Read about the Big 5

The African elephant is the largest living land animal, renowned for its intelligence, memory, unique communication methods and amazing social behaviour. The heaviest elephant ever recorded weighed an astonishing 12,000 kg but the average elephant weighs about 5,400 kg. Initially there was thought to be the only two species of the Elephantidae family - the African elephant along with the Asian elephant. Recently a distinction was made between the African Bush Elephant "Loxodonta Africana" and the African Forest Elephant "Loxodonta Cyclotis" as two separate species (still collectively known as the African Elephant) - which means there are actually three living species of Elephantidae. In addition to being bigger than the Asian elephant, the African elephant has proportionately larger ears and tusks and a sloping forehead. It also has two “fingers” at the end of its trunk, whereas the Asian elephant has only one. An elephant’s trunk is almost as capable as the human hand yet is remarkably strong - it can delicately pick up a seed pod or tear down a tree branch. They also use it to smell, for communicating with each other and sucking up water for drinking.

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Elephant tusks are actually just extremely elongated incisor teeth that keep growing throughout the elephant’s life. Tusks function as multipurpose tools to dig for water, chisel bark off trees and as weapons to defend themselves against aggressors and predators.

Elephants are nocturnal and diurnal, needing to forage for more than 14 hours a day to find a considerable quantity of food – an adult can consume as much as 300 kg in a day! It sleeps for just a few minutes whilst standing. They like to visit waterholes at least once a day to drink, bathe and wallow in mud. Typically, they drink between 70 to 150 litres a day. The elephant that roam the desert areas of the Kaokoveld and Damaraland in Namibia drink once every few days.

Small family groups are led by a matriarch, an older female who has decades of knowledge accumulated from experiencing varying climatic conditions. She usually has other female relatives joining with their collective offspring. 

• Status: The African elephant has been given a Vulnerable status on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
• When is the best time to spot elephants? Elephants are active during the day and at night, usually resting in shady places during the day. The cooler parts of the day are better and some lodges are frequented by elephant browsing inside the camp area.
• Where do elephants roam? Elephants can cope with a wide variety of habitats – their only requirement is ample food, water and shade. They occur widely in sub-Saharan Africa, mostly as isolated populations in southern African game reserves.
• Where do elephants make their home? Elephants often cover vast distances in their feeding grounds and calves move with the group from their first day. Females have a single calf after 22 months gestation and calves suckle for as much as 3 years. Elephant cows are exceptionally protective of the calves and if a mother dies the other lactating females will take care of the orphan. 

Also one of the great big stomping foot, hoof and horn brigade - the Big Five - the African buffalo is like a massive cow on steroids. Once popular trophies for big game hunters, they're fascinating and incredibly gregarious animals that can gather in herds that number several thousand. Driving through such a herd can be the ultimate game viewing rush, even if they're just peacefully grazing, which they do most of the time. If you do manage to drive near such a herd, cut the engine and listen to the munching of thousands of big black buffalo and try to out-gaze their challenging stares. Buffalo are extremely hierarchical and form subunits that stick together. Basically that means that everyone has a place in the herd, with the higher ranking groups at the front and centre, gaining the best grazing and protection from predators. The lowest ranking buffalo graze at the back and are the main targets of predators. Of course testosterone plays a major role in this class conscious society and bulls dominate the cows. Females move up the hierarchy when they have a calf in tow. Males raise their status by using their fighting prowess with lots of head butting, charging each other at 20 km an hour and smashing heads together with a force similar to a car crashing into a wall at 50 km an hour. Buffalo herds are usually placid but if alarmed they will stampede with dire consequences to any predator that happens to be in their path. The herd actively protects its members, especially if there is a distress call from a calf. The whole herd will rush to its defence and even chase lion away.  (See video of the Buffalo Battle against the Lions).

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• Status: The African buffalo has been given a Lower Risk Conservation Dependent status on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
• When is the best time to spot buffalo? Spending  time at waterholes in the early morning or afternoon or going on a night drive has great rewards. Buffalo tend to seek shade during the heat of the day and feed mainly at night.
• Where do buffalo roam? They prefer open woodland savanna and grasslands that has access to shelter.
• Reproduction: Calves are usually born in the wetter summer months and keep up with the herd within a few hours. The gestation period is about 12 months and they weigh about 40 kg at birth.

