African Rock Python Facts

Latin name: Python Sebae

Lifespan: In the wild adults can reach up to 30 years of age.

Length:
The African Rock Python is the largest of all snake species on the African continent. Large adults, especially females measure between 4 – 5,5 meters. Larger specimens of 7 and 8 meters have been recorded.

Venom: None.

Habitat:
African Rock Pythons are often found near water in savannah and grassland biomes as well as rocky outcrops. Their preferred retreats are under piles of driftwood and inside old termite mounds and abandoned aardvark (ant-bear) burrows.

Diet:
Mammals such as small to medium sized antelope, dassies (hyrax), rodents, hares, monkeys, monitor lizards, crocodiles and occasionally fish are eaten.

Reproduction:
During the summer months the female lays between 20 and 60 eggs in a termite mound or aardvark burrow. Large pythons can lay as many as 100 eggs.
The female remains with her eggs for the 2 – 3 month incubation period. During this period she will not feed but will leave on occasion to drink.

On warm days she will often bask in the sun and then use the absorbed body heat to help incubate the eggs by coiling around them. By constantly twitching her body she also generates heat to help raise the temperature of the eggs. Another advantage of coiling around the eggs is their protection against predators such as mongoose, rats and monitor lizards.

After the eggs hatch, the female remains with the hatchlings for a further 2 weeks and once the have shed their first skin they then leave the security of the female to go off on their own.

Notes:
The African Rock Python lacks venom glands but is still capable of inflicting a serious bite. Its sharp, recurved teeth often cause severe tissue damage and infection if not disinfected properly.
There are recorded incidents of large African Rock Pythons killing and even eating humans but this is very rare.

Prey that is captured is suffocated to death before consuming. Small prey species are sometimes swallowed alive! Pythons do not crush their prey to death.

The African Rock Python is a highly protected species that plays a very important role in the control of rodent populations.

Boomslang Facts

Latin Name: Dispholidus typus

Length: 1 – 1,5 m.

Lifespan: Average 8 years in the wild.

Distribution:
Throughout Africa except in the arid regions, preferring grassland, savannah and woodland often found in shrubs and trees.

Diet:
Chameleons, lizards, birds, birds’ eggs, frogs and small mammals.

Reproduction:
10 – 25 eggs are laid in the late spring to midsummer with an incubation of 2 – 3 months.

Venom:
The boomslang has extremely powerful haemotoxic venom.
This venom affects the blood clotting mechanism, resulting in headaches, and loss of blood through the bodily openings and if left untreated internal bleeding of the organs will occur.



Vision:
Unlike most snakes, the boomslang has a full colour vision aiding it in the detection of still standing prey. The boomslangs' eyesight is so keen that it is even capable of detecting motionless chameleons!

Notes:
The Boomslang is a very placid snake, but if provoked it may bite.
It is predominantly arboreal but will also hunt on open ground and has also been known to cross water in pursuit of prey.
A Boomslang can open its mouth as wide as 170 degrees, and even with its fangs at the back of the mouth it is still capable of biting an arm or leg.
The name "Boomlang" derives from the Africans language, meaning Tree snake.

Puff Adder Facts

Latin Name: Bitis arietans

Length: Up to 1 m.

Lifespan: Average 13 years.

Distribution: Found throughout Africa except for desert regions and mountaintops.

Food: Rats, mice, other small mammals, birds, frogs, toads and other snakes.

Reproduction:
Puff Adders are viviparous (give birth to live young), giving birth to 16 – 40 young, which are born in the late summer. The young are highly venomous upon hatching and are capable of inflicting a serious bite.
The Puff Adder holds the record for giving birth to the most amount young by any snake, 156!

Venom:
Their venom is Cytotoxic and highly dangerous. Once the venom enters the body, the body sends plasma (white blood cells) to the site of the bite to try and dilute the venom. With the venom being so potent, excess amounts of plasma sent cause the body tissues to swell up to the degree where the veins are compressed tightly up against the skin, resulting in loss of blood circulation. The area that swells up will often turns to a blackish-blue color with there being a lack of blood.
If not treated promptly, often amputations may necessary after about 4 hours.

Notes:
The Puff Adder is responsible for most of the serious snakebite incidents in Africa as it is the most common widespread venomous snake on the continent and often does not move when approached resulting in many people being bitten.
It is a rather sluggish moving snake but can strike very rapidly. From a coiled position too striking and then returning back to a coiled position takes just 0,24 of a second!
When approached they will often hiss and puff, hence the name “Puff Adder”.

Most Dangerous Snake in Africa

What is the most dangerous snake in Africa?

There is no 100% correct answer. Some people say it’s the Black Mamba. In world rankings it rates at No. 42 for the world’s most dangerous snakes. It is a fast striking and moving snake, reaching a top speed of 20km/h. It won’t hesitate to bite and the venom (neurotoxic) is capable of killing a person within 1 hour. If you are allergic to bees, the bite from a Black Mamba can kill you in as short a time as 20 minutes! There are very few incidents of Black Mamba bites throughout Africa every year.

The Puff Adder is also said to be the most dangerous snake in Africa. The reason is they are found throughout Africa and are responsible for the most lethal snakebites every year. Most snakes will move away out of sight if you walk to close to them.
The Puff Adder normally doesn’t move and is often stood on, often resulting in a bite.

