Wildlife and conservation new, wild travel information and links for booking
The boy wandered 11 miles from his home through wilderness that surrounds the national park. Tsavo east is an incredibly important reserve, and together with Tsavo west, together protect one of the biggest single ecosystems of east Africa.
The aim here is not to give you the number of every species that exists in each reserve. Rather, the aim is to give you a rough idea of the health and size of each reserve. In places where there are private reserves on the edge of a larger reserve, complete ecosystem numbers will be given. Please note that they will not be precise, as even straight after a thorough count numbers are only estimates – furthermore, some reserves do not publicize their numbers.
The grid of animals that I have included above are as follows (below):
African wild dog Black rhino White rhino(Really wide rhino) Elephant Buffalo Giraffe Zebra Cheetah Hippopotamus Lion Hyena Leopard
This is going to be the standard animals for Savannah ecosystems within Africa, however each different Biome will have different species so there will be a variety of these pages. I will give you brief information on each. In the long-run we hope to have animal pages for each and these will be linked from the Bold animal names. Those not bold not not yet have a link page. At the bottom of each animals page is a list of places which you can book to see the animal in question; each currently have at least a few choices, but I hope to be able to direct to many more as time moves forwards.
African wild dog (or sometimes known as Cape hunting dog or painted dog). This animal is an incredible sighting if you get lucky. Now, they live at low densities, so are generally found in the largest reserves. If a reserve still has African wild dog, it is clear that the reserve is in pretty good health (usually). Furthermore, as they are very susceptible to various diseases that domestic dogs can carry (such as canine distemper) – this wiped out the population in the Serengeti in 1995. Thankfully, wild dogs have returned to the Serengeti, though currently only 100 or so are in the ecosystem – meaning it is unlikely that you will see them here. Any sighting is a wonderful thing. Member of ecotourism big 7
Black and White Rhino Two different species, Black rhino had a far larger range, unfortunately they are highly endangered across most of their range. White rhino, once found in central Africa (there are now only 2 of these animals left, held at Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya) are now only found in Southern Africa – South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The Kruger, once hosted as much as 10,000 or more white rhino, but now only have about 3000. Note: white rhino appears to be a mistranslation from the Africaans Weit, meaning wide, these rhino are not white. Pictures are Black then white rhino. Member of big 5 and ecotourism big 7
Elephant One of the species that so many people visit Africa for, the Savannah African elephant is doing okay, though the populations is far below historical levels. Places like the Selous (now much of this reserve is Nyerere National park) lost perhaps 80% of there historical elephant population. Encouragingly, if the poaching stops the population often rapidly recovers. The African forest elephant has seen horrific poaching over the last few decades, and without a rapid change this species might be heading for extinction (the African forest elephant is closer related to the Mammoth than the African Savannah elephant. Member of the big 5 and ecotourism big7.
Buffalo: A member of the big 5, the buffalo is essentially a wild cattle species. They are a member of the big 5 and ecotourism big 7. The big 5 is so named because these were the most dangerous animals to hunt on foot. Buffalo are often the species which you are likely to have encounters with if you go walking on foot.
Lion Often referred to as the King of the Jungle (despite not being found in jungles), is generally considered the apex predator. Certainly a wonderful thing to see, never-the-less they do not get their own way all the time. The population of Lions in Africa has seen precipice falls in the last century, and this has not stopped. Tourism is one tool we have to give them financial value to those who share their space with them. Member of the big 5 and ecotourism big 7
Giraffe: While this is a species that is found in the majority of Southern and Eastern African reserves, they are officially classed as endangered, as their population is currently falling so fast. The selous in Tanzania is nicknamed the Griraffe park as there are so many of them.
Zebra are also found in most reserves in Africa, though the number of them is still of interest.
Cheetah Like African Wild dog are a key indicator of the health of the ecosystem. Living at low densities in most reserves (except in places like the Serengeti plains). These are rare sightings, and most reserves do not have many cheetah. Indeed of all the big species, the cheetah is one of the few predators who do better outside reserves.
Hippopotamus: This is another species that does reasonably well outside protected reserves, but their population has fallen fast over the last few years.
