Serengeti Wildlife to see on your Safari

The Serengeti is famous for its Big Five sightings including elephants, leopards, buffaloes, lions and rhinos. Although rhinos are admittedly rare and can only be seen in certain areas of the park.

Serengeti is one of the best places to see lions in the wild as they swagger across the plains in great prides, the park is also home to over two million ungulates including zebras, Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelles, topi, eland, hartebeests, impalas, waterbucks, reedbucks, dik-dik, giraffes, buffaloes and wildebeests. This means predators like hyenas, cheetahs and wild dogs are present in impressive numbers as they keenly follow their prey.

When starting to plan a Serengeti Safari, it is likely you will have the Great Migration in mind as the bulk of it takes place within the Serengeti. The second-largest land mammal migration on Earth, this never-ending journey sees over 1.5 million wildebeests, zebras and gazelles moving through the Serengeti and the Masai Mara in Kenya in search of water and fresh grasses to graze on. This enormous annual event includes heart- wrenching river crossings in the north at the Mara River, tender calvings in the southern plains and enthralling scenes of thick columns of wildebeest winding their way across the landscape in the west and central areas.

As you explore, it is worth keeping your eyes out for the Serengeti’s lesser-known wildlife. A very rare sight of stripped hyenas can be seen on the late-afternoon or night game drives in the Central Serengeti, particularly around the Seronera area. The Seronera Valley is also known to host the wild caracal cat. The unexpectedly black and white colobus monkeys can be spotted in the tree lines in northern Serengeti and along the Grumeti River.

During the Great Migration, Beisa Oryx can be seen throughout the central and southern Serengeti, where they graze alongside their fellow herbivores.

The Serengeti may be famous for its larger-than life animals. The park is also home to a prolific array of birdlife. The park is part of one of Africa’s Endemic Bird Areas, with over 500 known species of birdlife including the grey-breasted spurfowl, Fischer’s lovebird, the rufous-tailed weaver, Usambiro barbet and grey-crested helmet shrike. Other twitching ‘specials’ include the Schalow’s turaco, the southern ground hornbill, yellow- throated sandgrouse, green-backed woodpecker and Verreaux’s eagle among others.

A variety of brightly-colored migratory birds are present from November to April, keep your binoculars ready for birdlife that can be spotted soaring across the sky or zipping from branch to branch at any moment.

There is never a bad time to spot wildlife in Serengeti, however the rainy season is not the best of times for spot wildlife as the rivers and waterholes fill up and produce endless swathes of greenery for animals to snack on, making the wildlife more widespread.

This is however, a fantastic time for wildlife photography as the air is clear, the colors are vivid and many birds have donned their breeding plumage. The Serengeti is at its busiest (peak season) between June and September, when the dry season has arrived, meaning wildlife is more congregated around the water holes making for incredible wildlife scenes. The iconic river crossings of the Great Migration also takes place between July and September, which are a highlight for many safari goers.

Serengeti is vast which makes it ideal to split it into different sectors during your Serengeti Safari. Each of these regions have their own ecological make-up and wildlife highlights.

This region of Serengeti is blessed with diverse animals including herds of elephants and buffaloes and other thousands of plains game. Between December and March, the area plays host to the Great Migration and over a two week period calving where around 500,000 wildebeests, zebras, gazelles and impala calves are born. If you visit at this time, you will watch the tiny gnus take their first tottering steps and feed on the fresh shoot, while big cats seek out lunch with their own young in tow.

Between May and June, the wildebeest of the Great Migration make their way to Central Serengeti, they spill out and amongst the Moru Kopjes. Keep in mind that they will come back to this very spot in November and December as they return from Kenya to complete their circular journey.

The Seronera River and other vital water sources attract much of the wildlife in Serengeti as they come from miles around to drink, including the Big Five, Serengeti is one of the few areas where you can spot endangered black rhino. There is also a high density of cheetah and leopards, who like the hiding spots in the valley. The Seronera River Valley creates a natural boundary between the grassy plains of the south and wooded hills of the north, making it one of the richest ecosystems in the park and welcoming wildlife from varying habitats. A part from the animals, this region is a very busy section of the park as it has a number of lodges and camps.

The western region of Serengeti marks the beginning of the Western Corridor, a natural highway that stretches all the way to Lake Victoria. A small but lush area, it is crossed by the Mbalageti and Grumeti Rivers, where the first round of Great Migration River Crossings take place between May and June.

A visit during this time will reward you with thrilling game viewing as wildebeest and zebras plunge across the Grumeti River, in hopes of dodging the snapping jaws of Nile Crocodiles in an attempt to reach the other side.

This region’s landscape is made up of slithering rivers, lush hills, granite outcrops and acacia woodlands punctuating the open savannah. The region hosts sensational wildlife viewing throughout the year, large tracts of the region are remote and unexplored. It is home to the largest concentration of elephants in the Serengeti and offers the best chance to see rhinos. Also, it is a great place for spotting the Kilimanjaro giraffe – the largest of the giraffe species. They are set apart from other giraffes by their darker, smaller and jagged markings and roam in groups of up to 40.

Situated in the north-eastern corner, the remote Lobo Valley is a particularly beautiful region known for its impressive prides of lions, and elephant and buffalo herds. To the east of the park, you can visit the Maasai-owned Loliondo Game Controlled Area, which is nearly a third of the Serengeti’s size and is an important wildlife corridor. Also, the area allows activities that cann’t be done in most of the main National Park including night drive, off-roading and walking safaris. It is possible to see horders of wildebeests crossing the Mara River with far fewer tourists.

The Eastern Serengeti features incredibly diverse landscapes and provides ideal grazing for the migrating wildebeests between December and March, the area acts as a popular pitstop for predators during calving season, as they stop off looking to prey on the weak and young.

There are far fewer crowds in this area of Serengeti, infact this area was closed off to humans for two decades in order to protect and grow the cheetah population. It is also known for its incredible advances in conservation and is home to the largest concetration of cheetah in the world, the region also boasts impressive numbers of leopards, hyena and lions.

Game drives are the most-well known and popular way of safari goers to see the wildlife and also get close to them, follow predators on the hunt and cover a great distances. Led by your knowledgeable guide, game drives are bound to be a highlight on your Serengeti Trip.

Certain areas and camps in Serengeti offer walking safari for close encounters of a different kind and learn the smallest details for the park.

Get a bird’s eye view on a hot air balloon, as you soar above the endless plains of Serengeti National Park.