The aberdare bongos

Scientific Name: (Boocercus euryceros )is a herbivorous browser which weighs from 500-900 lbs(250-450 kgs),can reache a height upto 50 inches at the shoulder,have a gestation period of about 9 months and have a life span of 19 years in captivity.The bongo is the largest and heaviest forest antelope. The large ears are believed to sharpen hearing, and the distinctive coloration may help bongos identify one another in their dark forest habitats. Bongos have no special secretion glands and so rely less on scent to find one another than do other similar antelopes. 

Both males and females have spiraled lyre-shaped horns that resemble those of the related antelope species of nyalas, sitatungas, bushbucks, kudus and elands. They have a hunched posture, with the head held up and the horns extended along the back.Bongos are found in rain forest with dense undergrowth. Specifically they are found in the Lowland Rain Forest of West Africa and the Congo Basin to the Central African Republic and Southern Sudan and kenya . Bongos are mostly nocturnal. Male bongos are solitary, seeking out females only during mating season. Timid and easily frightened, bongos will move away after a scare, running at considerable speed, even through dense undergrowth. 

Adult males of similar size or age seem to try to avoid one another, but occasionally they will meet and spar with their horns in a ritualized manner. Sometimes serious fights will take place, but they are usually discouraged by visual displays, in which the males bulge their necks, roll their eyes and hold their horns in a vertical position while slowly pacing back and forth in front of the other male. They seek out females only at mating time; when they are with a herd of females, males do not coerce them or try to restrict their movements as do some other antelopes. Although bongos are mostly nocturnal, they are occasionally active during the day. When in distress the bongo emits a bleat. It uses a limited number of vocalizations, mostly grunts and snorts. The females have a weak, mooing contact call for their young. 

Females prefer to use traditional calving grounds restricted to certain areas. The newborn calf lies out in hiding for a week or more, receiving short visits by the mother to suckle it. The calves grow rapidly and can soon accompany their mothers in the nursery herds. Their horns also grow rapidly and begin to show in 31/2 months.Bongos are susceptible to disease such as rinderpest but various predators also take their toll. The young are vulnerable to pythons, leopards and hyenas. Lions have also been reported to kill bongos, but today the most serious predators are people living near forests, who often hunt bongos with dogs and set snares for them. Bongos are shy animals. They often are solitary, but sometimes accompany one another in pairs. Females and their young form small groups.

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The Spinders

Most of see them and ignore them even some going into an extent of killing them. Spiders exist in all over the world, both venomous and non venomous. In your adventure safari holiday is a must encounter bust most are unnoticed .Spiders form   a large and diverse group. They vary in size from tiny species less than 1 mm across, to giant exceeding 15 cm. spiders usually have unsegmented abdomen, strongly constricted at the end. With a group of finger-like spinnerets at the head. Spiders can be divided into two groups namely: mygalomorphae which are primitive and contain the big hairy spiders and Araneomorphae the true spiders. The difference between the two is the way the jawswork. The jaws of the mygalomorphae strike downwards, whereas the jaws of the araneomorphs oppose each other.

Spiders can live for a long time without food as long as they have access to water. External digestion takes place with use of venom ,which serves the function of immobilizing the prey and pouring digestive enzymes on them. These enzymes gradually digest the prey ‘s internal organs and the spider then sucks up the liquid. In order for successful mating to take place, the structure of the male palp has to be complementary to that of the female epigyne, much like a lock and key mechanism. 

Spiders produces silk which are produced by the abdominal silk glands and at least seven different kinds are known to exist. It is proteins with amazing properties, for the strongest types have a breath taking strain of that of steel wire of the same diameter. The silk produced can stretch to roughly double its length before it breaks. Spiders often recycle the protein by eating their silk before they rebuild a web. It has been shown that some species eat the silk as pollen gathers on it, as food source. Silk is produced as a liquid and is emitted from the spinnerets much as tooth paste from the tube. The spiders may climb to some point, lifts up its abdomen and releases a stream of silk which is called ballooning. This is caught by wind and the spider floats gently away. 

The longest lived spiders are those of the trap doors which may live for up to twenty years. Some common seen spiders in your Kenya safari adventure includes; of Araneidae family, cteniziade, eresidae and scytodidae.many varieties  exists in the world with black window spiders seen most with most  . They have a varying colour and other minor details but all of these species have similar lifestyle and all are dangerously toxic. Next time when you are in your safari holiday, have a look at them also since they are very interesting insects.

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The most dreamy mammal on earth

The warthog Scientific Name: Phacochoerus aethiopicus: swahili : Ngiri Weighs about 60- 120 kilos (120 to 250 pounds) and have a gestation period of 175 days ,attaining a height of about 30 inches at the shoulder, is a grazer . The warthog is neither graceful nor beautiful, warthogs are nonetheless remarkable animals. They are found in most of Africa south of the Sahara and are widely distributed in Ethiopia, Somalia, kenya Uganda and tanzania. They are the only pigs able to live in areas without water for several months of the year. 

The warthog is a tough, sturdy animal. Males weigh 20 to 50 pounds more than females, but both are distinguished by disproportionately large heads and “warts”—thick protective pads that appear on both sides of the head. The warthog's large tusks are unusual: The two upper ones emerge from the sides of the snout to form a semicircle; the lower tusks at the base of the uppers are worn to a sharp cutting edge.

The long tail ends with a tuft of bristles. 

The warthog characteristically carries its tail upright when it runs, the tuft waving like a tiny flag. Warthogs are not territorial but instead occupy a home range.Warthogs live in groups called sounders. Females live in sounders with their young and with other females. Sometimes two families, often of related females, will join together. Warthogs sleep and rest in holes.

Although they can excavate, warthogs normally use those dug by other animals, like aardvarks. 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. Female warthogs only have four teats, so litter sizes usually are confined to four young. 

Each piglet has its "own" teat and suckles exclusively from it. Even if one piglet dies, the others do not suckle from the available teat. 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.

The warthog has poor vision (though better than most other African wild pigs), but its senses of smell and hearing are good.When alarmed, the warthog grunts or snorts, lowers its mane, flattens its ears and bolts for underground cover. Warthogs are  omnivorous, composed of grasses, roots, berries and other fruits, bark, fungi, eggs and carrion.the diet is seasonably variable, depending on availability of different food items. 

During the wet seasons warthogs graze on short perennial grasses. During the dry seasons they subsist on bulbs, rhizomes and nutritious root. Although capable of fighting, with males aggressively fighting each other during mating season, a primary defence is to flee by means of fast sprinting. The main warthog predators are humans, lions, leopards, crocodiles, and hyenas. Cheetahs are also capable of catching small warthogs.

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