Fauna in Mount Kilimanjaro You have to be very lucky to see much in the
way of fauna on Kilimanjaro. The more exotic fauna of East Africa does occasionally venture onto the mountain.
It just doesn’t happen very often, with most animals preferring to be somewhere where there aren’t 35,000
people marching around every year. So in all probability you will see virtually nothing during your
time on the mountain beyond the occasional monkey or mouse. Nevertheless, keep your mouth shut
and your eyes open and you never know. Fauna as one nears the summit of Kilimanjaro seems
to become less and less. At an Altitude of 4000 to 5000 metres, the alpine desert
exists as the ultimate climatic antithesis of Weather Conditions. In this icy
furnace, temperatures reach a scorching heat of between 35 to 40 degrees
during the daytime, and then plummet to well below freezing
point at night.
Down the mountain the forest is home to a number of small antelope, which are mostly solitary or live in very small
groups. Some of the antelope found are the Common Duiker, Abbot’s Duiker, Red Duiker, Suni,
Bushbuck, and Klipspringer. The Suni and Duiker are fairly shy creatures and quite
small which makes them very difficult to spot. They do sometimes range onto
the moorland and grow thicker coats if they live at higher altitudes. |
