African Wild Animals – The Big 5 List

Posted at January 6, 2010

Africa is a continent endowed with plenty of natural wonders; Sprawled across this continent are vast savannahs, impenetrable rain forests not to mention seemingly endless deserts. Each region is strewn with a unique array of wild animals amongst which is the famous group of the `Big 5` which includes the Lion, Rhino, Elephant, Buffalo and Leopard.

The countries home to these mammals include Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. Most of the parks in Africa have all the big 5 animals affording you the chance to have an up-close view inform of a safari in most of the reserves found in these countries.

The difficulty and danger posed when it comes to hunting these animals out of all the other animals saw them earn the title `Big 5` a name which emanated from the big game poachers and not the tour operators as most would believe, they can be extremely ferocious when cornered or shot at and caution is advised when approaching them, use of professional guides with vast knowledge of these species is also recommended.

In Kenya the big 5 are found in Tsavo national park, Maasai Mara game reserve, and Amboseli National Parks; in Tanzania at the Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area, in South Africa, at the Kruger National Park and Hluhluwe Umfolozi Park; in Zimbabwe, at the Midlands and Hwange national parks; while in Botswana, at the Mashatu game reserve and Moremi game reserve.

The Lion
The lion (panthera leo) commonly referred to as the King of the jungle according to many legends, is often than not used as a symbol of power, bravery and dignity on coats of arms and national flags in many nations across the globe. A unique feature among them is their distinctive roar made by the adult male and female lions, a sound loud enough to be heard as far as 8 km away.

These carnivorous felines are found in savannas, grasslands, woodlands and in dense bushes. Their main characteristics include a short ocher coat, a tufted tail, with the male having a thick mane of brown or black hair encircling the head and neck.

Scavengers in nature their main source of food comes from hunting with the rest coming from stolen kills from others predators. The female in most cases does most of the hunting which is made successful by a number of them collaborating thereby laying an ambush into which they drive the prey.

Unlike most big wild cats, the lions are pretty social and can be found in prides of about 15 ranging from 5 to 10 females, their young, and 2 or 3 territorial males. The males in each pride work in unison all with a common goal which is to protect their females. Whenever a new male takes control of a pride, he usually kills the present cubs usually found in litters of 2 or 3 and will proceed to sire own offspring.

The main threat facing Lions comes from the humans who for centuries have been killing lions in rituals of gallantry, as hunting trophies, and for their medicinal and magical powers. The most recent is habitat encroachment leaving little or no room for them to roam freely. However there are measures underway to protect them and conserve their habitat.

The Elephant
The elephant (Loxodonta Africana cyclotis) holds the title for being the largest land mammal in the world and in particular the savannah elephant standing tall at 10 feet at the shoulders and weighing an estimated 12,000 pounds with the smaller forest elephant weighing an estimated 10,000 pounds at most.

Despite their size they are quite gentle and peaceful unless disturbed which turns them quite vicious. They are also quite adaptable and thus tend to inhabit diverse landscapes of the continent ranging from savannahs, rain forests and deserts.

The elephants are known to move in groups of extended families headed by an older female elephant who serves as matriarch mainly for protection from predators. These families comprise of groups of females and their young.

On maturing at the age of 14yrs the Adult males leave the herd and either range alone or join other bull elephants rejoining females only at breeding times. They are herbivores and survive by foraging on tones and tones of available vegetation.

The main threat facing Elephants is poaching a factor highly contributed by the worldwide demand for ivory which at one point caused elephant populations to decline by half their population. Savannah elephants took the worst hit as they have the largest tusks and are also an easy spot due to their large size.

A convention on international trade held in 1990 touching on Endangered Species imposed a ban on international ivory sales. However there was a partial lift in June, 1997 and many conservation groups fear that this slight loosening of the ivory ban will rekindle poaching throughout the elephants’ range.

The Bufallo
The most dangerous of all the big 5, the Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is accredited for having killed most big game hunters than any other animal in Africa. They are quite intimidating and tend to appear in very large herds of up to a few hundreds where the female and the young make up the biggest portion of the herd.

Like elephants the male upon maturity tend to go off and join the rest of the males rejoining the females during mating season. Cape Buffaloes can be savages at times and are known to ambush men intentionally.

In Africa the buffalos are found in two distinct sub-species known as the savanna buffalo which are larger in size, they vary greatly in size, shapes of their horns and color. Adults are usually dark gray or black with the young often being reddish-brown. The other sub species is the smaller forest buffalo retaining the red color even as adults.

Both live close to water sources in the whole of northern and southern savanna as well as lowland rain forest areas where rain is more than 10 inches in a year. They feed mostly of grass forms of vegetation a lack of which greatly contributes to their decline as opposed to poaching or predation as they tend to weaken faster than other savanna ungulates.

The African Rhino
The African rhino has two species namely the Black rhino (Diceros bicornis) and the White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum). They are large, thick-skinned herbivore, with a distinct feature which is one or two upright horns on the snout.

Of all the big 5 the Black rhinos are the most endangered species and have suffered the most drastic reduction in population over the last 20 years. It is estimated that only 4,240 left in the wild with the hope of a rise in that number expected through intensive conservation efforts.

They are found in Africa, primarily in grasslands, savannahs and tropical bush lands. And can be described as semi-social and territorial with females and the young being generally social, but bulls are typically solitary.

They have a life span of between30-35 years in the wild and more than 45 years in confinement, they are browser, their most distinguishing feature being its prehensile upper lip which is adapted for grasping and holding leaves and branches of shrubs and trees.

The white rhino is more copious numbering at over 17,500 with a heavy concentration in Southern Africa. They are only found in Africa, in long and short-grass savannahs and are grazers with a wide upper lip adapted for feeding on grasses.

Their life span is greater than that of the black rhino as they can live for up to 50 years in the wild. Similar to the black rhino they can also be described as semi-social and territorial with females and the young being generally social, but bulls are typically solitary.

The Leopard
The Leopard (Panthera pardus) is a large, carnivorous feline having either ocher fur with dark rosette-like markings which assist them to camouflage perfectly. Spotting Leopards has often proven to be a daunting task due to the fact that they are very elusive, solitary and nocturnal boasting of abilities such as climbing, swimming and can live in rather diverse habitats as compared to other wild cats.

This include dense bush in rocky surroundings and riverine forest adapting to many places in both warm and cold climates a factor that has seen human encroachment of the parks not affected them as much.

Leopards incessantly move about their territory, hardly ever staying in an area for more than two or three days at a time. Ranges are marked with urine and claw marks and leopards proclaim their presence to other leopards with a rasping cough.

As a predator the Leopard is quite cunning, crafty hunter, its prey ranges from mammals, fish, reptiles and birds. Lions and hyenas have been known on occasion to take away a leopard’s kill but thanks to its tree climbing abilities the leopards store their larger kills in trees where they can feed on them in relative safety.

Humans have for decades been the major and most constant threat to wildlife especially due to the increased encroachment into parks and reserves leaving little or no room for the wildlife, global warming is also a contributing factor thanks to pollution of the environment which has inter caused the depletion of the O-zone layer leading to global warming consequently hundreds of deaths of wildlife to lack of sufficient food as no mother earth is not performing as expected.

Other threats include hunting for gallantry rituals or in the case of leopards their soft, beautiful fur has been used for clothing with the tail, claws and whiskers being popular fetishes.

The big 5 have contributed greatly to the influx of tourist frequenting the African Safari parks and as such should be cherished and conserved as they play quite a significant part in uplifting the economic status of most countries.