This page is the African savanna. Move your pointer across the plain and your animal will walk, trot, soar or trundle after you. Choose a different animal at the bottom, and tap the notes to open them.
The Serengeti right now checking the sky…
A big bull can weigh six tonnes. A newborn calf already weighs about as much as a grown man.
The trunk has tens of thousands of muscles and no bones. It can pull down a branch or pick up a single seed.
The huge ears are full of blood vessels. Flapping them cools the blood, which cools the whole elephant.
Herds are led by the oldest female, the matriarch. She remembers where to find water in a drought.
Elephants call to each other with rumbles too deep for human ears, which carry for miles across the plain.
Tusks are teeth that grow all through an elephant's life. They are used for digging, stripping bark and defence.
Meet them all
Loxodonta africana
The largest animal on land: grey and wrinkled, with huge ears, long tusks and a trunk that does the work of a hand.
Panthera leo
The only big cat that lives in a family group. The male has a thick mane; the females do most of the hunting.
Giraffa camelopardalis
The tallest animal in the world, with a long neck, long legs and a coat of brown patches that is different on every giraffe.
Equus quagga
A stocky wild horse in black and white stripes, living in family groups that join into great herds.
Gyps africanus
A big, brown vulture with a bare grey head, a white ruff and a pale back that shows as it banks.
Scarabaeus
A stout black beetle that shapes dung into a ball and rolls it away to bury, for food or for its young.
Through the year
These animals can be seen all year round. What changes is where: many follow the rains, and gather near water in the dry season. The animal following you is shown in red.
Good to know
A savanna is a wide, grassy plain dotted with trees. It is warm all year, with a wet season and a long dry season.
Grass grows where the rain has fallen, so the great herds are always on the move, and the lions follow the herds.
Acacia trees grow flat and wide, with long thorns. Giraffes browse the tops; everything else shelters in their shade.
The tall mounds of red earth are built by termites. Inside, millions of them keep the air at a steady temperature.
Stay in the vehicle, keep your voice down and never ask a driver to go closer. The best sightings come from waiting.
Never buy ivory or other wildlife souvenirs, and support charities that protect habitat and work with local people.
Real photos of the animals on this page. Tap one to see it bigger.
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons and are used under free licences. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews. Open a photo to see who took it.
Few of us will stand on the Serengeti, but everything on this page is alive out there right now. Zoos and safari parks that fund conservation help to keep it that way.
Back to the topAfrican river animals live on the African river page: choosing one takes you there.
Animals from other parts of the world live on their own pages: change area.