Remember to page down to the QUIZ first – if you want to try your luck – before looking at the Quiz Answers.

1. What came first: the termite mound or the tree?

Answer: the termite mound. These are not wood-eating termites, but rather fungus-eating termites. So they do not build nests around trees or brush. The termites build their nests in the open. After the termite mound is built, birds like to land on top of it in order to get a better view of things. The birds of course leave their bird droppings on the termite mounds and the bird scat has plant seeds in it. That’s the source of the trees and bushes growing out of the termite mounds. But the termite mound always came first, no matter how big the tree.

2. What caused this plant destruction?

Answer: Elephants. This should have been an easy one. The size of the trees that the elephants could bring down and destroy was surprising. But that is the normal behavior for these large animals.

3. What is the closest living relative to this small animal?

Answer: Elephants. This small animal is a Hyrax. It’s got some peculiar functionalities that link it to the elephants and also to manatees. It’s their biological and developmental similarities that make this determination. We were told that elephants were the closest relative to the hyrax in both eastern Africa and southern Africa.

4. What animal is this and what is this animal’s “grouping” called?

Answer: A Business of Mongoose. This is the Banded Mongoose and there were at least a dozen in this grouping. We were given two grouping names for mongoose: a Business and a Mob. Personally, I liked calling them a Business of Mongoose but Mob would also be correct according to our guides.

5. Who are the greatest conservationists in Africa?

Answer: The Tsetse Fly. This, of course, is an opinion, though it’s not just my opinion. I’ve read it in different places and heard such sentiments while in Africa. Millions of square miles of eastern and southern Africa are still in their natural state due to the inhabitance of the tsetse flies. They can transmit sleeping sickness and they can be miserable to be around. The native African tribes usually chose to live somewhere else where the tsetse flies didn’t live. The British sprayed them and eliminated the tsetse flies from some areas, but the areas where they didn’t eliminate them are still sparsely populated.