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Top 4
Endangered
1. Scimitar Oryx
2.
Wattled Crane
3.
Black and white Ruffed Lemur
4. White
Rhino
Animal Profiles
Scimitar Oryx
 Oryx
dammah
Family: Bovidae
STATUS: Endangered.
Extinct north of the Sahara.
FEATURES
Whitish with russet-brown neck and chest and face
markings. Horns shaped like a scimitar. Short mane, hump
on shoulders, large hooves. 119cm at shoulder, weighs up
to 204kg.
DIET
Grasses,
leaves of shrubs, seedpods and fruits, tubers and bulbs
of succulents.
DISTRIBUTION
Semi-desert.
Confined to a narrow strip near the Red
Sea. (Formerly over most of north Africa.)
DID YOU KNOW..?
These antelope are
endangered because of the spread of cattle into their
habitat, and ungoverned hunting using helicopters and
machine guns.
Wattled Crane
Bugeranus carunculatus
Family: Gruidae
STATUS: Critically Endangered -
only about 230 left in the wild - a 35 % decline over
the last 20 years.
FEATURES
Named for the red 'wattle' below its bill, this
large grey and white bird is one of South Africa's three
crane species.
DIET
Bulbs
and rhizomes of aquatic plants, grain, grass seeds and
insects.
BREEDING
1 - 2
eggs are laid, but only 1 chick is raised. Incubation 32
- 40 days.
They will desert their nest if disturbed.
Maturity is reached at 7 years and their breeding
rate is the lowest of all cranes.
DISTRIBUTION
Wetlands, vleis in grassland.
Southern Africa & Ethiopia. In South Africa: Kwazulu
Natal, Free State,
Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape.
DID YOU KNOW?
This is South
Africa's second-rarest bird, due to habitat destruction,
poisoning and power-line collisions.
Black and White Ruffed Lemur
 Varecia variegata variegate
Status: Endangered
FEATURES
Largest of the lemurs
at 3.3 to 4.5 kg. Their colour varies with locality.
They call loudly when danger threatens, but keep in
contact with quiet calls.
Little is known about
these lemurs in the wild.
DIET
Vegetarian - fruits.
BREEDING
Pairs have strong bonds. Usually twin
births.
These are the only lemurs to leave their
young in the nest while mother forages.
DISTRIBUTION
East coast rain forest of
Madagascar.
Because of its isolation from nearby
Africa, all life forms on this large island evolved
differently from similar forms elsewhere.
DID YOU KNOW..?
The name 'lemur'
means ghost, because of the quiet way these animals move
around and seem to disappear.
White
Rhino
Ceratotherium simum
Family:
Rhinocerotidae
STATUS: Threatened, but recovering
from Endangered
FEATURES
The
second-largest land mammal - 1,70 to 1,85m high at the
shoulder; males weigh up to 2,300kg, females 1,700kg.
Form small groups of 4 to 8, led by a dominant bull.
Enjoy mud-baths, which protect them from external
parasites.
DIET
Short grass.
BREEDING
1 calf is born after 16
month gestation. The parents do not form long-term
pairs.
DISTRIBUTION
Flat
grassy plains with bushy cover, drier savanna.
Southern Africa - in Game Reserves in East and South
Africa.
DID YOU KNOW..?
These animals are not white: early English colonists
mistook the Dutch 'wyd' (wide) which described the
animals' mouth.
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