A Trip To The African Savanna

A Trip to the African Savanna(Virtual Tour))

An Interactive Power PointBy Jill TuttenED 205 - 033rd-5th grade

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Mammals in the African Savanna

• What is a Savanna?

• Elephant• Lion• Zebra• Cheetah• Giraffe• Gazelle• Hippopotamus

•Lemur •Rhinoceros •Meerkat•Sengi

•Living Together•About the Author•Resources

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What is a Savanna??

• The African savanna is a rolling grassland dotted with trees.

• Africa has a wet season and dry season.

• The animals in Africa are well adapted to deal with the changes in wet or dry season.

• There are 45 species of mammal in Africa.

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Elephant • On average elephants are 10 feet tall and

the largest land animal by weight!!• They use their trunks to breathe out of

and even use it as an arm like we would.– The trunk has two grasping extensions (like

fingers) that can grab onto things. The truck can also be used to suck up water to squirt into their mouth.

• The adult females usually live together in a small herd where as males usually live alone.

• The elephants usually migrate in-between the dry and wet season because they have to move to a place with more vegetation.

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To view an African Elephant in its habitat click on the picture above.

Lion

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•Lions hunt and live together in groups called prides.•Normally the females do the hunting and work together to take down their pray.

•Lions feed on zebras, wildebeest and can even take down giraffes, hippos and young elephants.•They are the biggest predator in Africa.

Zebra• Zebras strips are unique to each

individual like a human finger print.

• They are found to live in small to large herds.

• The strips are used as camouflage because most of their strips are vertical and their main predator (the lion) is color blind. – This allows them to hide in the grass.

• When chased zebras will run zig-zag from side to side to attempt to escape from predators.

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Cheetah

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•The cheetah is the fastest land animalsand can move up to 75 mph in short bursts.• They can reach 43 mph under 2

seconds giving them the ability to catch prey.

•When mother cheetahs have young that are about 6 months old they are know to bring home live prey for their young to practice killing techniques.• Cheetahs have a tear mark leading from their eyes to their mouth while leopards do not.

Giraffe

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•Giraffes also live in herds.•They normally only eat in the morning or at dusk from the tops of trees.•Baby giraffes known as calves grow very quick.• Up to an inch a day!!

•Giraffes sleep standing up!!

•A giraffe has a blue tongue that can stretch out of its mouth more than 40cm.• This makes reaching and

eating leaves easier.•Like zebras each giraffe his its own unique markings.

Gazelle• Gazelle can run at speeds of 50

miles per hour for extended period of time.– This helps them out run

predators.

• Before fleeing gazelle exhibit a behavior of slowly running and then jumping high in the air know as stotting. – They do this to show off their

strength because predators usually go after the weaker prey.

• Like many other animals in Africa they live in herds.

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Hippopotamus • Hippos wallow in the water often

because their skin is very thin and the water keeps them hydrated.

• They normally graze at dusk because the temperature is cooler.– They can eat up to 88 pounds of short

grass in one day!!

• Even though hippos are very large they can gallop at speeds up to 18 mph.

• Hippos are territorial in the water where a bull (male leader) presides over a small stretch of river which contains many females.

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Ring Tailed Lemur • Ring Tailed Lemurs live on the island

of Madagascar which is off the coast of Africa.

• They are very social and live in groups up to 30 individuals.– Which are dominated by females

• As a group activity the lemurs will sometimes sunbath.

• At night they will all huddle together which is know as a lemur ball.

• They are one of the most vocal primates that use many different calls to communicate messages to one another. – To hear click the lemur.

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Rhinoceros • Rhinos belong to the same family

as horses.• Unlike many of the mammals

discussed earlier rhinos mainly live alone.

• They can be aggressive if provoked. First they will snort loudly at an intruder and if the intruder does not leave they will charge.

• Rhinos have think skin and a horn growing out of the middle of their head however the black rhino, as pictured ,has two.

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Meerkat

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•Meerkats live in a group know as a mob, clan, or gang. Most clans have about 20 individuals but some super families can have 50 or more.•Meerkats mostly eat insects but will also eat lizards, snakes, scorpions, etc.•They are partially immune to certain venoms such as scorpion venom.

•Meerkats are small burrowing mammals that build a large network of tunnels with many entrances and exits.•They regularly groom each other to strength bonds among their mob.•If a predator is spotted the meerkat will give a warning bark to all the other meerkats to hide.

Sengi (Elephant Shrew)

• The sengi got its nickname from its long nose that resembles an elephants trunk.

• They feed on insects but will also eat seeds. – The eat by using their tongue to

flick food into their mouth like an anteater.

• They have long legs which they use to move in a hopping motion like a rabbit.

• The sengi are very well camouflage and well adept at dashing away from predators.

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Living Together• Each mammal has its own

niche in the African Savanna. • Some mammals are

predators to others and some just want to be left alone.

• Some eat the leaves from the tops of trees and others graze on the grass below.

• All of the mammals of the African Savanna live together and fight their own battles to survive.

Click on Video Screen above to view video of Animals in Africa living together.

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About the AuthorMy name is Jill Tutten and I ama student at Grand Valley. I ammajoring in Integrated Scienceand I’ll have a minor in elementaryeducation. I enjoy teaching andtalk about science. I would like toteach K-3rd. If you have anycomments or concerns , pleasefeel free to mail me:tuttenj@student.gvsu.edu or clickon the mailbox to send an email.

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Resources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/• http://www.africanfauna.com/• http://www.taggalaxy.com/• http://www.flickr.com/photos/• http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/african_savanna.ht

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• http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/AfricanSavanna/afsavmeet.cfm

• http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=0773D9E1-7D8A-4B91-9C98-D1A47733BF05&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US

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