Animals that live in solitude

• Some animals prefer to live in solitude.
• Examples of solitary animals include tigers, leopards, giant pandas, eagles, polar bears, pangolins, woodpeckers, porcupines, spiders and foxes.
• These animals live alone most of their time except during the mating seasons.
• Examples of animals that live in solitude                                      
• The reasons animals live in solitude are:

       i) To avoid competition for food

          Some animals need to stay alone to avoid sharing the same 

          food resources. For example, a giant panda needs to eat a lot 

          of bamboo shoots at one time. Therefore, this animals needs 

          to live alone to avoid competition for limited food.

      ii) To avoid competition for space (territory) and mate

          Some animals need a larger area for finding a mate or hunting 

          for food. They lead a solitary life in order to avoid 
          competition for space and mate. These animals will guard 
          their territory from other animals.

Animals that live in groups

• Many animals live in groups. They live and hunt for food together.
• Some animals live in small groups. For example, elephants, zebras, horses, buffaloes, lions, wolves, deer, beavers, penguins, flamingoes and baboons.   

              

          A troop of baboons

 A herd of elephants   

• Some animals such as ants, bees and termites live in large groups or colonies.
• A colony of ants for example may consist of thousands to hundreds of thousands of ants. 

             

             A hive of bees

A nest of ants

• There is strong cooperation in an ant colony whereby each member has a specific job to carry out.

       i) There are ants responsible to defend the colony and attack 

          other colonies. These ants called soldiers.

      ii) There are ants responsible to look for food and feed members 

          of the colony. They are called workers.

      iii) There is an ant called the queen which spends her life laying 

          eggs.

• Animals live in groups for certain reasons:

           i)  For Protection
            Weak animals such as fish and birds which are prey to other 
            animals usually move in groups. By living in groups, they can 
            protect themselves ehen they are attacked by predators or 
            enemies.
                           
       ii) Looking for food
               Predators such as wolves hunt in groups. They cooperate to 
            hunt their prey.        
                                           
           iii) In caring for the young
                  A group usually consists of a few parents and many young. 
              The parents cooperate in caring for the young.
                            
          iv) Building shelter
             Beavers built their shelter together. Living in groups helps      
             animals to find or build shelter easier.