Kenya has many attractions that bring tourists from all over to explore this new and exhilarating country. One of the most notable attraction and draw to Kenya is the animals that reside in this fascinating country. Safaris in Kenya are filled with elephants, lions, cheetahs, giraffes, zebras, and that’s not even half of the animals that one would encounter on a safari in Kenya. These animals alone bring many tourists to Kenya to see how they act in their natural habitat. So what makes these animals so enticing, and brings people from around the world to see them?
Elephants
Elephants are marvelous creatures, that can grow up to thirteen feet tall and can weigh anywhere from four thousand pounds to fourteen thousand pounds. It’s no wonder that a creature of this size and stature attracts so many people. During the hotter seasons in Kenya, the elephants use their trunks to shower themselves with water and keep their bodies cool and refreshed. Elephants help maintains the environment in Kenya by doing things like digging up riverbeds with their strong and sturdy tusks to provide water for other animals, as well as creating paths for other animals by eating the bushes and such in front of them. They can eat about 300 pounds of food at day, that’s about a hundred times more than the average human eats in a day!
Lions
Lions can be found in grasslands of Kenya, and the males are known for their beautiful, full manes. Most male lions have a full mane by the age of three. The baby cubs have spots found on their fur, and are often very playful with the other cubs. Lions are talented and tactical predators. They hunt for their prey at night, when the prey is the most vulnerable, or even when it is raining, so that the noise of rain will muffle the noise of their footprints. These stealthy animals are nocturnal as well, they can sleep up to twenty hours a day.
Cheetahs
The first thing many people think of when the Cheetah is mentioned is their ability to move quickly. They can run as fast as seventy five miles per hour, so the phrase “fast as a cheetah” holds very true. These spotted animals are very adaptable and tough creatures. The mother cheetah often leaves her cubs at around eighteen months old. These carnivores becomes very good at finding their own food, and their speed helps them catch their prey.
Giraffes
Giraffes can be found in grasslands and woodlands in Kenya. They are very easy to spot due to their incredible height. Females can be as tall as fourteen feet and the males can be as tall as eighteen feet. Their legs can be up to six feet tall as well as their necks. One can find these towering, grand creatures snacking on leaves, fruits, and branches, since they only consume plants. A fun sighting when it comes to giraffes is observing them “necking” each other. These delightful creatures will wrap their necks around another giraffe, it is like their version of a friendly hug
Zebras
Zebras are well known for their beautiful stripes, this feature makes them stand out amongst all the animals. All of the zebra’s stripe patterns are unique to them, just like a human fingerprint. One may hear a zebra calling out to it’s herd, as well as their facial expressions that they use to greet one another such as sticking their ears up. . Just like the giraffe, the zebra does not hunt any predators they prefer eating grass, and can graze on all types of grass. They spend their days walking for miles upon miles to find grass to graze upon.
These animals create a unique atmosphere for tourists in Kenya to see how these creatures interact with each other, as well as people during safaris. It’s not every day you get to see an elephant spray water from it’s trunk, a lion stealthily watch his prey, a cheetah stride across the dessert, a giraffe stretching up their neck to snack on branches, or a zebra’s unique stripes. However in Kenya this is an every day interaction for the locals as well as the tourists. Do all of these animals in their natural habitat intrigue you? You can see them for yourself in person on a trip to Kenya! You can make this dream trip a reality. Think your faster than a cheetah? Put it to the test and come along for the Kenya Wildlife Marathon.