World War I, the territory was divided between France and Britain as League of Nations mandates. The Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC) political party advocated independence, but was outlawed by France in the 1950s. It waged war on French and UPC militant forces until 1971. In 1960, the French-administered part of Cameroon became independent as the Republic of Cameroun under President Ahmadou Ahidjo. The southern part of British Cameroons merged with it in 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. The country was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon in 1972 and the Republic of Cameroon in 1984.

Compared with other African countries, Cameroon enjoys relatively high political and social stability. This has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, railways, and large petroleum and timber industries. Nevertheless, large numbers of Cameroonians live in poverty as subsistence farmers. Power lies firmly in the hands of the authoritarian president since 1982, Paul Biya, and his Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party. The English-speaking territories of Cameroon have grown increasingly alienated from the government, and politicians from those regions have called for greater decentralization and even secession (for example: the Southern Cameroons National Council) of the former British-governed territories.

Cameroon Landmarks And Attractions

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameroon

Read More