SUMPTOUS DELICACY AND YET ENDANGERED DRILL

Drill aka Mandrillus leucophaeus

Range and Habitat Drills are found in the lowland rain forest, coastal, and riverine forest and in mature secondary forest of Nigeria, Cameroon, Bioko Island - Equatorial Guinea. Drills are primarily terrestrial forest dwellers but will climb trees to obtain fruit.

Physical Characteristics Males are much larger than females, weighing 80 to 110 pounds. (Females tip the scales at a considerably smaller 30 to 40 pounds.) Males have canine teeth that rival those of big cats in length (1.5 to 2 inches long). These teeth are used for dominance displays rather than for eating.

Diet

Drills are considered to be omnivores, feeding on a variety of both plant and animal found sites on the forest floor. Drills also feed on a variety of insects, invertebrates and small vertebrates: termites, millipedes, worms, crabs, snails, grubs, tadpoles, frogs, and small snakes

Behavior

• Drills live in family troops of 20 or more animals. Troops are led by a dominant male, who retains his status until successfully challenged by another male.
• Unlike great apes, drills do not walk on their knuckles, using the flat surfaces of their feet and hands instead.

Life Span
30 years. Females are sexually mature at 4 to 5 years; males, 5 to 7 years.

Source http://www.zooatlanta.com

In Africa bush meat, is consumed as a delicacy. Bush game ranges from endangered rare bush monkeys and other bush game to marine products such as turtles.
According to a Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program study conducted in Equatorial Guinea they note that as Malabo (Capital City) becomes more prosperous, demand for bush meat has increased and as a result the prices for have increased considerably and enticing more local people to hunt wildlife for profit.

Since 1997, Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program (BBPP) conducted a survey of animals for sale at the Malabo bush meat market. They visited the local market six days a week, recording the species, sex, approximate age (infant, juvenile, adult), source, method of capture (gun, dog, snare, by hand), condition (live, freshly killed, dried) and sale price of each animal.

By mid-2005, a total of 93 months of bush meat market information had been collected. Unfortunately, after declining for the first five years of the survey, the rate of monkey harvest on Bioko Island increased abruptly in 2002, and now appears to have increased again in 2005. A number of factors probably contributed to this increase:

• Increased Profitability: Bush meat prices are rapidly increasing, making hunting more profitable, even when hunters must travel greater distances.
• Increased Demand: Bush meat buyers have benefited from Equatorial Guinea’s rapidly rising GDP (resulting from the development of offshore petroleum reserves) and have money to spend on bush meat, even at higher prices. Monkeys are definitely a luxury meat.
• Mardi Gras Effect: Shotgun hunting on Bioko Island is thought to be controlled by government officials who profit from bush meat hunting. Inside sources reported alarm among these officials in anticipation of an enforced ban on the illegal shotgun hunting, especially of primates, in protected areas, initially as a result of the 2002 Bioko Biodiversity Round table and more recently, the National Biodiversity Policy for Equatorial Guinea, as proposed by Conservation International as part of their role in the Congo Basin Forest Partnership.

http://www.bioko.org

BUSH MEAT AT THE BIOKO MARKET IN EQUATORIAL GUINEA

Photos by Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program

MORE INFORMATION
Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program
Zoo Atlanta
The Endangered Mandrillus Leucophaeus: Behaviour Leading Towards Extinction by Kevin Meckes

RED RIVER HOG

Location: Thickets, forests, savannas and swamps throughout western and central Africa. Red River Hogs can also be found on the island of Madagascar.
Family group: Sounders of 2-15 females and young attended by a male.
Diet:(Omnivorous) Grasses, water plants, roots, bulbs, fruit, carrion, small animals.
Main Predators: Humans, leopard, lion, spotted hyena, python.
Gestation Period: 120-127 days.
Young per Birth: 1-4
Weaning: 2-4 months.
Sexual Maturity: At 18-21 months.
Life span: 20 years.

Features

The shaggy, foxy red coat has contrasting black and white markings on the head, including a white eye ring. The leaf-shaped ears have long black and white tassels and the erectile mane which runs the length of the spine is white. Both of these features are used as defenses, as they greatly increase the perceived size of the pig when fluffed out. The snout is long, and, in males, has lengthwise ridges and warts, which are often hidden by the bushy facial hair. The body is round and is supported by short, sturdy legs. The tail is long and hairless except for the terminal tuft. The upper tusks are relatively small and almost invisible, while the lower ones are razor sharp and grow 7 cm / 3 inches long.

