The Fantastic Five’s in the Wilderness

The Fantastic Five’s in the Wilderness

The Fantastic Five’s in the Wilderness. And this doesn’t mean that the other wildlife is not amazing. They just stand up from the rest. Just like in the human race, where we have the ordinary ones and the extra-ordinary ones. But they are all important and unique in their ways.

I think number 5 was a lucky number for conservationists who named this wildlife. They came up with the following groups:

The big five

• Lion
• Leopard
• Elephant
• Rhino
• Buffalo

The Little five

• Ant lion
• Leopard tortoise
• Elephant shrew
• Rhino Bettle
• Buffalo weaver

The Impossible five

• Aardvark
• Cape mountain leopard
• Pangolin
• Riverine rabbit
• White lion

The ugly five

• Hyena
• Wildebeest
• Vulture
• Marabou stork
• Warthog

The shy five

• Meerkat
• Aardvark
• Porcupine
• Aardwolf
• Bat-eared fox

The Five’s

They all relate to the given name, as it describes their behavior somehow.

It’s a shame that we have all been concentrating on the big five and forget to enjoy what the rest have to offer. Just like it was extremely difficult for the hunters to corner the big five. Sometimes they can prove difficult to spot them during a safari game drive. I remember meeting someone, who was bitter for not being able to see all the big five. And through his bitterness, complained of only see grass.

What they failed to let him know, was that timing is extremely important in any game drive. Conservation areas are not shopping malls which are open 24hours and you will mostly get what you are looking for. In the conservation areas, wildlife goes on with their lives like we don’t exist in their existence. The nocturnal ones will continue hiding during the day, the hunting ones will always notify us and hide before we, etc.

It’s their home, they know it more than we do. For best experience is to go by the shared knowledge by those who took their time to learn wildlife behaviors.

Conclusion

Every wildlife is unique and worth getting to know them. They all have something amazing to offer.

Invest quality time to understand about the wildlife you are about to visit. Their active hours, water points, grazing land/hunting ground, etc. All these will help you get to spot most wildlife during your visit.