What animals live in the African jungle? Jungle (rain forest) Wild jungle and its inhabitants.
Longest neck
At the very beginning of this century, a “living fossil” of okapi was found in the jungles of Africa - relatives of the giraffe, which was considered extinct long ago. Okapi is no bigger than a donkey. And his neck is short. And, like the giraffe, it eats grass and leaves. The common ancestor of the giraffe and okapi looked like a short-necked runt. But over time, some of these animals moved to the open spaces of the savannah, where it was possible to “graze” in plenty only on the treetops. Therefore, animals with long necks survived. Gradually the giraffe grew one long neck that he became completely different from his distant ancestor. And okapi remained a copy of its great-grandfather.
Gorillas are the largest apes They also live in Africa. A gorilla in the jungle has almost no enemies, except people, of course. Most of the day, gorillas are on the ground, and not in the trees like other monkeys. Gorillas are vegetarians. They eat leaves, fruits, and tree bark. But in zoos, gorillas very quickly get used to different food, begin to eat meat and fish, and drink milk.
Relatives of the cat
Our domestic cat has 37 relatives. These are forest and reed cats, lynxes and manula cats, servals and ocelots, snow leopards and leopards, jaguars and pumas, leopards, panthers and cheetahs, tigers, lions and other wild cats. Cats are the most agile predators. All wild cats hunt in approximately the same way: they sneak up on their prey, then freeze in anticipation. And having chosen an opportune moment, they overtake their victim with one throw. However, our domestic cat hunts mice in the same way as the African leopard hunts antelopes.
Photographer and zoologist Axel Gomil has been exploring India for the past 25 years. There is a tropical coast, and the snow-capped mountains of the Himalayas, and the Thar Desert, and tropical forests in the northeast of the country. Such different landscapes provide incredible biodiversity.
For example, out of 37 species wild cats 14 live in India, more than in any other country. For comparison: on everything African continent There are only ten cats.
Jungle. The image of an impenetrable, overgrown and hostile place where light barely penetrates often appears in your head. In fact, jungles are the world's hottest biodiversity hotspots. 
The jungles of India are home to some of the world's rarest and most exotic animal species, and none symbolize Indian wildlife better than the tiger.
The tiger is considered the king of the jungle and the most powerful predator in the Indian subcontinent. Today there are about 50 reserves with a total area of more than 70,000 square kilometers where tigers live. Such large conservation projects for tigers and their habitats have also benefited other jungle species.
Tigers love to relax in the shade during a hot day. Like all cats, they are always wary of environment. And judging by her face, she recently had breakfast. The rest of the jungle inhabitants can relax for now - the next hunt will begin at night... 
In the jungle, even squirrels are the size of a house cat. This is Indian giant squirrel, she lives in the upper layer of the forest and rarely leaves the trees. Squirrels jump from tree to tree, covering about 6 meters. When in danger, these squirrels do not run away, but seem to “hang” and cling to tree trunks. The main enemies are birds of prey and leopards. 
Water is life, especially in such a hot climate. It's no surprise that wetlands are a magnet for wild animals, who come here to drink or find some cool weather.
There is a very wide variety of residents here. Local masters sitting on top food chain- crocodiles. In India, the marsh crocodile is the most common species.
These are sika deer. Birds are calm, they know that herbivores do not pose a threat. 
Gray pelicans. These birds live mainly in shallow lakes. 
Northwestern India is dominated by the Thar Desert. It is a very dry area with sand dunes. The distribution of precipitation is uneven: most of it occurs from July to September. Precipitation falls towards the west. In the driest areas there may be no precipitation for up to 2 years.
The appearance of this sloth bear is so unique that it has received the nickname “sloth bear.” The sloth bear is very different in appearance and lifestyle from real bears and is classified as a separate genus. The sloth bear, like the anteater, during evolution has adapted to feeding on colonial insects (ants and termites) 
A female leopard stands at the entrance to a cave in a remote area of Rajasthan, which she uses as a safe haven for her family. 
Cranes are defenseless against predators. The most they can do is fly away quickly. 
Kicks well. 
