Did you know? Fun Facts About the Big 5 Animals and Other Wildlife in Africa!

Discover loads of interesting facts about the Big 5 animals and other African wildlife of all shapes and sizes! These are some of the many intriguing things I learned as a safari guide in Kruger National Park and on my past travels. 

As a child growing up in South Africa, I heard and read a lot about animals in Africa. There are some lovely African tales about most of these African animals. As I share animal facts below, I will also list the names of African tales for you to look out for. These tales are great for children, so look them up! 

Most people go on African wildlife safaris to spot the Big 5 animals of Africa. Thus, I'll start with some interesting facts about the Big 5 safari animals.

Facts About the Big 5 Animals of Africa

First, let's get the facts straight about the term "Big Five". Contrary to popular belief, the term Big Five does not indicate that these are the 5 biggest animals in Africa. These are, in fact, the 5 most dangerous animals a person can encounter in the African bush when on foot. This was originally a hunting term which was later adopted by the tourism industry. Now spotting the Big 5 animals of Africa has become the main aim of going on an African safari for many. Hence the popularity of the Big 5 safari throughout Africa.

In case you're unsure, the Big Five animals are lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, and buffalos.

The African Lion: Facts about the King of the Beasts

Lion eyes

One of the two African big cats categorised as Big 5 animals.

1. Possibly the most social of the cat family, lions typically live in large families. They do everything as a group (called a pride), except for the males who regularly patrol their territories to fend against other lions.

Male lion

2. A lion's roar can be heard over 8km away. Lions can roar so loudly due to a ligament in their voice box. This ligament is stretched to enable more air to pass across the vocal cords, making incredibly deep and loud sounds. This is also the same for other large cats like leopards, tigers and jaguars.

3. Lions have a white line right underneath their eyes which assists them with night vision. There is a reflective coating behind the eye which helps to amplify the light emitted by stars and the moon. With this help, a lion’s eyesight is 8 times better than that of humans at night.

4. Lions can sleep, or at least rest for up to 20 hours per day. A big part of why they sleep so much is to conserve energy for when it is needed - for hunting and defending territories.

Lion sleeping, Big 5 animals

African Tales: The Story of Lion and Jackal
There are many variations of this classic tale where the jackal outwits the larger and more ferocious - but less sly - lion. In one, trapped in a gorge as lion lumbers towards him, jackal pretends that the rocks are falling and dupes lion into holding back the rock-fall while he fetches a log to prop up the rocks. Needless to say, lion could still be there today...

Read more about African lions and tips for lion safaris here.

Leopard Facts: Africa's Most Elusive Predator

Leopard hunting, Big 5 safari

The second African big cat that's ranked as a Big 5 animal.

1. The leopard is probably the most adaptable of the African big cats when it comes to human interference. This is the main reason why leopards are spotted close to urban areas. Their adaptability also makes them the most widely distributed wild cat on the planet.

2. Leopards have strong necks, which allow them to drag prey (that weighs more than themselves) into trees. They do this to hide it from other predators.

3. Leopards scavenge regularly but are brilliant hunters.

4. Leopard cubs are born blind and are therefore completely dependent on their mothers. Their eyes start opening about 10 days after birth. Cubs typically stay with their mothers for up to about 2 years.

Big 5 Animals, leopard and cub

5. A leopard’s tail is almost the same length as its body. Their long tails mainly assist them with balance when climbing, as well as serving as a rudder when they are chasing prey and have to turn sharply.

African Tales: How the Leopard Got His Spots

In this classic by Rudyard Kipling, the hunting pair of the Ethiopian and the leopard are entreated by baboon to change so that they may better find the animals they hunt. The Ethiopian changes his skin to a purpley-black, and with the leftover pigment, uses his fingers to make spots all over the leopard.  “sometimes the fingers slipped and the marks got a little blurred; but if you look closely at any leopard now you will see that there are always five spots off five fat black finger-tips.”

Read more about leopards and how to spot leopards on safari in Africa

Interesting African Elephant Facts – about the gentle giants

Elephant, Namibia Big 5 safari

The biggest of the Big 5 animals in Africa.

