Serengeti animals – Serengeti Wildlife & Birdlife
The main reason for travelling to Serengeti National Park is to see wildlife in a vast unspoiled natural wildlife. For many, the deep purpose is to encounter the authentic thrill of the wild. We can assure you, with your visit to Serengeti, you won’t be disappointed one bit!
Summarizing all highlights in terms of wildlife viewing in the Serengeti is not an easy task because there, is just so much to encounter. From Africa’s iconic Big 5 games, the adorable and fast-running cheetah, the giant ostrich, endless herds of wildebeest and zebra, buffaloes, over 500 bird species, and other much-smaller creatures, such as the ever-charming dung beetle.
The Serengeti Big Five Encounter
It’s without a doubt that the hardest to hunt Big five games aren’t hard to find in Serengeti. In fact, you shall see countless of lions, buffaloes and elephants and you shall also spot many leopards and rhinos. Catching the glimpse of these adorable creatures roaming freely in their own habitat is an experience you will never forget so soon.
When you book your Serengeti safari with the Serengeti Mara Experts, your professional safari guide is always in touch with trackers to ensure you easily locate these hard to spot and sight animals – making your entire adventure a breeze.
Serengeti Lion
Always referred to as the King of the African jungle: With a Serengeti safari, you are definitely going to take great sights for the over 3,000 park lions. sighting a pride of lions in their own habitat will leave you with an indelible excitement.
The Serengeti is home to some incredibly large prides of lions and they are fairly easy to spot.
It’s important to note that Lions live in prides because they are very social animals and each family is led by a male who distributes the food to the family member yet, the female lion is the one responsible for hunting.
Another reason why lions live in prides is because, they are also known to be ‘the laziest’ animals on the planet as they are always sleeping and since they don’t hunt for too long, it’s easier to secure a kill when living in a pride. The most favorite lion’s activity is snoozing under a tree: something they like to do for about 20 hours a day!
Leopard
It’s true that the leopard is the hardest to spot out of the big 5 animals especially during day. These nice spotted creatures that walk with an elegant grace and have an amazing coat: the leopard, also known as ‘The Prince of Darkness’.
This is the shyest and elusive one of the Big Five. Leopards are excellent at playing hide and seek: especially if they do not want to be seen. This is one their greatest strategy to secure a kill. In a Serengeti safari, you will be most likely to spot a leopard resting on a tree branch.
The large branches of the sausage tree are their favorite spot and because of this, your safari guide shall always advise you to look up for a possibility of spotting leopards as they enjoy their lunch high up in a tree, so lions and other predators don’t bother him.
The best spots for Serengeti leopard is the Seronera valley and they are estimated to be about 1000 in total.
Buffalo
Because of their common nature, the African cape buffaloes are sometimes confused to be gentle and calm animals but, the buffalo is one of Africa’s most dangerous animals with very few predators.
Even a herd of lions may not be alone to take down a single buffalo. They might try to go for a calf, but are likely to pay the price later when an angry herd of buffaloes takes revenge in rescue of the calf.
Buffalo are thirsty animals and need to drink every day, because of this, they are often found at a waterhole.
Although they can be notoriously bad tempered, especially when they’re injured, their wise gaze – as once described by a novelist: ‘They look at you like you owe them money’ – makes them exciting to sightsee.
In the Serengeti, buffaloes are fairly easy to spot animals as they come in great numbers: there’s a good chance you’ll see herds with over 1,000 or more of these thrilling animals.
African elephant
The African elephant is the world’s largest land animal, and seeing one in its natural habitat is nothing but thrilling.
In the Serengeti, it’s very easy but fun to sight elephants in a game drive or even in a walking safari as these grey coated giants roam the plains and disappear into the woodlands.
Female elephants live in close-knit clans and family bonds can last for 50 years. Males often leave the clan after 12 years to roam singly or form bachelor herds.
Elephants frequently visit waterholes close to lodges to look for drinking water. For many of our partner safari lodges, you are guaranteed to spot these gentle giants right from the comfort of your safari lodge.
Elephants are peaceful when left alone, but if an elephant feels threatened, you are in trouble because nothing is scarier than being chased by an animal that weighs 7,000 kilos (imagine the weight of seven stacked cars) and trumpets loudly.
