Why are the carnivores so successful in the nature?

by Peter Philip Travel Consultant and safari guide

On field during Kenya safaris, you will meet the famous cats that roam the savannahs of Kenya. It is their beauty that will steal the moment but the most interesting thing is the evolution of survival that has made them so outstanding among other animals. It is through the eyes of those facts that you are going to see them and once you understand these simple facts, your Safari will be more than your expectations of an African adventure. The following factors are quite basic, but once you apply them in the field, you will turn your safari into a life-time adventure.

What makes them dangerous?
How the body is formed and the size.
How they walk.
Role of the coloration.
How intelligent are they.
What Predatory skills they posses.
Sense development.

1. What makes them dangerous?

Have ever wondered why these animals are considered dangerous? What qualities do they posses in order to be able to survive on preying on others?

Carnivores share large diversity of habitats but at a general close up you will notice that they share a couple of traits that aid them in their daily survival. One of these specialties is their teeth formation. Long and very sharp canines for gripping and tearing the prey. These are also used for stabbing and slashing enemies from other species or even rivals of their own kind. Some of the teeth are specialized for slicing meat and stripping meat from bones. The skull is developed to give added anchorage to the jaw muscles which are extremely strong.

2. How the body is formed.

Typically long and lithe body will be hard to miss. The limbs are well muscled and movable in all directions and usually equipped with strong claws but mostly retractable in the cats family. Usually there are 4 -5 toes and with some heavy padding for utmost silent movements.

3. Some walk on their toes with the heel off the ground and many of them are fast splinters. There is more specialization as you look further into how each one of them is adapted to its habitat and here we will stick to general characteristics prevalent among them. During the safari all will be explained on the individual animal basis.

4. When you look beyond that color that you see when you watch them next to your safari vehicle, what you are going to also look at is the kind of habitat each one is adapted to. It is with this in mind that you will be able to interpret and to relate the coloration to their environment. It is of utmost importance because the distance between the prey and the predator has to be minimal. It is here that the color plays an immeasurable role in camouflage.

5. How to enjoy these sightings will be by observing the alertness that they show. This simply refers to a general awareness and interest around their environs. In addition to these is the ability to have coordinated actions that enables them to go even for prey bigger than themselves. This is facilitated by possession of ability to outwit their victims.

Though there is a lot of specialization with each species, combination of above facts rates their intelligence as very developed hence enabling them to rule over other animals.

6. One of the most interesting things during safaris in Kenya has been to enjoy the beauty of cubs as they grow-up. To be able to have such golden moments to watch these cubs play among them is always a dream come true. Sightings that you cannot afford to miss. But behind the façade of the play lies one of the ways of learning and sharpening their survival knowledge. The play is comprised of rehearsing of fighting and predatory skills as they grow up and it usually takes most of the time of the young ones. Sometimes the cubs will be seen grabbing pieces of sticks and trying to chew them. This strengthens their jaws and at the same time they learn how to grab. This is sharpened further by lessons learnt from their mothers or the rest of the group. In some cases the mother catches and releases fawns and lets the cubs go for it. Usually a case that is more prominent with the cheetah.

7. I have had numerous chances to watch the predators as they go along their day to day life living each and every moment. The sense of smell and hearing are so well developed that some action taking place a few kilometers away can be noted. Cats mostly hunt by sight and have exceptional binocular vision. From the moment of locating far-way prey to tracking it down requires very developed sense of vision and this is one fact that the cats possess .After you watch them for some time you can be able to tell some basic stuff of their behavior and at the end of the day you will be glad that you read this introduction.

In addition, the whiskers help a lot to the sense of touch and other hairs on the body for example on the tail, cheeks and head especially among themselves.

A general remark about the size of the males and females is that except for the lions, the rest have minimal size differences between the males and the females. The lion is the only one of the carnivores that has such a high sex dimorphism. But with most of the males they have bigger canines and in some cases slightly bigger than their females. The hyena is an exception here as their females are bigger but you have a special article on the hyenas on your way later.

That is it for the general facts about the carnivores that you will have a chance to watch on your Safari in Kenya. These carnivores live in different habitats with most of them sharing. In some instances some are nocturnal while others are diurnal. Noticeably, they are enemies of each other. You will be able to watch them on their natural track as you interpret each one of the happenings around you. That alone will be more than your bargain for your safari adventure.