Savannas have comfortable weather year round. There are 2 very different seasons in the Savanna. One, is a long, dry, rainless season (winter), the other is a wet, cold season (summer), which is odd compared to us. In the winter, the hot season, most of the trees and plants die, and the waterholes and rivers dry up and all of the animals migrate to find food.

Savannas are always found in warm climates where the annual rainfall per year is from about 50.8-127cm (20-50 inches). A regular Savanna is fairly warm but unfortunately has not enough rain for trees to grow.

Central North AmericaCentral RussiaSiberiaAfricaSouth AmericaSouth IndiaNorthern Australia

Grasslands and Savannas are scattered all around the world. They are located in central North America, central Russia and Siberia, Africa, South America, South India and Northern Australia. All together Grasslands cover about 15-20% of the Earth’s surface.

CheetahGiraffeElephantsCape BuffaloRhinoZebraTermiteLeopardLionMeerkatWild DogAardvarkGazelleHarvester ants

EmuMongoose Nile CrocodileKoala BearBaboonBlack MambaCricketNigriceps AntsHyenaAntelopesOstrichSnakesImpalaMice

Here are a few of the grassland animals…

Mongooses are usually found in the grasslands of Africa. They are generally terrestrial mammals, but some are semi-aquatic and others are at home in the treetops. Ranging in size from 7 inches long (18cm long dwarf mongoose) to 2 foot long (60cm long Egyption mongoose).They normally have brown or gray grizzled fur and ringed tails. They live in burrows and feed on rodents, birds, reptiles, frogs, insects, and worms. Some supplement their diet with fruit, nuts, and seeds. They have been seen breaking intobirds eggs and throwing them away, aiming for a hard, solid object.

Elephants are the largest land mammals on Earth today. There are elephants that live in Africa and elephants that live in Asia. African elephants are larger than Asian elephants and have larger ears. Males are called bulls, females are called cows and baby elephants are called calves. Elephants stop feeding from their mother at about 2 years old and get their guidance from other adult elephants in their herd. Elephants are herbivores, and feed on fruits, vegetables, leaves, grass, seeds, weeds and other plants. Elephants have more than 50,000 muscles in their trunk!!!!

Some plants of the Grasslands are:

Acacia SenegalJackalberry TreeKangaroo PawWhistling ThornRiver BushwillowGum Tree Eucalyptus Jarrah TreesBaobabRed Oat GrassStar Grass

The Eucalyptus Gum Tree usually grows in the savannas of Australia because the cold weather does not allow the existence of the tree. The Eucalyptus Gum Tree grows from an average of 20-30 feet tall. They can live through the longest periods of drought and usually grow in more sandy parts of the grasslands. The Eucalyptus Gum Tree provides a huge amount of shade for the animals. Only 15 other species of Gum Trees are living outside Australia. Doctors around Australia use Eucalyptus in medicines to cure sore throats, colds, flus, infections and aches.

The whistling thorn is commonly seen in the East Africa. It can grow to 18 feet tall but is often stunted in its growth. It protects itself with its 3 inch long thorns.During the winter (dry season) it will drop all its leaves to conserve water. At the beginning of the summer (rainy season) creamy white flowers bloom before leaves grow back.The blossums look like puffballs. They resemble the mimosa tree that are in the same family as the whistling thorn

Grass Grasshopper Toad Snake Hawk

Sun

Grass Trees Shrubs

Giraffe Elephant Zebra Gazelle

Vulture Hyena Cheetah

Lion

Most of the animals of the grasslands have long legs or wings to migrate long distances.

Savannas cover more than 2 fifths of Africa Elephants listen through the ground, they can pick up the

vibrations from the ground to identify other elephants.

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