First Field Guide to Wildlife of Southern Africa

These little guides are an invaluable resource for beginners
Fraser, Sean; Hawthorne, Tracey
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First Field Guide to Wildlife of Southern Africa

Author: Sean Fraser; Tracey Hawthorne
Struik Publishers
Cape Town, 1998
ISBN: 9781868721214
Paperback, 11x17 cm, 56 pages, throughout colour photos


Description:

These natural history guides have been developed in the hope that young people and anyone with a budding interest in natural history will take up the challenge to learn the secrets of southern Africa’s fascinating fauna and flora.

They are an invaluable resource for the beginner, providing information at a glance through superb photographs, maps and easy-to-read text.

• handy pocket size
• easy-to-read text
• suitable for the beginner naturalist
• each species is photographed


Wildlife:

All forms of life can be divided into two major groups - plants, which belong to the plant kingdom, and animals - of the animal kingdom.

Plants stay in one place and make their own food; animals move around and feed on other living creatures, and therefore have specially adapted senses which enable them to find whale they need to eat.

Animals can smell, taste, hear, see and feel. All the animals that have back-bones are known as chordates or vertebrates. Chordates are divided into five classes, namely mammal (Mammalia), reptiles (Reptilia), amphibians (Amphibia), bird (Aves) and fish (Pisces).

Because, like insects, spiders and scorpions have no backbones, they are known as invertebrates. They are of the order Arthropoda, and are classed as arachnids (Arachnida) and have jointed legs, which come straight out of the body.


About the Author:

Author Sean Fraser, a graduate of Journalism and Media Studies from Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa, is a full-time editor and writer. For three years he was the Managing Editor of the Globetrotter Travel Series, a collection of acclaimed guides, atlases and travel maps focusing on a wide range of international travel destinations, including those of Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia and the Americas. He was also Associate Editor of Discover Africa magazine and Contributing Editor on Africa – Environment and Wildlife (now Africa Geographic).

He is also the author of no fewer than eight glossy coffee-table volumes on the people, wildlife and natural splendour of South Africa, three natural history guides aimed at creating conservation awareness among young readers, particularly in Africa, as well as National Geographics 336-page African Adventure Atlas, which explores the seemingly endless opportunities for travel and adventure on the continent. Based in Cape Town, Sean Fraser currently enjoys a freelance career in book and magazine publishing, specialising in travel and political biography.


Content:

Wildlife
Southern African wildlife
Identifying wildlife
Conserving wildlife
In the field

Spiders and Scorpions
Garden Orb-web Spiders
Black Button Spider
Thick-tailed Scorpions
Amphibians
Common Platanna
African Bullfrog
Reptiles
Leopard Tortoise
Leatherback Turtle
African Rock Python
Cape Cobra
Rock Monitor
Flap-neck Chameleon
Nile Crocodile
Birds
Ostrich
Jackass Penguin
White Stork
Egyptian Goose
Whitebacked Vulture
African Fish Eagle
Blackshouldered Kite
Helmeted Guineafowl
Blue Crane
Crowned Plover
Barn Owl
Common Fiscal Shrike
House Sparrow
Mammals
Chacma Baboon
Ground Squirrel
Spotted Hyaena
Cheetah
Leopard
Lion
Wild Dog
Black-backed Jackal
African Elephant
Rock Hyrax (Dassie)
White Rhinoceros
Burchells Zebra
Warthog
Hippopotamus
Giraffe
Blue Wildebeest
Springbok
African Buffalo
Kudu
Common Dolphin
Southern Right Whale
Glossary
Index and Checklist