1. Elephants are the largest land-based mammal in the world and are found in Africa and Asia.

2. Elephants are highly social animals. They live in herds which are led by an older female matriarch. These herds are usually family herds made up of elephants of all different ages.

3. Adult male elephants, or bulls, normally move freely between different family herds.

Amboseli elephants, Big 5 animals

4. African elephants' ears are shaped like the continent of Africa and play an important role in cooling elephants down. On very hot days, elephants like to spray water or put mud behind their ears where there are lots of small veins. This cools the veins helping the elephants to cool down. In the heat, elephants tend to constantly flap their ears which in turn cools down their bodies. So their ears and veins work like an air conditioning unit.  

5. Did you know that elephants are either right-handed or left-handed? One can see this when looking at their tusks. They normally have one tusk which is broken or more worn than the other. This indicates that they prefer using that specific tusk making them either left or right-handed.

6. Elephants have very complex and intricate ways of communicating. These include using vibrations to make sounds. Some of which are audible to humans and some of which are not. These sounds can travel for several kilometres. They also communicate through visual signals and touch.

Elephants in Namibia, Big 5 safari

7. The average daily food intake of an African elephant is between 150 kg to 300 kg per day, and when drinking they can consume between 100 and 200 litres of water. This is why having too many elephants in a game park that isn't large enough can wreak havoc on the vegetation and ecosystem as a whole. 

African Tales: How the Elephant Got Its Trunk

In this folktale from India, popularised in the Just So Stories, a curious baby elephant is lured too close to the watering hole where crocodile bites him on his small stubby nose. A mighty struggle ensues and baby elephant's nose is stretched to the delightful shape it takes today. Then the Elephant’s Child sat down most hard and sudden; but first he was careful to say ‘Thank you’ to the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake; and next he was kind to his poor pulled nose, and wrapped it all up in cool banana leaves, and hung it in the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo to cool.

Read more about African elephants and the best places to see elephants in Africa

Interesting Rhino Facts, Nature's Real-Life Unicorns

Rhino, Big 5 animals

The most endangered of the Big 5 animals in Africa.

1. A group of rhinos is called a crash.

2. In Africa, we have the white (square-lipped rhinoceros) and the black rhinoceros (hook-lipped rhinoceros) however, their actual colours are very similar. In my life as a guide, I heard numerous reasons for these names. I guess the one that makes the most sense is that the names originated from when the Dutch settlers in Africa called the white rhinos “wijd”. This actually means wide – referring to the wide jaw of the white rhino – but it sounded like “white” to English speakers, and was therefore translated incorrectly.

Rhino horns, Big 5 safari

3. Rhinos are very fast for their size. White rhino males can weigh more than 2 tons and can run at a speed of 40km per hour.

4. Their horns are made from keratin, which is the same material human nails are made of. Rhinos are primarily hunted for their horns even though their horns do not have any proven medicinal properties.

Rhino mud bath, Big 5 animals

5. Like elephants, rhinoceroses communicate using infrasonic frequencies that are below the human threshold of hearing.

6. Like humans, the skin of a rhino is very sensitive to the sun. Thus they love taking mud baths to cover their skin. This also helps to trap ticks and other parasites - once the mud dries up, they scratch against a tree which then removes these parasites.

African Tales: How Rhinocerous Got His Skin

In this cautionary tale, ill-mannered Strorks the rhinoceros gobbles a parsees cake. Later, on a hot day when Strorks has removed his skin to go bathing, the Parsee - to get revenge for his stolen cake - rubs cake crumbs into the skin. The crumbs cause rhino to itch. He rubs so hard that his skin becomes stretched, folded, and baggy. It also results in the bad-tempered rhino that you will encounter on safari today. And it spoiled his temper, but it didn’t make the least difference to the cake-crumbs. They were inside his skin and they tickled. So he went home, very angry indeed and horribly scratchy; and from that day to this every rhinoceros has great folds in his skin and a very bad temper, all on account of the cake-crumbs inside.

Read more about African rhinos and where to see them.

Interesting Buffalo Facts – teamwork at its best

Big 5 buffalo and bird

The most underestimated of the dangerous Big 5 animals to encounter on foot.

1. The buffalo is oddly enough seen as one of the most dangerous of the Big 5 animals. This has a lot to do with the fact that other animals usually show some warning signs before they attack. This is not so with the buffalo. They rarely give any warning signals and can surround you without being noticed.