Powerful, graceful and arguably one of the most beautiful of all the large cats, the elusive leopard is a master of stealth and survival. By far the strongest climber, it can haul prey twice its own body weight up into a tree where it can feast without disturbance from other predators. Male leopards usually measure 80 cm high at the shoulder and weigh between 20 – 90 kg. Females are considerably smaller, weighing between 17 – 60 kg.
 

Solitary, arboreal and nocturnal, they are difficult to spot but can sometimes be seen sunning themselves from their favourite viewpoint. Their nocturnal lifestyle is probably a reaction to human pressures and hunting. In National Parks, large game reserves and remote areas they can be seen moving about more readily during the day. They like to drape themselves over tree branches or rest in caves to escape the midday heat. Leopards living in golden grasslands have a light buff or tawny coat that is covered with dark, irregular circles called "rosettes," providing excellent camouflage amongst foliage. In densely forested areas their colouring is much darker, almost black although their spots are still discernable in bright sunlight. Preferring riverine forests and rocky, dense bush, their adaptability has enabled leopards to exist in a wide variety of habitats as increasing human encroachment has forced them away. In the Cape Province south of the Orange River, they have been largely eradicated by stock farmers except in rugged mountainous areas. The Cape Leopard that lives in the Cape mountain range is much smaller than its big cousins in the Limpopo region. Their diet is probably the contributing factor, consisting mostly of dassies and much smaller prey. Occasionally astonished hikers in the Cederberg mountains have been graced by the rare appearance of a wild leopard joining them at the fireside. A life of seclusion is the way of the leopard and they tend to avoid one another. Highly territorial, their range overlaps that of their neighbours and they only tolerate a trespasser into its home turf to mate. Leopards mark their territory with urine and leave claw marks on trees. They are constantly on the move within their range and know each others location from these markings and their low, rasping calls.

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Females have litters of two or three cubs after a gestation of about 100 days. Leopard cubs are kept hidden for the first 2 months and are suckled for at least 3 months. The mother takes them hunting when they are 4 months old and they may stay together as a family group for up to two years. As cubs are weaned they learn to hunt small animals. Leopards prey on a wide variety of creatures ranging from insects, rodents, birds, fish, dassies, monkeys and baboons to large antelope more than double their own body weight. Efficient and stealthy hunters, they may kill more than their immediate needs and ‘store’ their quarry in trees for several days. Only hyaenas rival the leopard in their readiness to gorge on rotten meat.

Leopards have always endured much hunting pressure from humans - partly for their soft, exquisite fur that was, and unfortunately still is used for ceremonial robes and fashion coats. Other parts of the leopard are used as fetishes and for ‘muthi’ used in traditional healing. Farmers readily try to eradicate them, believing them to be wanton killers of livestock. Leopards are regularly the main target for hunters who view killing as a recreational sport. In some cultures the leopard is revered a s a symbol of wisdom.

• Status: Leopards have been given a Lower Risk status on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Leopard population figures are estimated at greater than 50,000 mature breeding individuals, but are cause for concern with a declining trend due to hunting and degradation of its habitat and prey base.
• When you’re most likely to spot leopards: Leopards are nocturnal, arboreal and secretive, usually hunting well after dusk. It's hard to spot them but sometimes they can be seen basking in the sun atop their favourite rocky vantage points or having a siesta up in a treetop.
• Habitat: Leopards occur in a wide variet of habitats, ranging from subtropical forests to deserts. They prefer riverine forests and fairly dense veld, occuring mainly in game reserves and mountainous areas of southern Africa.
• Leopard reproduction & "home life":  During the day they sleep in caves, rock shelters, draped over tree branches or hidden in dense vegetation. Leopards are solitary and highly territorial, living alone except in the case of a  female with cubs. Constantly on the move within their own territory, they never spend more than a few days in one spot. Female leopards usually have two or three cubs but can have a litter of up to four. The young cubs are kept hidden in various shelters for the first six weeks, occasionally being moved for safety. They start hunting from the age of five months.

