This year Mrs. Starobin's third grade class studied many different aspects of African life. The focus was on Kenya.  As part of this unit, the class researched and wrote about various animals. The children's work was compiled into a book. 

We hope you enjoy and learn many facts from our African Safari Project.

Click on the animal links below to see what we have learned. 

     Cheetahs live in Namibia in Africa. Cheetahs eat any kind of meat. Cheetahs are carnivorous. Cheetahs can also run as fast as a car on the highway with no traffic. An adult cheetah weighs 80-140 pounds. A six week old kid cheetah is strong enough to go hunting. 

      Chimpanzees live on the ground in Africa and Asia. They mostly eat leaves and fruit. They are usually 5 feet tall. The chimpanzee lives 35-40 years. Chimps have very good hearing and vision but a weak sense of smell. They are from the ape family. They have flat fingernails and no claws like other animals do. They have toes and thumbs that go opposite ways so they grab onto trees easily. They behave a lot like humans. They live in dense jungles. The females carry their unborn babies in their stomach for 9 months like humans. They usually have one baby at a time but sometimes they might have twins. 

     Some members of the crocodile family are the largest living reptiles. They can grow to about 23 feet and weigh more than 2,000 lbs. Crocodiles inhabit the coastal waters of  India, Southern China, Malaysia, and Africa. 
     Crocodiles are egg-laying reptiles. Crocodile's eggs are used for food in some parts of the world. The skin is highly valued for leather and the extract from the musk gland is used in making perfume. Modern crocodiles are amphibious, spending  much of the 
time in water. 
     The tail is sometimes used to capture prey. The crocodile's jaws are powerful enough in closing to crush the bones of small animals to eat them. 

      A dromedary is a camel. The dromedary eats almost any vegetation it can find. It lives in the middle east and northern Africa. It weighs 300 to 690 kg. The dromedary's family is the camel. It's class is mammal. A dromedary's life span is 40 to 50 years. Its color is caramel and it's coat often looks shaggy. Males are longer than females. Both male and female have a single hump on its back. The dromedary is capable of drinking 30 gal. of water in just 10 min. Camels store fat, not water in the hump. When babies are born, they have no hump because the fat doesn't develop until they eat solid food.

      Flamingos usually spend their entire life near lakes, marshes and seas. They eat small shellfish and algae. The flamingo could be 3-5 feet tall. Flamingo's nests are mounds of mud. The male and female both take turns sitting on the egg. The female lays a single egg at the top of the nest. After about 30 days the egg will hatch. The flamingo could stand on one foot. Flamingos have webbed feet like ducks. Wild flamingos used to live in southern Florida, but people killed them for their beautiful feathers faster than the birds could multiply. 
 
 

      There are many kinds of gazelles. The one I am writing about is the Thompson's gazelle. The gazelle mostly lives in grassy plains (savannas) and croplands of Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania. Most of their food (90%) is tender grasses and broken off tree branches and leaves. At 45 mph the Thomson's gazelle is the 5th fastest animal. The gazelle has several predators, like the lions, jackals and leopards. But the biggest predator is the cheetah. The gazelle has quick reflexes, a good sense of smell, sight, and hearing which can protect it from  predators. Males mark their spots with dung. Under 1/4 of a million gazelles live in Africa. 

 Giraffes live on grassy plains in Africa. They eat leaves and twigs. A giraffe's neck has no more bones than your neck. A new born giraffe is as tall as a man. A grown up giraffe is 3 times taller than a grown man. 
 
 

      Gnus live in northern Kenya, Northern South Africa, and Namibia in Africa or South Africa. Gnus eat leaves, twigs, and grass. They are known as antelopes. They are related to goats and cows. Gnus are also known as wildebeests. Gnus have big shoulders, a thick neck, and a large head with long, curved horns. They have hind legs and a long tail like a horse's tail. There are two kinds of gnus. 

     Mountain gorillas live in the eastern part of the Congo and west party of Uganda. They are found on the slopes of mountains. They eat wild celery, black berries and other juicy green plants. The mountain gorillas get the same diseases as humans. The home of a mountain gorilla is land of mist and rain. Their home is very close to the equator. Where they live is not hot, they have cool humid days and cold nights. 
 
 

     The impala lives on the edges of forests. It eats shrubs and drinks lots of water. The impala's mating seasons are from March to June and from September to November . When it sees or smells danger it will make a noise like a sneeze. 
     An impala is about 3 feet tall. 

