They are blatant and friendly; they are genius and communicative; we are telling you about the magnificent Chimpanzee which is an inspirational ape is native to the African continent. Apes are different from monkeys becase they don’t have tails. Chimpanzees are members of the Homonidae family and their scientific name is Pan troglodytes. Chimpanzee is sometimes colloquially called as chimp who has amazing similarities with the humans in many aspects; the most important is that the chimps share approximately 98% of their DNA with humans.

Chimpanzee or Chimp – An image by William Warby – flickr

The chimpanzee has a bulky body with long arms, short legs and no tail. Much of the body is covered with long black hair, but the face, ears, fingers and toes are bare. They have hands that can grip firmly, allowing them to pick up objects. The discovery that they used “tools” for certain purposes surprised the world. Chimpanzees are omnivores. They rely heavily on a wide variety fruit and leaves, but also eat insects, bark, eggs, nuts, and even hunt monkeys and other small animals for meat. Chimpanzees spend a large part of their day looking for food and eating, but they do not wander aimlessly through the forest hoping to bump into food.

Chimpanzee is enjoying the dinner – Image by cynicalview – flickr

Chimpanzees make tools and use them to acquire foods and for social displays; they have sophisticated hunting strategies requiring cooperation, influence and rank; they are status conscious, manipulative and capable of deception; they can learn to use symbols and understand aspects of human language including some relational syntax, concepts of number and numerical sequence; and they are capable of spontaneous planning for a future state or event. Chimps normally live in group formations that are normally called as troops, of some 30 to 80 individuals. These large groups are made up of smaller, very flexible groups of just a few animals, perhaps all females, all males or a mixed group.

A young chimp on the back of his mom – Image by yuki_alm_misa

Chimpanzees live in multi-male, multi-female communities. The females may mate with multiple males, and the males thus generally treat all offspring as if they were their own, since there is no way to know for sure. Females have a bright pink bottom that signals to males when they are fertile. A female chimp will usually have her first child at around the age of 14 years old. The gestation period is approximately 9 months, just like in humans. The infants are dependent upon their mother for at least 5 years, and can usually live independently by age 6, but still spend considerable time with their mothers even into adulthood. Chimps are considered adults by age 15. A female chimp will not be fertile again until her child is fully weaned, so at most a female chimp will give birth every five years. She may have approximately 4-6 children in her lifetime. Chimpanzees can live for more than 50 years.

Chimp family – Chimpanzees – Image by Maia C – flickr

Adult common chimpanzees, particularly males, can be very aggressive. They are highly territorial and are known to kill other chimps. Chimps are agile climbers, building nests high up in trees to rest in during midday and sleep in at night. They construct new nests in minutes by bending branches, intertwining them to form a platform and lining the edges with twigs. In some areas chimps make nests on the ground.The magnificent Chimpanzee or the Chimps are under threat; not long time ago they had a huge population, in fact in millions who used to wander in the jungles of more than 25 African countries. But now their population is dangerously reduced to only a few hundred thousands.

Chimpanzee’s nest Joey Verge

The main threats to the chimpanzee or chimps are habitat loss and hunting for bushmeat. Degradation of forests through logging, mining, farming, and other forms of land development is contributing to the decline of the population of Chimpanzee in Africa.

If someone name before you; African Daisy, South African Daisy, Blue-eyed Daisy or Cape Daisy, you must understand that he is telling you about the flowering plant Osteospermum. The scientific name of thiis younger fellow of the Daisy family is derived from the Greek osteon (bone) and Latin spermum (seed). The flower is the native to the African continent and has more than 50 species which are mostly grown in hot and humid conditions. Osteospermum , the daisy of Africa is found with a wide range of tropical colors.

The African Daisy – Cape Daisy – Image by gapster – flickr

Osteospermum or the African daisies ideally grow in the naturalized areas like slopes, parking strips, and ground cover for large areas. These flowering plants are normally planted in dry soil as seeds since they cannot handle the stress of transplantation. If planted in a container, soil should be prevented from drying out completely. If they do, the plants will go into “sleep mode” and survive the period of drought, but they will abort their flower buds and not easily come back into flower. Moreover, roots are relatively susceptible to rotting if watered too profusely after the dry period.

Osteospermum , the daisy of Africa – Photo by Michelle Kroll

Osteospermum , the daisy of Africa blooms from April to August. The perennial African daisies, Osteospermum, are often confused with the annual, Dimorphotheca, which have a more orange and yellow flower colour range.

9 Interesting facts about the tallest mammal, Giraffe

Giraffe : An image from Lifestyle pinning on Pinterest

1- The giraffe is scientifically known as Giraffa camelopardalis which is specially known for its extremely long neck and legs, its horn-like ossicones and its distinctive coat patterns. It stands 5–6 m (16–20 ft) tall and has an average weight of 1,600 kg (3,500 lb) for males and 830 kg (1,800 lb) for females. Giraffe has nine sub-species which are distinguished by their coat patterns.

