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  Mammals Wild life Sanctuary
  African Elephants:- Overpopulation and farmers getting deeper and deeper into forests and other animal habitats are usually the result of old migration routes being cut off, forcing elephants and other animals into unnatural reserves - like the Masai Mara. Their massive appetites can appear to be destructive in those places (Adults may consume up to 170 kg of plant material and dedicate up to 18 hours to this activity daily).
But there is something to be said about their role in the regeneration of the forest by spreading the seeds of many species. For example, Acacia seeds sprout much better after being eaten and dunged by elephants than if they simply fall to the ground. The ever grateful Dung beetles tackle the football-sized elephant droppings, break them down into little pellets and pull them into their burrows where the seeds germinate.
Elephants also dig up dried-out water holes with their tusks, which provides moisture for other animals
It seems, in fact, that the number of plant species is falling in the regions where elephants no longer live.
In 1987, two-thirds of Kenya elephants had been brutally killed and butchered for their ivory. Poachers went unrestricted despite a ban on hunting. Especially Tsavo National Park, once a glorious kingdom where elephants roamed free, became a place of agonizing solitary death of hundreds of defenseless elephants killed by human greed.
As the herd numbers plummeted into the hundreds it became a time for desperate action. A shoot-to-kill policy for military rangers with appropriate training and equipment was enacted and enforced. When Richard Leaky was nominated by the President of Kenya as the new Director of the Wildlife Department in 1989, he decided to let actions speak louder than words and work begun for a BIG Ivory fire. On July 18, 1989 twelve tons of ivory, worth over three million dollars and representing almost 2,000 dead elephants, where set ablaze in the Nairobi National Park and set an unprecedented example of coherence.
Considering the damage we as humans impose to this planet, and comparing that to the destruction elephants do to the environment, the damage doesn’t seem all that great. Maybe we can find a way to live on this globe side by side, with a minimum of damage to the environment and help keep these incredible animals alive.
Elephants are the most engaging of all animals to watch and have always fascinated people. It might be because their interactions, behavior patterns and personalities have so many human-like parallels. They are very social, frequently touching and caressing one another and entwining their trunks. Also their extraordinary memory, their anatomical uniqueness, their great intelligence and the way they communicate have fascinated us all for a long time.
The most common way for elephants to communicate is through blare sounds, which are produced through their trunk, and people who have heard that sound while visiting Africa will never forget it. They also emit infrasound at frequencies between 5 and 28 hertz, that are to high for humans to hear. These sounds can travel anywhere from 2.5 miles up to 6 miles. The elephants were the first terrestrial mammals known to make use of this phenomenon.
The age-old myth, that elephants carry the tusks and bones of dead elephants to the secret "elephant burial grounds," and also when they are getting old, to go there to die, has no factual base.
Elephants do demonstrate a large concern for members of their families, take care of weak or injured members and appear to grieve over a dead companion.
Pictures of Rhinos :- Black rhinos have various habitats, but mainly areas with dense, woody vegetation.
White rhinos live in savannas with water holes, mud wallows and shade trees.
The black rhino is a browser, with a triangular-shaped upper lip, best referred as ‘hook-shaped‘. It eats a large variety of vegetation, including leaves, buds and shoots of plants, bushes and trees.
The white rhino, on the other hand, is a grazer feeding on grasses. The white rhino's name derives from the Dutch word "weit," meaning wide. As a reference to its wide, square mouth which is excellent for grazing.
It is not a very common thing to see rhinos these days. So, seeing one or two is a fantastic sight to see.
The Swahili name for rhinos is Faru. The Scientific names are Diceros bicorn for the black and Ceratotherium simum for the white rhino.
The size can be about 60 inch at the shoulder. Predators are: Humans.
They live between 35 to 40 years. The diet is vegetarian and the weight can be 1 to 2 tons for the black rhino and over 2 tons for the white rhino.
This white rhino was taking a nap at the Masai Mara Rhino Sanctuary. As was the next one. We had a chance to get VERY close and it was a bit scary, but very exciting!
The rhino-breeding programs in Kenya have been very successful after having a bad history of poaching. The white rhinoceros was introduced as part of a species conservation program from South Africa.
Both species can be found in Lake Nakuru National Park and Laikipia Wildlife Conservancy. Also those two you see here in the Masai Mara Rhino Sanctuary.
Buffalo:- The buffalo is the bulkiest and possibly Africa's most formidable bovid. An adult stands 4.5 to 5.5ft to the shoulder and weighs up to 1 tone.
