A Snippet of Life in Kenya: The Animal and Wildlife Edition

I spent today at the office (aka my home) doing laundry, ensuring that the project data is being recorded correctly, adding to our project map (which you can view in Google Earth by downloading it at http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~sberube/Research Map.kmz), doing laundry, reading, and catching a lizard/salamander. (I’m not really sure of the difference, but you can see it below.) The event of capturing this critter and the general lack of events today make this a good time for the “Animal and Wildlife” edition of “A Snippet of Life in Kenya”.

Cows Cows exist basically everywhere in Kenya where there is anything resembling grass. They seem to roam around at will, but there is usually someone (sometimes even a child) watching them and/or driving them in a general direction. There have been a few instances when they’ve crossed the road in front of us….

Donkeys Donkeys are used as burden-bearing animals as you would expect, but bicycles seem to be the more common method of transporting charcoal, firewood, or most other things. There are some carts pulled by 1-4 donkeys as well.

Ibises Ibises are birds with very long, curved, skinny beaks. You may think of the Egyptian god, Thoth, which had the head of an ibis. As novel as these birds’ appearances are, their charm is quickly lost when you hear them call out. I think it sounds most like a crow’s caw combined with a goose’s honk and an infant’s wail (yeah, not very appealing).

Crown Cranes I think these birds are my favorite. There have a similar build to blue herons or any other crane but have a regal Mohawk of feathers. You can see them in the maize fields along some of the roads. I believe they eat lizards….

Flamingos Kenya is home to a few saltwater lakes which are home to brine shrimp which are basically flamingo food. Last year, as we drove by Lake Nakuru we say thousands of flamingos in the lake. We were some distance away, but it was still quite impressive.

Game Animals As in many African countries, Kenya has its share of game parks containing buffalo, impala, zebras, lions, rhinoceros, wildebeest, and the like. Kenya does have some of these animals still in the wild. Last year, we saw some zebras just off the side of the road and some baboons that were enjoying their spoils from a recent raid on a farmer’s maize field. I have heard that Masai Mara (a large game park) is the place to be during the wildebeest migration. As thousands of wildebeest cross the river into Tanzania, the crocodiles and lions have a field day.

I’m sure that I’ve left some sort of exciting animal out, but you’ll have to excuse my faulty memory. Feel free to ask me if you have an interest in a specific animal.

-Steven