African wildlife

Africa’s top predator and the star of most safaris.

The most elusive of the Big Five, often found draped in a tree.

The largest land animal on earth.

Big, powerful and unpredictable, with a famous set of horns.

Smaller, shyer and more solitary than the white rhino.

A grazing giant with a square lip, the more sociable rhino species.

The fastest land animal, built for open grassland.

Painted, social and highly successful hunters, and one of Africa’s rarest predators.

A skilled hunter with a bad reputation and a laugh-like call.

Gentle giants of the Virunga volcanoes and Bwindi forest.

The most numerous gorilla, living in the rainforests of Central Africa.

Our closest living relative, along with the bonobo.

The “bleeding-heart monkey” of Ethiopia’s highlands.

Madagascar’s most famous lemur.

The largest living lemur, famous for its eerie song.

Grunting, yawning and far more dangerous than it looks.

An ancient ambush predator of Africa’s rivers.

The tallest animal on earth, now recognised by many scientists as several species.

Striped grazers that travel with the wildebeest.

The engine of the Great Migration.

Small, social and always on watch.

Africa’s only penguin, living along the coasts of South Africa and Namibia.

A prehistoric-looking bird of papyrus swamps.

Pink crowds on Africa’s soda lakes.

Its ringing call is the sound of Africa’s rivers and lakes.

Breaching giants that migrate along Africa’s coasts.

Calving close to shore in South Africa’s bays.

The biggest fish in the sea, and harmless to people.

Africa’s rarest carnivore, found only in the Ethiopian highlands.

A smaller, rainforest elephant with straight tusks.

Madagascar’s top predator, a cat-like relative of the mongoose.