If you happen to’ve ever been on safari in Africa for any size of time, there’s a superb likelihood you’ve seen among the continent’s most iconic wildlife, together with elephants, giraffes, and zebras. Perhaps you noticed a lion resting after a feed or a striped hyena wandering throughout the plains. However whereas many of those animals make their presence recognized, there are some species which might be extraordinarily onerous to trace, regardless of what number of recreation drives you’ve been on.
Logging Africa’s most elusive animals takes a mixture of each luck and persistence. That is the kind of fauna that you just’ve seen highlighted numerous instances in BBC specials narrated by Sir David Attenborough however know of few pals or vacationers which have truly laid eyes on them within the wild. And whereas your individual possibilities of recognizing them could stay slim, figuring out the place to look—in addition to what to search for—can positively strengthen your odds.
Listed below are six of the African continent’s most elusive wildlife species and the perfect parks, reserves and international locations to cross paths with them.
1. Pangolins
These scaly mammals reside throughout Africa and might develop over 4 ft lengthy. Nevertheless, it’s unlikely (although not not possible!) that you just’ll spot a pangolin within the wild. That’s as a result of pangolins are solitary creatures principally lively at evening and notoriously shy. Typically often called ‘scaly anteaters,’ pangolins dine totally on termites and ants. In truth, only one pangolin can eat an estimated 70 million bugs yearly!
Temminck’s pangolin—often known as floor pangolin—is considered one of 4 species present in Africa.
Meet Africa’s Pangolins
Of the world’s eight pangolin species, 4 reside in Africa.
First, there’s the black-bellied (a.ok.a long-tailed) pangolin, native to elements of western and central Africa, together with Uganda. It’s the one pangolin species that’s diurnal (that means they’re solely lively throughout the day).
Subsequent up is the white-bellied pangolin, a.ok.a. the tree pangolin, a semiarboreal species discovered from Guinea to Sierra Leone and all through a lot of Central Africa (maintain an eye fixed out for them in northwestern Zambia or southwestern Kenya).
The enormous floor pangolin is the planet’s largest residing pangolin species, with massive concentrations in Tanzania and western Kenya.
Lastly, you’ve gotten the Temminck’s floor pangolin, a terrestrial creature that makes its dwelling from northern South Africa by means of East Africa.
Like armadillos, pangolins are coated in protecting armor—on this case, a complete physique of keratin scales—which they use to discourage predators. They roll themselves into tight balls each time they sense hazard, lashing out with their sharp-scaled tails as an added protection mechanism. Typically, they’ll even launch a pungent fluid to mark their territory or maintain predatory wildlife like lions and hyenas at bay.
One other factor about pangolins: They don’t have tooth! As an alternative, they use their lengthy snouts and sticky tongues—which are sometimes even longer than their very own our bodies—to lap up bugs from mounds.
Preserve an eye fixed out for these elusive critters throughout evening safaris in Botswana’s Okavango Delta on Nat Hab’s Secluded Botswana Safari and Tanzania’s Serengeti, a part of our epic 18-day Final East Africa Safari.
2. Pygmy Hippos
These reclusive herbivores are a few of Africa’s most troublesome mammals to identify within the wild for various causes. Though they’ll weigh as much as 600 kilos and develop as much as six ft lengthy, pygmy hippos are a lot smaller than their extra widespread counterparts. This enables them to cover in swampland bushes and dense riverside forests by day, quietly looking for edible fruits and grasses below cowl of evening.
Sadly, there are solely about 2,000 to 2,500 of this endangered species remaining, and all inside West Africa. Shiny-skinned, pudgy-faced, and portly-framed, pygmy hippos spend extra time on land than in water. However they do like to chill off within the wallows and rivers of the Larger Gola Panorama, a biodiversity hotspot that spreads throughout Sierra Leone and Liberia and consists of the previous’s Gola Rainforest Nationwide Park.
3. Zorillas
In Africa, if it appears to be like like a skunk and stinks like a skunk, then chances are high it’s a zorilla. The identify zorilla comes from the Spanish phrase “zorillo,” which suggests “little fox” or “skunk,” although this extraordinarily tough-to-spot creature additionally goes by the moniker “striped polecat.” Zorillas are inclined to keep away from the wetter rainforests of the continent’s western equatorial area and as a substitute reside throughout sub-Saharan Africa’s savannas and plains.
Resembling skunks with a coat of coarse black hair and white stripes, zorillas are one of many smelliest animals on the planet. The sticky, foul-smelling liquid they emit from their anal glands to defend towards predators and to mark territory is claimed to reek like a mixture of rotten eggs, burnt hair and rubbish. Phew!
Often averaging about two ft lengthy, these nocturnal creatures are sufficiently small to gap up in rock crevices and hole bushes by day whereas feeding on snakes and different small animals at evening. They’re principally solitary. Nevertheless, zorillas do come along with different members of their species throughout the mating season, which takes place within the spring.
The perfect locations to comply with the scent (must you dare) of zorillas are in Kenya’s Maasai Mara and South Africa’s parklands.
4. Riverine Rabbits
This little mammal additionally goes by the “bushman hare” or “bushman rabbit” and is extraordinarily uncommon, solely current within the central and southern areas of South Africa’s Karoo Desert. Estimates whole about 400–500 riverine rabbits left within the wild, with about 1,000 extra in captivity. With such a tiny geographical footprint and so few numbers, it’s no surprise this nocturnal creature is so unusual to identify.
Nonetheless, you’ll need to maintain an eye fixed out for them hiding within the low scrub that grows alongside seasonal rivers or leaping over bushes to outrun predators like hawks and eagles. In any other case, they have a tendency to take a seat fairly immobile and mix in with their environment.
Riverine rabbits have longer our bodies and ears than European rabbits and sport brown, wooly tails and a club-like again foot.
South Africa’s Sanbona Wildlife Reserve and Anysberg Nature Reserve are two of the perfect locations to search for riverine rabbits within the wild.
5. Black Leopards
Leopards are already powerful to identify, being typically solitary and preferring to hang around in dense bush and bushes. In addition they are inclined to do most of their searching at evening. However Africa’s black leopards are even rarer since nobody actually is aware of what number of there are or the place to seek out them.
Black leopards are what’s often called melanistic, that means they’ve an extra of melanin, or darkish pigment, of their fur and pores and skin. It’s the alternative of albinism. Whereas the rosettes of black leopards are nonetheless seen, their inky silhouettes are inclined to disappear seamlessly into the evening.
Ethiopia and the forests of Kenya’s Aberdare Nationwide Park have essentially the most reported sightings of those hard-to-find felines.
6. Aardvarks
With their porcine snouts, stocky our bodies and huge rabbit-like ears, aardvarks are one way or the other each exceedingly awkward-looking and oh-so-adorable all of sudden. The identify “aardvark” truly means “Earth pig” in Afrikaans. Nevertheless, these burrowing mammals have extra in widespread with elephants, hyraxes, and manatees—all of which you’ve gotten a greater likelihood of seeing within the wild.
Like most of Africa’s most elusive wildlife, aardvarks are nocturnal and solitary besides. In addition they spend numerous time underground sleeping or hiding from predators like hyenas and lions.
They will devour greater than 50,000 bugs nightly, sussing them out with their lengthy noses and sticky tongues and utilizing their highly effective claws to interrupt open termite mounds.
Ask about attainable aardvark monitoring whereas visiting the Kalahari Salt Pans, a cease on Nat Hab’s 10-day Botswana Household Safari journey.
Spot (or attempt to spot) these elusive critters and extra on Nat Hab’s eco-friendly African safaris!