The magnificent African lion is the largest of Africa's big cats and is primarily active at night, sleeping away most of the day to escape the intense heat. If you're on safari then the best chance of spotting lions on the prowl and perhaps on the hunt is an early morning or evening game drive when they are active. During the day they can also easily be seen loafing about under shade trees. Mostly ground dwelling, they sometimes climb trees to get away from marauding flies and catch the cool breezes. Lions are highly social creatures that hunt cooperatively and form cohesive groups called prides, which is unusual for cats. The pride consists of two groups, one of four to 12 related females and their cubs, and a group of one to 6 males known as a coalition who mate with the adult females. The lionesses are the most close-knit and central part of the pride while the lions may be substituted every few years. Prides largely consist of about a dozen adults but are smaller in places like the Kalahari, and larger where prey is abundant. The pride may split up into smaller groups roaming freely for a few days or a couple of weeks. Where game is plentiful prides are fiercely territorial but if prey is scant then their pride lands are far too large to defend.

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Lions and lionesses announce occupation of their territory with strong smelling urine, faeces and lots of roaring. Audible for 10 km, the impressive roars of lions during the night is the quintessential sound of the African bushveld. If their prey source is migratory then they follow the roving herds and are less territorial. Should they encounter lion from other prides then interactions are hostile and wary but seldom end up in a fight. Lions that aren’t part of a pride are nomadic, roaming extensively, either singly or in pairs.

Lionesses are more agile and faster than males and do most of the hunting. Males are much bigger and defend the pride and territory, ranking first in line to feed and grab the “lion’s share” of the kill. Next to dine are the lionesses and lastly the cubs with much scuffling, hissing and cuffing. By contrast lions at rest are blissfully peaceful and sprawl all over each other with lots of affectionate nuzzling, purring and licking.

Male lions weigh between 150-225 kg and females range from 120-150 kg with a lifespan between 10-14 years. Males reach maturity at 3 years and peak at 4-5 years when they are ready to take over a pride. From the age of 8 years a male may lose dominance and be ousted from the pride by a younger male. This gives him little time to procreate  - so he usually kills all the previous alpha male's cubs that are less two years old. This results in the lionesses becoming fertile and receptive.

Lion mating behaviour is legendary with a couple frequently copulating (up to forty times a day!) and over several days. Occasionally the female may mate with other males in the pride resulting in cubs of the same litter having different fathers. The lioness’s gestation is between 100-120 days, and a litter ranges between 1-6 cubs. Pride females usually coordinate their reproductive cycles and collaborate in the raising and suckling of the cubs. Lion cubs are weaned at 6 months. Their mortality rate is high with only 20% of cubs reaching the age of two years.
 

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South African Lion Subspecies: South African lions usually belong to the subspecies Panthera leo krugeri - Kruger National Park lion. In parts of the Northern Cape, Namibia and Botswana, male lions have spectacular black manes, belonging to the subspecies Panthera leo verneyi - Kalahari lion. Panthera leo melanochaitus, the black-maned Cape Lion, became extinct in 1860. The Cape Lion once roamed around Cape Town and the Cape Province, the last one to be seen in the Cape was shot in 1858. White lions: Rare 'white lions' are born almost pure white without the usual camouflaging spots seen in lion cubs. Their unusual colour is due to a recessive gene that reduces pigmentation. As cubs mature their white coats progressively darken to ivory or blonde. A white lion is less camouflaged than the regular lion and has a disadvantage when it comes to hunting.

• Status: Their population is diminishing and has been given vulnerable status on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
• When you’re most likely to spot lion: Lion are mostly nocturnal and start hunting from early evening when it cools down until early morning. They can often be seen lounging or snoozing under a shade tree during the heat of the day.
• Where lions roam: At one time they ranged widely in a variety of habitats from desert fringes to open savanna and woodlands. They now occur only in game reserves and National Parks in southern Africa.
• Reproduction: Lionesses usually have litters of up to six cubs and give birth under cover, keeping cubs hidden and returning to the pride when cubs are one or two months old and only if there are no cubs older than 3 months already present. Lion cubs suckle from different mothers and older cubs would prevent the younger cubs from suckling. Cubs stay with their mothers for at least two years.