And we are moving to the mountains. Some of the most impressive and diverse animal habitats in India are found in the north. This is the realm of the magnificent and ghostly snow leopard, others need to be on their guard. 
Big cats have a hard time. People are taking over everything and taking over their original habitats. Food is becoming tight. Leopards are forced to visit villages and find easy prey - goats, poultry and even dogs. 
National Park Ranthambore is located in the state of Rajasthan and is considered the best tiger reserve. 
Life is tough for tigers these days. Over the past century, their number in the wild has seriously decreased from about 100,000 to 3,900, half of them live in India... 
"Savannah" is a Portuguese word; it means “steppe with trees.” Savannah is also called open forest. I somehow prefer the second option)))
And when it comes to savannah, one always imagines an African savannah with sun-scorched grass and sparsely standing acacia trees, with strolling elephants and running zebras and antelopes. Something like that:
We looked at the savannahs on the world map:
And we focused our attention on the African savanna (I’m going to talk more about the savannas of other continents a little later). This typically African landscape occupies about 30% of the entire continent.
Senka and I have already talked about the savannah of Africa more than once, and he already knows many of the animals, but since we traveled here for a long time on the black continent (we walked along the Sahara, yes Ancient Egypt studied), we decided to continue our acquaintance with the types of forests on our planet according to this picture:
Topic start .
... and at the same time repeat the information we already know + supplement the knowledge with new interesting facts.
I haven’t made books using G. Doman’s method for a long time now and I’m sad for the time when my son read and absorbed them avidly interesting information while practicing reading skills; But I still continue to make some reading materials with various pictures to make it more interesting to read, like this:
I post the sections “African Savannah” and “African Jungle” of this “book” here, so if someone decides to repeat the lesson, they can copy it, diluting it with their own photos, or make books using Doman’s method, selecting the basic information. Now we have mini-lessons, more even repetition, so I didn’t talk much, Sena had to work more: read and answer questions.
Text from our book:
African savannas are spaces entirely covered with tall grasses and separately standing trees or groups of them. In rainy times, grasses grow quickly and can reach a height of 2 - 3 m and higher. The trees are covered with leaves at this time.
But as soon as drought comes, the grasses burn out, some types of trees shed their leaves and the savanna takes on a yellow color. Yellow and black, because fires often occur here during dry periods.
The dry season lasts here for about six months. During this time, there are only occasional showers.
During drought, countless herds of antelope wander, making long journeys to places where water can be found. And they are followed by predators - cheetahs, leopards, hyenas, jackals...
When the rains begin, the dusty yellow-black region turns into an emerald green park with shady trees. The air, hazy from fire smoke and dust, becomes transparent and clean. The first tropical showers after a drought make a strong impression. It's always hot and stuffy before it starts to rain. But then a big cloud appears. Thunderclaps are heard. And then a downpour hits the ground.
With the onset of the rainy season, antelopes return to their former pastures.
The most characteristic of grass savannas is tall elephant grass,
and among the trees here there is an oil tree and an oil palm, a ramp, and a baobab is often found. Along the river valleys stretch gallery forests with many palm trees, reminiscent of tropical rainforests.
Grass savannas give way to shrub or acacia savannas. The grass here is narrower in height, only 1-1.5 m, and the trees are represented mainly by several types of acacias with a dense crown in the form of umbrellas.
There is also a baobab tree, which is also called monkey tree or breadfruit tree.
Tree-like acacias are found everywhere in Africa, except in mountain and tropical rainforests. They may look like mighty trees almost twenty meters high, or like low shrubs, but acacias always have feathery leaves, curved spines or long thorns and sweet-smelling flowers that attract bees. Thorns and prickles are a means of self-defense, although one type of acacia has a more cunning way to remain untouched and uneaten. At the base of each thorn this acacia grows an egg-shaped swelling. It dries out and a colony of small ants settles in it. As soon as some animal encroaches on the young shoots of the plant, ants pour out from this growth and attack the newcomer.
More animals live in savannas than anywhere else on earth. Why? Millions of years in tropical Africa Only rain forests grew. Then changes happened. The climate has become drier. Large areas of the rain forest have disappeared, giving way to open forest and open spaces, covered with grass. Thus, new power sources were born. The “pioneers” moved to the newborn Savannah. One of the first were giraffes to leave the jungle. Many antelopes also came here. For them, the savannah was paradise - so much food!
