What are Primates?

Primates consist of great apes, monkeys, lemurs and us. There are over 185 species of primates in the world, 51 of which are in Africa, although this could well go up as new discoveries are made every once in a while. The latest such discovery was a new species of mangabey monkey, the Highland Mangabey, found in the Udzungwa Mountains in the south of Tanzania in 2005.

Types of Primate

Great Apes

Silverback Gorilla

Great apes consist of gorillas, chimpanzees and orang-utans. All three of these species are endangered. They are characterised by not having tails and by walking on all fours along the ground on their knuckles. They are the most similar types of primate to ourselves.

Monkeys

Monkeys have highly developed brains and tails that can often grasp the branches of a tree like an extra limb. This makes them especially suited to living in the trees where they can move freely. They also have grasping hands that can be used to make tools.

Lemurs

Madagascar Lemur

Lemurs are only found in Madagascar. They are very small compared to other primates, and have eyes that face forwards which provides them with depth perception. They have tails like monkeys, but they cannot use them to grip onto things. Both their feet and their hands have opposable fingers and toes.

Characteristics

Primates are characterised as being socially complex creatures. They nearly always live in groups, where social activities are very important to them. This can include grooming, which is not just used for cleaning but for important social bonding.

Primates often have strict social hierarchies with alpha males leading the group. Social activities like grooming often follow this social pattern, with the less important animals grooming the ones that are higher up the rankings.

Primates are also known for their prehensile hands that are used for climbing trees, eating and making tools.

Where do they Live?

babboons

The vast majority of primates live in rainforests. This is because they are very much at home amidst the trees, which they often rely on for food and protection. There are only a few species that can survive quite happily away from trees, including chimpanzees and baboons. The latter are the most common types of primates that you are likely to see on a safari to Africa.

Best Places to See Them

Primates are found all over Africa. You can often find monkeys living quite happily in the trees in town centres, but some are a lot harder to find. Two of the most popular types of primates are gorillas and chimpanzees.

Gorillas

There are two species of gorilla – the mountain gorilla and the western lowland gorilla. Mountain gorillas are amongst the most endangered creatures on earth, and the are restricted to a few groups in Central Africa. If you want to see them then you should head on an organised gorilla safari to Uganda or Rwanda.

To see western lowland gorillas, head to Cameroon for the best chance to see them. The Dzangha Sanga Reserve in the south of the country is a great place to encounter them, as well as other primates.

Chimpanzees

Chimpanzees are more widely distributed than gorillas, and they too can be found in Cameroon. However, one of the best places to see them is in Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. This is where Jane Goodall set up her research programme, the most important of its kind in the world.

Primate Conservation

There are a number of charities and organisations that you can support if you want to help the plight of primates across Africa and the world.

International Primate Rescue is one of the largest that works with all types of primates.

The Jane Goodall Institute was set up by Jane Goodall and supports the plight of chimpanzees.

Conservation International supports primates across the world, as well as working on other conservation programmes.

The Gorilla Organisation works to support gorillas in Africa and protect them from extinction.

Ardi

News came out last week of an incredible discovery. It was announced that scientists in Ethiopia had discovered one of our oldest ever ancestors, bringing us ever closer to the elusive so-called “missing link”, the last common ancestor that we shared with modern apes. Scientists have long being trying to find out what the first hominids looked like, and now they finally have an answer.

Ardi

Named Ardi, short for Ardipithecus ramidus, the discovery is the oldest ever in the hominid branch and is being hailed by many as the most important discovery of our time. The previous most important find was the skeleton known as Lucy, who was 3.2 million years old, making Ardi over a million years older. It is thought that our last common ancestor with the apes lived about six or seven million years ago.

Discovery

Ardi was discovered in Afar, a region of the Great Rift Valley in northeast Ethiopia. This is only about 46 miles away from the site where Lucy was discovered. The fossils were actually found way back in 1994, and it is only now that we are hearing about it. This is because it took three years for scientists to put all the 125 fragments together, and a further 13 years to analyse them. The fossils were in such a bad shape that a microscope and needle were needed to extract them from the rock.

Of particular importance were the discovery of almost complete foot and hand bones, which are incredibly rare to find in any hominid fossil. That this find was so old made it even more remarkable.

