Types of animals
Some animals you might find in the tropical grasslands of Africa are:
* Buffalo
* Wildebeest
* Zebra
* Rhinos
* Giraffes
* Elephants
* Warthogs
* Lions
* Leopards
* Cheetahs
* Jackals
* Wild dogs
* Hyenas
* Buffalo
* Wildebeest
* Zebra
* Rhinos
* Giraffes
* Elephants
* Warthogs
* Lions
* Leopards
* Cheetahs
* Jackals
* Wild dogs
* Hyenas
Predator/ prey relationship
In the grasslands there are lots of predators and prey. One example of this is the cheetah and the zebra. When the zebra population goes up, there becomes more cheetahs because there is more to feed on. The cheetahs eat a lot of the zebras so their population goes down. There are less zebras to feed on so some cheetahs will die of starvation. The zebras then go up because there are less predators. This cycle just continues.
adaptations
Giraffes
Zebras
Elephants
- 8 foot necks allow them to eat off high branches
- legs can strike can strike savage blows to predators can run up to 35 mph
- fur can camouflage in their environment from predators
Zebras
- The have “Dazzle” camouflage. This makes it harder for the predator to judge distance throwing off strikes while hunting.
- Have several types of teeth so they can eat grass and vegetables and fight with front teeth. Back teeth help them grind down their food
- Zebras herd with other animals like giraffes it allows them to be in a bugger group if predators attack to defend
Elephants
- They are very big so it scares away predators
- The adult elephants surround the young calves to keep them safe from predators
- Their trunk is approximately 8ft long so it helps them reach food way up in branches and food and water on the ground
- Their tusks help them defend themselves from predators They can also scratch off the bark from trees to eat. When they go through dry spouts they can dig into the earth and find water with their tusks.
- They flap their large ears to cool down their blood up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit
Invasive species
Fire Ant
- There are four native ants in the African grasslands that compete with each other over the trees. The Acacia trees provide shelter and nectar. In return the ants will protect the trees from any herbivore that wants to eat its leaves or bark. The ants will go out and bite the animal to make it not want to eat from the Acacia tree ever again.
- The fire ants came to the trees and killed all the other ants
- They also have a venomous bite that can harm animals and people.
- They are native in North America
- They eat a lot of the other species in the water and they don't have any other natural predator so they can thrive in the water.
Food chain
food web
Species at risk
Elephants
- Their tusks are made out of ivory so humans would kill them for their tusks
- People also hunt elephants as a trophy hunt
- Humans killed them for their horns (like the elephant)
- Each horn was $50 000
- 90% were killed in 1970