In our previous article, we discussed how the crowding of safari cars is causing stress to certain species of wildlife in Kenya’s Maasai Mara. As wildlife conservationists, this news is obviously distressing. However, in our article from last week, we tried to frame this upsetting news within the fact that tourism is still one of the best forms of protection for African animals.
Have a read of that article if you want to see that argument fleshed out in full.
We also touched on one of the suggestions that is being made as a solution to this problem of car crowding.
The Maasai Mara and Serengeti, when combined, form a truly huge ecosystem. The Serengeti’s 30,000 square kilometres dwarf the Mara’s 1,500 but both are expansive.
In fact, even the Mara is large enough that its tourists might drive for hours without encountering another vehicle. It is still an area of the world that can, in parts, feel edge of map.
Why then are arguments of overcrowding so easily backed up by photographs of eight-car convoys surrounding a pride of Lion or a known Leopard haunt?
The reason for this is the average tourist’s fascination with a hangover from a hobby they’d, most of them, largely condemn. Seeing each of the animal species that comprises the ‘Big Five’s is often seen as the benchmark of a successful safari. This is the reason why tour companies and safari operators rush to known watering holes or head toward already grouping vehicles.
The tourist’s obsession with the ‘Big Five’ drives the build-up of these congestion points.
The ‘Big Five’
The original ‘Big Five’ consisted of Elephant, Rhino, Cape Buffalo, Lion and Leopard. And they were classified together as being the most dangerous African animals to hunt on foot.
As the times have changed, as the hunting of African wildlife has lost its mainstream appeal and we started to think of these animals as the pinnacle of a safari’s must-sees, the Cheetah has replaced the fairly common Cape Buffalo.
However, that is the only alteration we seem to have made to this obsession with the Big Five. Safari-goers still, in their evaluative post-safari comments to family and friends, often speak of seeing everything when all five of these animals have been captured by their cameras.
They’ll also, some of them, hang their heads in disappointment if they failed to find the five. Sheepish, perhaps, they’ll keep their phones or cameras in pockets or bags if all that they can prove is a site of a giraffe’s grazing or a hippo’s sunning itself on a brown bank.
Why the fascination with the ‘Big Five’ persists and how we can change it, for the sake of these animals:
The replacement of the Cape Buffalo with the Cheetah poses an interesting question: what is it that makes seeing the ‘Big Five’ so appealing?
Cheetah are certainly not as dangerous as Buffalo. And, from their vehicles, wielding cameras instead of rifles, danger really isn’t so much on the mind of the modern ‘Big Five’ chaser. So, why the replacement?
Is it because Cheetah are harder to spot, less frequently seen? Is the fascination with the ‘Big Five’ about chasing status, looking for the icons of the African Savannah? Is it about looking for the, admittedly interpretational, lookers of the plains, are we looking for the majestic?
These are the sort of questions we should be asking ourselves because, in asking them, we realise this obsession for what it is: storied, yes, but now outdated. Each of Africa’s varied animal species have traits that stand it apart. Some are dangerous, some are beautiful, some are hard to find.
If these are the reasons behind why we search for the fabled five, then – in the interest of diverting tourists to other areas of Africa’s parks – we suggest not that we stop being interested with Africa’s animals but rather that we broaden our interest base.
Below, we’ve comprised new lists, new ‘Big Fives’. We’ve also added a little information about why these creatures make their lists and, in doing so, we hope to encourage a little intrigue in these creatures.
It is our hope that learning about the lesser known will not only attract tourists away from the African savannah’s icons but also encourage renewed efforts toward the conservation of the more alternative animals.
Alternative ‘Big Fives’ based on new criteria
Most dangerous ‘Big Five’:
For some reason, part of the appeal of safari is the proximity shared by the safari-goer with real, untampered danger. Perhaps that is part of why the obsession with the ‘Big Five’ persists. There are few experiences more chilling, and enlivening, than looking into a wild animal’s eyes.
The creatures below are some of Africa’s biggest killers, and, with the exception of our, admittedly tongue-in-cheek, final suggestion, seeing any of them in their natural environment is chilling.
- Hippopotamus
- Nile crocodile
- Black mamba snake
- Cape Buffalo
- Mosquito
Most elusive ‘Big Five’:
In the most elusive ‘Big Five’ there are a fair few antelope entries. Antelope are seldom given the attention they deserve. Often disregarded as the food of the creatures tourists have really come to see, this grouping of species boasts some of the most interesting adaptations, some true beauties and some incredibly diverse modes of existence.
The Greater Kudu is elusive because it often calls hilly, densely-foresting areas home. The wild, or painted, dogs are similarly publicity averse, as well as being endangered in Kenya.
The Roan and Sable are added because, though they are populous in parts of southern Africa, only very small groups of them have migrated into Kenyan borders.
Hirola, like the Black Rhino, are critically endangered and seeing either of these species in the wild would be an incredible privilege and well worth the search.
- Greater Kudu
- Roan & Sable antelope
- Hirola
- Wild dogs
- Black rhino
Most beautiful ‘Big Five’
Beauty is, of course, in the eye of the beholder. However, there are some inarguable stunners on the savannah and very few of them grab the audiences they should. We’ve gone for a range of creatures here, and they each embody different aspects of the aesthetic.
Few can argue that the Zebra’s iconic stripes aren’t beautiful. Any who have lain eyes on the Impala’s graceful gait and its minimalist two-tone coat or the lilac-breasted Roller’s gaudy colours know that these species deserve their place here.
The Oryx gets the nod because of the scimitar curve to its horns and the equestrian grace to its full-tilt sprint. Go on; just google baby Bat-eared Fox.
- Lilac-breasted Roller
- Zebra
- Impala
- Oryx
- Bat-eared Fox