Animals , Queen Elizabeth National Park Uganda

Uganda kob

The Kob is usually active in late afternoon. Although their defended size depends on the habitat and population density, the adult males are territorial. The two extremes of this spectrum are a few relatively large areas, or a concentrated group of extremely small territories. The skin is smooth, shiny coat ranges from golden brown to chestnut above, with the underparts bright white. The white-coloured facial markings include conspicuous eye rings, the insides of ears, and a throat bib.  The outer sides of the legs have a vertical black stripe running down the length, while the insides are white in colour.  The bushy tail is white underneath and terminates with a black tip.  The "S"-shaped horns are found only in males, and bend sharply backwards, then curve up.  They grow 40-69 cm / 16-28 inches long.
The resident male does not physically mark his area, rather he patrols its boundaries, often whistling loudly.  The length of time a male may hold his territory varies from days to months.  Population densities vary from 8-124 animals per square kilometer depending on the habitat.  

African Lion Safaris

This big cat is in the genus panthera, mammal in the family Felidae and believed to be the second largest feline species. While the lions in the wild have a life span of about 10-14 years, the ones in captivity have a life span of over 20 years. For the male lion it’s recognized by his mane and weighs between 150–250 kg and the females range 120–150 kg.


While the female lions are the ones that provide the food and they hunt at night or dawn and in packs, males protect both the territory and the pride which consists of related females, cubs and a group of one to four males who mate with the adult females. They feed on mammals like warthogs, antelopes, wildebeest, zebra and buffaloes, hares and birds. The young lions try hunting at three months old, but they become successful hunters at the age of two years old. Both the female and male lions are jealousy in that they will not tolerate outside lion.
The female gives birth to about one to four cubs and the gestation lasts for one hundred and one hundred twenty days and after the cubs are weaned after 6 to 7 months. Both males and females may interact homosexually for example the male lions pair-bond initiate homosexual activity with affectionate caressing hence mounting and thrusting.

Elephants

Elephantidae is the scientific name of the elephant and is in the family of pachyderm. The elephant can live for 70 years. The gestation period is 22 months for the female and they reach the sexual maturity at around 9-12 years of age and become pregnant at the age 13 until 60 years. The adult elephants in the wild accompany the mother is by giving protection to the baby elephants. At about 22 month pregnancy, the calf is given birth to and usually weighs about 250 lb and stand over 2½ feet tall. The Savanna Elephants are found in Uganda in the open grasslands, lakeshores and marshes
The social lives of the female elephants are quite different from the male elephants in such a way that. While the females spend most of their lives in family groups of mothers, sisters, daughters, and aunts which are led by the eldest female and they also interaction with other families, clans, and subpopulations, the male elephants mostly live the solitary lives and will form loose associations with other males. And these male elephants spend their time fighting for dominance with each other than the females. And these elephants will engage in homosexuality by trunk intertwining or placing trunks in each other's mouth. Elephants are herbivores and feed on grasses, supplemented with leaves, bamboo, twigs, bark, roots, and small amounts of fruits, seeds and flowers.

Warthog

  Its scientific name is Phacochoerus africanus and is a wild member of the pig family and a common resident of the savanna national parks. They are grey in colour and have two pairs of impressive tusks protruding from their mouth used for protection purposes. They are normally seen in family groups, trotting away briskly in the opposite direction with their tails raised stiffly and a determinedly nonchalant air. And they are found in almost all the parks in Uganda and they are usually in a group of 3-10 animals called the sounder. While wild warthogs live up to 15 years, captive warthogs may live as long as 18 years.

Males fight with each other for mating opportunities during breeding season and they get serious wounds with tusks. These males are not territorial and live alone or in small bachelor groups with individuals that come and go, but they tend to stay within their natal range. Mature males only join female groups when sows are in heat.
They are omnivorous and feed on roots, grasses, fruits and berries, eggs, fungi, bark, small mammals and dead animals, birds and reptiles. They use their good sense of smell to locate food, and detect predators.
Although capable of fighting, and males will aggressively fight each other during mating season, their main defense is to flee by means of fast sprinting. The main warthog predators are humans, lions, leopards and hyenas. Cheetahs are also capable of taking small warthogs.
The typical gestation period is 5 or 6 months and the litter size is 2 to 8 piglets, although 2 to 4 is more typical. Piglets are weaned at 3 or 4 months of age, reaching sexual maturity at 18 to 24 months. Females may give birth twice a year.

