10 Animals only found in Africa

10 Animals that can be found exclusively in Africa

The African continent supports rich wildlife across its deserts, savannas, huge valleys, and forests, and is home to the largest land animal, the ‘African elephant’, and the 'giraffe' which is the tallest animal in the world.
There are many other beautiful and amazing animals native to Africa that you would be interested to know.

10. Greater Kudu
Greater kudu is an amazing antelope that is native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They inhabit in savannah woodlands and rocky hillsides.
Greater kudus are one of the longest-horned antelopes in the world. The impressively twisted horns are only found in male kudus. Their horns can grow over a length of 1 meter with 2 and half twists. Male kudus use their long horns to defend against its predators.

9. Ostrich
The flightless ostriches are the largest bird in the world. Ostriches live in savannas and desert lands of Central and Southern Africa.
Ostriches are also known as camel birds because they can withstand high temperature and can live for an extended period without water.
At 15 cm in length, Ostriches lays the largest eggs in the world, and with powerful long legs, ostriches can reach up to a maximum speed of 43 miles per hour.

8. Okapi
Okapi is the only remaining relative of giraffe in the world. They are only found in the rainforests of the Republic of Congo. The most prominent feature of okapis is the striped markings on their behinds that give them a zebra-like appearance.
Okapi is one of the most endangered animals of Africa. Their habitat loss and hunting are the main threats to this exotic species.
As a member of the giraffe family, okapis have long necks, but not as long as giraffes. Okapis have scent glands on each foot which produce a tar-like secretion.

7. Galago
Galagos are also known as bush babies, a small primate who has a length between 6-8 inches and weighs up to 10 kg. They live in bush lands and woodlands throughout East Africa.
The thick fur of galagos comes in brown or grey. They have huge ears which can fold to give them an excellent sense of hearing. This nocturnal creature also has excellent night vision with large eyes.

6. Shoebill
The shoebill is one of the strangest looking birds in the world. They are named after their large shoe-like bill which can grow up to a length of 9 inches. This amazing bird can be found only in the swamps and marshes of Eastern Africa.
Shoebills are one of the species that are likely to become endangered in the near future. Habitat loss and hunting are the main threat to the shoebills.
5. Mantled Guereza
The Mantled Guereza are also known as Colobus Monkeys. Colobus is the Greek word for mutilated, because unlike other monkeys, Mantled guereza do not have thumbs. The mantled guereza is among the most attractive African monkeys. They have beautiful glossy, black and white fur and an impressively long tail. They inhabit in deciduous and evergreen forests of West-central and East Africa, and live in small groups that contain 3-15 monkeys.

4. Grey Crowned Crane
Standing at the height of 1 meter and weigh over 4 kg, the grey-crowned crane is a large bird that inhabits in savannahs and rivers of Eastern and Southern Africa.
The most prominent feature of this fantastic African bird is its crest of golden feathers. The plumage of grey-crowned crane is mainly grey with pale-grey neck and black and white wings. With 2-5 eggs per nest, the grey-crowned cranes produce the largest average clutch than most of the other birds in the crane family called Gruidae.

3. Wildebeest
The bull-like looking wildebeests actually belong to the family of antelopes. There are two different species of Wildebeest in the world, black wildebeest and blue wildebeest. Both species of wildebeests are found only in Africa. They inhabit in open woodlands and green plains.
Between May and June, when food sources become scarce, the wildebeests migrate towards North. The migratory group consists of 1.5 million wildebeests. Thousands of zebras and gazelles also accompany them. It is the largest terrestrial mammal migration on Earth.

2. Mandrill
Mandrills are the largest species of monkeys in the world. Mandrills live in rainforests and subtropical forests of Western-Central Africa.
Mandrills are definitely among the most colorful monkeys in the world. They have beautiful dense, olive green fur and grey under parts. The cute long nose of mandrills features a red stripe. They also have distinctive blue colored rumps. The male monkeys are larger and colorful than the females.
1. Lemur
Lemur is a fantastic primate that is found only on the Island of Madagascar, in the East coast of Southern Africa. There are over 100 different known species of lemurs in total, and all are endemic to Madagascar. Most lemurs are arboreal, which means they spend most of their time in dwelling on trees. The tail of most species of lemurs is also longer than their body.