2. Buffalos are usually found in large herds, sometimes hundreds of animals in one herd. These huge herds are often closely followed by lions. So much so that you are almost certain to find lions when you see a large herd of buffalos. When these herds get attacked by lions in the wild, they form a circle around their young, facing outward towards the threat to form a barricade of horns.

Buffalo herd. Big 5 animals

3. Buffalo are very good swimmers, as they often cross large rivers to find good grazing fields. One also often sees lonely buffalo bulls (also known as dagga boys) lying in water and mud. The name dagga boy comes from the word “dagga” which refers to a cement mixture used in building houses. These solitary buffalo bulls usually look like they have cement patches on their bodies from the mud.

4. Buffalos have a good symbiotic relationship with many bird species, like the oxpecker and also egrets. You are sure to find a variety of birds when looking at a herd of buffalo.

Red billed oxpecker

African Tales: Oxpecker and the Buffalo
In this quaint tale, an oxpecker is punished for its selfish spirit and has his home and food source destroyed by a hungry buffalo. Buffalo offers him the insects on his back, and while oxpecker greedily scoffs them, will not forgive buffalo and so they coexist, buffalo unconcerned and oxpecker noisily complaining about the loss of his home.

Read more about buffaloes in Africa, or find out more about the Big 5 animals and where to see them in Africa

Facts About the Little 5 Animals of Africa

A lesser-known grouping of smaller animals that we have in Africa, is the Little 5. These are 5 smaller animals that share parts of their names with the Big 5 animals. Here are the Little 5 animals of Africa...

1. Antlion - the Little 5 of the Big 5 lion

Antlion by Bernard DUPONT

The largest of the lacewing family. They look very similar to dragonflies.

Their larvae are found all over southern Africa in soft sand and they stay in funnel-shaped pits, used to catch their prey. They sit at the bottom of the pit hidden in the sand, and when they detect an insect entering the pit, they throw sand towards them to make the prey fall to the bottom. Here they grab their prey with their large jaws.

2. Leopard tortoise - the Little 5 of the Big 5 leopard

Leopard tortoise by Bernard Dupont

The largest tortoise found in southern Africa.

They have unique markings on their shells. They are mostly plant eaters, however, they often gnaw on bones and also eat hyena droppings. They do this to get calcium and other minerals which assist in eggshell production and keep their shells in good condition.

3. Elephant shrew -  the Little 5 of the Big 5 elephant

Elephant shrew by Javier Abalos

So-called because of their rather long and flexible noses which look similar to the elephant’s trunk.

They eat invertebrates and also fruit, seeds and leaves. The females usually carry food to their young in their cheek pouches.

4. Rhinoceros beetle -  the Little 5 of the Big 5 rhino

Rhino beetle by Bernard Dupont

These beetles can reach up to 60 millimetres in size and their name originates from the horns on their head.

The males use these horns to fight each other for territory and possession of females. They are part of the scarab family. There are over 300 types of rhino beetles worldwide. It is known to be the strongest animal as it can carry up to 850 times its own body weight

5. Buffalo weaver -  the Little 5 of the Big 5 buffalo

Known as 'buffalo' weavers for following buffalo herds to feed on the insects disturbed by the buffalos' movements.

Red-billed buffalo weaver by Derek Keats

These weavers are communal and live in large colonies. They use thorny twigs to make large nests which are divided into different compartments to create egg chambers.

• Find out more in Stand Back Big 5: Bring on the Small 5, the Shy 5 and the Ugly 5

Interesting Facts about other Wildlife in Africa

Pangolin or scaly anteater 

The only animal in the world that is completely covered in scales.

Pangolin in Africa by Adam Tusk

These scales are made from keratin (like rhino horns) and these scales contribute to 20% of the animal's overall weight.

Pangolins have a long sticky tongue that grows from deep inside their chest cavity and can extend to over 40cm, which is longer than their own body!

They can close their nose and ears when feeding to keep ants from entering.

Learn more about the Pangolin and what makes it special

Ostrich

Ostrich in Africa by Bernard Dupont

These funny-looking birds are somewhat prehistoric in appearance.

