Tanzania wildlife guide

The largest country in East Africa, Tanzania is home to an impressive variety of wildlife, from the Big Five to a huge number of bird species, marine life and more. But it’s not only the chance to spot sleek leopards and mighty elephants; Tanzania is also the home of the Great Migration, one of the world’s most astonishing natural spectacles, as millions of wildebeest, zebra and gazelles brave dangers galore as they journey hundreds of miles to find water and grazing.

From the savannah to the mountains, rivers, lake and coast, not to mention 22 national parks, 32 game reserves and countless protected areas, you’ll find far more than the classic safari favourites as you explore Tanzania. This wildlife lover’s paradise is one of the best places to go on safari though, especially the iconic Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater, but smaller and less-visited parks and reserves too.

Not sure where to start? Our Tanzania wildlife guide has everything you need to look out for and where to find it.

If you’re planning a safari in Tanzania, spotting the Big Five is usually high on the list. And the country is a fantastic place to spy these iconic animals; lion, elephant, leopard, rhino and Cape buffalo. You’ll find all five in Serengeti National park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and while leopards are famously elusive, there’s a good chance of spotting them all in one trip.

Tanzania has the highest population of wild lions on earth, with prides in the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire National Park, Nyerere National Park and the less visited Ruaha National Park. There’s a good chance of spotting them in January and February, when the birth of wildebeest and zebra calves provides plenty of opportunities for a meal, as well as during the dry season from June to mid-October.

More unusually, Lake Manyara is famous for its tree-climbing lions. It’s thought they head up into the branches to escape insect bites, especially from tsetse flies, and while they’re not always easy to spot in the foliage, it’s something you can only see in a few places world-wide.

The hardest of the Big Five to spot, leopards will often snooze their days away hidden in the undergrowth or up in the trees, where they’ve hoisted their kill away from predators. Most active during the hours of darkness, dusk is a perfect time to spot these sleekly elegant predators emerging for a meal or to hunt their prey, as well as at dawn. The Serengeti and Tarangire National Park are two of the best places to find them, while there are also small numbers which live around the river at Ruaha National Park.

Is there a more classic safari sight than a herd of elephants ambling slowly across the savannah, stopping to snack on a few leaves or a drink at a water hole along the way. From solitary bull elephants to adorable calves, elephants are found in most parks in Tanzania, and happily conservation and anti-poaching measures mean that their numbers are on the rise. If you’re visiting from July to October, you can also experience Tanzania’s elephant migration, when thousands of these magnificent creatures head to the river at Tarangire National Park during the dry season.

The endangered black rhino is also making something of a comeback in Tanzania, with numbers rising to almost 270 from a low of just 30 rhino a couple of decades ago. Almost all are found in northern Tanzania, including populations in some protected areas in the Serengeti. But the best place to see black rhino in Tanzania is the Ngorongoro Crater, where you may be able to spot them in the caldera, although usually only at a distance unless you’re very lucky.

While black rhino are officially present at Nyerere National Park, it’s very rare to see one there. There are no white rhino in Tanzania, and no black rhino in Tarangire or Ruaha National Parks.

These formidable creatures can weigh up to 1,500lbs and charge at speeds of 37mph if they feel threatened, making them one of the most dangerous creatures in Africa. An adult buffalo’s only predator is the lion, with several of the big cats needing to work in a team to have any chance of overcoming these imposing animals. Although some buffalo stay in smaller groups, they’re often found in herds that number thousands and can be seen heading to water sources in the morning and late afternoon, making them easy to spot in the majority of Tanzania’s national parks.

While the Big Five often take the spotlight, that’s only the beginning of the wildlife in Tanzania.

Plains animals

Tanzania is famous for its Great Migration, when up to 1.5 million wildebeest, hundreds of thousands of zebra, and Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles journey in ‘mega herds’ from the southern Serengeti into the Masai Mara in Kenya. The Serengeti is the place to marvel at these astonishing numbers; in January and February, you can experience calving season around the Ndutu Plains, with the herds then making their way through the western corridor until they reach the Grumeti and Mara rivers between June and August.

As well as the migrating herds, you can find the same species in other national parks across Tanzania, along with eland, kudu, oryx, sable, impala and various other types of antelope, especially in the Serengeti and Tarangire National Park.

Tanzania is home to the world’s largest population of wild giraffe, with over 30,000 living across the country. The only species found here is the Maasai giraffe, Tanzania’s national animal. Larger and taller than other giraffe species, it has darker and more distinct markings, and they can be seen in the Serengeti, Tarangire, Nyerere, Ruaha and other national parks.

The other big cat to be found in Tanzania is the cheetah, which live in most of the country’s northern parks, except for Lake Manyara. Famous for their speed, cheetah prefer to live in open locations where they can see for long distances before erupting from cover and sprinting to chase down their prey. The Serengeti is particularly good for spotting cheetah hunting, as it’s also home to some of the smaller gazelle species such as Thomson’s gazelle, an easier target for the smaller, lighter cats.

One of Africa’s rarest predators, wild dogs are one of the more unusual of Tanzania’s wildlife to spot, found in Nyerere and Ruaha national parks. Living in social groups, you may be more likely to hear their calls and greetings, especially before the pack sets off to hunt, so a sighting is particularly prized.

These adaptable creatures can be found in various habitats across Tanzania from desert and grassland to forests, where they hunt and scavenge as a pack. The largest of the four hyena species, clans can number between around 50-80 individuals, although you’ll also find much smaller groups. While they have an unenviable reputation, these skilled predators are fascinating to watch – their famous laugh is actually a sign of stress or tension, often making a giggling noise when competing for food.