Giraffes under the sky: Image:Josie Leonetti on Pinterest

2- Giraffe is the tallest mammal which eats up to 75 pounds of food a day (typically Acacia leaves which is their food item) and uses its long tongue to eat the leaves of trees. Giraffe has a four chambered stomach and will regurgitate their food for additional chewing – similarly to a cow. Although, the giraffes get most of their water from the Acacia leaf, but will drink up to 10 gallons of water per day.

Giraffe, the tallest mammal on the lovely planet

3- Although, some species of Giraffe are classified as endangered; the International Union for conservation of Nature has listed Giraffe as species of Least Concern. The Nubian Giraffe, the Kordofan Giraffe, the Rothschild Giraffe, the Reticulated Giraffe and the West African Giraffe are found in rare numbers on the lovely planet. The Angolan Giraffe, the South African Giraffe, the Massai Giraffe and the Rhodesian Giraffe have reasonable numbers and also sufficiently kept in the world zoos.

A Giraffe family of Africa

4- The heart of Giraffe is normally 2 feet long and weighs about 25 pounds having various thick muscular walls. Giraffes are the highest known blood pressure of any mammal in the world – up to 280/180mm Hg when prone at heart level (approximately twice that of an average human). Giraffe’s heart beats up to 170 times/minute which also pumps about 16 gallons of blood/minute.  The biologists take extreme care while catching giraffes for research purposes or for capture for a zoo exhibit because if the Giraffes run too long, they will suffer a heart attack due to the high blood pressure.

A Giraffe couple – Image from Sofia Robbialaac.tumblr

5- Giraffes are native to Africa and can be found in a range that extends from Chad in Central Africa to South Africa.  The ideal habitats for the Giraffes are the arid regions such as savannas, grasslands, and open woodlands. Giraffes belong to the family Giraffidae. The family Giraffidae, in turn is subdivided into two subgroups, the genus Giraffa and the genus Okapia.

Ossicones of Giraffes – Image by David Berkowitz

6- One of the most distinctive features of Giraffe is its short horns on its head which is also known as ossicones. Both male and female giraffes have horns. Giraffe horns are formed from ossified cartilage (cartilage that has transformed into bone) and for that reason the horns of giraffes are also called ossicones. The ossicones of giraffes remain covered by skin and fur. Ossicones can help to distinguish between male and female giraffes. Females have tufts of hair on the top of the ossicones. Males, in contrast, usually have bare-topped ossicones.

A pregnant female giraffe – Image by dmitri_66

7- The Female Giraffes have their first conception in their fifth year; the gestation period is of 15 months and the interval between births is generally 20 months. Giraffe has the life expectancy of 25 years in the wild. The baby Giraffe is generally 6 feet tall and will weigh about 150 pounds at birth and it begins nursing within one hour. A baby Giraffe generally begins walking within one hour and it spends between 16 and 20 hours a day feeding.

Giraffe Kid with his Mom

8- A giraffe’s neck is of 1.5 – 1.8 meters, which contains the same number of vertebrae at a human neck. With the help of its long neck, a giraffe is able to reach leaves, fruit and flowers high up in Acacia’s and other sought after tree species. Similarly, Giraffes have the longest tails of any land mammal – up to 8 feet long, including the tuft at the end. Male giraffes sometimes fight with their necks over female giraffes. This is called “necking”. The two giraffes stand side by side and one giraffe swings his head and neck, hitting his head against the other giraffe. Sometimes one giraffe is hit to the ground during a combat.

A Giraffe Couple in the African grassland – Image by WELS net

9- One of the most surprising giraffe facts is that they sleep far less than most other mammals, typically less than two hours a day (on average, 1.9 hours). Another interesting fact about a giraffe has perhaps the keenest eyes vision together with its height; thus the greatest range of vision of any terrestrial creature. Like a camel, a giraffe can stock up on water and then go without drinking for long periods of time.

7 Fantastic Facts about Cheetah

1- Cheetah is a fantastic cat which is a carnivorous mammal. Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is considered as the fastest animal on the lovely planet. Cheetah has long legs, a tall, slim build and its colors are tawny, black-spotted fur.

Cheetah is the fastest cat. Image: William Warby 2

2- The male Cheetah is referred to simply as a cheetah and the female is referred to as a she-cheetah. The sound made by Cheetahs is referred to as a growl, hiss or snarl. Cheetah mostly inhabits in the parts of Africa and the Middle East.