Characteristics

Ardi was about four feet tall and weighed about nine stone, making it twice the weight of Lucy and about a foot taller as well. It had a brain slightly bigger than a modern chimp’s, although smaller than Lucy’s. It walked with a stoop, and was a good climber, as implied through its outward–pointing big toe and long arms. It survived on a diet of leaves, fruit and small mammals.

Questions

The discovery of Ardi has raised lots of questions relating to our evolutionary path. The biggest problem to arise with the discovery is the light it sheds on why we began to walk on two feet in the first place. It had long been theorised that it was our move out of the forests and onto the savannahs that led to this development, but Ardi lived in a heavily forested area.

The teeth also pose further questions. As other male teeth were also found at the site, scientists could see that both males and females had similar sized teeth. In modern apes, the males bare their teeth in fights, which was not done by Ardi. This suggests that the male was a more parental figure and shows a very early reduction in the canine tooth.

Whatever the further mysteries posed by the discovery of Ardi, it helps us to get closer to the missing link, and each new discovery teaches us even more about our origins. Ethiopia is proving to be a rich source of discoveries, and who knows what else lies in wait beneath the stone to shed light on our origins.

Hippopotamus at the Grumeti River Lodge

The hippopotamus is the third-largest land mammal after the elephant and rhinoceros. The name roughly translates as river-horse in ancient Greek, due to the fact that they spend most of their time in the water. Hippos are spread all over Africa and number up to 150,000 in total, with the largest populations being in Tanzania and Zambia.

Characteristics

The closest relatives to hippos are cetaceans such as whales. They are large, weighing up to 3.5 tonnes, and this huge weight gives them the appearance of slow creatures. However, when they run they can reach speeds of up to 18 mph in short bursts, meaning they can easily outrun a human.

Sometimes hippos may look pink, and this is due to a substance that they secrete from their skins that protects them from the sun. Hippos can be very aggressive creatures, making them the most dangerous animals in Africa.

Lifestyle

Hippos are mainly plant-eating animals. They are semi-aquatic, spending most of their lives in rivers and lakes, and only venturing out at night to graze on short grass. During the day they keep cool and prevent their skins from drying out by bathing in the water or mud.

They come in groups of up to 100 at the most, but generally the bulls preside over groups of up to 30 females. They generally huddle together in the water, but the reason for this is unknown because they are not particularly social creatures.

Threats

Hippos face two key threats to their survival: poaching and habitat loss. They are killed for their meat and their ivory teeth, but they are perhaps more threatened by the loss of fresh water habitats across Africa due to human settlement and the spread of agriculture. The pygmy hippo, a sub species, is threatened mainly by logging in its forest habitat.

This has led them to be declared a ‘vulnerable species’ by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), which placed them on the Red List in 2006. This came after a decline of 20% had been recorded since a decade earlier. One of the most severe drops was in Virunga National Park in DR Congo. There were about 29,000 hippos living here in the 1970s, which went down to less than 1,000 over 30 years mainly as a result of war.

Conservation

There are a number of conservation schemes in place now to protect hippos. One of these is in Lake Edward in DR Congo which has seen its population decline from over 27,000 in 1959 to just a few hundred today.

One group is the IUCN/SSC Hippo Specialist SubGroup, a specialist section of the World Conservation Union. But there are many other charities such as WWF and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) that are committed to protecting all types of animals across Africa including hippos.

Crocodile at Grumeti River

Crocodiles are found all over the world. These prehistoric creatures are survivors, so perfectly adapted for their environment that they have hardly changed since the extinction of the dinosaurs. Here’s a brief guide to this ultimate predator.

Crocodile Facts

Although the Saltwater Crocodile in Australasia is the biggest of the 15 crocodile species, growing up to an immense seven metres in length, it is the Nile Crocodile of Africa that is the most feared. This is because Nile Crocodiles are sometimes responsible for human deaths across the continent in locations where villagers and crocodiles are forced to live side by side. As well as killing humans, they also kill livestock, making them a menace for many people.

The Nile Crocodile can grow up to 5.5 metres in length, although there are reports of some growing over 6 metres. They can weigh up to 1,000 kg, and in the wild they generally live up to 47 years of age.

Crocodiles have an incredible ability to stave off infections. Even though they are regularly injured in dirty water, they are often able to survive their injuries in a way that humans could not possibly manage. This is one of the key reasons behind their incredible survival abilities.

