10 Most Seen Animals And Where To Spot Them On Your Tanzania Safari!
10 Most Seen Animals And Where To Spot Them On Your Tanzania Safari! Tanzania is a lovely place with beautiful beaches, interesting archaeological sites, religiously important ancient monuments, breathtaking scenery, and, of course, great safaris and lovely animals.
This is because Tanzania has so many amazing wildlife shows, like elephant herds, the yearly wildebeest migration, wildlife reserves, and more. It is one of the most popular places in the world for safaris.
It is a truly amazing place to visit, especially if you want to see as much wildlife as possible.
Among the most well-known animals in Tanzania are five that are known. as “The Five Big.”
In Tanzania, this group is thought to be at the very top of the natural order of things in the animal world. They are in charge of the food chain.
They are deadly, dangerous, and hard to catch.
These are the “Big Five”:
A lion
Rhinos
Leopards
Buffalo Capes
The elephant
Remember that even though these species are the most important animals in Tanzania, some are harder to find than others. Because of this, some people will make this list and some will not.
So, let’s take a look at ten of the most common animals in Tanzania that you are sure to see on safari, along with tips on where to find them.
1. A lion
You can’t go on a trek in Tanzania and not see a lion or two (or twelve!).
The number of lions in Tanzania is about 16,000. Living together in a group called a pride, which has between six and twelve lionesses, three male lions, and several cubs, they are very social animals.
Because they need to feed their cubs, the lionesses hunt. The males claim their territory by making it theirs and beating up any other dominant male lions that are nearby.
Some of the best places in Tanzania to see lions
A National Park in Serengeti
Crater of Ngorongoro
The Manyara Lake
The park of Mikumi
The park of Ruaha
2. The elephant
One of the famous “big five” animals in Tanzania is the African elephant. They are easy to spot because they are the biggest land animal in the world!
Asiatic elephants are much smaller than these elephants. Their ears are one thing that makes them stand out because of how big they are.
Fully grown African elephants can weigh up to six and a half tons, which is about 15,000 pounds. They are also the heaviest land animals.
In the same way that lions do, elephants are very social and live in groups.
Elephant groups can be very big; sometimes you can see more than a hundred elephants living together in one group.
Low-frequency sounds help these groups of elephants talk to each other even when they are miles apart. The female elephants lead the groups.
Most of the time, the females in the group stay with their own families their whole lives. Younger men, on the other hand, often break away from their group to form bachelorettes.
They will stay with these groups until they reach the age where they can start their own flocks.
Some of the best places in Tanzania to see elephants
A National Park in Serengeti
Crater of Ngorongoro
National Park of Tarangire
The park of Mikumi
The park of Ruaha
National Park of Nyerere
3. Buffalo Cape
The Cape Buffalo is the next animal in Tanzania’s “Big Five.”
The Cape Buffalo, which is also known as the African Buffalo, is a unique top animal because it is a cow, which goes against what most people think.
Cape Buffaloes are animals that really don’t let you judge them by how they look. When they feel threatened, they become fierce, dangerous, and very strong.
To make this point even clearer, these Tanzanian animals are thought to be the most dangerous to hunt in Africa!
The Cape Buffalo’s main enemy is the lion, which is one of the “Big Five animal species.” When lions hunt these dangerous animals, they use tactical tactics because they are so dangerous.
Lions are most afraid of these bulls because of their thick, curved, and sharp horns on their heads. These horns are so strong that they can’t be hit by a bullet.
Remember that the Cape Buffalo is a dangerous animal, even if they seem calm.
The best places in Tanzania to see Cape Buffalo
A National Park in Serengeti
Crater of Ngorongoro
National Park of Arusha
The park of Mikumi
The park of Ruaha
The National Park of Katavi
National Park of Nyerere
4. Hippos
The hippos are beautiful, big animals that have a distinctive round shape, and they love the water very much. Visit places in Tanzania near rivers and swamps, like the swamps in Tarangire National Park or the crater lake in Ngorongoro. These are the best places to see them.
These amazing animals from Tanzania have to stay buried in water for a big part of the day to keep their skin cool and moist. They are often called aquatic because they can be in the water for up to sixteen hours a day, which is crazy.
Hippos are very social animals, so they have a lot of words that describe groups of hippos. A group of hippos is sometimes called a “school,” a “siege,” a “bloat,” or a “pod.”