Lion Lions are a very clear indication of the health of each ecosystem. If there is a significant population of Lion, then it is a large reserve and therefore there is plenty of space for other species. Check our links at the bottom of the lion page for some of the best place to see them.
Hyena There are thought to be more than 100,000 spotted hyena in Africa, making them the most numerous predator on the continent. They are exciting animals to see, and their call is often one of the species that you hear from your campsite – the weird rising whoop which is the contact call they use between them. Watch the video below to see what I mean. The advantage of the population size is that you are likely to find them in most wilderness areas. Brown hyenas are also widely found, never the less, as they do not do well in close proximity to spotted hyenas which means they are more often found on the edge of reserves and outside them.
Leopard The last member of the big 5 and Ecotourism big 7, the Leopard is a fascinating species. A solitary animal (except mothers with their young) they are the only big cat, or indeed member of the big 5 that is reguarly found outside protected reserves, though this is decreasing over time. A fantastic sighting, they can be very hard to find, and sightings in big reserves are usually very crowded. Generally found near river courses, as these are the places where large trees are found, allowing the Leopard to rest out of danger.
Whether there were originally multiple African wild dog subspecies, these have not been retained. There were once 500,000 wild dogs roaming Africa. There are currently just 6600, spread across Africa, though many of the populations are unlikely to be genetically healthy long-term. These are divided into 39 populations.
Some famous or interesting populations are:
The Kruger wild dog population swings between extremes. In 2007 there were about 350 within the Limpopo transfrontier park. in 2022 there are thought to be about 800 wild dogs in the same area.
The Serengeti wild dog population disappeared during 1995 – wild dogs are highly sociable animals, so illness can wipe out populations. Wild dogs appear to have help on and there are thought to be about 120 at the moment. Inoculation of the domestic dog population surrounding the park will hopefully stop this happening again, and the population will grow back to the former highs -where packs 100 strong could be seen chasing the Wildebeest migration across the plains.
The largest single population lives in the Selous reserve (much of this reserve is now classed as the Nyerere national park) with a population of perhaps as many as 1000.
There are thought to be about 700 wild dogs in northern Botswana.
There are small populations all over Africa, such as 100 in Chad, but whether these survive long-term is another question. The map below shows the huge number of small populations all over Africa. The total african wild dog population is thought to be around 6600, with 700 packs. However, these numbers tend to highlight the problem with this species. Given that there are 39
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There are 5 subspecies that have been recognized:
Cape wild dogs:
This is the only subspecies that appears to be doing relatively well with around 4000 animals left (though it underestimate the current population of the Kruger – while in the past it has been as low as 350, the current population is at its peak of around 850. Significant wild dog populations in this subspecies include the Kruger, while the KAZA transfrontier park is likely to be another. (Botswana is thought to host around 1300 wild dogs within its boundary, with most of the other countries in the region having at least 500 somewhere in the country).Â
The West African wild dog:                                     This used to be widespread from western to central Africa, from Senegal to Nigeria. Now only two subpopulations survive: one in the Niokolo-Koba National Park of Senegal and the other in the W National Park of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. It is estimated that 70 adult individuals are left in the wild – split pretty evenly split between these two population.
                                                                     East African wild dog:                                        The east African wild dog has a number of good population – Selous has around 800-1000, while the Laikipia region of Kenya is thought to host around 300 of this rare animal                                                                                                                                                    Â
Somali wild dog:                                                                                                                               The Somali wild dog is thought to be extinct in Somali, though some are thought to survive in Ethiopia. Bale Mountains national park is known for Ethiopian wolves, but it is thought that 1 pack of around 30 Somali wild dog also live here (though they live in the dense Harenna forest, so perhaps they never meet. There are likely, some other wild dog in the country, but it is unlikely that the whole population excedes more than 100.                 Â
Chadian wild dog:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The only part of this population that lives on protected land, are found within the Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park in the Central African republic.
These are recognized based on differences in the animal, not physical position.
