Animals of Kenya

Written by Fenhas Robin, Zoologist

Africa is a continent full of wild animals. Thousand of wild animals are living  in Africa. Africa is land of beauty and most land of Africa has dryness and World’s largest desert is present in Africa. 31% of the Africa is  Sahara desert. The size of Sahara desert is 9 million Km² . Kenya’s biodiversity includes 25,000  animal species. 5 animals of Kenya (Africa)

1. Lion
2. waterbuck
3. Spotted Hyenas
4. Common Eland
5. Elephant

#1: Lion

The lion is a carnivore anima. Lion  also called the king of Jungle. Lion falls in the category of big cats because of their big body size and familiar to cat. These animals have powerful body in the cat family. The adult lion coat can be seen yellow-gold. Only 2000 lion are surviving in Kenya.Habitat: Thick grassland for enough cover for hunting. The lion are more in Asia, Africa and Europe

Foraging Behavior :

“Foraging” means searching of food such as prey. we know that lions are carnivores and only eat meat for their nutrition and survival. Adult lion hunts  large animals such as wildebeest and zebra and and also hunt  small  animals such as deer and wildebeest calf’s. There are different strategies of food locating. Some lion are active in day and some are more  active in night.

For example: In Myewa, lions hunted opportunistically for small pray species during day while at night, the pride actively searched for large prey.  And in Ishasha, lion forages most often during moonless night, where their hunting is much easier.

Territory selection:

Territory selection is depends on the Adult lion of the pride. Adult lion fights with other Lion of other pride to stay in his territory. The Lion who wins the fight will roars loudly  because he has wins territory.  Nutrition:Lions are carnivores and eat only flesh.  

#2: Waterbuck

Waterbuck is a large antelope found widely in Sub- Saharan Africa. Waterbuck found near grassy areas and rivers and water bodies, As the Name mentions that the “water”Habitats: Waterbuck inhabit areas that are close to water in savanna, grasslands, river woodlands south of the Sahara.Nutrition: The basic nutrition of waterbuck is grass near river and leaves from woodland tress. They are called herbivores and also called grazers (Grass Eaters)

#3: Spotted Hyena

Spotted Hyenas are also found in Kenya. Spotted Hyenas are also know as laughing hyenas. There are three types of hyenas

1)Spotted hyenas

2) Brown Hyenas (Strand wolf Hyenas)

3) Striped Hyenas

• ( Largest Hyenas are Spotted Hyenas)
• (Brown Hyenas are the rarest speice of hyenas)

Nutrition::  Spotted hyenas kill 95% of the animals they eat but striped hyenas are largely scavengers( Eat dead animals)

Habitat: Spotted hyenas are found in all habitats including savannas, grasslands, woodlands, forest edges , sub deserts.   

#4: Common Eland

Common Elands are also know as southern eland or eland antelope.The Maximum speed of Eland is 40 km/h.Eland are the largest antelope on the Earth. Elands are herbivores.Nutrition: Grasses, seeds, leaves, fruits and herbs.Habitat: Grassland, mountain, acacia savanna, miomba woodland.

#5: Elephant

Elephants are the largest existing  Mammals on the land.There are three speices of Elephant 1)The African bush elephant 2)The African forest elepant 3) The Asian Elephant. Habitats: Elephants live in diverse habitats include, forest, savannas, grasslands and deserts. The Interseting fact of elephants is that they can store 2.5 gallons of water in their trunk , about 10 liters of water. Elephants can drink 50 gallons of water in a day.Elephants are herbivores and eat grass, fruits and herbs. An Adult elephant can eat 300 pounds of food in a single day.