There are usually both male and female hippos in these groups, and the number of people in each group can range from ten to thirty.
Having said that, some hippos groups can have up to 200 member!
Hippopotami are known for both their huge size and their amazing singing skills.
It is amazing that some of their calls have been caught at 115 decibels, which makes them very loud animals. Their unique sound, which is sometimes called the “wheeze honk,” can be heard more than a half mile away, adding to their image as one of the noisiest animals.
These sounds are how they talk to each other as hippos.
Remember to stay away from hippos at all times! Even though they are pretty, people think they are dangerous because they are violent.
They will attack any threat with their sharp tusks and big teeth, even people.
Some of the best places in Tanzania to see hippos
A National Park in Serengeti
Crater of Ngorongoro
National Park of Tarangire
The park of Ruaha
The National Park of Katabi
National Park of Nyerere
5. Gazelles
Even though they move quickly, the gazelle is the animal you are most likely to see on your Tanzania tour because it is so common.
One interesting thing about gazelles is how fast they move. This is why they are often called the “swift deer” of the plains.
Because they are moving so fast, they can quickly change directions while running and not lose any speed.
Around 97 kilometers per hour is the fastest that gazelles have been seen running. For the most part, gazelles keep moving at a steady speed of 50 kilometers per hour.
There are many kinds of antelopes, but gazelles are one of the smallest. They can be anywhere from 60 to 110 cm tall.
Gazelles come in a lot of different types, such as the ones below:
This is the most well-known type of gazelle. It is also called the tommie.
The dama gazelle is from Africa. The Sahel area and the Saharan desert are home to this animal. There aren’t many of these gazelles left in the world.
The rhim gazelle lives in deserts, like those in Egypt, Sudan, and Algeria. You might also call these gazelles African sand gazelles.
The Dorcas gazelle lives in the Sahara and northern Africa. They live in places with grass.
For the red-fronted gazelle, its home area is from northeastern Ethiopia to the middle of Africa. It lives in wooded savannas and dry grasslands.
The chinkara gazelle lives in India, Pakistan, or Iran. It likes to live in light woods, deserts, hills, and dry plains.
Speke’s gazelle is another type of gazelle that lives in Africa. It is found on the peninsula of the Horn of Africa. This type of gazelle is the tiniest, and it can live in both places with rocky brush and places that are almost desert-like.
Some of the best places in Tanzania to see gazelles
A National Park in Serengeti
Crater of Ngorongoro
The Manyara Lake
National Park of Tarangire
The park of Mikumi
The park of Ruaha
National Park of Nyerere
6. A cheetah
A cheetah is known for being the fastest animal in the world. They are one of the most interesting animals you might see in Tanzania while on safari.
The East African cheetah is the only type of cheetah that lives in Tanzania. You can see them all over the Serengeti.
They are from Tanzania, and their fur can be whitish-yellow to tan. It is the palest color of any cheetah species. They also have dark spots all over, except for their white bellies.
Cheetahs are known for having unique eye markings. They have dark lines that look like teardrops that start at the corner of their eyes and go down to the edge of their mouth.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says that the Tanzanian cheetah is endangered because of habitat loss, hunting, and high cub mortality rates. You can find them in scrub forests, savannas, and grasslands.
Some of the best places in Tanzania to see cheetahs
A National Park in Serengeti
Crater of Ngorongoro
The National Park of Katavi
7. A giraffe
The Masai Giraffe is the only type of giraffe that lives in Tanzania. They are the national animal of Tanzania, so you will definitely find them.
When they are fully grown, adult giraffes can reach an amazing 20 feet in length, making them the biggest animals that live on land.
When it comes to where they live, giraffes usually hang out in woods, open grasslands, and scrublands. This is because they can eat from the tall trees in these places.
When it comes to food, they eat tree fruits, flowers, stems, and leaves because they have long necks.
Aside from being tall and having that neck, they are also different because they have jagged brown spots on their bodies.
From the top of their legs down to their feet, these spots can be seen all over their bodies.
Another species whose numbers have dropped is the giraffe. This is mostly because of problems like disease, illegal shooting and poaching, and losing their habitat.
This animal is also one of the most threatened in Tanzania, along with the rhino and the cheetah.
Some of the best places in Tanzania to see giraffes
A National Park in Serengeti
The Manyara Lake
National Park of Tarangire
National Park of Arusha
The park of Mikumi
The park of Ruaha
National Park of Nyerere
8. The Nile Crocodile
The Nile Crocodile is a type of wildlife that you may see in Tanzania because their numbers are growing.