The Boom Slang is said to be the most dangerous snake as well. The venom of a Boom Slang is haemotoxic. The venom affects the body’s natural blood clotting mechanism resulting in the bleeding of the internal organs. Sometimes it can take as long as 12 hours before the symptoms of the venom can be felt or seen.
The Boom Slang is a back fanged snake, (fangs at the back of the jaws) which is very misleading, as many people believe that it can only bite you on the hands or feet. This snake is capable of opening its mouth to an angle of 170, so it can grab hold of you just about anywhere.
Fortunately the Boom Slang is quite a placid snake and one would really have to irritate or hurt it to make it bite.

The most dangerous animal in Africa

Statistics show that the Hippo kills the most people in Africa every year with exception to the mosquito. I don't believe that these statistics are very accurate as the Crocodile also takes many lives every year.
The Hippo is 99.99% a herbivore so after killing a person they just leave the body and go back into the water. A Crocodile will normally eat whatever it kills.
Here are two examples:

David goes down to the river to do some washing and in the process he gets killed by a Hippo. The evidence is very clear that a Hippo killed him as the hippo’s footprints may be visible and the bite marks on David’s body are also clear, so another death is marked off for that year.

David goes down to river to do some washing in doing so gets killed and eaten by a Crocodile. No one saw what happened, all they know is that he is missing.

So it is impossible to say who kills more people, it could be either Hippo or Crocodile. I think it’s the Crocodile.

Animal Collective Names

Here's a list of the collective nouns for some of the African animals:

Baboons – Troop
Badgers – Cete
Bats – Cloud
Buffaloes – Obstinacy
Cheetahs – Coalition
Crocodiles – Bask
Elephants – Parade or Memory
Giraffes – Journey
Hippos – Raft or Pod
Hyenas – Clan
Leopards – Leap
Lions – Pride
Monkeys – Shrewdness
Owls – Parliament
Porcupines – Prickle
Rhinos - Crash
Zebras – Dazzle

Spotted Hyena Facts

Latin Name: Crocuta crocuta

Weight: Males 50 – 60 kg, females 60 – 70kg.

Lifespan:
Both males and females live 20 to 25 years in the wild. In captivity the spotted hyena can live as long as 40 years.

Sexual differentiation:
At one stage the spotted hyena was actually classified as a hermaphrodite (to have both male and female genitals).

The females have higher levels of testosterone than the males do, resulting in them being larger. They are also more aggressive. At a glance one could easily mistake a female for a male, as the genitals of both the sexes are very similar in appearance. The female has an enlarged clitoris, which she can erect at will, she also has a fake scrotum that looks similar to that of the male’s scrotum.

Social grouping:
Within a group of hyenas there are predominately more females than males. The males have a loose association with the group, often roaming alone or with other males.

Group sizes vary considerably from area to area. Large clans of spotted hyena may have as many as 70 – 80 related individuals. The females being larger than the males, dominate with a definite hierarchy between the females.
The alpha female (matriarch) is normally the oldest and most experienced member of the clan, her young are of a high ranking at birth and often take over the leadership of the clan, if old enough and should the matriarch die.

Reproduction:
Females looking to mate, seek males from neighbouring clans to mate with, thus reducing the chances of any inbreeding.
After a gestation of about 120 days the female gives birth to 1 or 2 cubs which are hidden in old abandoned aardvark (antbear) burrows. The cubs, if of the same sex will often try to kill each other, otherwise known as siblicide. This allows only the stronger and more dominant cubs to survive. Single cubs also get more food and thus develop a lot faster. The cubs are totally black in colour, gradually getting lighter and developing spots as they mature.
The cubs may suckle for more than a year but are normally weaned by 4 months.
They reach sexual maturity by 3 years of age.

Diet and Feeding:
Although hyenas scavenge off other predators such as lion, leopard, cheetah and wild dogs, they are in actual fact superb hunters.
Instead of speed, spotted hyenas rely more on stamina and as a group they take turns in running after their prey over long distances, until the point when the animal exhausts itself and can’t run fast anymore.
The hyena then grabs hold of the prey with its powerful jaws, often tearing chunks of flesh off, resulting in the animal dying from loss of blood and shock.

Bones are no problem for the hyenas jaws to chew though and make a meal there of.

Habits and Territoriality:
The sizes of spotted hyena territories vary considerably, from as little as 30 square kilometres to 800 + square kilometres. Factors that influence the territory size are the availability of food and water as well as pressure from neighbouring rival clans.

Territory boundaries are marked by scent glands from the hyena’s anal region. When scent-marking the spotted hyena bends its hind legs slightly while walking and then smears a thick paste-like substance onto the grass and sticks.

Encounters between rival clans often start with an increase in scent-marking and vocalisations such as whooping. Vocalising acts as a warning signal to the rivals to move out of the area as well as attracting the attention of the other resident clan members to make them aware of the intruding hyenas.

If the all warnings are ignored, a battle between the two clans may begin, often resulting in serious injuries or even deaths.

Quick Facts:
-Statistically, Spotted Hyenas are responsible for EATING (NOT KILLING) more people than any other predator in Africa every year.
-Their jaws are capable of exerting pressures of up to 800 kg/square inch!
-Another name for the spotted hyena is the “laughing hyena”.