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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Hyena that hunts

Scientific Name: Crocuta crocuta (spotted hyena)
Size: 28 to 35 inches tall
Weight: 90 to 190 pounds
Lifespan: 25 years in captivity
Habitat: Savannas, grasslands, woodlands, forest edges, subdeserts and mountains to 13,000 feet
Diet: Carnivorous
Gestation: 90 to110 days
Predators: Humans
Swahili : Fisi

The hyena (spelled "hyeana" in some parts of the world) is Africa's most common large carnivore. In ancient Egypt, hyenas were domesticated, fattened and eaten, and in turn, humans have on occasion become food for hyenas. Reputed to be cowardly and timid, the hyena can be bold and dangerous, attacking animals and humans. Female spotted hyenas are dominant over the males and outweigh them by about 3 pounds. 

It is difficult to distinguish between the sexes in the field because external female genitalia have a superficial similarity to those of the male. Spotted hyenas are found in grasslands, woodlands, savannas, subdeserts, forest edges and mountains. Spotted hyenas are organized into territorial clans of related individuals. The center of clan activity is the den, where the cubs are raised and individuals meet. Hyenas mark and patrol their territories by depositing a strong-smelling substance produced by the anal glands on stalks of grass along the boundaries.

"Latrines," places where members of a clan deposit their droppings, also mark territories. Hyenas are social animals that communicate with one another through specific calls, postures and signals. Hyenas usually bear litters of two to four cubs, which, unlike the other two species, are born with their eyes open. Cubs begin to eat meat from kills near the den at about 5 months, but they are suckled for as long as 12 to 18 months, an unusually long time for carnivores. At about 1 year, cubs begin to follow their mothers on their hunting and scavenging forays. 

Until then, they are left behind at the den with a babysitting adult. The spotted hyena is a skillful hunter but also an opportunistic scavenger. It consumes animals of various types and sizes, carrion, bones, vegetable matter and other animals' droppings. The powerful jaws and digestive tract of the hyena allow it to process and obtain nutrients from skin and bones. The only parts of prey not fully digested are hair, horns and hooves - these are regurgitated in the form of pellets. The high mineral content of the bones hyenas consume make their droppings a highly visible, chalky white. Hyenas make a variety of vocalizations, including wailing calls, howling screams and the well-known "laughter" used to alert other clan members up to three miles away of a food source. Hyenas eat a great variety of animal products, vegetation and, according to campers, even aluminum pots and pans.

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