THE BIG FIVE ANIMALS IN UGANDA YOU MUST SEE
Overview
Why were they called the Big Five?
An impressive number of tourists come to Africa on safari to see the elephant, buffalo, rhino, leopard, and lion, and Uganda shares a good piece of the big game action. Africa Big 5 animals is a term coined in the 1800s by trophy hunters, referring to what they considered the most challenging and dangerous animals to hunt on foot. These include the African Elephant, Lion, Leopard, African Buffalo, and Rhinoceros. Today the term is primarily famous with African safari travelers who now shoot the big five with a camera rather than a lethal weapon of choice. Africa’s big 5 animals are all present in Uganda and can easily be seen in all savanna parks.
Although the big 5 animals are still hunted today, especially in South Africa where legal game hunting is a big market with the elite and privileged. Outside of hunting cliques, public opinion leans towards disgust over the killing of the Big Five and we may see the practice dying out. But a shift toward tourism has also made seeing the Big Five an “awe-inspiring” goal for any safari-goer. The name Africa Big 5 may sound intimidating and dangerous but these mammals may need our help to survive extinction. African lion, leopard and elephant are all considered vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Where can you find the Big Five in Uganda?
Apart from the Northern White Rhino (which can only be seen in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary and Entebbe UWEC Zoo), tourists have a good chance of seeing the other members of the Africa Big 5 in any of the savanna parks. A savanna safari game drive in Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth, Kidepo Valley and Lake Mburo will put you in the center of nonchalant herds of cape buffalo, African elephants hunting pride of African lions. For the shy leopard, a relaxed and patient early or late evening savanna drive may lead you to its hunting joints.
Lion (Panthera Leo)
The largest and most imposing African carnivore and the most sought-after member of the African big 5, the African lion is the most sociable of the large cats living in loosely structured prides of typically five to 15 animals. Lions have special cultural significance in most countries on the continent. In Uganda, they enjoy a reputation as ‘king of the beasts’ and are popular symbols of royalty, strength, and bravery. In Uganda, lions are mainly found in the three largest savanna parks: Murchison Falls National Park, Kidepo Valley National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park.
In Queen Elizabeth National Park, the Ishasha lions are known for their unique behavior of climbing trees and have been branded the “Ishasha tree-climbing lions” by tourists who flock to this sector to have sight of this rare behavior.
Lions live in a ‘fission-fusion’ society which is a fairly rare social system similar to chimpanzees. Individuals have different home ranges that overlap so that they regularly meet and come together. Males are thrown out of the group at the age of 3-4 years by the dominant male(s) and will try to take over a pride when they get to 7-10 years old. Males usually hole a pride for 2-3 years only before being ousted by another male or coalition of males. Females generally stay in the same area as their mothers, occasionally moving to an adjacent pride when subadult, and rear a litter of cubs every two years
The highest mortality of lions is among the cubs, with often whole litters being killed by other predators or buffalo
Leopard (Panthera pardus)
The leopard is the most elusive and the smallest of Africa’s big five animals. Leopards are sneaky and harder to spot, and naturally shy and exclusively nocturnal, leopards spend the daylight hours hidden from view. The big solitary cats haul large kills, such as zebra or antelope, into a tree to eat alone, in peace. These impressively shy cats can be distinguished from cheetahs by their rosette-shaped spots and more powerful build, as well as by their preference for wooded or rocky habitats. They are found in virtually all habitats which offer adequate cover and are present in most Ugandan national parks and forest reserves.
On Africa safari in Uganda, leopards can be seen in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Murchison Falls National Park, Kidepo Valley National, Lake Mburo National Park, Mt Elgon National Park, and Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve.
Leopards spend most of their days strolling through the savannah or the forests, hiding in trees or caves. The leopards are very solitary animals and are very rarely seen in pairs. While other carnivores such as lions can live in groups/prides, that is not the case with leopards; these animals are loners. The only time you can see them in pairs is during mating. But because they are solitary animals, they do not multiply as much as other animals that live in groups.
Leopards are very adaptable. No matter what their surroundings are. Be it rainforests, jungles, deserts, mountains, or savannahs, they are able to adapt and survive in their environment. They are very fast and agile and can pounce on prey from trees and haul them up the trees. They are strong and can take down prey which is three times their size. They are also very good swimmers and can hunt fish in water and other things such as reptiles, insects, and animals that may be grazing near the water. If leopards are living near human settlements, they will feed on livestock such as goats and chickens.
How about reproduction ?
Leopards do not have a specific mating period; they can mate any time of the year. Conception takes can happen about 90 to 100 days later. A female leopard can give birth to up to four cubs. The mother finds a cave or well protected area to protect and raise her cubs. The mortality of leopard cubs is very high though. It is at about 50%. Those that survive stay with the mother leopard for about 1 ½ to 2 years, during which time they play with each other and learn to hunt for their own food
African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana)
The world’s largest of all Africa big five found in Uganda and perhaps the most enduring symbol of nature’s grace and fragility, is also one of the most intelligent and entertaining to watch on a classic African safari game drive. A fully-grown male elephant can weigh a whopping 6300 kilos; even the smallest adult male rarely dips below 4000 kilos, which is way more than twice the weight of an average family SUV. Females are usually just over half the weight of the male.