Also, you shouldn’t get too close to these crocs.
The crocodiles in this group are thought to be some of the scariest animals in Africa because they can grow up to four meters long and weigh up to 450 kilos.
They are also known to have big appetites, which is another reason to stay away from these dangerous snakes!
This animal lives in rivers, freshwater swamps, big freshwater lakes, mangrove swamps, dams (usually the ones close to rivers), and ports on the coast.
People say that these crocodiles will attack and eat anything that gets too close to them.
As they can eat up to half of their body weight in one sitting, this can include both small and big animals.
Their bite is eight times stronger than a great white shark’s, which helps them kill bigger animals.
Similarly, you should stay away from the Nile Crocodile’s young because they are very protective and will keep an eye on them until they hatch.
As was already said, the number of Nile Crocodiles has grown, but this wasn’t always the case. In the 1950s and 1960s, they were killed for their skin, which caused their numbers to drop by a lot.
Where in Tanzania you can see Nile crocodiles the most
A National Park in Serengeti
Crater of Ngorongoro
The Manyara Lake
National Park of Tarangire
The park of Mikumi
9. The Burchell’s Zebra
The Burchell’s zebra is a subspecies of the classical plains zebra that lives in the south. It was named for the British naturalist and traveler William John Burchell.
You are likely to see a few of these zebras on your safari because they are popular in Tanzania’s reserves and national parks.
We all know that zebras have black and white stripes, but did you know that these stripes mean more than meets the eye?
The black or dark brown lines that make this animal famous are unique to each zebra, just like fingerprints are unique to each person.
Researchers think that the stripes on their bodies help them hide when they’re in groups, and some also think that the stripes can keep flies away that want to bite them.
Zebras live in groups called herds and are known to be social animals. In a bigger group, the female zebras will even form a small harem!
They are also from Africa and are a part of the amazing wildlife shows that happen in the Masai Mara and Serengeti. Every year, this event takes place from June to September. In search of green grass, like red oat grass, more than 1.5 million zebra and wildebeest move from the northern Serengeti area to the Masai Mara during the migration.
While on safari in Tanzania, you will most likely see the Burchell’s zebra. However, the Grevy’s zebra and the mountain zebra are also popular in Africa.
Sadly, both of these zebra types are thought to be in danger of going extinct.
Where in Tanzania you can see the Burchell’s Zebra the most?
A National Park in Serengeti
National Park of Tarangire
National Park of Arusha
The park of Mikumi
The park of Ruaha
The National Park of Katavi
National Park of Nyerere
10. Wildebeest in blue
There is a type of animal called the blue wildebeest, which you might find interesting. It is also called the brindled gnu.
A lot of people see blue wildebeests while they are on safari, just like other types of animals that live in Tanzania.
From far away, though, it’s easy to mistake them for buffalo because they have flattened horns and off-black fur.
But if you look more closely, you’ll see that the wildebeest is smaller than the buffalo and has a longer face like other antelopes.
Two million wildebeest take part in one of the biggest migrations of mammals in the world. It happens in the Serengeti environment and is very important to the wildebeest.
Along with them on this journey are animals from Tanzania like elands, gazelles, and zebras.
Between December and May, the wildebeest start to move into the southeast part of the Serengeti. This is when you can see this movement.
Then, they’ll make a column that can be up to 40 km long and cross the Grumeti River. This usually happens in late June or early July.
After going across this river, the animals will go into both the northern Serengeti and Kenya.
This goes on until October. After that, they’ll go back to the southern Serengeti.
When they get there around November, the whole process starts over again in December!
Where in Tanzania you can see blue wildebeest on the best
A National Park in Serengeti
Crater of Ngorongoro
The Manyara Lake
National Park of Tarangire
The park of Mikumi
The Ruaha National Park
When Nyerere was president,
Last Thoughts
These are ten animals that you are likely to see on safari in Tanzania, along with the places where you are most likely to see them.
There are some animals, like the cheetah, that are hard to find but can be found if you look hard enough.
Thanks for reading our guide. It should have given you a better idea of what animals you might see on your trip and where you should go to have the best chance of seeing them.
You will have a fun, exciting, and interesting safari in Tanzania as long as you respect the natural environment of all the animals you see.
