OSPREY
The osprey, also known as a fish hawk, lives along rivers and large bodies of water where it hunts fish. They are rare to spot, but when they do appear, it’s a majestic sight.
LITTLE BEE EATER
The Little Bee Eater, is a common resident at Fathala. Feeding mainly on bees, hornets and wasps. One can see them rubbing hornets’ agonized branches to remove the sting before they are swallowed.
ROAN ANTELOPE
They form harem groups of five to 15 animals with a dominant male. Roan antelope commonly fight among themselves for dominance of their herd, brandishing their horns while both animals are on their knees. Named koba in Senegal.
WESTERN GIANT LORD DERBY ELAND
This sub species of the Giant Eland is only found in Senegal and Mali. Fathala is one of 3 places in the world where healthy wild populations exist.
GIRAFFES
Giraffes use their height to good advantage by browsing leaves and buds in treetops. The 21–inch (53 cm) tougue helps them pluck tasty morsels from branches. Giraffes eat most of the time, and like cows they regurgitate food and chew it as cud.
BURCHELL’S ZEBRA
The Zebra’s black and white stripes are a form of camouflage called Disruptive Coloration that breaks up the outline of the body. They inhabit savannas, from treeless grasslands to open woodlands.
RED COLOBUS MONKEY
The Red Colobus Monkey is the fastest runner among the primates. The adult females in the group initiate movement of the group with the male following their lead.
WHITE RHINOCEROS
The White Rhinoceros or Square-lipped Rhinoceros is the largest extant species of Rhinoceros. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all Rhino species.
HOODED VULTURE
It has a lack of feathers on its neck for hygiene reasons, so it’s easier to clean after feeding on dead rotting animals.
PINK BACKED PELICAN
The Pink-Backed Pelican is the smaller of the two Pelican species that can be seen at Fathala, the bigger Great White pelican can also be seen in the Saloum Delta. The pink backed pelican can have a wingspan of almost 3 meters and weigh 7kg and they feed on fish especially tilapia. Here they like to roost in big baobab trees that grows alongside the river.
WEST AFRICAN FOREST BUFFALO
Although a different species to the Cape buffalo it is also part of the African Big 5. This terminology does not refer to size but to species that were grouped together by the old colonial hunter, that were the most dangerous animals to hunt. They may slightly resemble domestic cattle, however are very dangerous and will not tolerate an intrusion into their personal space.
WESTERN REEF HERRON
The Western Reef Herron is a medium sized Herron that hunts in the shallow waters. It will hunt almost anything that will fit in its mouth, from fish, crustaceans, crabs, rodents and mollusks. They nest communally, where they all gather in the evenings, called a Heronry.
WEST AFRICAN CROCODILE
West African Crocodile, also known as the Desert Crocodile in Mauritania. Until recently thought to be a synonym for the Nile Crocodile, however recent studies showed that they are in fact a different species.
WARTHOG
Warthogs like to wallow in mud. It’s a multipurpose habit as it helps to cool them down and protects them from the sun. Wallowing in the mud also gets rid of parasites and is a barrier that protects them from the bites of the ever present tsetse fly.
HELMETED GUINEAFOWL
The best known of the guineafowl bird family. The helmeted guineafowl is quite a large bird, with a round body and small head. (Weighing in at about 1.3kg)The body plumage is grey-black spotted with white Their head is un-feathered with a reddish bony knob. They have short winged and a short tail. They are normally in flocks of 10-40, and forages on the ground in open areas
ROSE-RINGED PARAKEET
This is a noisy species with an unmistakable squawking call. Rose-ringed parakeets are herbivores, and usually eat buds, fruits, vegetables, nuts, berries, and seeds. They do not keep one mate for life and often breed with a different partner every breeding season
SENEGAL COUCAL
The most common Coucal, a member of the cuckoo order of birds. The Senegal Coucal are a medium-sized species. Its head, neck, bill, legs and long tail are black. The eyes are red and wings light brown in colour. The underpart is a creamy white. The sexes are similar, but the younger ones are a darker brown
WOODLAND KINGFISHER
Common wet season breeding visitor. Mainly found perching on high branches, often exposed, vantage point, hunting insects and small vertebrae. These birds flick there wings open while singing, revealing contrasting underwing pattern. They are known to be quite aggressive with other birds
ABYSSINIAN ROLLER
Very brightly coloured bird, mainly bright turquoise blue with a brown mantle and deep violet wings. They are very noisy and visible birds – they like to perch on exposed vantage point. They are mainly seen alone or in pairs. They are also known as the Senegal Roller.