If you’re travelling near water in Tanzania, you’ve got a very good chance of seeing some of the tens of thousands of hippos which live in the country, one of Africa’s largest hippo populations. One of the best places to find large pods is the lakes in the Ngorongoro Crater, although you’re only likely to spot them at a distance, along with the Mara river in the north, plus smaller numbers in Lake Manyara and Tarangire. To get a closer look at one of the larger hippo populations, head out onto the Rufiji River in Nyerere National Park, where you can also see them interacting with crocodiles.

You’ll find plenty of smaller mammals as well as the bigger wildlife in Tanzania, including several species of mongoose, crested porcupine and honey badger. The very rare ground pangolin also lives in Tanzania, although sightings of these endangered nocturnal creatures are extremely difficult.

More than 1,100 species of bird can be found in Tanzania, with migratory species joining the country’s endemic birds. The months of the green season between December and March are often best for birding, although you can expect some rain during this period. One unmissable destination is Lake Natron, where 2.5 million lesser flamingo congregate between November and April every year, along with other populations in the Ngorongoro Conservation area, Ngorongoro Crater and Arusha National Park.

Other highlights include lilac-breasted rollers, secretary birds, sunbirds, love birds, kingfishers, various storks, cranes and ibises, plus raptors, bulbuls, bee-eaters, flycatchers and jacanas, to mention only a few. Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the Serengeti are also good bird-spotting locations.

It’s easy to associate Tanzania’s wildlife with the Big Five or the animals of the plains, but the country has almost 900 miles of coast on the Indian Ocean, along with the island of Zanzibar, where you can see an array of marine life. Five of the seven species of sea turtles can be found here, with babies hatching on Zanzibar between January and May, plus dolphins and manta rays. You can even find whale sharks off Mafia Island from October to March. The coral reefs around Zanzibar are also home to a rainbow of colourful fish, with some fantastic snorkelling.

One of the world’s greatest natural spectacles, the Great Migration sees millions of wildebeest, zebra and antelopes travel across the Serengeti to the Masai Mara in Kenya, evading predators on land and in the rivers, enduring hunger and thirst, and braving exhaustion and possible injury along the way.

With giant ‘mega herds’ travelling in huge snaking columns towards the border, the peak of the migration is the perilous Mara River crossing from June to August. But the annual migration sees the herds travelling in a clockwise loop, finishing at the southern plains of the Serengeti in January and February to calve, so there’s more than one opportunity to experience it. The year’s rainfall can mean that both the locations and the timing varies but the monthly cycle tends to follow this pattern.

December, January and February

The large herds stay in the south-east of the Serengeti, particularly around the Ndutu Plains – hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebras are born and many lions, cheetahs and hyenas follow in their wake.

March, April and May

The main rainy season begins, prompting the herds to start their journey north up the western corridor, from the Serengeti towards the Grumeti reserve.

June

The mating season takes place for wildebeest, known as the rut, with the herds continuing to move north from the Serengeti.

July and August

The herds cross the Grumeti River towards the Masai Mara in Kenya – expect swimming wildebeest, hungry crocodiles and hunting lions.

September and October

The end of Tanzania’s dry season, the large herds remain mainly in the Masai Mara until the rains start to return at the end of the month.

November

The shorter rainy season is underway, and the herds cross back into Tanzania, travelling south once more towards the Serengeti – the circle is complete!

With so many wildlife experiences to choose from across the country, here’s what you can expect to see on a Tanzania safari.

Covering around 5,700 square miles – an area almost three-quarters the size of Wales – the Serengeti National Park is easily one of the best places to visit in Tanzania. As well as the Great Migration, you can spot the Big Five along with most of Tanzania’s best-known wildlife. Peak season runs during the dry season from around June to September, and January and February between the rainy periods when young animals are born.

Home to both the Ngorongoro Crater and the Ndutu Plains, this is another of the best places to see Tanzania’s wildlife. The crater itself, a volcanic caldera surrounded by cliffs, has one of the highest densities of wildlife in all Africa, including big cats such as lions and leopards, black rhino, elephants, hippo and more, plus flamingos on the saline Lake Magadi. The Ndutu Plains are also one of the best places to see wildebeest calve in January and February.

Known for its huge herds of elephants and ancient baobab trees, Tarangire National Park is smaller but a more intimate experience than some of the more sprawling parks, and you’ve got a good chance of seeing four of the Big Five, except for rhino. One of the highlights is a visit between around June and October, when thousands of elephants migrate to the Tarangire river in search of water. Visit in October just before the rains arrive, and you might even be lucky enough to see the baobabs flower.

Africa’s largest national park, Nyerere (formerly known as the Selous Game Reserve) stretches for almost 12,000 square miles. The Rufiji River flows through the park, with river safaris to spot hippos and crocodiles, as well as birds and big cats coming to drink. The park itself is less well-known and less-visited than those in the north of Tanzania, so you can often enjoy a quieter experience spotting the impressive wildlife living here. Around 450 bird species have been seen, along with large elephant herds, rare wild dogs, and four of the Big Five – rhino are officially present but sightings are extremely rare.

Mikumi National Park is often called the Serengeti of the south, thanks to the Mkata floodplain, which attracts many of the same animals. Home to over 400 species of bird, as well as elephants and lions, the landscape is dotted with acacia and baobab trees. Expect to see large herds of zebra, wildebeest, buffalo and impala enjoying the grasslands too, and like many of the other reserves on Tanzania’s southern safari circuit, it’s quieter than the popular northern parks.

Only a tiny fraction of Tanzania’s visitors head to Ruaha National Park, so if you’re looking to head off the beaten track, this more remote safari is ideal. With river, woodland and savannah, you can see some of the largest elephant herds in East Africa as well as big cats and wild dogs, plus an impressive number of birds, especially during the green months from around January to March.