If you’re planning your Africa safari in Uganda and want to meet these magnificent giants, you must know that the African elephants occur in all national parks except Lake Mburo. They are most likely seen in Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth, and Kidepo national parks. We recommend you take a boat safari on the Nile in Murchison of Kazinga channel in QENP to see these gentle giants gracefully flocking the water banks in massive herds.
African elephants are keystone species, meaning they play a critical role in their ecosystem. Also known as “ecosystem engineers,” elephants shape their habitat in many ways. During the dry season, they use their tusks to dig up dry riverbeds and create watering holes many animals can drink from.
Their dung is full of seeds, helping plants spread across the environment—and it makes pretty good habitat for dung beetles too. In the forest, their feasting on trees and shrubs creates pathways for smaller animals to move through, and in the savanna, they uproot trees and eat saplings, which helps keep the landscape open for zebras and other plains animals to thrive.
Elephants eat roots, grasses, fruit, and bark. An adult elephant can consume up to 300 pounds of food in a single day. These hungry animals do not sleep much, roaming great distances while foraging for the large quantities of food that they require to sustain their massive bodies. African elephants range throughout the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa and the rainforests of Central and West Africa.
An elephant's trunk is actually a long nose used for smelling, breathing, trumpeting, drinking, and also for grabbing things—especially a potential meal. The trunk alone contains about 40,000 muscles. African elephants have two fingerlike features on the end of their trunk that they can use to grab small items. Asian elephants have just one. Both male and female African elephants have tusks, which are continuously growing teeth.
African Buffalo
Africa’s only wild African buffalo ox species is an adaptable and widespread creature that lives in large herds on the savanna and in smaller herds in forested areas. The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) or Cape Buffalo, is the most dangerous of all African game species, especially if wounded or solitary. Its reputation has placed it among the African big 5 animals recognized worldwide. African buffalo are large, even-toed ungulates, characterized by their stocky build and heavy horns. Horns are present in both sexes, and they are not ridged. The buffalo is easily distinguished from other animals because of its dark black color and characteristic horns, smaller and lighter, curving outward, backward, and upwards. Ears are large, fringed with hair, and hang below massive horns.
Buffaloes can be seen in almost all of Uganda’s national parks and large forests. In Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls national parks, you may see hybrids of the savanna buffalo (Syncerus caffer caffer) of east Africa and the red buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus) of the west African forest.
They can live in herds of a few hundred but have been known to congregate in thousands in the Serengeti during the rainy season. Congregating in large herds is one of their many anti-predator adaptations. Large herds decrease the possibility of any individual being singled out by lions. The females and their offspring make up the bulk of the herd. Males may spend much of their time in bachelor groups. These groups are of two types, those that contain males from 4 to 7 years old and those that have males 12 years and older. The older bulls often prefer to be on their own but they usually calve only every two years, and most births occur at the end of the rainy season when abundant grass improves the nutritional level for females when they are pregnant or nursing. The female and her offspring have an unusually intense and prolonged relationship. Males do not invest in their offspring. Calves are suckled for as long as a year and during this time are completely dependent on their mothers. Female offspring usually stay in the natal herd, but males leave when they are about four years old.
Their sight and hearing are both rather poor, but their scent is well developed in African buffaloes. They also seem to have a relatively difficult time regulating body temperature the reason why they feed mostly at night. Although they are quiet for the most part, the animals do communicate. In mating seasons, they grunt and emit hoarse bellows, and a calf in danger will bellow mournfully, bringing herd members running at a gallop to defend it.
Food sources play more of an important role than predation in regulating population numbers. Without fresh green feed, buffaloes deteriorate rapidly. They devote a large portion of their time to grazing and feeding. After grazing on grass, just like cows, they spend time chewing their cud (or bolus) to extract even more nutrients from their food.
Rhinoceros commonly known as rhino.
A large, herbivorous mammal identified by its characteristic horned snouts. The word “rhinoceros” comes from the Greek words “rhino” (nose) and “ceros” (horn). Rhinoceroses are universally recognized for their massive bodies, stumpy legs and either one or two dermal horns. In some species, the horns may be short or not obvious. They are renowned for having poor eyesight, but their senses of smell and hearing are well developed
The biggest of the five surviving species occurs in Uganda, the Northern white rhino, and can only be seen in the massively protected Ziwa Rhino sanctuary and the Uganda Wildlife Education Center in Entebbe, commonly referred to as the Zoo.
The Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary has been around for about 10 years and started with six white rhinos imported from Kenya and the USA. They now have 15. The rhinos live in a large park with many acres of land and are essentially wild. The rhinos are accustomed to humans being near them as each rhino has armed guards near it 24 hours a day due to poaching.
With a total population ranging between 19,666 and 21,085 rhinoceroses living in the wild, white rhinos are considered the larger of the two African species (black and white rhinos). But what’s even more fascinating is their agility and ability to run at an average 40 Kmph. You would never want to be in their direction if they began charging.
Sadly, like other rhino species, the white rhino is still endangered because its horn sells like hot cake on the global illicit wildlife trade market mainly for its horn, although the material in its horn.