Rhinoceros
Simply referred to as the rhino, a pre-historic heavyweight animal, weighing in about 2,500 kilos are one of the hardest to spot out of the African Big 5 games.
Due to poaching, the total number of rhinos in the entire Serengeti ecosystem has been reduced from about 1000 individuals to about 70 individuals – making them the hardest to spot during any game drive in Serengeti.
Given the fact that the female rhino only gives birth every five years, this makes the rhino one of the most challenging animals to spot in Serengeti National Park, but with an experienced guide from Serengeti Mara, you are likely going to spot them!
Serengeti predators
Out of the larger carnivores in the park, most common to spot include the; cheetah, hyena and lion which are found in almost all Serengeti environments. They are always in hunt for food.
Serengeti National Park never disappoint when it comes to big cats. In fact, Serengeti National park has been referred to as the best Big cat spotting destination by so many tourists.
The Tanzanian side of the Serengeti ecosystem has close to 4000 individuals of lion, most likely the largest population left in Africa, and hundreds of resident lions can be easily seen wandering the plains around Seronera, and the Simba, Moru and Gol koppies close to the Ngorongoro entrance.
During your Serengeti safari game drive, it’s possible to sight even two or three lion prides in a single game drive. Many lion prides may be frequently sighted lying low in the grass or basking on rocks, though many Serengeti prides are increasingly given to languishing in the trees on scorching days.
Leopard numbers are unknown especially because of their secrecy and elusiveness. However, they are estimated to be around 1000 in number and can be often seen relaxing on top of trees in the Seronera Valley.
Cheetahs are frequently sighted on Serengeti game drives and have an estimated population of about 600 individuals is densest in the open grasslands around Seronera and further east toward Ndutu.
Of the other predators that can be seen in Serengeti National Park, spotted hyenas are very common, perhaps more so than lions. Other great predators include the black backed jackal, the golden jackals and bat-eared foxes appear to be the most abundant canid species on the plains around Seronera.
A true rarity among the predators is the African wild dog (or painted dog) which can be sighted in arranged night or early morning game drives.
Recommended Safari packages
Other wildlife in the Serengeti
It’s without a doubt that the Serengeti has a great variety of animals, not just the wildebeest and the African Big 5.
Other common animals that you shall sight during your planned visit to the Serengeti include; the long-neck giraffes, many other horned antelopes such as the eland, zebra, topi, kongoni, impala and Grant’s gazelle that may be sighted any time of the year.
Other exciting wildlife include the plain zebras, warthogs, ostrich, hyena, black backed jackal, golden-backed jackal, dik dik, mongoose, cheetah, serval cats and many others.
Birds of Serengeti National Park
If you’re not a birdwatcher at heart, there’s a good chance you’ll become one after planning a Serengeti safari encounter.
With more than 500 bird species present in Serengeti ecosystem, the park is basically a bird paradise.
If you have ab interest in birds, communicate this early in advance so we can allocate a bird expert as your guide. This expert safari guide shall take you to most exciting parts of the park that have the most interesting birdlife.
Most guides will show you the most common endemic species of the park but, it takes a bird expert to locate some unique birds of the Serengeti including the bright green and yellow-colored Fischer’s Lovebird, or the Kuri bustard with its impressive white beard.
For birders, the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is one of Africa’s Endemic Bird Areas hosting five bird species found nowhere else except here in Serengeti.
Best time for bird watching
Generally, every time of the year is great for bird watching encounter in Serengeti but, if you want the very best, you should consider arranging your Serengeti visit between early November and late April.
Why does the Serengeti have so many animals?
The shortest answer. It’s just nature. The Serengeti is uniquely blessed with very rich and incredible natural endowments.
Because of a rainfall gradient, the southern part of Serengeti receives much less rain than other locations of the park.
The Serengeti is also home to pockets of leftover riverine forests, the result of the landscape once being covered by dense lowland forests.
Combined, this results in a unique diversity of vegetation. Planning a wildlife safari to Serengeti is definitely going to be a game changer in your world of travel. You shall definitely fall in love with nature and begin to appreciate travel even more.
Don’t wait,
book this adventure safari today
Low season
Oct, Nov, Mar, Apr, may
Peak season
Jun, July, Aug, Sept, Dec