Kenya Animals and kenya wildlife. The African Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Buffalo and Rhino

Kenya animals Animals in kenya that make it famous are the “Big Five”, the Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Buffalo and the Rhino, it is also home to a lot of other great animals that you cannot find in other parts of the world. There are also many other animals in kenya and bird species ideal for watching and photographing.

It is a great sight to see these animals and birds in their natural habitats.

Just imagine seeing a huge lion only in kenya roaming in the night near your tent camp in the savanna? This can can be a memorable albeit scary experience.

Only in kenya can you see lions in their natural environment and surroundings.

Here in the wild, you experience the Real Deal, you feel them, hear them, smell them and experience the danger and panicky feeling of being a hunted prey.

Apart from the Big Five, you will find many others magnificent animals like Zebras, Giraffes, Hippos, Monkeys, Wildebeests, Gazelles, Antelopes and numerous species of Bird.

The African Lion

The Kenya lion is known as the “King of the Jungle”. Kenya Lion is one of the biggest kenya animals, the biggest of the cats. The male lion has a big mane making it look majestic. Only in kenya do you see lions spend their time resting, playing with their cubs, and sometimes hunting. Female lions are the bread winners in the lion family, doing most of the hunting, a unique quality among the kenya animals. Kenya Lions live in prides comprising one to three males and as many as 15 females. The males protect the pride from other marauding young males that may want attack the pride, take over the females and kill the cubs and sire their own.

Male Lion Resting*

Only in kenya do you see lions resting in the sun and resting and looking deceptively docile. Their young cubs play and roughhouse around.

The Kenya leopard

Kenya Leopard**

Kenya Leopard is the most common kenya animal species with the least conservation concern. It lives a solitary life and socialize with others only during the mating season. The leopard is one kenya animal that varies in color depending on its location and habitat and can vary from reddish brown to cream. kenya Leopard is

covered with dark spots with patterns unique to each individual leopard.

Male leopards are larger and heavier than females. Leopards are generally night-time animals, hiding in rocky hills and perched on tree branches. They are very agile and strong and can drag a prey twice their weight to the top of a tree to avoid scavenger like hyenas.

Lenya leopards have varied diet. They normally hunt small kenya animals, mammals like Gazelle and Antelopes but can also eat insects, rodents and reptiles.

Leopards kill their prey by grabbing the prey by the throat and biting down with their powerful jaws until it suffocates. They rarely fight other predators for their food because injury could prove fatal if it prevented it from hunting.

Kenya Elephants

Kenya elephants are the biggest of kenya animals. Male elephants standing 12 feet (3.64 m) tall and weigh 12,000 lbs (5455 kg) and can live up to 70 years. They eat large amounts of vegetation everyday. Elephants are the most social of kenya animals and live in close knit herds.

Herd of Elephants***

Males elephants head the heard. They have large ears which they flap like a fan to cool them down in a hot day.

Flapping their ears furiously and snorting is also a sign of agitation and they can attack you. So keep your distance from these kenya animals if you see this.

Poaching was a major problem for Kenya animals. Poachers kill elephants for their tusks, but conservation efforts and law enforcement in Kenya has stopped poaching and Elephant populations have now recovered.

Female kenya elephants reach puberty at thirteen years of age and can have offspring until the age of fifty. They produce a single calf every three years and very rarely have twins.

The African buffalo

Adult Male Buffalo****

The African Buffalo is another large kenya animal. Males weigh up to 2000 lbs (900 kg). They have a bad temper if disturbed and can be very dangerous with their huge sharp horns. In Kenya, the african Buffalo usually live in around dense thickets around swamps,big rivers and in the Masai Mara Savanna near other kenya animals.

African Buffalo have few predators. They sometimes chase fully grown Lions, an incredible event to watch! Lions do kill and eat African buffalo regularly, but it usually takes multiple lions to bring down a single adult buffalo.

When chased by predators African buffalo herd will stick close together and make it hard for the predators to pick off one member. Calves are gathered in the middle. Buffalo will try to rescue a member of their heard who has been caught.

African buffalo mate and give birth only during the rainy seasons. A bull will closely guard a cow that comes into heat, while keeping other bulls at bay.

The African Rhino

African Rhino are very large kenya animals which generally eat leafy material. They lack teeth at the front of their mouths and rely on their powerful molar teeth to grind up plant food. There are two species of African rhino in Kenya, the Black Rhino and the White Rhino. Both species of kenya animals are rare and protected because they are almost wiped out by poachers

Rhino and Cub****

who killed them for their horn, used to make traditional medicine in Asia.

African Rhino in Kenya prefer living alone or in pairs. They can live up to 60 years or more. Their habitat varies from dense forest to open savanna. African Rhino are the only Kenya animals that lack good eyesight, but they have excellent sense of smell and hearing.

Copyright: Mwongera Kioga:

Images under Creative Commons Attribution Licence. * by The Dilly Lama ***** by WRI ** by Thumbling *** by Bexy Mitten **** by Snake3yes