They are non-territorial, found in large mixed herds with a male dominance hierarchy. The buffalo’s head is broad, with a bare, wide muzzle. The ears are large and rounded, but drooping and fringed with long hairs.
Adult coloration is black or dark brown. Young calves are black or dark brown and smooth-coated but often change to reddish or chocolate brown. Immature have more hair on their bodies than do adults. Horns are present in both sexes, although males develop a massive boss of 2 halves, which meet at maturity around 7 years. During rutting, if two 800 kg bulls charge at 20km/h and collide head-on, the impact is equivalent to a car hitting a wall at 50km/h. Disputes are usually settled after the first full scale charge. (Hughes 1998)
Buffaloes have poor eyesight and hearing but a highly developed sense of smell.
This picture of a Buffalo was taking in the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania © Jack van der Veen
Herds may live in open woodland, but well-watered savannas such as swamps, floodplains, mountain grasslands and forests of mountain regions are favored. Good habitat consists of dense cover like reeds or thickets but one of the major features required is water. They can survive without water for less than two days, but usually drink daily, mainly during daylight hours between noon and dusk. (Mloszewski 1983 and Pienaar 1969) Buffalo are mainly nocturnal except in protected areas.
Grazers, but occasionally browsers, they eat mainly the taller grasses that are too coarse for other grazers. Their wide mouth and tongue are best designed for quantity rather than quality and play a major role in savanna grazing succession. This means they reduce the tall grasslands to the height preferred by the more selective herds such as zebra, wildebeest and warthog. (Sinclair 1977)
Being gregarious animals their herds may consist of 1,000 members. (Kingdon 1982) (The great buffalo herds of East Africa were decimated during the Rinderpest epidemic of the 1890's)
Old males tend to be solitary or form small groups of up to 6. Young bulls form bachelor groups.
Herds are usually dominated by a master bull, but are led by an old female. As herds size and resource distribution are closely related, their home range size will vary with the season. Bachelors and solitary males are mostly sedentary, but breeding herds can move up to 17km per day during the dry season for grazing. (Mloszewski 1983)
Herds tend to use known routes between water and grazing and use salt licks to obtain minerals and trace elements.
This one was taking a rest in those incredible surroundings. Also taken in the Ngorongoro Crater
Adult males take mud baths for protection from biting flies and other parasites and to keep cool however, females and youngsters wallow less, which may suggest wallowing has social significance. Linear dominance hierarchy arranges the herd into groups or clans, which are attached to adult and sub-adult bulls that are also ranked by age, and dominance status. (Mloszewski 1983)
Status in males is being determined by fighting ability, which in turn depends on size and age. This dominance also determines which males will win mating opportunities with females. Females move up in rank when they have a calf at foot. High rank brings the privilege of traveling and feeding to the front and center of the herd. This is the best place for grazing and protection from predation. Low ranking members are at the back and edges of the herd and so suffer much more from predator attack. Wounded buffalo are considered to be the most dangerous of big game animals because they are known to circle back on their trail and ambush their hunters. (Hughes 1998)
Being seasonal breeders, a female will mate at around 5 years and the gestation period is 11 to 11.5 months. The newborn calf weighs between 40 - 45kg. Females remain with the herd when they give birth, but they may be left behind, temporarily if the herd moves on before the calf is strong enough to walk and keep up. Calves have been known to be on their feet in 10 minutes, but it can take several hours before they are strong enough to follow with the herd and do remain uncoordinated for several weeks. (Sinclair 1977)
In this situation the cow will hide her calf in thick cover, while she feeds nearby. The calf will suckle at irregular intervals, sometimes right up to the next calf being born, however, the cow normally stops lactating during the seventh month of pregnancy, when the current calf is around 10 months old, when weaning begins. Despite occasional horn-jabs, the yearling offspring will still tag along with mother and new calf for one more year, or sometimes longer. (Mloszewski 1983 and Sinclair 1977)
Social ties are strong between the female calves and their mothers, but males disperse into the body of the herd as they age. (Estes 1992)
Buffaloes appear to have several calls, most of which resemble those of domestic cattle, but are of a lower pitch. A calf’s distress call will often trigger a mobbing response from other clan members.
The buffalo is a large and heavy animal but it is capable of an estimated top speed of 48 -56km/h (Mloszewski 1983), and a healthy buffalo is able to outrun lions; their main predator, other than man. Other anti-predator behavior can be wheeling or flight, stampeding and individual or group attack. Lion cubs are often killed by buffaloes; trampled or gored to death.
   
  Famous Wild Life Sanctuary in Kenya