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Vervet Monkey Facts

This small, black-faced monkey is common in East Africa as it adapts easily to many environments and is widely distributed.

Physical Characteristics
The different types of vervets vary in color, but generally the body is a greenish-olive or silvery-gray. The face, ears, hands, feet and tip of the tail are black, but a conspicuous white band on the forehead blends in with the short whiskers. The males are slightly larger than the females and easily recognized by their turquoise blue scrota.

The vervet is classified as a medium-sized to large monkey-males weigh up to 17 pounds. Its tail is usually held up, with the tip curving downward. Its arms and legs are approximately the same length.

Habitat
In East Africa these monkeys can live in mountain areas up to about 13,000 feet, but they do not inhabit rain forests or deserts. Their preferred habitat is acacia woodland along streams, rivers and lakes. They are diurnal, sleeping and eating in trees from which they seldom venture.

Behavior
Complex but stable social groups (also called troops) of 10 to 50 individuals mainly consist of adult females and their immature offspring. Males move freely in and out of these groups. Within the troop, each adult female is the center of a small family network. Females who have reached puberty generally stay in the troop.

Grooming is important in a monkey’s life. Vervets (as well as most other primates) spend several hours a day removing parasites, dirt or other material from one another’s fur. In the primates’ hierarchy, dominant individuals get the most grooming. The hierarchical system also controls feeding, mating, fighting, friendships and even survival.

Diet
Leaves and young shoots are most important in the diet, but bark, flowers, fruit, bulbs, roots and grass seeds are also consumed. The mainly vegetarian diet is supplemented with insects, grubs, eggs, baby birds and sometimes rodents and hares. Vervets rarely drink water.

Caring for the Young
Infant vervet monkeys are suckled for about 4 months. When they become adept at feeding themselves solid food, the weaning process begins, although it may not be completed until the vervet is 1 year old.

Close social bonds with female relatives begin to develop in infancy, relationships thought to endure throughout life. Infants are of great interest to the other monkeys in the troop; subadult females do everything possible to be allowed to groom or hold a new infant.

After a birth, the mother licks the infant clean, bites off the umbilical cord and eats the afterbirth. The newborn has black hair and a pink face; it will be 3 or 4 months before it acquires adult coloration.

The infant spends the first week of life clinging to its mother’s stomach. After about the third week, it begins to move about by itself and attempts to play with other young monkeys. Vervet mothers are proprietary in the treatment of their babies, and some will not allow young or even other adult females to hold or carry them. Others gladly leave their infants in charge of any interested female. Researchers report that usually a female’s close family members will have the most unrestricted access to the babies. As the infants grow, they play not only with monkeys but with other young animals. Young vervets chase one another, wrestle, tumble and play “king-of-the-castle,” taking turns pushing each other off a high perch.

Predators
Vervets rarely venture further than about 500 yards from the trees, since they are vulnerable to a variety of predators, including leopards, caracals, servals, baboons, large eagles, crocodiles and pythons. Though they usually confine contact calls to chirping and chittering, vervets scream and squeal when in danger.

Did you know?

• Vervet monkeys living near areas inhabited by people can become pests, stealing food and other items and raiding crops. Good climbers, jumpers and swimmers, they often elude capture.
• In sexual and dominance displays vervet monkeys run the gamut from shaking branches and jumping around to making a hard ‘kek-kek-kek’ sound to mark their territories.

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Topi Facts

Among the most socially advanced of the ungulates, the topi occurs in the largest numbers in southern Sudan and in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park. Its distribution is scattered, and populations isolated, probably because of habitat loss and hunting.

Physical Characteristics
The topi is a medium-sized antelope with a striking reddish-brown to purplish-red coat that is glossy, even iridescent in bright sunlight. Distinct black patches appear on the face, the upper forelegs and on the hips and thighs. To complete its singular appearance, the topi’s yellowish-tan legs look like they are encased in stockings.

Although not quite as large as its relative the hartebeest (kongoni), the topi has a similar body shape. But it does not have such a long narrow head nor is it as high at the shoulder. The female is usually lighter in color than the male. Both sexes have thick, heavily ringed, lyre-shaped horns about 21 inches long. Topis have good sight and hearing and can run quite fast with a bounding gait.

Habitat
Their favorite habitat are flood plains, but they are sometimes found in dry areas of open savanna and park woodland, taking to the shade during the heat of the day. They prefer flat lowlands, and can go without water for long periods of time only if they have access to green pastures.

