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Africa is the second largest continent in the world. The equator passes through Africa, making it the only continent that stretches from the northern temperate to the southern temperate zones. Africa has been blessed with a variety of beautiful animal species. Let us begin with a long journey of African unique animals list.
1. Addra Gazelle
With their small head and narrow muzzle eyes; Addra gazelles are the tallest and the largest species of gazelle. Their horns are curved flat with reddish-chesnut neck. They are natives of Senegal to Sudan.
2. Caracal
They are medium-sized cats commonly known as the African Lynx. This flying acrobat can leap up into the air to hunt down flying birds. Caracal’s skins are dark grey, red, or golden sand. Their natural habitat is in the African savannas and tropical grasslands.
3. Beisa Oryx
They can tolerate long periods of heat by raising their body temperatures up to 116 Fahrenheit. Beisa Oryx is a non-jumping antelope, found in Somalia and eastern Africa.
4. Addax
They have a sand colored coat in summer and grayish brown in winter. Addax is a large antelope that weigh up to 300 pounds. Addax has thin, back slanted horns with a spiral twist. They can draw water from the dew and the plants they eat in order to withstand extreme heat circumstance.
5. African Gray Parrot
They live in western and central Africa in lowland forest. These intelligent parrots can easily learn hundreds of words and other sounds. They feed on berries, seeds and nuts.
6. Baboon
These are ground dwelling monkeys and hunt together in troops. Baboons are medium-sized primates found in east Africa. Baboons are omnivorous primate. They occasionally prey on birds, fish, insects and even small antelopes.
7. Bat-eared Fox
They feed on insects, scorpions, rodents, lizards, fruits and eggs. Bat-eared fox are small African foxes known for their enormous ears. They are sandy gray in color with lighter furs on their belly.
8. Aardvark
These nocturnal animals have a long sticky tongue, they feed on termites. Aardvark can be found all over Africa in dry and wet climates. Although the have poor eyesight, but they were armed with a giant and powerful claws.
9. Blue Monkey
Blue monkeys have little hair on their face that gives them the blue appearance. They eat fruits and leaves and sometimes invertebrates. They are native to the central Africa, Angola, and Zambia.
10. Bongo
This nocturnal hoofed animal is the largest species of antelope. They are found in central, west and east Africa. Bongo is the only antelope species, which has horns on both the males and females.
11. Bonobo
They are also known as pygmy chimpanzee and the dwarf chimpanzee. Bonobo are the largest primates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are omnivorous animals that feed on fruits, leaves, flowers, beak and seeds. The bonobo is known to share 98% of the DNA with humans.
12. Bushbaby
Bushbabies have good night vision and great sense of hearing. These nocturnal monkeys have strong hind limbs and long tails that help them provide balance. Their main preys are insects, small animals, tree gums and fruits.
13. Bushpig
They resemble the domestic pigs with small eyes, blunt snout and tufted ears. These are pigs that live in the Somalia, Cape Province and South Africa. Their diet consists of crops and roots.
14. Aardwolf
It’s a small mammal and looks similar with the striped hyena. Aardwolf lives in the eastern and northeastern Africa. Unlike hyena, aardwolf feed on insects.
15. Eland
This is an excellent jumper antelope and can scale height up to 1.5 meters. These heavyweight antelopes can reach a ton. Eland can be found in the plains of East and South Africa. Grass, herbs, tree leaves and bushes are their favorite diet.
16. Fossa
Fossa is the most powerful predators of the Madagascar islands. These creatures looks like a mix between a cat, monkey or mink. It has a cat-like body and a long tail.Fossa is a good runner too. Lemur, small mouse and wild pig are their daily diet.
17. Gecko
These lizards are found in different habitats near the Equator, Southern Hemisphere and warm regions in the North. They feed on insects. Large gecko species hunt small reptiles, birds and mice.
18. Genet
These are nocturnal cat-like animals. Genets emit a strong musky odor to mark their territory. Genet has pointed nose, banded tails and spotted coat.
19. Gerbil
These small rodents have a long tail that can be shed if it gets trapped. Gerbils have sharp claws to dig underground tunnels. They only come out for food and water. Gerbils spend most of their time underground.
20. Hyrax
Hyrax is a nocturnal animal. They are resembled with guinea pigs and rabbits. Hyrax is the closest living relative of the elephant. Hyrax has grooming claw on the inner back feet.
I don’t like to be that person, but you have two mismatches with names and images.
What you have called a bushpig is actually a red river hog, and the eland you have shown is a greater kudu, a cousin but not the eland.
Love the list otherwise, and the information is good too 🙂
The animal you’ve marked as and Eland is actually a Greater Kudu. The aardvark eats antsby using those powerful claws to dig into the ant hills. It would be nice if you got your facts straight before publishing an article!