Fast and furious Cheetah. Image: Gary Eyring

3- The cheetah’s chest is deep and its waist is narrow. The coarse, short fur of the cheetah is tan with round black spots measuring from 2 to 3 cm (0.79 to 1.2 in) across, affording it some camouflage while hunting. There are no spots on its white underside, but the tail has spots, which merge to form four to six dark rings at the end. The tail usually ends in a bushy white tuft. The cheetah has a small head with high-set eyes.

A Cheetah couple. Image: William Warby

4- The cheetah is basically a solitary animal. At times, a male will accompany a female for a short while after mating, but most often the female is alone or with her cubs. Cheetah mothers spend a long time teaching their young how to hunt. Small live antelopes are brought back to the cubs so they can learn to chase and catch them.

Cheetah family in relaxing mood. Image: Sergio Lordao

5- Cheetahs usually prey on small antelopes such as Thomson’s gazelles and impalas, but also hunt small mammals and birds. The cheetah gets as close to the prey as possible, then in a burst of speed it tries to outrun its quarry. Once the cheetah closes in, it knocks the prey to the ground with its paw and suffocates the animal with a bite to the neck.

A busy Cheetah in his diet. Image: Shann Biglione

6- The adult cheetah weighs from 21 to 72 kg (46 to 160 lb). Its total head-and-body length is from 110 to 150 cm (43 to 59 in), while the tail can measure 60 to 84 cm (24 to 33 in) in length. Cheetahs are 66 to 94 cm (26 to 37 in) tall at the shoulder. Males tend to be slightly larger than females and have slightly bigger heads, but there is not a great variation in cheetah sizes and it is difficult to tell males and females apart by appearance alone.

Cheetah is the fastest mammal on earth. Image: Gary Eyring 1

 7- The Cheetahs are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as ‘vulnerable‘. Found mostly in open and partially open savannah, cheetahs rely on tall grasses for camouflage when hunting. They are diurnal (more active in the day) animals and hunt mostly during the late morning or early evening. Only half of the chases, which last from 20 – 60 seconds, are successful.

Libya is the third largest country of Africa with an approximate population of 6.5 million. Almost three quarters of the total population is living in the urban areas and Tripoli is the capital of Libya which is also the largest city of the country. A civil war was urged in 2011 as a result of which the undemocratic regime was collapsed with the death of the country’s famous dictator Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Since the independence of Libya as the United Libyan Kingdom, the country observed strict and conservative religious codes of lives. Almost 97 % of the total population of Libya practice Islam and they belong to the Sunni School of thought.

Two Libyan girls in their traditional dresses - Mansour Ali's Image

The ancient Libya was a region of the indigenous Berber and Bedouin people, so their traditional values are the part of the Libyan cultural heritage. Although ,if we deeply study the pre historic Libya, the marks of the Phoenician, Greek and Roman civilizations will be prominent upon the culture of Libya. In the sixteenth century was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and remained under their control for a long time. Libya was occupied by the Italian, British and French forces on its different parts till the mid of the twentieth century.

A girl in a typical Libyan traditional costume - CH Lee's Image

The present Libyan people consider themselves as the part of the Arab world and Arabic is the official language of Libya. Although, Berbers and Tuareg groups still speak their own tribal languages.

The traditional dress of Libya consists of a long and loose gown along with the trouser for the lower body. They also use a cloak to cover their bodies and use the traditional cap on their heads. The Libyan youth is rapidly turning toward the Western clothing and the boys are normally seen in the jeans and shirts in the main cities.

A Libyan woman in her traditional dress - Valonia Hardy's image

The Libyan women also wear the typical long gowns which are also usually used to cover the heads. Modern girls although love to wear the fashionable and bright colored costumes but most women still continue to cover their hair in Hijab.

The women of Libya in the urban parts also use scarves - Alan Shipley's Image

Even the modernly designed costumes are also the blend of the traditional and Western styles. The traditional dress and jewelry is also very common in the rural areas.

A young Libyan girl in her traditional costume - Mansour Ali's Image

The nomadic Berber people of Libya trace their African roots back to 2000 B.C.E. and their traditional dress passed through many amendments caused by the influences of invading cultures. Still many Berbers continue to wear a “haik”, a large cloth wrapped around the body and wrap their heads with the cloth turbans. Similarly the Berber women cover their hair with scarves and their faces with veils called “mandeels”. Under their haiks, many Berbers wear ankle-length tunics or loose trousers called “shalwar”. A Berber women’s dress is very colorful and decorative.

A Tuareg man of Libya wearing his traditional dress on a camer. Image © Eric Lafforgue

Walking on the streets of Libya, you can see the Libyan people moving in different styles of garments. Even to see any man or woman in the traditional dress of Libya is not unusual.

Some Tuareg people of Libya dancing in their traditional ccostumes - Chris G Images

For more interesting posts on the same subject on the Lovely Planet, please click the following links ;