The animal world is simply amazing in its richness and diversity! In the savannah you can see zebras and ostriches grazing nearby. IN warm water lakes, in their mud "baths", bask hippos and rhinoceroses. Lions rest in the shade of spreading acacia trees. The largest animals on land, elephants, tear off branches with their trunks. And monkeys scream in the treetops. And also a huge number of species of insects, snakes, birds...
In the savanna you can also see towering cone-shaped termite mounds.
We read about all the animals of the savannah:
- our homemade book (or rather, Senya read it himself), but unfortunately, I did not have a file with facts about animals;
- ,
- books by Kipling and another wonderful book “Funny Stories about Animals” by T. Wolf:
We listened to enz. Chevostik "Animals of Africa" and watched "Safari with Kuzya":
Finally, my son enjoyed watching all the episodes (some more than once)! I myself really liked this cartoon (or rather, the animated series), but before Sena was not interested, but now I simply devoured all the episodes.
Animals were used to replicate .
Then I wanted to take out from a distant drawer the no longer needed savannah model that my son and I once made... From the pile of animal figurines, I asked my son to find the inhabitants of the savannah and populate our model:
The savannah, lifeless at the very beginning, became like this:
They played with some things, even added fabric - a lake - for a “riot of colors”:
We played out animal watering situations.
But (as I already wrote) Senya won’t sit with toys for a long time, so I immediately wanted to start a new topic))
Jungle
In Africa there are not only deserts and savannas, there are also tropical rain forests. Why rain? Certainly! Because it rains there very often! There is another name for such forests - jungle, which means "impenetrable thickets."
We know that the largest jungle exists in the Amazon River basin ( Rain forests Amazon) in South America. We remembered where there is still a jungle:
I hope we will talk about all the jungles of the planet, but for now we have examined the African ones in more detail.
Text from our book:
The heart of Africa is not black at all, it is green. And this is the jungle...
These forests are not at all like ours, where in the summer the ground is shaded by leaves and in the winter there is snow. Tropical forests are always hot, humid and dark. The forest is so dense that it is impossible to see anything in the distance; everything is blocked by bushes, vines climbing trees, fallen tree trunks overgrown with ferns and moss. Shrubs and small trees rise above these rubble, from which individual tree giants eventually grow. The branches of the lower plant layer are intertwined so densely that the crowns are not visible through them tall trees top tier. And these trees are huge, they are crowned with lush crowns, and their trunk-columns rest below on board-shaped outgrowths on the roots, a kind of supports. Each such trunk rises 40 m or more. And there, at a 40-meter altitude, there is a completely different world. Here is the engine of all jungle life. The leaves absorb the energy of the African sun and transform it into plant food. Great apes, gorillas and chimpanzees, as well as numerous monkeys and baboons live here.
The forest canopy is a world of extremes, a world of scorching sun, hot winds, heavy torrential rains. Drought gives way to rain, the seasons differ sharply from each other. The jungle palette is changing. Green foliage gives way to red, yellow, light green and orange. But this is not old, but new foliage. In the jungle, spring dresses up in autumn colors.
The most desired delicacy that the jungle gives in spring is honey. But in order to get it, you need to climb to a height of forty meters, using the branches of vines, and then also withstand the onslaught of bees.
In the spring, getting food in the forest is not an easy task, but later there is abundance.
Figs are bearing fruit here all year round, so it is easier to observe wild animals near these trees.
Okapi is always cautious and very timid, it is very difficult to meet him and at the slightest danger he takes off running.
Not afraid of the thick one tropical vegetation and African elephant. You can also see a leopard on the branches of trees. There are many insects and snakes in the jungle. But most of all, birds love tropical forests, but it is not so easy to see them here. The feathered inhabitants of tropical forests are well camouflaged and, at the slightest danger, immediately hide in the foliage.
We liked this video:
The exotic nature of Thailand attracts everyone with its diversity and amazing beauty. On the territory of the kingdom you can find lakes, mountains, waterfalls, tropical forests and jungles.
