Name the African animal

We all know that zebra's and giraffe's come from Africa.  I'm sure some of you have even heard of The Big Five. In the baggage claim area of the Port Elizabeth airport is a huge advertisment by Addo National Elephant Park to come see the big five (well they say big 7, but only 5 of them are land animals).  They are the Cape buffalo, lion, leopard, rhino and elephant. Big game hunters called them the big 5, because they were the top 5 biggest challenges to a hunter.  We have, I hope, moved towards an age of conservation and preservation of these creatures, but the name has stuck.  It's too bad really because along with the big five, and those that we are familiar with, there are a plethora of land animals that are just as fascinating.  If you are a rugby fan you would know that the South African team logo is a Springbok, but do you know what they really look like?

Here are 4 other African animals that we have seen.  Do you know them?  Scroll down to find the answer.





Number 1

Number 2



Number 3



  

Number 4

Let's see how you did.

Number 1 -  Waterbuck - Called such, not becuase the live near water, but because, when in danger, they take to the water for safety.

Number 2 - Warthog - Yes, I know all you Lion King fans knew this one,  but what ds #1 thinks is really neat about them is that they bend thier front feet backwards at the knee, to get closer to the ground when eating. 

Number 3 - Wildebeest - Who knew I'd been spelling it wrong all my life. I always thought it was beast with an 'a', but no, wildebeest is Afrikans for wild cattle.  Beeste = cattle.  They are also sometimes called Gnu.

Number 4 - Nyala (male)-  My current favorite.  The name comes from the swahili word for antelope, which is derived from the Zulu Inyala.  I have heard them called both.  We are very lucky to have a herd with 2 males and a number of females and fawns living near us.  The neighbours agreed on a name for the younger male, Hercules, but the second one was called either Shrek or Ratatouille depending on who you were speaking with.  DS #1 took matters into his own hands, as he often does, and christened the larger male Shrekatouille, so that's what our family calls him.


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