Who would mess with a rhinoceros? Only the grossly foolish, undoubtedly heartless and short-sighted would trouble this noble beast, endowed with great big horns, extremely tough hide, considerable size and a very short fuse. Tragically there are many humans who do - today the rhino is an endangered species caused by excessive poaching for their horns. Millions of years ago during the Miocene era this prehistoric looking mammal was abundant and widespread on the planet. All of the five remaining species of rhinoceros in the world have been hunted to near extinction. Two species of these odd-toed ungulates occur in Africa and three in Asia. Africa’s rhino are endowed with not one but two great big horns on their nose and mid-forehead. The White Rhino and Black Rhino are the second largest animals in Africa after the African elephant and live to be 50 years old or more. Why are rhino horns so sought after? Rhino horn is used to make handles for Djambia daggers, symbols of wealth and status in the oil rich state of North Yemen. The powdered horn is also used as a febrifuge in Chinese traditional medicine for treating fever – not as an aphrodisiac as is widely believed. Black and White? The White Rhino isn’t actually white – this English name originated as a phonetic form of the descriptive Dutch settlers' name "wyd", which means "wide", referring to its wide, square muzzle. The rhino with the narrow pointed muzzle then got called the Black Rhino, although both are light grey in colour. More correctly, the White Rhino is also called the Square-lipped Rhinoceros and the Black Rhino’s alternate name is the Hook-lipped Rhinoceros.

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Square-Lipped Rhinoceros - White Rhinoceros - Ceratotherium simum

The White Rhino has an amazing conservation success story in South Africa. At the beginning of the 20th century it was almost extinct – its numbers were down to about 50 individuals in KwaZulu-Natal! Radical measures were taken and now it has recovered to over 11 000 animals and is the most abundant rhino species left in the world.

Its "wide" square muzzle is adapted to cropping large mouthfuls of grass and being a grazer it naturally prefers grasslands and savannah woodlands. Far more peaceful and sociable than its cousin the Black rhino, the White rhino happily coexists in groups of up to a dozen. They have a  wide range of vocalisations and also communicate by touching, usually rubbing against each other when they're in a friendly mood. The Square-lipped Rhino has a distinguishable hump on the back of its neck and a propotionately larger head. Dominant males are territorial and greet each other with a ritual of repeatedly locking horns, backing off,  sweeping the ground with their front horn before locking horns again. Fighting only gets serious when there's a female in oestrous.

One thing that a rhino loves is a good scratch! They often have favourite rubbing 'posts' - a tree stump, rock or termite mound that gets polished with years of use.
 

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Hook-Lipped Rhinoceros - Black Rhinoceros - Diceros bicornis Did you know that the Black Rhino is in fact completely grey? They love to wallow in waterholes and coat themselves with mud to keep cool, which also makes them look much darker. Needing to drink fresh water frequently and being creatures of habit they visit the same waterholes daily. This makes Black Rhinos an easy target for poachers to ambush and they are now critically endangered - there are probably less than 3,000 left in their natural habitat. The Black Rhino is also known as the hook-lipped rhinoceros for obvious reasons – their pointy upper lip is triangular and sticks out beyond their lower lip. They use it in a similar way as an elephant uses its trunk to grasp and pluck leaves, buds and twigs of bushes and trees. Essentially herbivorous browsers, they prefer dense, woody vegetation but can live in a variety of habitats.

Amazing Rhino Facts:

A few hundred years ago the Hook-lipped Rhinoceros lived on the slopes of Table Mountain, browsing on the bushes and shrubs of the fynbos.
Their tough skin can be up to 5cm thick and they have three toes on each foot. Although they are herbivorous, they are extremely dangerous and charge at the slightest whiff of danger. Adult White Rhinos usually weigh between 1800-3000 kg and have a shoulder height of 150-185 cm. The heaviest White Rhino ever recorded weighed 4500 kg!

• Status: The Black Rhino has been given a Critically Endangered status and the White Rhino is considered Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
• When you’re most likely to spot rhinos: Rhinos are most active at night, resting and sheltering in thickets or drinking and wallowing at waterholes during the day. At night they are easier to spot at floodlit waterholes in game reserves. White rhinos are much easier to spot as they prefer grazing on short grass.
• Where rhinos roam: Black rhinos prefer woodlands and white rhinos favour flat grasslands. Both occur in game reserves in southern Africa with a few naturally occuring in the wild in northwestern Namibia.
• Rhino reproduction and "home life": During the day they usually rest in the shade or at waterholes. They have their own "home ranges", or territories that vaguely overlap other ranges. Females have a single calf after15-16 months gestation. Calves suckle for about a year but start browsing or grazing after a few weeks.

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