SENEGAL PARROT
The Senegal Parrot, about 9 inches long, isn’t a “flashy” bird, like some other companion parrots of the same size. They are mostly dark green and brownish-gray with an iridescent green throat, orange thighs, with a yellow chest
BROWN SNAKE EAGLE
This species is an almost obligate predator of a variety of snakes. A very solitary bird, the brown snake eagle has a prolonged breeding cycle and raises a single eaglet.
PALM NUT VULTURE
Identified by black and white plumage, with a bare reddish-pink face. Often seen near water, they eat nuts of oil and Raphia palms, but also feed on various small animals (fish, amphibians and crabs). They are usually a silent bird, and is quite approachable, like many African vultures, and can be seen near habitation, even on large hotel lawns in the tourist areas
YELLOW-BILLED OXPECKER
The bird you always see perched on herbivores, eating the small insects off their skins. A slender brown bird with orange eyes. They are usually seen in small groups and have a hard rasping and hissing sound. Even though the yellow-billed oxpecker eats insects and ticks their preferred food is blood, and while they take ticks bloated with blood, they also feed on it directly. They also peck at the mammal’s wounds until blood flows. These mammals generally tolerate oxpeckers.
LONG-TAILED GLOSSY STARLING
Easiest way to identify these birds are from their very long, strongly graduated, supple tail. They live in lively and vocal flocks and forage on the ground, and their diets mainly consists on fruits and insects. This bird is sociable and noisy, with a harsh strident call
DEFASSA WATERBUCK
The defassa waterbuck is a large, robust animal with long, shaggy hair and a brown-grey. The common waterbuck has a conspicuous white ring encircling a dark rump, while the defassa has wide white patches on either side of the rump.
BUSH BUCK
A species of medium-sized buck with a red coat bearing a varying number of stripes and white spots on the flanks. It lives in forests and shrub territories.
SPOTTED HYENA
Is also known as the laughing hyena, it is the largest known member of the Hyaenidae, and is further physically distinguished from other species by its vaguely bear-like build and its rounded ears.
MANATEE
Manatees are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. They measure up to 4.0 metres (13 ft 1 in) long, weigh as much as 590 kilograms and have paddle-like flippers.
RED PATAS MONKEY
The patas monkey, also known as the wadi monkey or hussar monkey, is a ground-dwelling monkey distributed over semi-arid areas of West Africa, and into East Africa.
GREEN VERVET MONKEY
These mostly herbivorous monkeys have black faces and grey body hair colour, ranging in body length from about 40 cm for females, to about 50 cm for males.
GABOON VIPER
Like all vipers, it is venomous and has the longest fangs of any venomous snake – up to 5 cm in length – and the second-highest venom yield of any snake after the king cobra.
AFRICAN ROCK PYTHON
Africa's largest snake and one of the six largest snake species in the world.Specimens may approach or exceed 6 m. The southern subspecies is generally smaller than its northern relative. The snake is found in a variety of habitats, from forests to near deserts, although usually near sources of water.
PUFF ADDER
It is responsible for causing the most snakebite fatalities in Africa owing to various factors, such as its wide distribution, frequent occurrence in highly populated regions, and aggressive disposition.
BLACK MAMBA
It is the second-longest venomous snake after the king cobra; mature specimens generally exceed 2 m and commonly grow to 3 m (9 ft 10 in). Its skin colour varies from grey to dark brown.
BOOMSLANG
The boomslang has excellent eyesight and often moves its head from side to side to get a better view of objects directly in front. The body is slightly compressed and the tail is long.
WESTERN GREEN MAMBA
The western green mamba is a fairly large is capable of navigating through trees swiftly and gracefully. It will also descend to ground level to pursue prey such as rodents and other small mammals.
