Our Wildlife Wonders
by Jan MeyntjesSouth Africa's wildlife wonders
Cities have grown, much land has been given over to farming, hunting has wiped out entire herds, and the times when a herd of springbok could take days to pass through a
Yet, thanks to the foresight of conservationists past and present,
The crocodile ... and other reptiles
The Big Five
Best known are the mammals, and the best known of these are the famous Big Five: elephant, lion, rhino, leopard and buffalo. Not that giraffe, hippo or whale are small ...
The white rhino has also been brought back from the brink of extinction and now flourishes with a Kruger population of nearly 3 000 and 1 600 in the
Both these parks are home to all five of the big ones, as are other major reserves in
The big cats
The lion tops the food chain - and the glamour stakes. But it does have one formidable enemy in people, who have expelled it from most of the country so that it now remains almost exclusively in conservation areas.
The beautiful leopard survives in a larger area, including much of the southern
The third of the famous big cats is particularly fascinating. The cheetah is the speed champ, capable of dashes of almost 100 kilometres an hour. However, vulnerable to the loss of cubs to other predators, the cheetah's population is comparatively small and confined mostly to the far north (including the
Lesser known wildlife
Other quintessentially African large animals are the hippo, giraffe, kudu, wildebeest (the famous gnu) and zebra, all frequently seen in South Africa's conservation areas.
Heightened awareness, however, has created an increased appreciation of lesser known animals. A sighting of the rare tsessebe, a relative of the wildebeest, may cause as much excitement as the sight of a lion pride stretched out under a bushveld thorn tree. And while one can hardly miss a nearby elephant, spotting the shy little forest-dwelling suni (Livingstone's antelope) takes sharp eyes and is cause for self-congratulation.
On the really small scale, one could tackle the challenge of ticking off each of
Over 200 mammal species
With well over 200 species, a short survey of
In terms of appeal, primates rate highly. In
Dassies - hyraxes, residents of rocky habitats - and meerkats - suricates, familiar from their alert upright stance - have tremendous charm, although the dassie can be an agricultural problem.
The secretive nocturnal aardvark (which eats ants and is the only member of the order Tubulidentata) and the aardwolf (which eats termites and is related to the hyena) are two more appealing creatures, and both are found over virtually the whole of the country.
And for those who like their terrestrial mammals damp, there is the widely distributed
One mammal whose charm is newly acquired is the wild dog or Cape hunting dog, one of the most endangered mammals in
They are found in small numbers in the
More common canine carnivores are the hyena, jackal and bat-eared fox. Besides those already mentioned, felines include the caracal with its characteristic tufted ears, the African wild cat and the rare black-footed cat. Other flesh eaters include the civet, genet and several kinds of mongoose.
The plant eaters are particularly well represented by various antelope, from the little duiker to the large kudu and superbly handsome sable antelope, which is found only in the most northerly regions.
Mammals take to the air, too: South Africa is well endowed with bat species.
Marine mammals and fish
And they take to the sea. The largest mammal of all - in
But of the eight whale species found in South African waters (including the dramatic black-and-white killer whale), the most frequently seen by humans is the southern right whale. This imposing creature comes into coastal bays to calve, allowing for superb land-based viewing.
The southern right whale represents one of conservation's success stories. Once considered the "right" whale to hunt, its population became so depleted that it was designated a protected species. With the greater familiarity that their return to the coastal bays has produced, they are now as well loved as the many dolphins in our coastal waters.
The crocodile ... and other reptiles
Less generously endowed with freshwater fish - 112 named species, a mere 1.3% of the world total - South Africa nonetheless has one river-dweller that is, as much as any of the Big Five, a symbol of Africa. The crocodile still rules some stretches of river and estuary, lakes and pools, exacting an occasional toll in human life.
Other aquatic reptiles of note are the sea-roaming loggerhead and leatherback turtles, the focus of a major community conservation effort at their nesting grounds on the northern
South Africa's land reptiles include rare tortoises and the fascinating chameleon. There are well over 100 species of snake. While about half of them, including the python, are non-venomous, others - such as the puff adder, green and black mamba, boom slang and rinkhals - are decidedly so.
The country's comparative dryness accounts for its fairly low amphibian count - 84 species. To make up for that, however,
Birdlife
Birders from around the world come to
Of the 850 or so species that have been recorded in
Apart from the resident birds,
One small area alone, around the town of
A birder need not move out of a typical
Among the most spectacular birds of South Africa are the cranes, most easily spotted in wetlands - although the wattled crane is a lucky find as it is extremely uncommon. The beautiful blue crane is
Among its larger bird species,
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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.