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| Safari quick guide
If you want to bring a
short species list on your safari, you may download and print our
quick guide, which contains species lists for mammals and birds, plus
general information on safari-going.
More
about the quick guide | |
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| Books on wildlife
There are good books in
English covering the East African wildlife. There are books on mammals,
birds, reptiles etc.
More about
wildlife books | |
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| Wildlife & nature: |
| List: Mammals of East Africa |
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| The species list below contains the most common East
African mammals, i.e. the mammals you may see during a normal safari in Kenya
or Tanzania.
All species listed may not be found in all parks,
but if you visit a few different good parks, you have a good chance seeing most of them.
All mammals in Kenya and Tanzania
For a complete list of mammal species found in East Africa, see Species
list: All mammals.
All mammals in Africa
For a list of all mammals in Africa, download this
rtf file.
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Carnivores
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| Ke: |
Kenya |
| Tz: |
Tanzania |
| Rare: |
You need good luck to see this species. |
| Nocturnal |
Active at night, usually not seen in daytime. |
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| Cats |
| lion |
The most common cat |
| cheetah |
|
| leopard |
|
| serval cat |
|
| wild cat |
Nocturnal |
| caracal |
Rare |
| Dogs and allies |
| black-backed jackal, silver-backed jackal |
The most common jackal |
| golden jackal |
|
| side-striped jackal |
Nocturnal |
| wild dog, hunting dog |
S Tz, rare elsewhere |
| bat-eared fox |
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| Hyaenids |
| spotted hyaena |
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Mongoose & genets
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| banded mongoose |
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| dwarf mongoose |
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| marsh mongoose |
Rare, seen by water |
| slender mongoose |
|
| white-tailed mongoose |
Nocturnal |
| common genet, small-spotted genet |
Nocturnal |
| Mustelids |
| ratel, honey badger |
Nocturnal |
| African clawless otter |
Rare, seen by water |
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Ungulates – hoofed mammals
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| Proboscids – elephants |
| African elephant |
|
| Hyraxes |
| yellow-spotted bush hyrax |
The most common hyrax |
| black-necked rock hyrax |
|
| aardvark, ant bear |
Nocturnal |
| Odd-toed ungulates |
| common zebra |
|
| Grevy's zebra |
N Ke |
| black rhino |
Ngorongoro in Tz and Lake Nakuru in Ke, rare elsewhere |
| white rhino |
Lake Nakuru in Ke, rare elsewhere |
| Even-toed ungulates |
| hippo |
|
| warthog |
|
| masai giraffe |
Tz and S Ke |
| reticulated giraffe |
N Ke |
| Rotschild's giraffe |
Lake Nakuru in Ke |
| African buffalo |
|
| beisa oryx |
N Ke |
| fringe-eared oryx |
NETz and SE Ke |
| Bohor reedbuck |
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| common waterbuck |
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| Defassa waterbuck |
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| impala |
|
| kongoni, hartebeest |
|
| roan antelope |
S Tz |
| sable antelope |
S Tz, Shimba Hills in Ke |
| topi |
|
| wildebeest |
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| bongo |
Aberdares and Mt Kenya in Ke |
| bushbuck |
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| eland |
|
| greater kudu |
S Tz, Lake Bogoria in Ke |
| lesser kudu |
E and C Ke and Tz |
| Kirk's dikdik |
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| klipspringer |
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| steinbuck, steenbok |
S Ke, N Tz |
| gerenuk |
N and E Ke, NETz |
| Grant’s gazelle |
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| Thomson's gazelle |
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Primates – monkeys etc
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| Prosimians (primitive primates) |
| bushbaby |
Nocturnal |
| Monkeys |
| blue monkey |
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| vervet monkey |
|
| olive baboon |
Mainly N Tz and SW Ke |
| yellow baboon |
Where olive baboon is not present |
| Angola black-and-white colobus |
The coast |
| eastern black-and white colobus |
Highlands and W Ke |
| Zanzibar red colobus |
Zanzibar |
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Small mammals
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| Squirrels |
| bush squirrel |
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| ground squirrel |
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| Hares |
| Cape hare |
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| spring hare |
Nocturnal |
| Porcupines |
| crested porcupine |
Nocturnal |
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Sources
The list above is based on knowledge and several sources, of which the most important
one is The Kingdon field guide to African
Mammals by Jonathan Kingdon, the best modern book on African mammals; if you
are seriously interested in mammal wildlife you should bring a copy on your safari.
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