South Africa has one large population of African wild dog, which lives in the Kruger national park. The park is a large area, and therefore is large enough to support a significant wild dog population. In the Kruger, the number of wild dog tend to vary wildly. In 2007, when I trained in the Kruger, there were roughly 350 wild dog in the park. However, when we returned in 2022, there were 850 (currently the number is nearer to this 850).
There are also African wild dog in the Kalagadi transfrontier park, of which some is in South Africa.
In terms of places to see, click here to view all our destinations in the Limpopo transfrontier park
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Botswana has an estimated 700 wild dog living within the country. One of the main parts of Botswana where wild dog are found is
While this does not sound like a long list, these areas are huge. This is a huge population of the wild dog.
Namibia has a population of just 200-300 wild dog (as always, I hope to add these destinations to our site in the near future)
While it should be noted, that the wild dog population of Namibia is small compared to other species, it is not tiny. Likely reasons for this lower number include:
Threats include hunting (usually by farmers) which tends to take place during the breeding period. Other problems are that human activities are taking up more and more space and leaving less, which as wild dog need so much space, they are the first to be impacted by this; they are impacted by disease, which can easily wipe out a population like in 1995 when the Serengeti population vanished; In Namibia, they are required to regularly cross roads, and unfortunately as a result a significant number get hit on the road; finally, they are small predators, and while more regularly successful than lions and others (they have a success rate over 70% compared to a lion which is only successful around 40%), lions leopards and hyena will all kill wild dog if they get the chance.
Malawi was missing the African wild dog for 20 years until 2021, when they were translocated from South Africa and Mozambique. 8 Were translocated, but they have now also had 9 pups..
They were translocated to Liwonde National Park and the Majete Wildlife Reserve, where provided they are not hit by illness, their number is likely to continue to climb. Time will tell how rapidly this population will grow to fill the space. We hope to add these locations in the near future.
Mozambique has a wild dog population of roughly 600 individuals (roughly 10% of the remaining population of this species).
There are a number of significant populations within the country.
Niassa National Reserve – a reserve which is connected to the Selous ecosystem of Tanzania (which hosts over 1300 wild dog, and is the largest remaining population) by the Selous Niassa wildlife corridor, which is a strip which is between 160 and 180km long and covers an area of 8000 square kilometres (3088 square miles). This is an important area in its own right, with a variety of wildlife populations, including:
The Selous-Niassa Wildlife Corridor connects the two reserves, creating a 120,000 sq km conservation area that includes the Selous Game Reserve and Mozambique’s Niassa Reserve along with the land within. It’s also known as Ushoroba in Swahili. This is essentially a transfrontier area, like the Limpopo or the KAZA but has existed for quite some time, and is one of the most important areas of conservation on the African continent. There are 300-350 wild dogs in Niassa and 1000-1500 in the NIassa – selous ecosystem as a whole – or as high as 25% of the continents wild dog.
Gorongosa National Park: Containing around 81 individuals, up from a founder population of 15 in 2018, which were taken from Hluhluwe/Umfolozi National Park.
Karingani national reserve: Has a population of 33 wild dog, from a founding population of 13 that was reintroduced in 2019 with 3 further males joining in 2020. What is clear, is that wild dog released into suitable habitat can increase their population at a rapid speed.
Limpopo national park: This park is thought to have 2 packs of wild dog, suggesting a count of 20-30. It should be noted, that this park is part of the Limpopo transfrontier park, and therefore if there is not a reason why wild dog struggle to survive in this park, more are likely to move there from the Kruger (where there is a population that certainly numbers over 400 and may be higher).
I should note, that the estimates for each individual reserve, add to a number around 100 short of the number for the country, and there do not appear to be more reserves to add. I will correct if I need in the future.
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Zambia is considered one of the 6 countries with the most stable wild dog populations left. There are around 400 individuals in the country, split across 26 different packs.
They are found in:
Zimbabwe currently has 660 wild dog, in 86 packs, which works out at around 7-8 per pack.
Hwange national park has a population of roughly 160 wild dogs, but this is part of the enormous KAZA transfrontier park, which means that it should be possible for further wild dog to migrate into this park from the many connected areas. This also means that even if Hwange national park cannot support more wild dog, it is possible for these wild dog to move around, allowing a free exchange of genetic material. We have 2 destinations within this area for you to visit, click here.Â
Mana Pools national park: here, wild dogs have been habituated to humans, allowing them to be followed on foot. However, the population is only thought to be 20 at the current time.
