Big 5 in Serengeti National Park

Big 5 in Serengeti National Park ( Serengeti’s big five) is the name given to the animals which hunters face difficulties in hunting them due to their big size and the fact that they are strong animals. They are also referred to be very dangerous animals and untouchable. Animals are Elephants, Rhinoceros, and Buffaloes give hunters challenges during hunting. Therefore the big 5 of Serengeti National Park include elephants, Buffaloes, Rhinoceros, Lions, and leopards.

Elephants: Elephants in Serengeti National Park are huge in size and can be found in the group of two up to 20 depending on the season and the area where you meet them. In Serengeti National Park, Elephants are mostly found in areas with water such as the Seronera River. A large number of Elephants are found at Turner 4 and Turner 2. The number of Elephants in Serengeti National Park has decreased when compared to Maasai Mara National Park where the number of these animals is increasing each year. In Serengeti National Park there are about two thousand (2000) elephants.

Buffaloes

Buffaloes are among the African big 5 in Serengeti National Park. They are also known as the cape buffalos where they can be seen or found in large groups of about 100 members. In the group of moving buffalos, they can be accompanied by little and cattle egrets depending on the ticks on the buffaloes. Serengeti National Park has more than 30,000 buffalos which are easily seen when the park is green especially during the rainy season where they feed on these grasses hence increasing the chances of sporting them in any area of the park. During the dry season, buffalos are found in the swamps available in the park, especially in the Osupuko Camp. Buffalos that are isolated from the group due to either aging become harsh and more dangerous for self-defense purposes as they will be living alone.

Buffalos belong to family bovine, where females’ buffalos weigh about five hundred kilograms (500kg) and male buffaloes weigh almost a tone. Males buffaloes are black in color whereas slight brown color is for female buffalos. Both male and female buffalos have large heads with wide horns on their foreheads where the horns are used as a defensive mechanism in fighting against enemies mostly predators like lions.

Buffalos live in areas that are watery such as floodplains, swamps, open wooded savannahs, a forest where they can wallow in the mud and they drink a large amount of water about 40 liters for adult buffalos.

Mating in buffalos normally takes place during the dry season where females will be in a heat period for some days. Female buffalos gestate for eleven and a half months and then they give birth to the young ones during the rainy season where there will be plenty of grasses to feed the newborn ones. The calves born stay closely to their mother and sack for about one year and three months later they search for their foods themselves and they become independent feeders.

Rhinocerous

These are the endangered species and rare species to be found due to poaching, they can only be found in the Northern part of Serengeti National Park near Maasai Mara Nature Reserve Park. Due to the rareness of the rhinos in Serengeti National Park leads to many tourists combine their tour to Ngorongoro National Park where they can find rhinos hence complete the number of the whole Africa’s big five animals.

Rhinos are very sensitive to the sun so most of their time is spent resting mostly in the sunny season, they are found in a small number of less than five at a time due to its few numbers in the park.

Lion

Lions are found almost in every part of Serengeti National Park, they are mostly found at Seronera due to the availability of many small animals that they can feed on. The presence of Sosage trees and acacia trees in Serengeti National Park have led the park to have tree-climbing lions where you can find one tree climbed by more than five lions at the same time. These tree-climbing lions are seen mostly in the Central Serengeti National Park which leaves the guest with an excellent experience of the park.

These lions can also be found in Kopjes since it is the area isolated for mating purpose, sunbathing in the morning, during day times they can be found resting under the shadow of the isolated dotted rocks. While at kopjes they can easily hunt prey and spot of their prey.

In Serengeti National Park there about 3000 lions and by this they make the park an ideal place to visit while planning your safari to Tanzania. They are normally found or lives in groups called coalitions which consists of three males only with the females and the young ones as the male lions are responsible for preparing the territory and take control over it and their roaring can be transferred many kilometers far away for about eight (8) kilometers.

Leopards

This is another of the big 5 in Serengeti that are sought for by most travelers. Leopards are very rare animals and difficult animals to spot unless one has an eagles eye or puts on binoculars as they can lay down at the level of the grass hence become difficult to be seen. Hunters and drivers use different signs of an animal such as hyenas to recognize the availability of lions in a particular place and birds such as vultures which they will be waiting to eat the remains of animals left by the leopards. Though leopards can easily be spotted while in Serengeti National Park.