The country itself is located on two peninsulas: part on the Indochinese, the second on the Malay. The shores of Thailand are washed by two seas: the South China and the Andaman.
The climate on the island is tropical, and the year consists of only:
- Thai summer. Lasts from March to May. Characterized by very hot weather;
- Cold period. Lasts from May to November. At this time, the monsoons bring heavy rains to the country;
- Warm period. Lasts from November to March. It is during this season that he comes to Thailand a large number of tourists, since the weather there at this time is warm and there is no rain.
As for the relief of Thailand, the country is conventionally divided into five regions: the North-Eastern Plateau, the Southern Region, the Southeast, the Northern Highlands and the Central Plain. The soils in Thailand are different, depending on the location: in the north - red, in river valleys - alluvial and meadow, in the mountains - red soil, and in the southern part - podzolized laterite.
Jungle and wildlife of Thailand
Thai jungles occupy 60% of the territory, that is, most kingdoms. They are real thickets of teak and mahogany, bamboo, xylia, palms, ficus, as well as all kinds of fruit trees and wild flowers.
The unprecedented jungle of Thailand In general, more than 500 species can be found in Thailand. different trees and 25,000 different types of flowers. This rich wildlife environment is home to animals such as tigers, tapirs, leopards, bamboo bears, elephants, rhinoceroses, etc.
Habitat of the clouded leopard 
Monkeys of the Kingdom of Thailand The country is also home to more than a thousand species of birds, from flamingos to parrots of different colors and sizes.
Siamese Lofura was selected national bird Thailand Exploring the nature of Thailand on your own is quite risky. Getting to know wildlife It is best done in the company of an experienced guide. Thailand, whose nature truly delights travelers, offers many excursions and trips into the wild jungle.
You can go swimming on the River Kwai, or stroll along forested hills and trails, exploring the Thai landscapes. In addition, the nature of this country can be explored in safer conditions. For example, in gardens or zoos.
National parks and reserves
Another way to safely explore Thai wildlife is through national parks and various nature reserves. They are located throughout Thailand and provide an opportunity to admire in different parts countries. In total, there are more than 50 reserves in the kingdom and national parks, which in total occupy 25 thousand square kilometers.
One of the most popular is this. The park consists of seven tiers, and on its territory there is the Erawan waterfall, which impresses all travelers with its wild beauty.
Another park that offers the opportunity to admire nature and animals is Khao Yai. It is located 200 km from Bangkok. There are also several waterfalls on its territory. Tourists are also invited to explore the mountain peaks.
Erawan Falls impresses all travelers with its wild beauty. Fans of more extreme entertainment can choose one of the nature reserves located in the mountains. Walk along mountain paths and slopes in natural environment The habitat of wild animals will give you a lot of emotions and adrenaline . This can be done in national park Doi Inthanon.
It is located in the province. The mountains there rise 2565 meters above sea level. At the same time, at an altitude of 1800 meters there are beautiful forests, where wild orchids and lichen grow.
Wild orchids in the tropical forest There are also several waterfalls just below. At the same time, the park is not just a place for tourists to visit, but also home to the Meo and Karen mountain peoples who live in the villages built there.
Meo Highland Village Hot springs are also popular. Most of them are located in forest areas. Therefore, there you can not only relax and heal your health in the hot water, but also see many trees and birds and animals living in this environment.
In addition, Thailand has many parks and reserves that provide an opportunity to admire the wealth underwater world. One of these is Koh Samet Island in Rayong Province. Despite small sizes, it's very colorful. The park is surrounded coral reefs and beautiful beaches.
The wealth of the underwater world For divers and lovers of calm beach holiday You'll definitely like it here. Tarutao National Park, located in Satun province, is also suitable for scuba diving. Its territory is limited to 51 islands. Another marine park is located in. Ang Thong National Park attracts visitors to the kingdom with its silver sand beaches.
The nature of Thailand is diverse and beautiful. Tropical climate provides an abundance of exotic plants and flowers all year round, and caring Thais do everything possible to ensure that you can get acquainted with it in conditions that are safe for life and health.
