We have been visiting the Kruger for a long time and we have often been on game drives where other visitors are not sure what animal we are stopped for, therefore today’s post is about animals no one told you about, these animals can be found in the Kruger National Park and through out Southern Africa.
African Civet
- The African Civet weighs between 7 to 20 Kg (15 to 44lb.) and it can reach 67 to 84cm (26 to 33 in) in length, while its tail is 34 to 47cm (13-19in.) long.
- Their fur is coarse and wiry and it is grey in color with black dots covering its body.
- The perineal gland of a civet, is used by civets to mark territory and it used to be used by humans as a perfume base, the gland secretes a white or yellow waxy substance called civet.
- The African civets diet includes insects, fruit, birds, reptiles, frogs, fish, crabs and eggs.
- It is usually nocturnal, and it spends the day sleeping in dense vegetation.
- You will usually spot civets alone as they are solitary.
- Female civet are polyestrous and can have up to three litters per year, they give birth to 3 to 4 off-springs. The mother keeps her young in nests in dense vegetation in a hole dug by another animal.
- The young civets will leave the nest after 2 to 3 months.
- Their lifespan is fifteen to twenty years.
Large Spotted Genet
- A genet has a grey fur covered with black dots arranged in 3 to 4 rows on its back and it has a long tail which is vertically stripped.
- A genet is 33 to 58 cm (13-20 in.) long and weigh 1.6 to 2.1 Kg (3.5-4.6lb.), they have a small head with a pointed muzzle and large eyes, their ears are rounded and have slender body with short legs.
- They are nocturnal creatures, you will find them sleeping inside the hollow of trees and dense thicket during the day.
- Genets are solitary and will meet with other genets only to mate.
- They are opportunistic feeders; they will feed on anything available including small mammals like rodents, bats, birds and their eggs, frogs, and various fruits.
Caracal
- A caracal is a medium sized cat, it looks similar to a lynx, but caracals have long legs and a short face with long ruffed ears that end with tufts of black hair, their short fur coat is sandy in color.
- They can reach 40 to 60cm (16-20in.) in length and weigh 8 to 18 kg (18-40lb.)
- Caracals are nocturnal and are highly secretive making them difficult to spot in the wild.
- They are carnivores and their diet consists off rodents, rabbits, small antelope and birds, as well as African wildcats if they get lucky.
- Caracals are able to leap 3 meters in the air to catch a bird in flight.
- They are solitary and territorial, and will meet with others only to mate.
- Gestation lasts 78 to 81 days and a litter of 2 to 6 kittens are born, the kittens will stay with their mother until the age of one.
- Caracals can survive up to 12 years in the wild.
Samango Monkey
- These monkeys weigh between 7 to 9kg, their tail is a third longer than its body.
- Their coat, their head and shoulders are grey in color while their belly and throats are white.
- Their diet consists of fruits, insects, flowers and leaves.
- Gestation last 140 days, the mom will carry the young for 2 to 3 months, the young monkey will leave its mom when they are 9 months old.
- Samango monkeys have a harem social structure which means that the dominant male lives with his females, their infants and sub-adults, males will compete for attention of female in estrus.
Striped Polecat
- Striped polecats are 60 to 70cm (24-28in.) in length including their tail and are 10 to 15cm (4-6in.) tall, a polecat is black on the underside of their body and have white stripes running from their head down their back, they often have 3 white spots on their head.
- The polecat is a carnivore feeding on rodents, snakes, birds, frogs and insects.
- They are solitary creatures and they are also nocturnal, you are most likely to spot them on a night drive.
- The gestation period is 4 weeks long and 1 to 5 off-springs are born per litter.
- They are also aggressive and very territorial.
Aardvark
- The word aardvark comes from the South Africa’s Afrikaans language and means earth pig or ground pig.
- The aardvark has a pig like snout in which it uses to smell out food.
- They are hard to spot because they are nocturnal, at night they will come out of their burrows which they dig in order to feed on ants and termites.
- An aardvark’s weight is typically between 60 to 80 kilograms (130–180lb.), an aardvark’s length is usually between 105 to 130 centimeters (3.44–4.27ft.)
- Aardvarks are mammals that look like they were made from parts of other animals; a aardvark has a long snout that ends with a pig-like nose, rabbit-like ears and a tail similar to a kangaroo’s. They are pale yellow in color and often stained reddish-brown by soil. Its hair is short on its head and tail, however its legs tend to have longer hair.
- Their long tongue resembles that of an anteater, but they don’t belong in that family tree.
- After a seven month gestation, one young is born (it is rare that they give birth to two), by six months of age, the young aardvark is capable of finding its own food and will leave its mother.
Pangolin
- Pangolins are the world’s most trafficked animal.
- Their body is made up of overlapping scales which are soft when they are born and harden throughout its life, their scales are made of keratin which is the same substance as what human fingernails are made of.
- Pangolins have short legs, with sharp claws which they use for burrowing into termite and ant mounds, as well as climbing.
- They do not have teeth but use their strong, sticky and long tongue to catch food which consists of ants and termites, the tongue of large pangolin can be as long as 40cm.
- Pangolins are nocturnal and they spend their time during the day rolled up into a ball.
- These animals have a very poor sense of vision, so they rely heavily on smell and hearing.
- Pangolins are solitary and meet only to mate, their gestation period is 70 to 140 days long and one off-spring is born.
- The lifespan of wild pangolins are unknown because they are so secretive it makes them hard to study.
Aardwolf
- The aardwolf resembles a stripped hyena but it has a more slender muzzle and black vertical coats on its yellow fur, it also has a mane down the midline of the neck and back.
- The aardwolf is 55 to 80cm (22-31in.) long, excluding its tail which is 20 to 30cm(8-12in.) long and it stands 40 to 50cm (16 to 20in.) tall.
- They are nocturnal animals spending their time in burrows, during the winter months they go feed during the day to conserve heat.
- Aardwolves are monogamous which means they only have one partner throughout their lives and they will live together with their off-springs
- Both sexes mark their territory as they have up to 10 dens within their territory.
- Aardwolves diets consists of termites, which they lick with their sticky tongue of the ground in order to feed on them, it can consume 250000 termites a night.
- Gestation lasts between 89 to 92 days producing 2 to 5 cubs, the mom will go hunting while the dad stays with the cubs.
Hope you enjoyed reading about these unique animals, don’t forget to check out our other posts like the one about our once in a lifetime sighting.
Thank you so much for reading.
Big on Wild