Crocodile Behaviour

Crocodiles are stealthy hunters. Most of the time they hunt in the cool of the evenings, swimming right up close to their prey on the riverbanks without being seen. They wait patiently and then ambush their prey with a lightening reaction, dragging animals into the water and drowning them. However, despite what you see on the TV, most of their diet is made up of fish rather than wildebeest and other large mammals.

The Best Places to See Nile Crocodiles

Africa has three species of crocodile – the Nile Crocodile, the Slender Snouted Crocodile and the African Dwarf Crocodile. However, you are most likely to come across the Nile Crocodile. This is found all over Sub-Saharan Africa, but is most common in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Madagascar and Botswana.

One of the best places to see crocodiles when you go on a photo safari is in the Serengeti in Tanzania and the Masai Mara in Kenya. During the Great Migration, they pick off large mammals as they try to cross the Grumeti river and Mara river, providing one of the best and most reliable opportunities to watch them hunting in the wild. Getting up close and personal with a mighty killer such as this is definitely an experience and one of the highlights of any safari in Africa,

Alternatively, head to the wetlands of the Okavango Delta in Botswana where crocodiles are present in large numbers and you may get to see them from the safety of your boat.

Crocodile Conservation

Up to the 1960s the Nile Crocodile was heavily hunted, almost to extinction, for its meat and leather. However, a lot more has been done since then to protect them, and now there are up to half a million living in the wild.

Despite these efforts, the Nile Crocodile is still threatened by bad fishing practices, hunting and pollution all across the continent, which continues to cause concern for conservationists. Crocodiles control certain populations of fish and clean up the waterways by eating dead animals that would otherwise decay, meaning they are hugely important to the overall picture.

For more information on crocodiles and their plight, visit International Crocodile Specialist Group.

Giraffes at the Serengeti National Park

When you go on a photo safari, you are sure to have a list of animals in your mind that you are desperate to see. These could include lions, leopards, elephants, crocodiles, hippos and many others. But it is unlikely that you will be quite as excited about seeing a giraffe. But without the giraffe the African plains just wouldn’t be the same, and these picture-perfect mammals are simply wonderful to photograph.

The giraffe is an ungulate, like the zebra or wildebeest, and it is also related to deer. It bears the distinction of being the tallest animal to live on land, with fully grown giraffes reaching heights of up to 5.2 metres – the tallest giraffe ever recorded was a massive 6 metres.

Its long neck is the defining characteristic of the giraffe. Despite its length, it only has seven vertebrae, the same number as humans and most mammals. This is especially useful for reaching to the tops of trees to get to the succulent leaves, and their reaching ability is increased even further by their long tongues, which can stretch to 46 centimetres in length. Their favourite food acacia-tree leaves, but they don’t just go for food that is out of reach of most animals – they also eat grass, which means they have to spread their legs out to reach right down to the ground.

Giraffes have a strange way of running, and if you see them doing so on your photo safari you will see that they look almost like they are moving in slow motion. But they can reach impressive speeds of up to 55 km/hour if they need to. Their long legs also provide them with a formidable weapon – a giraffe’s kick can kill a lion.

Giraffes are found all over Sub-Saharan Africa, right from Central Africa to South Africa, so you’re sure to see one no matter where you go on your photo safari. They are generally found in open savannah and grasslands, and they generally tend not to venture into dense vegetation, sticking instead to areas where there are numerous acacia trees. They drink large quantities of water when they can and this allows them to live out in arid areas for longer. They also don’t require much sleep, only needing up to two hours a day.

Although giraffes in general are not under threat like many other animals in Africa, the West African Giraffe is classified as endangered. However, giraffes are still hunted across Africa for their meat and their tails, which are sometimes used as good-luck charms. They are also threatened by the destruction of their habitat as trees are cut down for farming and firewood. They are a protected species in most areas, and their population numbers anything up to 150,000.

Chimpanzees in Gombe National Park

Chimpanzees are our closest evolutionary relatives, sharing 94% of our DNA. They are incredible creatures whose profound intelligence allows them to recognise numbers and to use tools. But unfortunately these amazing apes are, like so many primates across the world, endangered. In fact, some estimates predict that only 300,000 of them remain in the wild.