I hope to add the rest of this countries useful destinations in the future
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Senegal has around 50-100 west African wild dog, however, given their status as West African wild dog, this is a significant part of the population. They are found in the Niokolo-Koba National Park, which is a fascinating park as it also hosts
Elephants
Leopards
Chimpanzees
West African lions
Western giant elands
Servals
Caracals
African wild cats
The population of Lions in Niger (150 or there abouts) is thought to be restricted to its section of the WAP complex, which is a transboundary area, including land in Benin and Burkina Faso and is perhaps the last good hope for the west African lion – around 80-90% of the western lion population live within this protected area. While the other countries have a separate national park, protecting an area of land, Niger only has part of a single park (W national park) which stretches across the borders of all 3 countries).Â
It is unclear how many lions live within this national park, though it is definitely greater than 8 as there is currently a study that is following 8. Given that W national park contains around 1 third of the land in the WAP complex, so it should hold around 150 lions within it.Â
Whether the land is currently capable of supporting this number is questionable. It should be noted that the WAP complex is roughly twice the size of the Kruger national park, suggesting that the entire area might be able to support around twice the lion population of the Kruger – this is roughly 3000 lions. Now, it is quite possible that this area is drier, and therefore has a lower carrying capacity, but this gives space for a large increase in the lions within the WAP complex. It should be noted, that this might well be an over estimated, as some of the WAP complex is hunting areas, and while they will not hunt many (if any) lions with in these, hunting prey will also reduce the number of lions that these areas can support. If this was accurate, one could expect a lion population of W national park in Niger, of around 2000. While we are a long way from this, it suggests that with better conservation, Niger could have a lion population that would give it the sixth largest population in Africa.
Only one reserve in Rwanda contain lions, and this is Akagera National Park, which in 1990 was known to have 250-300 lions. Unfortunately during the Genocide they were all killed, with a survey in 2002 not counting a single one. In 2015, 7 lions were moved to the reserve and in 2024 had a lion count of 78, This suggests that with this sort of recovery, the lion population could keep growing well, though time will tell if the local human population will allow this to occur.
So this countries current lion population is around 78 individuals. This can be good for Rwanda, as while it is a popular destination for forest safaris, being able to also offer savannah ecosystems will make it more popular, as someone could both trek with chimpanzee and gorilla and see lion in the same week.
Tanzania hosts a large portion of the wild dogs that remain in Africa. These are all part of the East Africa wild dog subspecies
The Selous ecosystem is the undisputed king of areas for the wild dog, containing 1300 wild dog in this one area. Furthermore, in recent years, it has got easier to go to this area to see the wild dog. This is because the Selous has been split into the Nyeres national park (majority) and a small region of it still devoted to hunting. It should be noted, that this includes the Mikumi national park.
The Ruaha Katavi ecosystem hosts more than 500 wild dog.
The Serengeti losts its wild dog back in 1995, likely to canine distemper. However, it appears that small numbers of wild dog survived in the far east of this ecosystem, and these are now growing and reappearing in their former haunts. It is thought that around 120 wild dog are present in 10 packs.
These numbers are only relatively vague, but between them give Tanzania a total of roughly 2000 wild dog, which is almost 1/3 of the whole of the continents population.
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In 2021, Kenya did a survey of its wild area, and estimates that there is 2589 lions (this is around 74 lions more than the list I have been using for most of these numbers)
So, where are the Kenyan lions?
The Massai Mara national park is found in Kenya. It has an estimated population of 850-900 (this is a lifetime dream location for many people interested in wildlife). Look up the Serengeti ecosystem, for links in this ecosystem. We hope to add far more over time.
