East African Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum)

Range: Found in the grassland and wetland areas of the eastern and southern regions of Africa and standing at over 3-4 feet tall, there's no mistaking these giants of the bird world. Africa is the native home of the grey crowned crane. They can be found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Description: They have a wingspan of six and a half feet. They have slate grey feathers on their body. Wings are white with black and chestnut coloring. These birds are named for the distinctive, bristle-like, golden feathers on top of their black head. Crowned cranes are famous for their courtship, especially the mating dance between the male and female. The dance consists of bobbing, flapping wings, and swinging circles around each other. A successful pair of mated crowned cranes keeps its family group together for almost a year.

Diet: Crowned cranes are omnivorous feeding on plants, worms, insects, lizards, and small mammals.

Lifespan: East African crowned cranes are fully mature by two to three years of age; these birds can live 20-40 years; approximately the same amount of years in captivity.

Eastern Bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus)

Range: They are only found in rainforests with dense undergrowth across tropical Africa. Specifically, they are found in the lowland rainforests of West Africa and the Congo Basin to the Central African Republic and southern Sudan.

Description: They are the largest forest-dwelling antelope species and one of the most distinctive, with a chestnut colored coat and long horns that spiral as high as 36 inches in males. Mountain bongos have chestnut brown fur with vertical white stripes along their sides. Their face is quite distinct with a dark muzzle, white stripe between the eyes and white spots on their cheeks.

Diet: Like many forest ungulates, bongos are herbivorous browsers and feed on leaves, bushes, vines, bark and pith of rotting trees, grasses/herbs, roots, cereals, and fruits. Bongos require salt in their diets, and are known to regularly visit natural salt licks.

Lifespan: The eastern bongo have been observed to live up to 19 years in the wild, and up to 21 years in captivity.

Nile lechwe (Kobus megaceros)

Range:  Nile lechwe are native to the floodplains of the Nile River Valley. Most of the population lives in southern Sudan, with the remaining in western Ethiopia. They typically live near shallow waters bordering deeper swamps.

Description: Females are golden-brown with white underbellies and no horns. Young males as they mature at the age of two to three years will turn from a tan color to dark brown. Adult males are blackish-brown to russet color with white 'hoods' over their shoulders, small white patches over their eyes, and a rather unique set of curved horns.

Diet: Nile lechwe are herbivorous, feeding on succulent grasses and aquatic plants. Wild rice is their preferred food at the start of the flood season.

Lifespan: Both sexes reach sexual maturity when they are two years old. Mating occurs throughout the year, but peaks between February and May. During mating season, young males bend their horns to the ground as if to poke the earth. The average Nile lechwe life span is around 12 years; however, hey can live for up to 21 years in zoos.