An African Night Safari Trivia Quiz

Answer: Leopard

Leopards are most common in Africa, but there are also sub-species in Asia, such as the Amur leopard, that are highly endangered due to hunting and habitat loss. Their fur is covered with dark rosettes (not spots) and they are much heavier and stockier than the cheetah with which they are often confused. The black panther, found primarily in Asia, has black fur with some faint markings, and is genetically a leopard. Leopards are secretive, excellent stalkers and many live close to towns (but are rarely seen).
Cheetahs are the fastest land animal, reaching 60mph, and hunt only by day. Leopards will kill cheetahs, especially their cubs, to remove competition.
The ocelot and jaguar are South American cats.

Answer: Ants and termites

Aardvark means "earth pig" in Afrikaans. It has a distinctive shape, having a long narrow snout and short legs, with strong claws. They use these claws to dig into anthills and termite mounds, and then use their long tongues to penetrate further. Their very sticky saliva enables them to capture insects on their tongues, before pulling them back to eat their meal.

Answer: Porcupine

Porcupines are large rodents with a coat of sharp spines or quills. Their name comes from the concatenation of the Latin for pig and spine (porcus + spina). The spines are actually modified hair coated with keratin (as are fingernails). They are used as defence against predators. The initial prick may be enough to deter the predator, but then the backward-facing barbs on the quills act like anchors and make it more painful to remove a quill that has struck into the skin. It is not true that they can "fire" their quills but can drop them on contact and more will grow back.
Although porcupines exist in both Africa and America and look similar, the two groups are not closely related. They are not related to similar prickly animals such as the hedgehog or echidna.
The aardvark, armadillo and pangolin are also nocturnal insect eaters, but have no spines.

Answer: Civet

The civet was for many years called a civet cat but is not a cat at all. The civet has markings similar to a raccoon - black and white markings on their fur and grey face, and a black band around their eyes. They are solitary and highly territorial animals, marking their boundaries with the scent released by their perineal glands. This scent musk has been used in the manufacturing of perfumes for centuries but is now mostly replaced by synthetic scents. Each animal can secrete up to 4g of musk every week.
The caracal and serval are African cats, both of which are generally nocturnal.
The ocelot is a South American small cat.

Answer: Bushbaby

Bushbabies are very cute and at night they are most easily spotted due to the reflection from their large eyes. They leap within and between trees using their strong hind limbs, and keep their balance by moving their long tails. They eat insects, using large ears to find them on the trees and can also grab them out of the air. For their size they have a loud and distinctive call. Camping close to a family is not a good idea. There are several species, usually grouped by size into greater, lesser and dwarf, and can be found across much of sub-Saharan Africa.
Chimpanzees do leap around the trees during the day but at night they bed down in nests which they build from leaves and sleep until dawn.
The sportive lemur is found in trees at night, but only in Madagascar.

Answer: Aye-aye

Lemurs are only found in Madagascar. There are several nocturnal species, including the family known as sportive lemurs, and the mouse lemur which is the smallest lemur.
The aye-aye now only lives in a small area and is highly endangered.
The fossa is also from Madagascar and is nocturnal. The fossa is a unique animal, cat-like to look at but actually more closely related to the mongoose family.

Answer: Four-toed elephant shrew

Together with the leopard tortoise, these animals form the "small 5" creatures of Africa, being named like the more famous "big 5".

The shrew has a long snout - hence the elephant reference. It clears small patches of grounds of dead leaves and twigs so that when it bounds away from danger it can move silently under the bushes back to its hole.

The ant lion is a term used for the caterpillar stage of many insects. It creates small pits in the soil or sand and hides just under the surface at the bottom. When its prey (typically an ant) slides into the pit, it cannot get out and the ant lion then pounces, bites it using a paralyzing poison and slowly eats it. Isn't nature wonderful - just as well it is at most 1.2 cm long.
A buffalo weaver is a bird common across East and Southern Africa.

Answer: Honey badger

The honey badger shows no fear and will attack animals much greater than itself, including buffaloes and lions, although it eats smaller prey. It has very sharp claws and can stand up on its hind legs before swiping its front claws to defend itself.
It is now not classed as a badger, and has its own family of 12 subspecies spread across Africa, the Middle East and India. The southern African form has a distinctive silver back; other subspecies vary in the amount of white or grey on top of the black body.

Answer: Owl

The pearl-spotted owlet is a small owl with a delightful call, notes rising in pitch before a downward slide. Its other feature is a pair of "false eyes" on the back of its head intended to fool predators. The giant eagle owl, previously also called Verreaux's eagle owl, is the largest African owl and has wonderful pink eyelids and a deep hoot. Pel's fishing owl is harder to find as its habitat is limited to large trees overhanging slow moving rivers where it catches fish and frogs. It has some special features to cope with its watery hunting such as unfeathered feet to reduce the amount of wet feathers.
Nightjars are also common nocturnal birds with many varieties, some with interesting and haunting calls, others more resplendent such as the pennant winged nightjar, the male of which has long white streamers from the tips of its wings.
Bats are not birds of course, and rollers are diurnal birds.

Answer: Spring hare

The spring hare resembles a tiny kangaroo with long powerful back legs. It is actually neither a kangaroo nor a hare but in fact is the only member of its own family. It can jump huge heights and distances. They live in arid or semi-arid country areas where they can more easily dig their burrows in which they hide during the day and use as refuges if danger threatens at night.
The scrub hare is another African nocturnal animal which looks much more like a standard rabbit.