African big five and primate’s safari, African Big Five considered as the animals that are had to hunt, big 5 animals are also known as the animals that roam and rule the African jungles and wild plains which is a lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino, and elephant. African Big Five originally and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt from the wild. Seeing the primates and Big Five animals in the African wild have become the goal of almost every tourist visiting East Africa, Big five animals are one of the most dangerous but also the most popular species in Africa.
Lions are considered King of the Jungle for dominating stance and glare will unnerve any soul entering lions kingdom, while African elephant’s size and its gentle nature is a humbling experience of Africa, viewing rhinos in its natural habitat is considered as a rare privilege to different tourists visiting Africa, today rhinos are considered as endangered unique beauty which will leave you in awe. Leopards are often hidden in the lush trees; the leopard’s beautiful spotted pelts and deep green eyes are amazing. Lastly, buffalo is a prime game species in the African wild and its presence will leave you with respect for their pivotal role in the Cycle of Life in (Wild) nature world.
When we talk about the African primates are mainly mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, and golden monkeys so the combination of African Big five animals and primate’s safari is a complete African wildlife adventure safari. Kisoro tours Uganda will organize for you a combined safari of African Big five and primates in East African jungles
African wild is unpredictable to some extend that sometimes Nature does may not cater or meet your expectations so not everyone will have the chance/opportunity to see/spot the Big 5 animals, choosing the African Big Five and primate safari give the highest chance of viewing these magnificent animals, however, once you enter the national parks you have to respect the rhythm and space.
The African big five
The African Lion: They live in groups called pride; a pride consists of the related females with their cubs. The African lion is the biggest cat, males can start to develop thick manes on the neck and on its shoulders when it is at about 2 years old, African lions live in the African savannah grasslands national parks which provide cover and camouflage.
The African Leopard: it is the champion of athlete among the Big five, most big cats can pull five times as much force as the same weight of the human athletes while the leopard can pull seven times as hard.
Normally Leopards search for their food at night, hiding their catch in trees but they can as well eat different animals including birds, mice, fish, and big animals like antelopes.
African Leopard can live in the African savannah grassland, highland forests, and woodlands, here in Uganda Leopards are best viewed at Murchison Falls National Park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, and Kidepo Valley National Park.
The African Elephant: It is the biggest animal on land and Males are larger than females, they are herbivorous, little hair on the skin and upper incisors forming long curved tusks of ivory. Elephants can drink up 200 littles of water per day and eat up to 450 kg of vegetation per day. African Elephants can live in both savannah– Forest Savanna and Mountain Forests.
The African Cape Buffalo: It is a long heavily built body with short thickset legs, Males are bigger than females, African buffaloes have a dark brown coat, African buffalo Male’s horns are widely curved with a spread out of about 1m wide and thicker than the female horns. The African Buffalo is considered as one of the most dangerous among the big five, in many occasion lions has been killed by buffalo when lions are trying to hunt the buffalo.
The African White Rhinoceros: It is bigger and bulkier than Black Rhinos, white rhino also has a distinctive hump on the neck, they have two upright horns on the nose bridge with a wide mouth used for grazing, and the African white rhino is one of the most social among all rhino species. A full-grown white males rhino has 2.6 tonnes while females have 1.7 tonnes. Here in Uganda White rhinos can only be seen in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Kisoro tours Uganda will combine your African big five and primate’s safari at an affordable price
The Primates of Africa
Mountain Gorilla: As its name implies, mountain gorillas live in forests high in the mountains of East Africa at elevations of about 8,000 to 13,000 feet. Mountain gorillas have thicker fur compared to other great apes, the fur helps gorillas to survive in its natural habitat where temperatures often cool. Mountain Gorillas display uncanny human characteristics, mountain gorillas lives in the close-knit family/groups like humans headed by a mature male (silverback)
Uganda’s Bwindi forests and in Mgahinga national park is home to more than half of the world’s 1,064 of mountain gorillas as of May 2018 census, other mountain gorillas live in Volcanoes national park of Rwanda and in Virunga national park of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Uganda Gorilla Permit booking can be booked directly with Uganda Wildlife Authority in Kampala head office through reputable Tour operator like us Kisoro tours Uganda infects the recommended easy way of acquiring gorilla Permit in either Uganda, Rwanda, and DR Congo is through a local tour operator and permits can be booked up to two years in advance.
African Chimpanzee: Like humans, chimpanzees are highly social animals and can live to be up 50. chimpanzees are our closest cousins and we share about 98% DNA. Chimpanzees spend most of their time in the treetops and when they do come down they can walk on their legs like humans, they use sticks to fish termites out of mounds and bunches of leaves to sop up drinking water.
Chimpanzees are found only in Africa; chimpanzees are an extremely wide-ranging and cosmopolitan species and live in a variety of habitats, most chimpanzees can be found in primary African tropical rainforest, with others living in African
secondary forests and open woodlands. Like many non-human primates in the wild, chimpanzees spend most of their waking hours searching for, handling and ingesting food. Chimpanzees are highly eclectic and catholic feeders and eat a variety of foods including different vegetative, plants, fruits and leaves, and others on animals, however, chimpanzees prefer ripe fruit, eating significantly more ripe fruit than do other fruit-eating primates with whom they live with or related to.
African Golden Monkey: Africa is a primates paradise ranging from mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, golden monkeys, baboons, and many monkeys, personally I know one primate species that stands out which is the golden monkey, Very rare and elusive, tracking the golden monkey in Africa can be only done in two East African countries which Uganda and Rwanda, golden monkey trek is very interesting and adventurous. African habituated golden monkeys can only be seen in either Mgahinga gorilla national park located in southwestern Uganda which has the highest population of golden monkeys in African and in the whole World. African golden monkey tracking is not popular as mountain gorillas tracking but it is exciting, all the same, the other place where you can see them in Volcanoes national park of Rwanda.
Golden monkeys are one more animal you need to see on your African safari adventure and many other exciting activities like a mountain gorilla, chimpanzee tracking, bird watching, mountain hiking tours, boat cruise white water rafting among other exciting and interesting activities. for more information about the African big five and primate’s safari contact us via email or on the phone