One person who knows more about chimpanzees than just about anyone else is Jane Goodall. In 1960 Goodall began a research programme in Gombe Stream National Park in western Tanzania. Her research has since cast light onto many areas of the previously unknown lives of these amazing creatures. For example, it was Goodall who first discovered that chimps used tools just like humans. Since she arrived in Gombe, she has also set up the Jane Goodall Institute to protect chimpanzees across the world.

Jane Goodall

If you are amazed by chimpanzees and would like to see them in the wild, then you can head to Gombe Stream National Park yourself to see them in the wild. Located on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, it is a wild place only accessible by boat. But if you want an adventure then you can head here on a chimpanzee safari to try to catch a glimpse of the animals. The best time to visit the park is from May to November, the dry season, as during the rains it can become perilously slippery.

If you go to Gombe, it’s not just chimpanzees that you will become acquainted with. You will also be able to see numerous other apes including blue monkeys, olive baboons and red colobus monkeys. On top of these, you’ll also get to see other animals in the park such as leopards and elephants. So although you’ll be going on a chimpanzee safari, you’ll be seeing far more than that. However, the experience won’t come cheap. The entrance fee to the park is $100 per day, but when you get an experience that you can’t get anywhere else in the world then it has to be worth it.

If you are a keen photographer, make sure to take plenty of film with you or a big memory card for your camera. If you come across the chimps then you won’t be able to stop taking pictures. You might even want to consider turning your chimpanzee safari into a dedicated photo safari and go along with a professional photographer who can help you get the perfect snaps to take home and impress your friends.

Chimpanzees are amazing animals, and seeing them in the wild is an absolute treat. Helping to share the knowledge of these apes will also lead to better protection for them in the wild. But if you can’t go and see them yourself, then why not donate to the Jane Goodall Institute to help the good work that is being done to protect them in the wild so that future generations can enjoy them as well.

Cheetah

Have you ever wondered how cheetahs can run so fast? Well now the Royal Veterinary College is carrying out a new study at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo on a group of North African cheetahs in an attempt to shed more light into their amazing running abilities. It seems strange that no one really knows yet just how they can reach such speeds, but hopefully after the trial we will have a better understanding about these incredible creatures.

Trying to work out how cheetahs run so fast is sure to have its challenges. The trials will involve tying a bit of chicken onto a string, using it to get the cheetahs’ attention, and then encouraging them to chase the meat by pulling it with a motor. The aim is to get the cheetahs to run past a high-speed camera which will catch their exact body movements for detailed analysis later on. The tracks that they run on also have scales to weigh the forces of each step to provide an even greater insight.

Cheetahs are one of nature’s master creations. It has been well documented that they can reach speeds of up to 64 mph, making them the fastest animals on land. However, some experts are now saying that they might be able to run even faster.

One of the best places to see cheetahs is in Tanzania. Tanzania has a number of national parks, but two of the best are the Serengeti and Ngorogoro Crater. Ngorogoro Crater is a vast crater that was formed during a massive volcanic eruption, and it is now widely revered as one of the natural wonders of the world.

Despite their popularity, cheetahs are also one of the most endangered species in Africa. For that reason there are many cheetah conservation schemes that you can get involved in which will allow you to see them in the wild as well as help their cause. A possible scheme could involve helping to count their numbers in a specific location, or you could even take pictures of them in the wild to help form a database and boost cheetah conservation efforts.

If you get involved in a project or just go on a safari, then you may want to get a snap of a cheetah running, which will certainly bring some challenges. If you don’t want to be disappointed then always make sure you take the right equipment for high-speed shots. However, most of the time they will just be sitting around so as long as you have a large zoom lens you should be alright.

Cheetahs are incredible creatures, and one of the highlights of any safari to Tanzania. The new study into their speed should provide a greater insight into these magnificent cats, and any cheetah fans will be keen to find out more about them. But if you want to see them in the wild then head to Tanzania, and hopefully you’ll be able to take home photos and memories that you’ll treasure forever.

Flamingos at Lake Manyara

Flamingo

The flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) has been set apart from others for many years, capturing the imagination of authors such as Lewis Carol for its unique pink colour. Seeing a flock of flamingos bathing in real life is everything you would imagine it to be. In fact the sight is even more spectacular during spring when the adults are joined by lots of fluffy little grey babies.

Masai Ostrich

The ostrich (Struthio camelus) is the largest bird on the planet, and even though it can’t fly, it can actually run at 45 mph. Luckily, they are a bit easier to catch on film than they would be in a race, and we have several photos of these stunning birds which are found across East Africa.