Behavior
Topis are exceptionally gregarious and live in herds of 15 to 20, although in some places, it is possible to see herds of hundreds. They have a remarkable social organization that is linked to the geographic and seasonal distribution of food. In some areas of the Serengeti and the Mara, topis have large territories within a home range, occupied throughout the year by a male and a small breeding herd of females. Both males and the females cooperate in defending the territory against strange topis of either sex.

In other areas, female topis form large herds that move across the territories of many different males. In this social system, the male’s territory is small and unoccupied throughout the year. Each male has his “stomping ground,” a patch of trampled bare earth upon which he stands. He defines his territory by depositing dung in a series of places, marking grass stems with his scent from the preorbital face glands and standing for long periods on a prominent place, where he can easily be seen by other topis. If another male intrudes upon his territory, the two go down on their knees and fight with their horns, pushing each other to and fro.

Topis are most active in the morning and evening, resting in shade through the hot hours. Like ruminants, they feed for a while, then rest and chew their cuds before they continue feeding. They have several rest breaks during the day and the rhythm of their daily activities is influenced by the food supply-the coarser and drier the feed, the longer rest time needed for digestion.

Diet
Topis eat only grass, avoiding both mature leaves and very young shoots.

Caring for the Young
Females reach maturity at about 1 1/2 years, males at about 3 years. Between 4 and 5 years of age, males begin to fight over territories, but only the strongest win them. Mating takes place in the territories. Infant topis spend their first 3 to 12 days lying out and about 3 months start growing horns and acquiring adult coloring.

Calving normally occurs once a year and is timed for periods when grass supplies are plentiful. Nonetheless topis are almost as flexible in their reproduction as they are in their social organization. If food supplies are particularly good, topis will conceive at different times of the year, with shorter intervals between calves.

Predators
Lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas and hunting dogs are among the topi’s predators. Calves are also vulnerable to jackals, servals, caracals, pythons and large eagles.

Did you know?

• Both male and female topis like to rub their heads on the ground (to spread scent from facial glands), roll in earth and stir up mud with their horns. They smear mud on their bodies with their hooves.
• The gregarious topis spend much of their life with other antelopes such as wildebeest, and with zebra and ostrich.

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Thompsons Gazelle Facts

While perhaps not as widely distributed as Grant’s, Thomson’s are still the most common gazelles in East Africa. Though their numbers have diminished in some areas, in others they have persisted on ranches and farmlands long after other species have disappeared.

Physical Characteristics
The graceful “tommie” is noticeably smaller than the Grant’s gazelle, which it resembles in shape and color. It is also distinguished from a Grant’s by the dark side stripe that runs from the shoulder to the flank and the white patch on the rump. The tommy is a dark fawn or cinnamon color on the topside and white on the underside. The black tail seems to be constantly in motion.

The males are larger than the females and have strongly ridged, almost parallel horns that curve backwards, with the tips curving forward. Female tommies have short, smooth, pencil-slim horns, or none at all. The face is accented by a black stripe running down from the eye, a dark marking on the nose and a light patch on the forehead.

Habitat
Although more reliant on water than Grant’s gazelle, the tommy has adapted to the open plains and grasslands of southern Kenya and northern Tanzania.

Behavior
During migration, as tommies spread out over the plains in the wake of zebra and wildebeest herds, the strongest males set up territories. They use an exaggerated display posture when urinating or defecating on dung piles. To mark the boundaries the males deposit a small amount of secretion from their scent glands (located beneath the eyes) onto a blade of grass, leaving these markers daily about every 20 feet. As the herd migrates, new territories are established.

The females along with their immature offspring form groups of five to 50 that wander through male territories. The groups change members and numbers from hour to hour, so no obvious patterns of hierarchy or leadership emerge. Nonterritorial males gather together in small groups along the outskirts of the larger herd, generally avoiding other male territories unless one of the group attempts to take one over.

In the early morning and again in the evening, the herd, which may have spread out during the day, comes together. This is playtime for the younger gazelles, when they engage in stotting and pronking (bouncing along on stiff legs) and sprint around the perimeter of the herd.

The relatively silent tommies rely on visual awareness of one another to stay in contact. Their distinctive coloring may help-they can contract the skin so the black side stripe becomes more obvious. They also stamp their front feet to signal when they are disturbed.

Diet
Tommies congregate not only with Grant’s gazelle but with larger ungulates such as wildebeest and zebra-and even cattle, which trample and graze on tall grass, making it easier for the tommy to feed on short grass. Although grasses make up about 90 percent of the tommy’s diet in dry season, it also eats seeds and browses on shrubs. When the tiny new green shoots of grass begin to grow in areas that have been burned, tommies often gather in large numbers to feed.