Ambosseli national park hosts roughly 100 wild lions. It is a big 5 reserve, and even has cheetah and a few wild dog, making it an ecotourism big 7 reserve (something that many larger reserves cannot claim). This reserve is only 392 square km. The Tsavo Amboselli ecosystem is thought to have roughly 675, thought these numbers are estimates, and it is unclear how accurate they are. While this whole ecosystem is very large, parts like Tsavo West are not good for animals like lion, which means that their density is likely to be higher than these numbers would suggest.
Niarobi national park has roughly 35 lions. It should be noted, that the range of the lions is thought to be around 400 square km, which is almost 3 times the size of the park at 140 square km. This park is odd. Once opening to the open savannah, the suburbs have expanded, and now largely completely surround it. Never-the-less, there is few other places in Africa where you can see lions with skyscrappers in the background. This reserve has 4 of the big 5 (missing elephants)
Hells gate national park is tiny, at half the size of the Niarobi national park. It was a big 5 reserve in the 1950s, and there is a suggestion that there are still a handful of lions, but not more than this. It is one of quite a few national parks, split by relatively short distances of human settlement, but it might as well be the other side of the moon, for the abillity for most small animals to move between.
The Abadares mountains national park still has a few lions, though it is unclear how many. In 2000 100-200 lions were killed to help a local antelope on the verge of extinction to survive.
Lake nakuru national park has a small lion population. A 2018 survey counted just 16, even though earlier surveys had counted 60. I have personal history here, as this was the first African wilderness that I visited.
Meru national park has an estimated 76 wild lions. It covers 870 square km (340 square miles)
Mount Kenya National Park is 715 square kilometers (276 square miles) in size. Despite its relatively small size, it is a big 5 reserve, though leopard and rhino are both rarely seen.
Samburu Nature reserve has a population of 40-50 lions, alongside all of the big 5 (and both species of African rhino). Cheetah are found, and even wild dog.
Ruma National park has lions leopards and cheetah (though the lion and leopard are very hard to see) the last roan of Kenya survive in this national park, but only 19 or so are still there.
Kora national park is another ecotourism big 7 reserve. While the number of lion is hard to ascertain is the place where George Adamson worked in the 1970s. George Adamson, (husband of Joy Adamson – author of Born free along with many other books) his brother Terence, and Tony Fitzjohn worked together to rehabilitate lions and leopards in the park from 1971–1988. How easy it is too see wild lions is unclear, but well worth a visit.
Shimba hills nature reserve
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Buffalo Springs National Reserve
Mount Elgon National ParkÂ
Shaba National Reserve
Chyulu Hills 250 lions
Marsabit National Park
Sibiloi National Park claims to have lions (though a survey from 2020 found none)
Malka Mari National Park has lions in its 1500 square km area this is another Ecotourism big 7
There are also likely a wide array of private reserves that are linked to these above, and perhaps even private reserves off on their own that are likely to host lions. I hope to grow the links as fast as possible
Lions in Malawi are restricted to two regions of the country.Â
Lions are present in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but their population is threatened by human activities. There population is down to 211 from around 1600 in the 1970s. There is definitely space for this population to grow – but these are the current known lion habitats
The Ishasha River valley is a good place to see lions, hippos, elephants, and buffalo. However, the population of lions in the valley has been reduced by poaching, land invasion, and conflict. The lions in this area are known for their tree-climbing habits.
In the 1990s, this park was considered a lion stronghold, but by 2014, no lions were recorded there, making the population locally extinct. Â
There is physical evidence of lions in this reserve, but there is no estimate of the population density or distribution.Â
Ethiopia is thought to have roughly 200-300 remaining lions (though there are sources which claim as much as 800 lions). It should be noted, that Ethiopia once hosted a separate subspecies, however, only 8 of these survive and all live in a zoo.
Truly wild lion populations within Ethiopia include
Alatash National Park: In 2016, an international research team led by Oxford University conservationist Hans Bauer discovered a previously unknown lion population in Alatash National Park, which is located near the border with Sudan. The team used camera traps to capture images of lions and footprints, and estimated that there were between 100 and 200 lions in the area.
Kafa biosphere reserve: In southwest Ethiopia, there are around 25 lions in the Kafa biosphere reserve. However, little is known about the lions, including whether they are resident year-round or just migrate through.
