Lesser Known South African Wildlife and Animals

LESSER KNOWN ANIMALS

There are a lot of well known animals and wildlife in South Africa, like the Big Five. Here are some of the lesser known animals and wildlife.

Some of the well known African large animals are the hippo, giraffe, kudu, wildebeest (the famous gnu) and zebra, all frequently seen in South Africa's conservation areas.

Heightened awareness, however, has created an increased appreciation of lesser known animals. A sighting of the rare tsessebe (a relative of the wildebeest) may cause as much excitement as the sight of a pride of lion. And while one can hardly miss a nearby elephant, spotting the shy little forest-dwelling suni (Livingstone's antelope) is cause for self-congratulation.

On the really small scale, one could tackle the challenge of ticking off each of South Africa's seven species of elephant shrew - a task that would take one all over the country and, probably, a long time to accomplish.

LESSER KNOWN WILDELIFE

South Africa is a country rich in flora—it is said to have more species per square mile than any other country in the world. The terrain is tremendously varied and includes deserts, grasslands, forests and high mountains with peaks over 11,000 ft. in elevation. The climate varies from region to region as one moves across the country, resulting in a wide array of plants with different cultural requirements.

The incredible number of South African plant species can be attributed to that region’s geologic history. South Africa has had a very stable geologic situation over many millions of years. While North America was at one time or another covered by ice caps, shaped and disrupted by volcanic activity and covered in part by inland seas, the settled situation in South Africa has allowed the plants there to slowly evolve and differentiate. The result can be found in more than 20,000different plants, representing about ten percent of all plants on earth.

English and Dutch colonists in the 17th Century first brought many of the fascinating plants of South Africa to attention and cultivation outside the continent. As a result quite a few of our most popular flowers and bulbs have a South African heritage. In gardens along the coast of California many of the lesser-known South African bulbs have been in cultivation for years. Gladiolus, Freesia, Clivia, Gerbera daisies, Phygelius, and annual Gazania are just a few from a diverse list of South African natives that we enjoy. Unfortunately for gardeners in the intermountain West, cold hardy South African perennials had not yet found champions in the gardening world, and were few in number and difficult to locate. Due in large part to the pioneering efforts of Panayoti Kelaidis, Curator of Plants at the Denver Botanic Gardens, this situation has changed.

Within the past five years several superb new cold-hardy herbaceous perennials have become more widely available. Some of these plants had been in cultivation for many years in England but hadn’t been tested for cold hardiness. Others are available as a result of Mr. Kelaidis’ collections through Denver Botanic Gardens. The most noteworthy D.B.G./Plant Select introduction would certainly be Diascia integerrima “Coral Canyon”. This superb everblooming cold hardy perennial has expanded the usefulness of the genus beyond its former use as annuals in container plantings and beds. Diascia integerrima “Pink Adobe”, introduced in 2002 by High Country Gardens, is a new dwarf form of the species with pale salmon-pink flowers.


These are exciting times in the horticultural world, spurred on by passionate interest in finding new and different perennials. The cold, high altitude regions of South Africa hold many treasures. As we continue our efforts to find and test these plants, I think we’re in for many new and wonderful surprises