In Shaba, all the animal species are adapted to the semi-desert climate.
No one would be able to withstand the scarce seasonal rainfall
if they were not real specialists in survival in arid climes.
And among the different species guinea fowl that inhabit the continent of Africa,
none can better cope with drought than the vulturines; and they,
precisely, are the most abundant species in Shaba.
The digestive system of the vulturine guinea fowl
is specially adapted to conserve the maximum amount of water obtained from their food,
so that even in the driest times on the thorny savannah,
the vulturines are able to survive on their diet of roots, bulbs, insects and molluscs,
drinking virtually no water.
Among the zebras of Shaba are also those best adapted to arid climates:
Grevy’s zebras. During the time of abundance that comes with the rains,
Shaba fills with herbivores.
The vegetation cover suffers the relentless attack of the animals,
but the balance is maintained thanks to the adaptations that each one
of them has developed in order to get at a layer of vegetation where they will have fewer competitors.
Like the Grevy’s zebras, some seek the lowest pasture, at ground level.
Others, however, have developed increasingly long necks
to access the vegetation higher up.
Among mammals too, some necks have become elongated.
This is the next step: a gerenuk, a Somali word which means “giraffe neck”.
The gerenuks are the gazelles best adapted to the desert conditions.
Only the males have horns and this one, an dominant adult
with seven females in his charge,
take advantage of their grazing to mark the territory with his swollen facial glands.
The gerenuks are the only gazelles
that inhabit these sub-desert regions in the driest months.
They can survive on the humidity contained in the shoots
and the leaves of the savannah, and can go for months without drinking.
But their adaptations do not end there.
A flexible upper lip, a thin nose and narrow nostrils make it possible for them
to eat among the thorns of bushes and acacias.
And to avoid competition with other herbivores as much as possible
they not only have their long, thin necks,
but have also learnt a trick to reach the highest layers of vegetation.
Only the gerenuks can stand on their hind legs
to reach the branches above two metres high.
The higher you can reach, the more food you can get at.
And the gerenuks have made considerable progress in their stretch towards the tops
of the bushes and trees of Shaba.
But on the savannah even the height of the gerenuks
is insignificant compared to the highest mammal in the world.
At up to five and a half metres,
the giraffes leave behind all other competitors,
and can reach the tops of the acacias,
where they find indispensable food reserves during the dry season.
Of the eight subspecies of giraffe,
the pattern of the reticulated giraffes makes them the most attractive.
It is as if the rigours of this semi-desert savannah, the kingdom of thorns,
had given rise to the most spectacular forms;
as if beauty were the prize for the tests of survival imposed by the aridity of the environment.
The Grevy’s zebras, the vulturine guinea fowl, the reticulated giraffes…
incomparable hides and plumages emerge from the thirst of many months,
the scorching heat, and searching for food among the thorns.
And once more Shaba unites extremes, as if hardship generated marvels,
as if the limits of death were the creators of life,
as if God and the devil were,
in the final analysis, one and the same.
With the arrival of the rains, the elephants once more return.
Their four metres in height, along with the length of their trunks
and their ability to stand on their hind legs means
that not even the giraffes can reach so high in their search for food.
The rains have again brought fertility to the savannah,
attracting the herbivores that moved off in search of water during the months of drought.
And with the arrival of the herbivores in Shaba, the powerful hunters also return.
Though the new vegetation has refreshed the atmosphere,
the central hours of the day are still unbearably hot.
For the lions, this is the time to rest in the shade.
It is too hot to even attempt the exhausting task of hunting down a herbivore,
and even less if that herbivore is a powerful Cape buffalo.
The herbivores know that during the hours of midday
they are unlikely to suffer an attack, and are happy to simply keep the felines
under surveillance, upwind.
These young lionesses are also resting among the fresh green grass,
though they never take their eyes off a group of zebras.
If one of them shows signs of weakness or is wounded,
the lionesses will not hesitate to attack, but the group is perfectly healthy,
and the patterns of their bodies confuse the hunters,
turning their silhouettes into a blur of moving stripes.
During this time of abundance,
the Grevy’s zebras are joined by the Burchell’s zebras,
with which they form mixed herds.
These zebras, more common in the rest of Africa,
have thicker and more widely-separated stripes than the Grevy’s zebras,
and during the dry season, when only those best adapted to drought can survive in Shaba,
they leave these lands and head for the Aberdare mountains,
where there is green pasture all year round.