Secretary Bird

The Secretary Bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is found across the open grasslands and Savannahs of East Africa and is actually found on the coat of arms of Sudan. The Secretary Bird is very unique in appearance, with a body similar to other birds of prey, but with very long legs. The Secretary Bird also has very distinctive black and white head plumes which match the colouring of the body. The look of the Secretary Bird is not all that makes it unique – it also has a very unique method of hunting in which it stamps on the heads of its prey to kill it. It is for both of these reasons that a photo of this fabulous bird is so special.

Great White Pelican

The Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) is a huge, white bird which is found in the swamps and lakes of Africa. The most unique feature of the pelican is its huge bill, which features a pouch underneath in which the pelican stores fish.  Although the bird is found across several areas of east Africa, they actually only usually breed on Lake Elementeita. This makes for an absolutely amazing sight at breeding time, when more than 45,000 birds can crowd together on the water at any one time.

White Headed Vulture

Although they have a reputation of being one of the nastier members of the bird race, vultures are still one of our favourites to photograph. The white-headed vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis) is a threatened species found only in Africa and can usually be photographed when a carcass is found lying around, as they are usually pretty quick to dive in and pick the bones.

This is only the tip of the iceberg – you will be amazed at the beautiful, unique and colourful East African birds you will see when you are on a safari. Our rangers are all proud of the knowledge they have developed all throughout their working lives out in the bush. Ask them anything about birds and they can tell you everything there is to know about each species or a particular bird type.

We have literally hundreds of shots of different East Africa birds that we are also proud of ourselves. Africa is a bird lovers paradise and absolutely fantastic for birds photography. You can join us in one of our scheduled photographic safari and we can guarantee you some shots of birds which are just so much more spectacular than the British garden variety.

Contact us now at Araneta & Tan if you want to get some tips on how to best photograph East African birds or if you want to get more information about the photographic safaris we offer. info@aranetatan.com

I’m sure that the Serengeti doesn’t really need too much of an introduction, but here we just wanted to introduce you to some of the many types of impressive animals which you might be able to capture on film on a trip to the Serengeti.

The Great Migration

Great Migration

The Great Migration is really a once in a lifetime sight (unless you’re lucky enough to make it to the Serengeti more than once in your life!) where the park’s 2 million wildebeest travel across the plains in search of fresh grass. If you think that a bunch of wildebeest surely can’t be that impressive, you couldn’t be more wrong.

And there is a good possibility that you will see a lot more animals as well, for example dotted between the wildebeest you are quite likely to see gnus and zebras. Many of the Serengeti’s predators know that a whole herd of wildebeest is likely to make for an easy dinner, and plenty show up to take advantage. We’ve personally had some of our best action shots during the Great Migration, featuring lions, leopards, cheetahs and crocodiles.

The Big Five

Big Five

Once upon a time, the “Big Five” were the five animals which every hunter wanted to bag as a trophy. Today, they’re the animals which every photographer who visits Africa wants to capture: the lion, the leopard, the rhino, the elephant and the Cape buffalo.

It’s not as easy as you might think to get a good shot of each of these five, although with the help of a good guide and a lot of patience you could be well on your way. The effort it takes to get a shot of each of the five just adds to the satisfaction you will feel when you complete the set.

East African Birds

East African Birds

The Serengeti National Park will spoil every bird lovers with a very impressive variety of East African birds. Any first time safari visitors to Tanzania expects to see only the big mammals but they are all amazed with the new knowledge, discovery and interest they take home with them after they spot all the beautiful, unique and colourful birds all over the Serengeti plains. These birds will surely take your enjoyment to another level and you will be guaranteed amazingly wonderful bird shots after your trip.

Plan Your Own Trip

So as you can see, the Serengeti National Park is just paradise for any nature and wildlife photographer and/or nature and wildlife lover. We would strongly urge anyone who gets the opportunity to go, to grab the chance with both hands, and you too could experience this beautiful place – a paradise not to be missed in this lifetime.

We ourselves offer amateur and serious digital photographers the chance to join us on a Photographic Safari so you too can be on your way to adding photos of these amazing creatures and breathtaking landscapes to your portfolio.

If you would like more information on planning your own trip send us an e-mail at info@aranetatan.com.