Aloe — Aloe is a genus containing about four hundred species of flowering succulent plants. The genus is native to Africa and is common in South Africa’s Cape Province and the mountains of tropical Africa, and neighbouring areas such as Madagascar, the Arabian peninsula and the islands off Africa. The APG II system (2003) placed the genus in the family …

Alfalfa — Alfalfa (Medicago sativa), also known as lucerne, purple medic and trefoil is a perennial flowering plant cultivated as an important forage crop. In the UK, where it is not widely grown, it is known as lucerne. Alfalfa lives from three to twelve years, depending on variety and climate. It is a cool season perennial legume, sometimes growing to …

Suricate — The meerkat or suricate Suricata suricatta is a small mammal and a member of the mongoose family. It inhabits all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana and South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a “mob”, “gang”, or “clan”. A meerkat clan often contains around 20 meerkats at a time, but some superfamilies have had 50 …

Springbok — The Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) is a medium sized brown and white gazelle that stands about 75 cm high. Springbuck males weigh between 33-48 kg and the females between to 30-44 kg. They can reach running speeds of up to 80kph. The Latin name marsupialis derives from a pocket-like skin flap which extends along the middle of the back …

Rhinoceros — The Rhinoceros often colloquially abbreviated rhino, is one of only five surviving species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia. Three of the five species—the (Javan, Sumatran and Black Rhinoceros)—are critically endangered. The Indian is endangered, with fewer that 2500 individuals remaining in the wild. …

Quagga — The quagga is an extinct subspecies of the plains zebra, which was once found in great numbers in South Africa’s Cape Province and the southern part of the Orange Free State. It was distinguished from other zebras by having the usual vivid marks on the front part of the body only. In the mid-section, the stripes faded and …

Mongoose — A mongoose is a member of the family Herpestidae, a family of small cat-like carnivores. The word mongoose is derived from the Marathi word mangus. Mongooses are widely distributed in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and southern Europe. There are more than thirty species, ranging from one to four feet in length. Some species of mongooses will usually lead …

Leopard — The leopard (Panthera pardus) is an Old World mammal of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four ‘big cats’ of the genus Panthera, along with the tiger, lion, and jaguar. Leopards that are melanistic, either all-black or very dark in coloration, are known colloquially as black panthers. Once distributed across southern Eurasia and Africa, from Korea …

Giraffe — The giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species. Males can be 4.8 to 5.5 metres (16 to 18 feet) tall and weigh up to 1,300 kilograms (3,000 pounds). The record-sized bull was 5.87 m (19.2 ft) tall and weighed approximately 2,000 kg (4,400 lb). Females are generally slightly shorter, …

Hippopotamus — The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), (hippopotamos, hippos meaning “horse” and potamos meaning “river”), often shortened to “hippo”, is a large, mostly plant-eating African mammal, one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae (the other being the Pygmy Hippopotamus). The hippopotamus is semi-aquatic, inhabiting rivers and lakes in sub-Saharan Africa in large groups of up to 40 hippos. …