Lake Nasser Fish - Other Animals of Lake Nasser

 

East African Sand Boa
This species is found in Tanzania, Kenya, much of Ethiopia, Sudan, northern Somalia, northern Chad, western Niger, Egypt, and western Libya. This snake grows up to 2 - 2.5 feet long. It spends most of its life buried in the sand. It emerges only in early morning and in the evening to find food. It will lie just under the sand waiting for prey (lizards, small mammals) it run by.

 

 

 

Nile Monitor
The Nile Monitor (Varanus niloticus) is the largest lizard found in Africa. It can grow up to 7 ft. (2.1 m) in length. It is distributed over most of sub-Saharan Africa, along the Nile River into Egypt, and over most of the rest of Africa. It is semi aquatic and lives along rivers, and other aquatic areas. Its diet consists of crabs, frogs, fish, reptiles, mammals, birds and just about anything else it can catch. One of its favorite snacks are Nile Crocodile eggs. There are two subspecies, Varanus niloticus niloticus (the Nile Moniter) and Varanus niloticus ornatus (the Ornate Nile Monitor)

 

Nile Monitors are wary and aggressive and will use their tails to lash. When threatened they can give a very painful bite. The female often lays her eggs in termite mounds. Nile monitors are found along riverbanks and near lakes in Africa and are excellent swimmers. If a Nile monitor is disturbed or threatened, it will dive into the water and either stay submerged or swim away to the safety of overhanging vegetation. It has been reported that they can stay underwater for up to one hour, although that would be a rare occurrence.

 

Fennec Fox (Fennecus Zerda)
The Fennec fox is found in northern Africa east into the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas.

 

 

 

The head and body are usually 16 inches long and the tail is about 8 inches. It is the smallest canine. It is primarily a desert dweller and feeds on a variety of small prey, such as lizards, birds, insects, small mammals. It also will eat fruit, berries, and eggs. Its large ears act as radiators to lower its body temperature, since it is unable to sweat. The ears also get it extremely good hearing. The foxs hearing is so sharp it can easily pinpoint the rustling of a small rodent in an underground nest or an insect in the sand. It is protected under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna.

 

Nile Crocodile

 

 

 

This fearsome reptile is the Nile Crocodile. These gigantic animals have not been seen around the Nile for many years, though recently they've started making a comeback behind the Aswan Dam. The skin of the Nile Crocodile, unlike that of most reptiles, is not shed, but grows with the animal. Although crocodiles look like alligators, they can be distinguished by their longer, narrower snout, and their fourth tooth, which sticks out from the lower jaw rather than fitting neatly into the upper jaw. The adults can reach lengths of over 10 feet and can weigh up to 1500 pounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The crocodile's eyes and nostrils are on top of the head so it can see and breathe while the rest of it is underwater. As an added advantage, its ears and nostrils can close when it dives, and a nictitating membrane (a transparent eyelid) closes over the eye to keep water out. Nile Crocodiles range all over Africa, eating almost anything (including each other!), but rarely moving away from their chosen body of water. Hatchlings eat small fish and insects; adults will go after turtles, baboons, and even the gigantic wildebeest. They live in large "communities" of several dozen crocodiles, but even there they tend to leave each other alone except during a "feeding frenzy" when they will all unite to take down a much larger animal. Crocodiles swim mostly with their tails. Though their back feet are webbed, they rarely use them underwater. On land, they use their powerful legs to move around. They only look slow; Nile Crocodiles have been known to "gallop" at speeds of about 30 miles an hour.

 

Here's another creature we'd all like to avoid: the scorpion. The tip of its tail delivers a powerful sting. The venom of most scorpions in Egypt is painful, but not deadly. However, the Palestinian Yellow Scorpion (thankfully rare) has a venom that is potentially lethal.

 

 

 

Deathstalker Scorpion (Leiurus quinquestriatus)
The Deathstalker is found in the deserts and scrublands from northern Africa (esp Egypt) to the Middle East. It is a large and aggressive brightly colored species. It has one of the most potent (if not the most) venoms of all the scorpions.

 

 

 

Yellow Fattail Scorpion (Androctonus australis)
This scorpion is considered to be one of the world's most dangerous species. The venom from the Yellow Fattail Scorpion is strong enough to kill an adult man within two hours, This Androctonus scorpion species can be distinguished by it's dark brown to black color by the stinger, a feature which is not found on most other fattail scorpions. Besides the fact that it is responsible for the most human deaths out of all the scorpion species, the Yellow Fattail Scorpion is a relatively calm species when left alone. If it is not left alone, on the other hand, it can get aggressive. Range: Deserts and scrubland throughout most of northern Africa.

 

 

 

Egyptian Goose (Alopochen gegyptiacus)
They inhabit the Nile Valley and south into Africa south of the Equator. The males are usually larger than the females. The geese have a red, oval band around the eye, red head and neck with a dark chestnut neck band seen in most birds. The breast and mantle are buff with a patch of dark red on the lower breast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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