Caring for the Young
Tommies breed twice a year. Although births occur throughout the year, they peak right after rainy seasons. After giving birth the mother hides the newborn in the grass, returning several times a day to nurse it. With their tawny coloring and ability to remain motionless for long periods, the young are surprisingly invisible when hidden in open country.

Nevertheless, predation on the young is heavy, and many predators feed on nothing else during the calving peaks.

Predators
Cheetahs, lions, leopards, hunting dogs and hyenas prey on young and adults alike, with adult tommy males three times more susceptible than females. The young are also taken by serval cats, jackals, baboons, eagles and pythons.

Did you know?

• The Thomson gazelle is exceptionally alert to sounds and movements, and its fine senses of hearing, sight and smell balance its vulnerability on the open plains.
• Males vigorously defend their territories. If challenged, the defending male and his rival clash horns, with the winner claiming the territory.

Daily Facts

Sable Antilope Facts

One of the most impressive antelopes found in East Africa is the sable. Because of habitat destruction and poaching, it is also one of the most endangered.

Physical Characteristics
The sable is a rotund, barrel-chested antelope with a short neck and a long face. It resembles the larger roan antelope, to which it is closely related. Among its distinctive features are its long horns, some 40 to 65 inches long. The ringed horns rise vertically, then sweep backwards in a pronounced curve. They are found in both sexes, but the male’s horns are slightly larger and heavier than the female’s. Both males and females have manes on the neck, and when they arch their necks and stand with their head held high and tails outstretched, they resemble horses. This flexed-neck position makes sables appear larger than they really are. The males maintain this position even when they gallop, as the arched neck is an important manifestation of dominance.

As they become older, sables change color. The calf is grayish-brown and almost without marks, making it very inconspicuous. As it matures and begins to take its place in a herd, its coat becomes a rich reddish-brown, with the belly, haunches and facial markings in greater contrast. At this time the face is largely white, with a wide black stripe running from the forehead to the muzzle, and black stripes from the eye to the muzzle.

Once adult, the female’s color changes gradually with age and status. The facial markings form a mask that contrasts with the neck, shoulders and mane as they become darker. Eventually only the rump is red. The darker color heightens the line of the face and the front quarters, emphasizing the sweep of the long horns.

The color change in the adult male is more dramatic-all parts that were previously red become black, and so contrast even more with the facial mask and light underparts.

Habitat
Sables live in areas of light woodland-especially “miombo,” a mixture of bush and grassland-but usually avoid open, grassy plains.

Behavior
Only a few of the most dominant of the mature males are able to obtain and hold territories. They try to set them up on the best grazing grounds because the more nutritious the feed, the more females are attracted to the area. The changing color of sables as they grow older signals their age to others, thus granting them status and dominance in their social system.

Mating occurs inside the territories, so males with the best territories have the best success rate. Small female herds, varying from five to 20 individuals (but sometimes as many as 60 in the dry season), use home ranges that encompass the several male territories. Once a female group wanders into a male’s territory, he tries to keep it there, especially if any females are in estrus. He permits other males to graze in his territory, but only if they remain subordinate, show him the proper respect and take no interest in the females.

Fights may occur if the territorial male is challenged by another male. Combat begins as both bulls slowly circle each other, pawing the ground and lashing their tails. Soon they face each other, shake their heads, drop to their knees and clash horns. As this is usually a pushing contest of strength, fighting to the death is rare.

Diet
Sables mostly eat grass but at times will eat herbs and leaves from shrubs and trees. They are never found very far from water and are especially dependent upon it during the dry season.

Caring for the Young
In some areas breeding females give birth during a two-month period, the timing of which changes slightly from year to year. When ready to give birth the female, often in the company of several other pregnant females, leaves the herd and seeks a secluded place in the bush. After birth she leaves the calf hidden in the tall grass or bush, returning once or twice a day to suckle the infant. After a couple of weeks, when the calf is strong enough, she takes it back to her herd.

As the calves obtain adult coloration, the territorial males and the females push the young males from the natal herd. The young females remain, taking their place at the bottom of the hierarchy.

Predators
The young males are most vulnerable to predators during their transition to a bachelor male herd. Lions, leopards, hyenas, hunting dogs and crocodiles are their most frequent predators. Once the sable is fully grown it is seldom bothered by the animals; humans are then its most likely predator.

Did you know?

• A male regularly patrols his territory and engages in ritual displays. He paws the ground, deposits dung and horns the ground, spreading his scent around to make his presence known.
• Sables live in groups consisting of herds of females with their young, male bachelor groups and solitary dominant males. Age determines rank in the hierarchy.

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