Browser - an animal that eats leaves, bushes, trees or herbaceous plants. Example Giraffe.

Grazer - Animal that eats grasses. Example Zebra.

Herbivore - Plant eating animal. Example Wildebeest.

Predator - Animal that hunts another to eat. Example Lion.

Scavenger - Animal that eats from dead or decaying carcasses. Example Vulture.

Carnivore - Meat eating animal. Example Leopard.

Frugivore - Animal that eats mainly fruit. Example Some types of Bat.

Insectivore - Animal that eats mainly insects. Example Aardvark.

Omnivore - Animal that eats anything.

Other Animal Terms

Gestation - Period between conception and birth.

Faeces - Animal droppings

Gregarious - Animals that live together in communities. Example Baboons.

Mutualism - A relationship between two species in which both derive benefit. Example the bond between the Honey Badger and Honey Guide Bird. The bird finds a bee’s nest and calls to the badger. The badger follows the bird, breaks open the nest (which the bird cannot do) and both feed on the result.

Pride - Group of lions.

Pod - Group of Hippos.

Rut - Time of year when animals become excited and males often aggressive, as females are ready to mate.

Musth - Indian word meaning when male elephants are sexually active and very aggressive.

Keratin - Tough substance from which horns, nails, hooves and claws are made.

Nocturnal - Animal active only at night. Example Porcupine.

Diurnal - Animal active only during the day. Example Cheetah.

Spoor - Track or footprint left on the ground by an animal.

Range - The area an animal lives and eats.

Territory - The area an animal calls home and will defend against others.

Boss - Heavy base for animal horns. Examples Wildebeest and Buffalo.

Carrion - Dead or decaying animal flesh.

Endemic - Animal that lives in one particular area or region.

Pronking - The term use to describe the action when an animal leaps or springs off the ground. Example Gazelles when threatened.

Environment and Location

Melapo - A swampy, flooded area of grassland, which looks like a lagoon.

Veld - Wide open area of grassland, with certain types of trees.

Miombo - Used to describe certain types of woodland in which distinctive tree species grow.

Mopanew- Relates to woodland comprised of specific trees. Mopanewworms from these trees are a great delicacy in parts of Africa.

Savanna - Area with defined wet and dry seasons. Mainly grass, but with some types of trees.

Ecosystem - A pyramid of all living things and the weather that together create an environment. Example the Serengeti.

Biodiversity - Different types of living things.

Tsetse - Actually a rather nasty biting fly. It's bite is painful but not dangerous. But due to the diseases it carries, which affect domestic cattle, in tsetse areas it has helped preserve the wildlife and land from human interference.