Other areas where lions have been spotted include Boma-Gambella, South Omo, Welmel-Genale, Ogaden, and Awash. I have listed them below. I should add, that I have included the number of lions each area claims, however, they cannot possibly be correct, as if you add them up, you get a number of roughly 4000, which would give Ethiopia a lion population second only to Tanzania
Awash Valley and Gambella areas: These areas have seen an increase in human-lion conflict and retaliatory killings by local communities.Â
 Boma-Gambella: This area has a population estimate of 500 lions.Â
 South Omo: This area has a population estimate of 200 lions.Â
 Welmel-Genale: This area has a population estimate of 100 lions.Â
 Ogaden: This area has a population estimate of 100 lions.Â
 Bale: This area has a population estimate of 2,373 lions. This is highly questionable. The park is 2200 square km (850 square miles) and even with an average density of one lion for every 5 square miles, this would require of over 10,000 square miles of unprotected land to be protected. It should be noted, that these lion are famous as the black maned lions. The largely recognized figure, is around 50 lions in this area.Â
Nechisar: This area has a population estimate of 1,030 lions. This is also completely rubbish, as the park is only around 400 square miles, and it is thought that its carrying capacity is roughly 23. Only 4 lions have been visually identified.
This does not suggest that lions within Ethiopia are particularly secure, but they are clearly better than a range of other places. We dont currently list any of these places to visit, but are eager to in the future – if you work in out of these areas do get in touch.
Chad is thought to have a wild lion population of roughly 200.
Sena Oura national park was in the news in the recent past, for a lion being seen for the first time in 20 years (click here to read our article on this news from the time).
Zakouma National Park is home to popular predators including a more significant lion population, as well as hyenas and leopard, but also large herds of central African savannah buffalo, elephant, and endemic species such as the pale fox and the kordofan giraffe.
The central African republic has an estimated 50 lions remaining, with 30 residing in the Chinko Nature Reserve.
Other reserves claiming wild lions in the country (population estimates have to be taken with a large pinch of salt, as various reserves claim healthy lion population, which would dwarf the whole country population – still, I hope to add these destinations in the future) include:
The wild dog is thought to have become locally extinct in Cameroon in recent years
Image source Burrard-Lucas Photography Before 1992, as well as the Lions and Cheetah, there were huge packs of African Wild Dog (also called African Hunting Dogs) that would follow the...
Why are these birds having population collapse?
are all disappearing rapidly. Indeed, a study of 42 species, 90% had seen significant declines, with...
There are three species of elephant, the African savanna elephant, African forest elephant and the Asian elephant.Â
With the African species, Forest elephants have declined 86% between 1986 and 2015, African Bush elephants declined 60% 1965 and 2015 leaving just over 400,000.Â
One of the other issues with poaching is that elephants are very intelligent, and can communicate over long distances. As a result if for instance an elephant is killed in the north of the Kruger, elephants hundreds of miles south will become far more aggressive towards humans and cars. This in turn reduces the number of tourists that are willing to visit the reserve.
Perhaps one encouraging fact, is that the African savannah elephant has enough space for a far larger population if only poaching can come to an end. It is also a simple fact, that any reserve with elephants (like lions) can attract visitors- provided it is well run.
A herd of elephants left their home in March of 2020, and have been roaming free for the last 15 months. In that time they
Apart fro areas of the Congo and Amazon rainforests, and areas of Siberia canada and the Sahara, virtually all other ecosystems have been adversely affected.
In many countries around the world, some conservation success can lead to problems. In Africa halting elephant poaching can lead to rocketing populations, which in
Ivory, sometimes known as white gold is a real problem. Often valued as much as gold, the rewards for killing a wild elephant can amount
Unfortunately, in many parts of the world wild animals and humans are coming closer and closer in where they live. Due to our wasteful lifestyle,
From the top to the bottom, there are members of the force that are fighting to stop the wildlife trade, which are perpetuating it and
Cheetahs are the undisputed king of speed – at least over the relatively small distances. They are stunning animals, and any sighting is a memory to be treasured.