Lifestyle

The Red River Hog are nocturnal animals and are most active during the night. By day, they hide in dense bushes, resting in a self-excavated burrow deep within impenetrable vegetation during the day. After sunset, they roam around in troops, in search for food. When frightened, the striped piglets crouch and "play possum". As they get older, flight becomes the more frequent response. However, when cornered or wounded, these pigs display considerable courage and frequently attack. Red river hogs are fast runners and good swimmers. They often root for tubers with their plow-like noses and can cause considerable damage to crops in a short period of time.

A sounder may have a very large home range, with over 4 km / 2.4 miles between resting and feeding areas.The red river hog is currently quite common and is not endangered.

SHOEBILL STORK

The shoebill stork a large, somewhat frightful bird stands 4 feet/54 in./122 cm tall.

The shoebill also known as the whale head, is noted for its large head and unusually long and wide, many-colored bill, which ends in a hooked tip. It has broad wings and long, strong legs with large, un-webbed feet. A solitary, silent bird, the shoebill stork is native to the marshy banks of the papyrus swamps of the East African White Nile and its tributaries, where it feeds on a diet of frogs, small crocodiles, and especially lungfish and other mud puddle fish. It obtains this diet by probing the mud with its bootlike bill.

The bill is the most prominent feature of the shoebill and does indeed resemble a wooden shoe. It is an enormous structure ending in a sharp, curved hook.

Shoebills are usually silent, but will often participate in bill-clattering, a behavior characteristic of true storks. Adults will often do this when greeting each other at the nest, but young shoebills also perform the bill-clatter. Adults will also make a whining or "mooing" noise and young will make a hiccupping noise especially when begging for food.

The shoebill is a solitary species and is never found in groups. Only when food is in short supply will shoebills forage near each other.

Shoebills are monogamous breeders and both parents participate in every aspect of nest building, incubation and chick rearing. A ground nester, the shoebill deposits its one or two chalky white eggs in a nest of grasses on a high, dry spot, where its downy young remain, helpless for some time after hatching.

Partially nocturnal, it tends to be sluggish but is nonetheless a strong flyer and soarer. In several respects, shoebills are similar to herons, e.g., they fly with their heads and necks folded back.

Shoebills are very docile and permissive when it comes to humans. Researchers studying these birds have been able to come within 6 feet of a shoebill on its nest. The shoebill will not threaten humans, but will only stare right back at them.

TEXT AND MORE INFORMATION
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology

LIVING FOSSIL OKAPI

The okapi is the only known living relative of the giraffe and lives in the rain forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) and western Uganda. It prefers to live a solitary and secluded life, away from human observation, and for this reason it was not discovered until 1900. It has a long, prehensile, purplish tongue, which it uses to grab leaves from bushes and trees, and even to groom its ears! The male has two small, skin-covered bony knobs on its forehead. The okapi finds the minerals its body needs by eating sulfurous clay found along river banks. The okapi is considered a "living fossil", because it's the only animal similar to the prehistoric giraffes.

Still rare and threatened, the okapi lives only in the tall primary forests of eastern DRC, mainly in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, centered around the village of Epulu. It is reported that the okapi was originally discovered further east in the forests along the Semliki Valley, Virunga National Park which today is a UN World Heritage site protected by international and national laws.

In the 1890s, the explorer Henry Morton Stanley described the Okapi as a kind of forest donkey. Others had thought it might be an antelope. When the explorer Sir Harry Johnston sent a piece of striped okapi skin to the British Museum, London scientists announced the discovery of a new species of forest zebra.When a complete okapi was finally found 1901, biologists were astonished to find that its closest living relative was the giraffe.

The lowland sector of Virunga National Park has been the hideout for different rebel groups over the past 20 years and as a result has prevented ICCN (Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature) from patrolling the areas. The difficult terrain has also prevented logging and farming there, which, according to WWF, explains why the rare species has survived unnoticed.

