ANIMALS OF AFRICA

The lion resides in the African Plain,
His beautiful eyes and glorious mane.
He protects the pride,
Family by side.
Scaring off intruders with his mighty roar,
Standing firm his ground with his dominant paw.
The lioness hunts and provides the food,
Hunting together they prove to be shrewd.

The African elephant is the largest land mammal on earth.
Staying in herds since the day of their birth.
Their very large ears help them to cool,
Or better yet a nice watering pool.
Eating is constant as they may,
Consume three hundred pounds each and every day.
Eating roots, grasses, bark and various fruit,
He’s a herbivore, gentle, not a savage brute.
Tusks of ivory are useful tools,
But bring danger from man breaking the rules.
Their beautiful trunks used for smelling and grabbing things,
Breathing, eating, trumpeting and drinking from springs.

With their towering legs and very long necks
The Giraffes’ design is very complex.
They eat from the very tops of the trees,
Munching on leaves or buds as they please.
Their twenty one inch, long blue tongue,
Catches their food as around it is flung.
Like a cow chewing cud, the Giraffe eats a lot,
Traveling far it can’t stay in one spot.
Drinking at watering holes is very hard,
From predators now it must keep on guard.

The African Leopard is most difficult to spot
In the trees during the day, sleeping a lot.
He is very strong, uses trees as his lookout,
For his next meal from here he does scout.
He is a strong swimmer and fond also of water,
So even prey here is not safe from slaughter.

The long horn that grows from its snout,
Tells you it’s a Rhino without any doubt.
His the largest animal with a huge weight,
Usually living alone – without any mate.
When families do live together in a crash,
They live near to watering holes making a splash.
The mud that they roll in helps and protects,
From the hot sun and nasty little bites from insects.
The tick birds assist, removing insects from upon their backs,
And serve as a warning should there be imminent attack.
Rhinos eat plants or grass - herbivores by and large,
But upon being spooked will definitely charge.

Standing out with their striking black and white coat
The plain Zebra family on their young foals do dote.
Sometimes in masses – a large super herd,
Eating leaves and twigs but grass is preferred.
Each zebra’s stripes unique, no two alike.
Working together they defend from a strike,
The predator being scared away,
They are free to return to their play.

This is a day in the African Plain,
Here each one keeps his domain.
Under the shade of the Sycamore Fig
Animals shelter from small to big.
Escaping the heat from the hot African sun
All are unique each and every one.
Here in Africa – this is their home,
You’ll see them all here, free to roam.
To travel through Africa seeing them all
Will without doubt never fail to enthrall.

Poem by Sourcherry
Photographs from Pixabay