Buffalo 

Its scientific name is Syncerus caffer and its Africa’s only wild ox species and it lives in large herds on the savanna and smaller herds in forested areas. Herds are mixed-sex and normally comprise several loosely related family clans and bachelor groups

Giant forest hog

Hylochoerus meinertzhageni is the scientific name of the Giant Forest Hog and its the largest in the pig family known as Suidae. They have extensive hairs on its body  which is black on the surface, but the hairs nearest the skin of the animal are orange in colour. Its tusks are small and the ears are large and pointy. And they stay in the tropical rainforests and live in large herds of up to twenty animals they also feed on plant material and grass.
Males can reach two metres in length and 110 centimetres high at the shoulder and weigh 1100 pounds. And they are nocturnal because they active for four to eight hours a day between dawn and dusk.

Topi

Their coats are a rusty red colour with black legs, chest and a black strip running from forehead to the tip of the nose. It stands over a metre tall at the shoulder and weigh 85 to 165 kilograms. The horns are lyre-shaped and are conspicuously ringed and can reach 70 centimetres in both sexes. The horns of older animals tend to wear down, and this can be used as a means of assessing the age of individuals in the field.
Topi live in savannah and floodplains where they eat mainly grass. Males hold territories from a few tens of thousands of square metres to a few square kilometres. These are marked out with urine, and dung. In the rutting season, some males defend leks, and females preferentially mate the with holder of the central leks; other males, however, continue to hold conventional territories. Females generally live in loose herds of up to twenty females and calves. However, thousands of Topi may migrate together.
Males will engage in fights for territory or at the lekking grounds, and these are fought by lunging on to their knees while whacking each other with their horns. Fights between males and females may also be seen. Topi can reach seventy kilometres an hour when frightened and will sometimes jump over each other to get away from a threat. They have the reputation of being the fastest of all antelopes.
Waterbuck
The scientific name is Kobus ellipsiprymnus and weighs between 160 to 240 kilograms and very heavy. Its reddish brown in colour and have a white ring on their rumps surrounding their tails and as it grows old it becomes darker. They are found in scrub and savanna areas near water where they eat grass but dont enter the water and are diurnal.
 

Safari Animals Leopard

The Leopard is heavy, stock, has a larger head in proportion to its body, and has rosettes rather than spots and the genus of the Leopard is the Panthera, nocturnal but can be seen at any time of day and will even hunt during daytime on overcast days in regions where they are hunted and they are the big cat that probably the most accomplished stalkers. Leopards are graceful and stealthy and sometimes live practically among humans and are usually still tough to spot.
Leopards are good climbers during the day they may lie in bush, on rocks, or in a tree with their tails hanging below the treetops and giving them away.
 
They are also strong swimmers though they can’t normally lie in water and they do avoid each other. There Hearing and eyesight senses are strong and acute they also threaten by stretching their backs, then they depress the ribcages between their shoulder blades so they stick out, and lower their heads like the domestic cats.
Leopards eat any animal making them opportunistic hunters. They feed on mostly rodents, monkeys, birds, wild pigs, reptiles, fish, amphibians, and ungulates making them hunt about 90 different species of animals.
  Reproduction
Males fight with the female for the reproductive rights after a male follows a female that it’s attracted to. The female usually on heat for 6-7 days and the estrous cycle lasts about 46 days . The infant mortality is high in the leopards and mothers are seen with more than 1-2 cubs. These cubs are usually born in a litter of 2-3 and they open their eyes after 10 days and their fur of the are longer and thicker than for adults. While giving birth, the pregnant female finds a cave, hollow tree, or thicket to make a den. At the age of one year, the cub is ready to fend for themselves though they stay with the mother for 18-24 months.