Okapi have graced everything from bank notes, books to postal stamps

More Information
Gilman International Conservation

ALL RISE FOR HIS MAJESTY THE LION KING

The lion is the second largest feline species, after the tiger.

Lions are found in savannas, grasslands, dense bush and woodlands. Mature male lions are unique among the cat species for the thick mane of brown or black hair encircling the head and neck. Both male and female lions roar sound can be heard as far as 8 km away.

LAZIEST ANIMAL: Lions spend most of their time resting or asleep. Sleeping conserves energy since finding enough food is actually very difficult. Hunting success amongst lions is low and scavenging is unpredictable, so on average lions eat only every 2 or 3 days. Lions have distensible stomachs that allow them to eat large quantities at once, and resting is a good way to make each meal last longer.

Photo courtesy Brian McMorrow

HUNTING: Lions are built for quick rushes of speed rather than endurance. When hunting, they stalk their prey, moving slowly and carefully into striking distance before making their move. The hunt itself is likely to be a short charge as opposed to a long chase, and will more often fail than succeed.

Photo courtesy Brian McMorrow

THE BREAD WINNER: Male lions are famous for relying on females to do all of the hunting, but this is not always the case. Males spend a good deal of time as nomads or away from pride females, and during these periods they must fend for themselves. When alone, males will often hunt warthog, typically by chasing one into a hole and then digging it out. Males are also skilled hunters of larger prey where size and bulk are more important than speed. They are especially adept at catching buffalo which are an important prey species throughout the lion’s range.

Lion cubs are vulnerable to predators such as hyenas and leopards, but a lion's most significant threat comes from other lions. When a new male coalition takes over a pride they are often confronted by the cubs of the males they defeated. Males have no time to spare for protecting the offspring of their predecessors because their own time with a pride is limited. Females will not mate again until their cubs are at least 18 months of age; therefore, males kill all the young cubs in their new pride in order to bring the females back to reproductive readiness. Older cubs and sub-adults stand a chance, however, because they can often escape from infanticidal males. These cubs are evicted and must fend for themselves, although occasionally their mothers will leave with them and remain apart from the pride until the cubs reach independence.

A lion pride relaxing after a hearty meal

Did You Know?

• One of the few animals that will attack a lion is a hyena , which will kill an injured lion or attack a healthy one if food is scarce.
• Lions have long been killed in rituals of bravery, as hunting trophies, and for their medicinal and magical powers.
• Most lions drink water daily if available, but can go four or five days without it. Lions in arid areas seem to obtain needed moisture from the stomach contents of their prey.

Indeed in the jungle, the lion sleeps not only at night, but also during the day

UGLY AS A WARTHOG!

Warthog a.k.a phacochoerus Aiethiopicus
Neither graceful or beautiful the Warthog is a remarkable animal

FAST FACTS
Location: The Warthog is a wild member of the pig family that lives in Africa.Their name comes from the four large wart-like tusks found on the head of the warthog used for defense purposes against predators.

Lifestyle: A grouping of warthogs is called a sounder. Warthogs live in family groups of a female and her young. Sometimes two families, often of related females, will join together. Males normally live by themselves, only joining the groups to mate.


Warthogs sleep and rest in holes. Although they can excavate, warthogs normally use those dug by other animals, like aardvarks. The shelter a hole provides is important for warthog thermoregulation—having neither fur nor fat, the warthog lacks both protection from the sun and insulation from cold. Sometimes warthogs will line their holes with grass, probably to make them warmer.

Before giving birth to a new litter, the female chases away the litter she has been raising and secludes herself. These juveniles may join up with another solitary female for a short time before they go on their own.

Habitat: Warthogs are found in moist and arid savannas. They avoid rainforest, deserts and high mountains.

Diet: The warthog is mainly a grazer and has adapted an interesting practice of kneeling on its calloused, hairy, padded knees to eat short grass. Using its snout and tusks, it also digs for bulbs, tubers and roots during the dry season. They may eat earthworms and other small invertebrates during the wet season.

Lifeline: Wild warthogs can live up to 15 years. Captive warthogs may live as long as 18 years. 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.

Most famous warthog is 'Pumbaa' in the movie and famous broadway show
"The Lion King"