African animals for kids: 13 species to research

Africa's savannas hold the largest gathering of big land animals left on Earth, and many of the world's record-holders live there. The African savanna elephant is the largest land animal, the giraffe the tallest at up to 5.5 metres, and the cheetah the fastest, hitting 100 km/h in about three seconds. Lions live in prides and are the only social cats; African wild dogs hunt in packs and are the continent's most successful predators. Hippos spend the day in rivers and graze on land at night, and zebras and wildebeest make the Serengeti migration, the largest movement of large animals anywhere. Meerkats stand guard in turns over their desert burrows, and mountain gorillas live in the forests of the Virunga volcanoes. Poaching and habitat loss weigh heavily here: the black rhino is Critically Endangered, the savanna elephant Endangered, and lions, cheetahs and giraffes are all Vulnerable, with populations down by roughly 40% in a few decades.