      Kudus live close to rivers in dry seasons. Kudus eat grass and shrub sprouts. The male has spiral horns to about 5 feet long. There are two different Kudus, the lesser and the greater Kudus. The lesser Kudu is about 40 inches high. It weighs a 230 pounds, and is dark yellowish-gray. The greater Kudu stands about 60 inches at the shoulder and weighs about 600 pounds. It has reddish to dark gray fur and has 4 to 10 vertical stripes. 
 
 

     The leopard lives in the woodlands at the edge of the African plains. It eats meat and it puts its food in a tree to keep it away from lions, wild dogs, or hyenas. The leopard feeds on its kill for several days. The leopard can see well in the dark. It hunts mostly at at night. It is a very strong for its size. It is the most graceful of the big cats. It is 7 feet long. It is about 2 feet high. It weighs more than 100 pounds.

      Lions live in rocky dens, thorn trees, small trees or tall grasses near the edge of the stream.  Lions eat fresh meat and except for the tiger, the lion is the largest member of the cat family. A large male lion measures from nine to ten feet. It stands more than three feet at the shoulders. The female lion does not have a mane and usually is more thin and about one foot shorter than the male lion. A new born lion club is as big as domestic cat. At 5 months, it weighs about 50 pounds. At 18 months, a lion cub learns how to hunt. 

      The okapi lives in the rain forests of the Congo. They cud-chew on leaves and fruit. The okapi is a shy animal who likes to be alone. The male okapi is smaller in size than the female. Only the males have short horns. 
 
 

      The ostrich lives in Africa and Southwest Asia. The food an ostrich eats is sometimes plants and sometimes other animals. It could go without water for very long periods. The ostrich is the largest living bird in the whole wide world. 
     The ostrich only has two toes on each of the feet. 
 
 

      Pelicans live near the water. Fish is their main food. They have skin on the under-side of their pouch. They have a pouch to scoop fish. They have webbed feet which makes them strong swimmers. They are also skilled flyers. They waddle when the walk on land. There are 7 species. Five species have white feathers with some black on their wings. One species is gray and white, and one is brown. The brown and white American pelicans are the most common of the North American species. 

    Pythons live throughout Africa, south of the Sahara Desert. They eat mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, and alligators. Most pythons are 16’ to 20’ long and weighs 200 lbs. Most male pythons are smaller than females. If you put a python in a cage, it must be escape proof, easy to disinfect, and free of sharp edges. Red lights are the best to give heat. They need 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness. The snakes temperature needs to be 80-92 F. Most pythons live more than 25 years. 
    They lay 20-80 eggs. 
 
 

     Rhinos live in grassy plains. The eat bulbs and grass when one offspring (baby) is produced, after mom carries the baby before it is born, it may stay with the mother for 2.5 years. When a second calf is born, the older off-spring is chased away by the mother (at least temporarily). Although the rhinoceros family was widespread in older geological times only a few now exist; 3 in Asia and Malay Archipelago and 2 in tropical Africa. 

     Toucans are found in rain forests and open woodlands from Southern Mexico to Northern Argentina and in Africa. Toucans feed mostly on fruits and insects, worms, other small snakes, lizards, eggs, and nest of other birds. The largest bill of any toucan belongs to the male toucans. Toucans usually live in pairs. They lay white eggs and when the young toucans are hatched, they are completely naked. A toucan's size is 7 to 25 inches. They have a short thick neck. Also toucans have a long narrow tongue. They have strong legs. Males and females are alike in color. 

      There are 6 different kinds of vultures. I am writing about the American king vulture. It lives in the forest by the swamps. It eats any kind of dead animals. It has very good eye sight.  It can see up to 5,000 feet away. It is also one of the ugliest birds in the world. 
 
 

      Wildebeests live in the grasslands of Kenya and Tanzania in eastern Africa. They eat taller grass during the dry seasons. Adult wildebeests live up to 20 years. Wildebeests are also called a gnu. Adult female wildebeests weigh 140 pounds to 230 pounds. Adult male wildebeests weigh 165 pounds to 274 pounds. Adult males have horns called taurinus (tour-i-num). His white mane is called a albajubatus. Wildebeest are mammals. Other animals like it have black fur. That is all about my animal. 

      Zebras live in herds, in deserts, and grasslands in Africa. They eat grass, bark, leaves, buds, fruits, and roots. They spend most of their time eating. The zebra's night vision is as good as an owl's. Their ears rotate to locate sounds. They may live up to 40 miles an hour. There are no zebras with the same stripes.