One of the benefits of being a member of the African Conservation Trust is that you get to download fun wallpapers and screensavers.
Do make sure that you visit the website regularly for new updates.
Kids Workbook and School Project
Download Part 1 here
Download Part 2 here
FREE Kid`s Activity Sheet - Download NOW! (PDF Format)
Includes - "Match the Words"
- "Connect the DOTS"
- "Find the Words"
-- "And SPOT the DIFFERENCE" and more...
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BIRDS
There are plus/minus 850 bird species recorded in South Africa, about 725 are resident or annual visitors, and 50 of these are endemic or near-endemic to South Africa. 26 are threatened, including the jackass penguin, Cape vulture, martial eagle, bateleur and Cape parrot. The 5 endangered species are: wattled crane, roseate tern, Egyptian vulture, blackrumped buttonquail and blue swallow.
Birds are the most beautiful and accessible animals on earth. Birds are literally everywhere, and if one appreciates nature, one cannot but appreciate birds. There are a tremendous variety of birds. Birds exhibit a vast array of different behaviors, including many which humans can relate to. Many birds are sociable and exhibit a remarkable range of adaptive behaviors.
FISH
220 freshwater fishes occur in South Africa, of which 21 are threatened. There are more than 2 000 marine fish species. Many fish species are of economic importance. Most of the small barbels are valuable aquarium species, while the majority of the larger species are important angling species.
MAMMALS
South Africa is home to 243 of Southern Africa's 330 mammal species (Class Mammalia) -- 293 species of land mammals and 37 species of marine mammals. There are 17 threatened species in South Africa, including the black rhino, pangolin and giant golden mole. The riverine rabbit, roan antelope and wild dog are endangered. Two mammals have become extinct: the blue antelope and the quagga.
In spite of their adaptations, some mammals inhabit seriously reduced habitats, while others, such as the black rhinoceros, the riverine rabbit, roan antelope and the wild dog, are highly endangered. This is largely due to conflicting land use with humans: most of the larger mammals are present within game reserves only, or in the more remote parts of southern African countries. Species that were classified as 'endangered' and are now present in greater numbers due to careful conservation measures these are the bontebok, cape mountain zebra, white rhino and the tsessebe. Due to their highly developed brains and adaptability, mammals are the dominant group of land animals in Southern Africa.
The best known of South Africa's mammals are the Big 5, Lion, Elephant, Buffalo, Leopard and the Black and White Rhinoceroses.
PLANTS
There are more than 22 000 different species of seed plants indigenous to southern Africa. These are arranged into about 2 180 genera, which in turn form part of 227 families. Some 18 000 vascular plant species occur within South Africa's boundaries, of which 80% occur nowhere else. More plant species occur within 22 000 hectares (ha) of the Table Mountain National Park (formerly the Cape Peninsula National Park), than the whole of the British Isles or New Zealand!
More than 20 300 species of flowering plants occur in South Africa. One of the six most significant concentrations of plants in the world is the Cape Floral Kingdom, with its distinctive fynbos vegetation, in the south west Cape. Most of South Africa's 2 000 threatened plants are found in fynbos.
AMPHIBIANS
South Africa is home to 110 of Southern Africa's 130 frogs species. The rich species diversity in South Africa can be attributed to the wide range of environmental conditions and habitat types. Frogs are extremely adaptable and are found in a wide range of these habitats from forests to deserts and mountain tops to coastal plains. However, over three-quarters of the 110 species recorded in South Africa occur in wetlands, thus the majority of species are found in the wetter eastern parts.
REPTILES
In total 370 reptiles and amphibians occur in the region -- an estimated 4,6% of the global diversity of reptile species. 21 are threatened and six of these are endangered. In terms of the number of mammal, bird, reptile and amphibian species which are endemic (occur in South Africa and nowhere else on earth!), South Africa is the 24th-richest country in the world and the fifth-richest in Africa The Nile crocodile - Crocodylus niloticus - is most probably the most well known of South Africa's reptiles. - Read more
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| The Evolution of the RHINO |
All information courtesy of Eco Travel
Indricotherium is the name given by palaeontologists to the huge hornless browsing rhinoceros that became extinct approximately ten million years ago.
The species represented the peak of rhinoceros evolution at a time when the group as a whole was very successful both in the Old World and the New.
In evolutionary terms, rhinoceros are the surviving members of a branch of very ancient animals, the first mammals to develop hooves, and their ancestors, including the paenungulates or 'nearly hooved', and the protungulates, or 'first hooved' animals, which are species long extinct.
Rhinoceros belong to the group known as the perissodactyls, or 'odd toed ungulates' which includes horses and tapirs.
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