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Did you know?
- The stomach of crocodile has a size of football ball, he eats little, but many times per day.
- Hippo weights 3,2 tones and is one of the heaviest land mammals.
- Giraffe is one of the rare animals that have horns at birth.
- The elephants walk on tiptoe, because under their heel they have thick layer of fat.
- The biggest snakes of the world can eat a human in one time and a meal lasts for one year.
- Flamingos get the color of their feathers because of their specific nutrition.
- African elephant can run faster then a human and can walk several hours without any rest.
- In first year of hippo’s life 45% of them die.
- Shark is swimming with average speed of 3km/h and maximum speed of 95 km/h.
- Giraffe has a same number of vertebrae like most of the mammals, but theirs are much longer.
- Bushbabies got a name because of their sounds that reminded first explorers of crying babies.
- Elephants communicate through vibrations that they make by hitting the ground with their feet.
- Most of the elephants sleep standing and only 2-3 hours per day.
- Hippo can stay 5 minutes under the water-surface and can even run on the bottom of the lake.
- The biggest known shark in the world was 13 meters long and had 15 tones
- Leopard likes to drink water everyday, but he can stay without it up to one month.
- Wild elephant can eat 230 kg of food and drink 125 liters of water per day sometimes at once.
- Near relative of African ostrich is South American nandu and Australian emus.
- Ostrich, zebra and giraffe can kill with their kick even the mighty lion.
- Turtles, birds and crocs like to rest on the backs of hippos.
- African tribes are hunting bushbabies by leaving a palm wine in the forest and collecting drunk animals from it.
- Warthog can run 50 km/h and they are very skillful to defend themselves.
- The head of the rhino weights 200 kg.
- Black leopard or Panther was first considered as different species, but in same family can be puppies of normal and black colour.
- The biggest turtle in the world is belonging to the species of leatherback and weights 752 kg.
- The grey rat is living everywhere in the world except polar countries. One couple can have up to 800 babies in just one year.
- Insect-eating bats produce ultrasound of very high frequency, with echoes that bounce back, they get all necessary information.
- One of the most shamefaced animals in area of high and low tide is octopus.
- The longest recorded jump of bushbaby from one branch to another was more then 7 meters.
- From 1830 on each year 10 to 30 thousand slaves were sold at slave market on Zanzibar.
- Coconut palm can live up to 100 years but can reproduce only 20 years.
- Warthog’s only enemies are lion and leopard.
- In darkness leopard can see 6 times and hear 2 times better then human.
- Monkey species of red colobus are living only in forest Jozani on Zanzibar Island.
- Cheetahs are running 120 km/h, but only 20 seconds. This is still enough for successful hunting.
- Insectivorous bats obtain most of the water they need from their prey, cave bats can lick up condensation.
Katavi National Park
The Katavi Area was interesting area for the Germans already in 1800s when they designated it as a game controlled area. The name and the size of protected area were changing until 1951, when Katavi Plains Game Reserve was established. It was upgraded in 1974 to national park status.
Location
National Park Katavi is located in famous Great Rift Valley and it is occupying its western part. The park consists of valley floor, the foothills, escarpment rising to the east and high plateau.
Natural heritage
Parts of the National Park Katavi are also Lake Katavi on north side of the park and Lake Chada on its southeast side. In between of them you will find Katesunga swamp, all of them rich in flora, fauna and extremely important ecological zones.
Vegetation
Location of National Park Katavi makes its vegetation a mixture of eastern and southern African savanna, woodland, short-grass plains with acacia trees. Around Lake Chada you can also find some of the palm trees.
Wildlife
Most of the large mammals you will find on the grassland. There is quite high concentration of them. It is common to see buffaloes, elephants, as well as sizeable herds of zebras, giraffes, gazelles, waterbucks, roan antelopes and topis. You can find here some rare sort of antelopes, but are difficult to see. The lakes are living quarters for enormous number of hippos and large crocodiles. Nevertheless National Park Katavi is also a home for 400 bird species, among them a lot of water birds.
Travel condition
It’s better to plan your trip in dry season as most of the National Park has black cotton soil that makes driving in wet season impossible or extremely difficult. The best time to visit is July to October and December to February.
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