Even though they have a wingspan of up to 2 meters, they are completely flightless. They mainly use their wings for a mating display, and to help counterbalance when running away from predators.

They can run up to 70 km per hour, which makes them the fastest-living animal and bird on two legs.

They have three stomachs, and regularly swallow stones and pebbles. The pebbles help ostriches to grind up food in their first stomach, as they do not have teeth to chew.

The brain of an ostrich weighs around 40 grams, compared to one of their eyes which weighs around 60 grams. They, therefore, have fabulous eyesight and can see up to 3 and a half kilometres.

An ostrich egg is equivalent to 24 hen eggs and takes about one and a half hours to hard boil.

They do NOT stick their heads in the sand or the ground – this is an urban myth. When in danger, ostriches normally run away, but they also have powerful legs and can kick potential predators.

The male ostrich is called a rooster, and the female is called a hen. A group of ostriches is called a flock.

Males and females both roost on their eggs. With the black colour of the male feathers, they are well camouflaged for roosting during the night, and then females roost during the day.

Black-Backed Jackal

Black-backed jackal

People who have been into the bushveld know all about the distinctive sounds these animals make around sunset.

They are monogamous, which means that they mate for life, and only hold one partner.

They are omnivorous as their diets regularly include berries and grass. They scavenge a lot, but they are known to catch small prey like rodents and birds. One usually sees them following lions as they hunt, at a distance. They regularly creep up to lions' prey to steal a bit of meat.

Marabou Stork

Marabou stork by John Cooke

In my view, this is possibly the ugliest bird around, a real thing out of nightmares.

Marabou storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, bare pink gular sacs.

They are large birds and can reach an average size of about 152cm, and have a wingspan of around 3.7m. On average they weigh around 9kg.

They are not very vocal but indulge in bill-rattling courtship displays. The throat sac is also used to make various noises during mating time.

They have tall legs that are often white however, their legs are not white at all – the whiteness is due to them defecating on their own legs, which is known as urohydrosis. This is mainly to regulate their body temperatures as it cools down the body.

The birds are known to build their nests in trees and sometimes even in tall buildings. The female usually lays between three to five eggs. Both parents are equally involved in taking care of the young, however, only one out of four reaches adulthood.

Their diets mainly consist of carrion, fish, insects, frogs, snakes, lizards, mice and other rodents, and even other birds.

Check out The Ugly Five: Only a Mum Could Love 

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I am going to end off with some interesting facts about my favourite animal, the African wild dog. Also known as the painted dog or painted wolf.

African Wild Dog:

African wild dogs by Derek Keats

They have distinctive patterns on their fur, and no two wild dogs have the same patterns.

They usually live in large packs, which are dominated by the matriarch. They have an alpha pair (almost like a king and a queen) and these are usually the only ones in the pack who mate. Once the pups are born, the whole pack looks after them and they take priority. Pups that are old enough to eat solid food are given priority at a kill – even over the dominant pair.

They have massively large roaming areas and are known to roam around 50km in a day.

When hunting, they have about an 80% success rate and hunt in groups which are well coordinated. Their main hunting strategy is to outrun an animal tiring it out over a very long distance. Like with cycling races, when the front runners get tired, then the dogs right behind them pick up speed and the front runners fall back a bit. Usually, after a few kilometres of running, the prey gets very tired and weak, which makes it easier to take down.

It has been documented that they have similar social and hunting habits to wolves.

Wild dogs, African safari

They are sadly an endangered species – they used to range across 39 countries in Africa, with population numbers in the hundreds of thousands. Currently, there are fewer than 6,000 individual animals left in the wild, forming fewer than 700 packs.

Find out more about African wild dogs and other endangered animals in Africa

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I was not able to get African tales for all of the African animals mentioned, however, for the little ones, there are a few books published on African tales. I recommend looking out for some of these, as they are lovely stories. Some recommended books:

• Stories of Africa by Gcina Mhlope
• African Animal Tales by Jay P.W. Heale
• Numerous short stories and books by Mwenye Hadithi

With all these interesting African animal facts, I'm sure your next wildlife safari will be even more fun and interesting!

For help planning your next African Safari on a budget contact our travel experts.

This post was originally published in May 2020