What are the different kinds of PREDATORS found in Ghana?

These are often the first animals you think of when you imagine visiting Ghana! The exciting, beautiful, and sometimes terrifying carnivores are some of the most fun to learn about. 🙂

In this article, you’ll find interesting facts, photos, and even range maps of these amazing animals!

2 Predators Found in Ghana:

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#1. Leopard

• Panthera pardus

Identifying Characteristics:

• Adults are 92-183 cm (36-72 in) long.
• They have relatively short heads and long bodies, broad heads, small round ears, and long whiskers.
• Adults may be tawny, light yellow, reddish-orange, or black, and they often have black rosettes on their faces and bodies and black rings on their tails.

Leopards have the most varied coloring of any predator in Ghana.

In fact, individuals’ coat coloring is so unique it can be used to identify individuals like fingerprints. Their color patterns help these carnivores to remain camouflaged in various habitats.

Individuals found in dry habitats tend to be lighter than those living in dense forests. Interestingly, the shape of their spots seems to be determined by location. For example, leopards living in eastern Africa have circular spots, while those in southern Africa tend to have square spots. Occasionally, solid black leopards are found in humid forests.

This excellent camouflage is essential as leopards are ambush predators. They approach prey while remaining hidden, crouched low to the ground, and then pounce before the animal has a chance to react. These big cats have tremendous strength and can tackle prey up to ten times their own weight!

Leopards have incredible athletic ability, which is one reason they are an apex predator in Ghana. They can swim, climb trees and descend from them head first, run at bursts of 60 kph (36 mph), and jump 6 m (20 ft) horizontally and 3 m (10 ft) vertically. This is one carnivore that would break every record in gym class! 🙂

Sadly, leopard populations are declining due to habitat loss, range fragmentation, and hunting. Today, they are listed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species.

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#2. Spotted Hyena

• Crocuta crocuta

Identifying Characteristics:

• Adults are 95–166 cm (37–65 in) long.
• They have sandy yellowish or gray course, wooly coats with black or dark brown spots on their bodies though these may be absent in old individuals.
• They are strongly built with massive necks, large heads, rounded ears, bushy-tipped tails, and longer front legs than back legs.

Spotted Hyenas are some of the most unique predators in Ghana!

These odd animals live in clans of 3-80 hyenas. Females lead the clans, and all of the females within the clan are dominant over all males. Males and females, there are separate dominance hierarchies.

One of the strangest features about these carnivores is that males and females are very difficult to distinguish. Females have skin and tissue in their genital area that allows them to mimic males, which may protect females from aggression from other females.

Female Spotted Hyenas are incredibly dedicated mothers. Incredibly, they nurse their young until 12 to 16 months of age. By the time the young are weaned, they already have all of their adult teeth which is very rare among carnivorous animals in Ghana.

Spotted Hyenas have a reputation as cowardly scavengers that steal food from other predators, but researchers have found that they kill most of their prey. Despite their odd, sloped appearance, hyenas are incredible runners and will chase prey for long distances at speeds up to 65 kph (40 mph). They usually work in groups to take down large animals.

Although Spotted Hyenas are not currently endangered, they are “Conservation dependent,” meaning that there are currently programs in place to protect them. If the conservation efforts were removed, their populations would begin to decline within five years.

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Check out these other guides about animals found in Ghana!

• 50 Most Common Animals Found in Ghana!

• The 31 MOST Common Birds in Ghana!

• The 36 Types of Snakes That Live in Ghana! (ID Guide)

• 24 COMMON Spiders found in Ghana!

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Which of these predators have you seen before in Ghana?

Leave a comment below!