大象传媒

More animals live in the African savanna than anywhere else on Earth, but the question is why? To find out we have to go back to the days before the savanna was born. Tropical Africa was dominated by rainforest for millions of years, but things began to change when the climate dried out and patches of rainforest died off and were replaced by thickets and grassy spaces. These created new food opportunities which pioneer animals were quick to exploit. Ancestors of the giraffe, and antelopes from the desert began to colonise the newly created paradise and take advantage of the easy food sources. Some plants like the acacia fought back, evolving thorns to limit the giraffes. Bushes and trees were clipped by an onslaught of nibbling mouths, and then, 3 million years ago, one of the greatest architects of all moved in - tree toppling elephants began to change the landscape. The action of all these plant eaters combined with the increased trampling, created the open savanna that we know today, Africa's youngest habitat.