The Safari "Fives" - The Big and the Ugly

One of the Big Five: The Lion

Tell anyone that you've just gone on an African safari, and here's a question you're sure to hear in response: “Did you see the Big Five?!”

But just what are the Big Five and why are they such a Big Deal?

The original name came from big game hunters who considered them the most challenging and

dangerous animals to hunt on foot. Perhaps not coincidentally, they're considered to be a prize spotting on today's photographic and other tourist safaris because they are increasingly rare, in many cases with populations dwindling. Today, the Big 5 are sought in wildlife tourism as a quest to see the majesty of these truly large and majestic creatures.

What are the Big Five?

They are the lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant and African buffalo. You can fill your Big Five Bingo card in several African countries still: Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

All but one of the Big Five, though, is considered endangered or threatened. That's the African buffalo, the one also considered the most dangerous of the five because it is known to ambush and attack humans. Perhaps the most endangered, classified as critically so, is the black rhino—subject to extensive poaching. And the most elusive is the leopard, partly because it is nocturnal, most active between sunset and sunup.

The Ugly Five

Perhaps even more fun than a safari-outing hunt for the Big Five is a quest to locate the “Ugly Five,” animals considered critical to the African ecosystem but far less likely to be shaped into a life-sized carving for the living room back home.

They are:

1. The vulture. Not one to ever win a savannah beauty contests, they do play a vital role in

cleaning up wildlife parks and preventing spread of disease. You may even see them in large numbers during the Great Migration, going behind the other animals to clean all that's left on a kill.

2. The warthog. Truly adorable when they run with their tail straight up in the air, these animals

known by their tusks and rough appearance have adapted to diverse environments. They probably wouldn't be put up in your local quiz bowl either. The Lion King warthog character Pumba is named after the Swahili word for “absentminded.”

3. Wildebeest. My favorite description comes from a favorite guide, Henry Gathura, who calls it

the “spare parts animal” with a tail of a horse, sloped back of a hyena, stripes of a zebra, beard of a billy goat, face of a grasshopper and brains of a small rock.” That said, the wildebeest is the key to the Great Migration between the Serengeti of Tanzania and Maasai Mara of Kenya, one of the world's great natural wonders.

4. Marabou Stork. Sometimes dubbed “undertaker birds” because of their stooped shape, they are adapted for eating carrion. And they're cool!

5. Hyena. These critters are likely to give you the creeps, but they are critical scavengers.