Where do so many wellknown wild animals come from?

The African bush, a vast area of grassy, shrub and tree-covered plains south of the Sahara Desert is probably the home of more wild animals than any other.

The lion, one of the world's largest carnivores, or meat-eaters, lives there. So, too, does the largest animal to live on land, the African elephant. The giraffe, the world's tallest animal, growing to a height of 5.5 metres, is found there also, along with a host of others, like the antelope, the jackal and the hyena.

Lions prey on the herds of antelope which find the bush an ideal home, with plenty of grass to eat and sufficient water to drink. Giraffes eat leaves and twigs from the tops of the acacia trees, and elephants eat tree branches which they pull down with their trunks, or roots which they dig up with their tusks.