East Africa Wildlife Guide
Beyond the Big Five and the primates, East Africa’s wildlife is staggering in its variety. Cheetahs hunting on open plains. Hippo pools where forty animals jostle for space. Nile crocodiles lying motionless beside river crossings. Reticulated giraffes moving through acacia woodland in Samburu. African wild dogs — the continent’s most endangered large carnivore — coursing across the southern Serengeti at dawn. This is a region where a single morning game drive can produce more species sightings than most nature documentaries manage in an hour.
The pages in this section cover the non-Big-Five, non-primate mammals you are most likely to encounter and most likely to remember. We have focused on species that have their own dedicated search — animals people specifically ask about, animals that require particular parks to see, and animals whose behaviour and ecology are interesting enough to deserve more than a passing mention in a general guide. Use these pages to build your own wishlist, then tell us what you want to see and we will match it to the right itinerary.