Kenya Vacation Guide

About Kenya
Why Visit Kenya
Things Uniquely Kenyan
Kenya News
Kenya Food
Kenya Weather
Kenya Animals

Things to do.

Mountain Climbing
Cycling.
Rafting.
Canoeing.
Adventure.
Ballooning.
Animal Safari.
Snorkeling.
Bungee Jumping.
Ecotourism.
Cultural Visits.
Backpacking.
Camel Races.
Scuba Diving.
Game Fishing.
Photo Safari.
Bird Watching.
Sports Safari.
Flying.
Skydiving.
Kilimanjaro Travel.

Game Parks & Reserves.

Tsavo.
Masai Mara.
Aberdares.
Amboseli.
Nairobi Park.
Lake Nakuru.
Marsabit.
Meru Park.
Mount Kenya.
Samburu.

Lodges and Resorts

Hotels and Lodges
Kenya Resorts
Mt Kenya Safari Club
Financial Services

Vacation Planning Tips

Planning a Safari
Getting there
Getting Around
Finding cheap Flights
Kenya Airfares
Kenya Airports
Kenya Tours
Kenya Travel Packages
Calling Kenya

Kenya Animals:

The African Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Buffalo and Rhino.

Most people come to Kenya to see its "big five" Animals. The Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Buffalo and the Rhino. There are many other animals that reside in Kenya including the Zebras, Giraffes, Hippos, Monkeys, Wildebeests, Gazelles, Antelopes and many bird species.

It's a great experience to see these animals and birds in their natural habitat. Imagine seeing a huge lion just a few feet from you in the wilderness? This would be a scary but memorable experience.

You will experience the Real Deal of Kenya's Wilderness. You'll see the animals, hear them, smell them and experience the thrill of seeing them hunting.

The African Lion

The Lion is the best known of the big five Kenya Animals. Known as the “King of the Jungle”. It's one of the biggest cats in the world. Male lions have a Mane that make them look majestic.

Female lions are smaller in size and have no mane. They are however the bread winners in the lion family, doing most of the hunting.

A typical Lion pride has one to three males and as many as 15 females. The males protect the pride from other marauding young males that may want to attack and take over the pride. If other males take over the pride, they will kill the cubs so they can sire their own with the females.

Lions spend most of their time resting and playing with their cubs. They may even look docile and cuddly but they are still wild animals and very dangerous.

Kenya Animal: Male Lion.*

The leopard

Kenya Animal: Leopard.**

The Leopard are another of the famous Big Cats. Leopards live a solitary life and socialize with others only during the mating season.

Leopards have different body color depending on their location and habitat. Their colors vary from reddish brown to cream.They have dark spots with patterns unique to each individual leopard, just like fingerprints are unique in humans.

Male leopards are larger and heavier than females. Leopards are generally night-time animals, hiding in rocky hills and perched on tree branches. They are very agile and strong and can drag a prey twice their weight to the top of a tree to hide it from scavenger like hyenas.

Leopards have a varied diet. They normally hunt small mammals like Gazelle and Antelopes but can also eat insects, rodents and reptiles.

Leopards kill their prey by grabbing it by the throat and biting down with their powerful jaws until it suffocates. They rarely fight other predators for food because an injury could prove fatal if it prevented them from hunting. They would starve.

The Elephant.

The Elephant is the biggest animal in Kenya. Male elephants can grow up to 12 feet (3.64 m) tall, weigh up to 12,000 lbs (5455 kg) and live up to 70 years. They eat large amounts of vegetation daily.

They are also very social animals, living in close knit herds. Males elephants are the leaders of the herd, protecting the others from dangers.

Kenya Animal: Elephants.***

If you see elephants flapping their ears furiously and snorting, this means they are agitated and sensing danger. They can easily attack, hence you should take cover as soon as possible. They also flap their ears slowly like a fan to cool them down in a hot day

Female elephants reach puberty at thirteen years of age and can have offspring until the age of fifty. They produce a single calf every three years and very rarely have twins.

Poaching was a major problem for Kenya animals. Poachers kill elephants for their tusks, which they sell mainly in Asia to make traditional medicine. However, conservation efforts and law enforcement in Kenya has stopped poaching and Elephant populations have now recovered.

The African buffalo

Kenya Animal: Male Buffalo.****

The Buffalo is another large animal. Males can weigh up to 2000 lbs (900 kg). Bufallos have a bad temper if disturbed and can be very dangerous. They have very sharp horns that can easily dismember and kill a human or another animal.

Buffalo usually live in dense vegetation around swamps and big rivers. They are fierce and have few predators, often chasing full grown Lions when agitated.

Lions however do kill and eat buffalos regularly, but it usually takes multiple lions to bring down a single adult buffalo. When chased by predators a buffalo herd will stick close together and make it hard for the predators to pick off one member. Calves are gathered in the middle. Buffalo will also try to rescue a member of their heard who has been caught by a predator.

Buffalos mate and give birth only during the rainy season. A bull will closely guard a cow that comes into heat, keeping other bulls at bay so that it can mate successfully.

The Rhino

The Rhino is another one of the biggest animals on earth. They mainly eat leafy material. They have no teeth at the front of their mouths and rely on their powerful molars to grind up plant food.

There are two species of Rhino in Kenya. The Black Rhino and the White Rhino. Both of these are endangered species and are specially protected by the Government to avoid being wiped out by poachers who kill them for their horns, used to make traditional medicine in Asia

Kenya Animals: Rhino and Cub.****

Rhinos are solitary animals and prefer living alone or in pairs. They can live up to 60 years or more. Their habitat varies from dense forest to open savanna.

Rhinos lack good eyesight, but have excellent sense of smell and hearing.