Cheetah numbered as much as 100,000 wild members just one century ago. Now there is just 7000-8000. What happened? Well a large part of their decline is down to habitat loss. Unlike other cats, cheetah thrive outside protected reserves. This is not because cheetah never get killed by farmers – there are certainly problems, and some will be killed, however compared to the problems that the cheetah have when pushed into small reserves which dont allow enough space to get away from lions and leopards. In South Africa, as much as half of the cheetah population (which is about 1000) live on farm land. Despite the fact that they kill very little livestock, and indeed can actually benefit farmers by eating vermin that might eat crops.
Generally, cheetah live at low densities (except in the best reserves- places like the Serengeti, where their sprint ability is so useful) for instance, the Kruger which is the size of Wales, tends to only have a 100-200 cheetah in the whole area.
This makes them hard to see in the wild. On the other hand, one of the benefits is that Cheetah tend to hunt in the day (they hunt by site) and as such, if you go out in after lunch when most wildlife are lying in the shade.
All this means, that there is definitely a possibility to greatly improve their wild numbers, through a combination of removing poaching, and reintroducing them to places where they existed in the past.       Â
There are currently 5 recognized subspecies of the cheetah, 4 in Africa, and the last few remaining in Iran.
Some of the biggest and most well protected Cheetah populations – to go and see them for yourself. We are eager to list any place with cheetah (in protected land or on other land). Click on list your wild place (on the home page) or click here
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It should be noted that adding up these estimates already exceed the African cheetah population, but this is the case with plenty of reserves – an overestimate in the number of the species in an area often makes people more willing to visit. Possibly as this website grows we might be able to help in correcting this.
The Saharan cheetah roams a large area around the fringes of the Saharan desert, and only has around 100 wild members at the current time.
Other species in the Cheetah lineage (it shares its clade with nothing else) include the Jaguarundi and the Mountain Lion
Alternatively, to visit the rest of the cat family click here.
Rajasthan madlyya Pradesh and Gujarat are all looking at potential sites were cheetah could be reintroduced. Given the precarious state of the cheetah population in
In South Africa, as much of the cheetah population as much of the cheetah population live either outside protected land or in reserves that are
Iran is an Islamic country in Asia and the people are not given much freedom, as they follow a strict version of Islam. In some
Size [usr 4.5] Facilities [usr 5] Range of animals [usr 5] Road quality [usr 4.5] Wildness [usr 3.5] Kruger is one of the few national parks in the world that
The first national park to be formed in Kenya would appear to be under threat. Consisting of only 45 square miles, it is unique around the world as the wilderness comes deep into the city, allowing you to view many wild species with skyscrapers as a backdrop.
Wildlife populations have crashed in the last 70 or so years. In the past huge migrations would bring 30,000 wildebeest to visit each year, and animals such as zebra have had population falls of approaching 50% in just 9 years.
The Northern white rhino, an animal that existed in the DRC and parts of the world like that, still had numbers of about 2000 in the 1980s. Unfortunately there are now only two.
Humans are belatedly trying to do something about this, and have managed to create 5 seemingly viable northern white rhino embryos.
These can then be put in the surrogate Southern white rhino mothers, giving the ability to increase the population from the current 2, to a potential 7.
Continue reading “5 viable northern white rhino embryos have been created”
Will  Burrard Lucas,  a British wildlife photographer, has taken the wildlife jackpot shot and managed to photograph a wild black leopard in Africa, in Laikipia Wilderness Camp in Kenya.
Her took the photo in Kenya, on a camera trap he had set up. Black leopards (as with jaguars, servals, tigers and other cats) are normal leopards which have an extremely rare recessive gene. Given that the gene in question is recessive it is rare that a leopard would have both parents carrying the recessive gene and so ends up black.
In specific parts of the world, Â black leopards are far less rare – on the Malaysian peninsula as much as half of the leopards are black. However, these leopards live in dark jungles which means there is more dark shadows for the leopards top hide in. This means that there is a higher advantage for black leopards, making them more likely to have many young.
While leopards are active mostly at night, and therefore black leopards can be easier camouflaged, for savannah leopards they need to be able to hide during the day. Although they mostly lie up a tree during the day, a black leopard is more visible.