Big 5 in Amboseli National Park
Big 5 in Amboseli National Park: African great wildlife safari experience is mostly renowned for its Africa Big 5. The word big 5 across all the African protected areas meant not the largest animals in the wilderness of Africa but the most challenging animals to the hunters. The European international hunters named these animals after facing great difficulties whenever they encounter these animals anywhere in Africa. They referred these animals as the most dangerous and deadly animals in the wilderness. The African big 5 are: Lions, leopards, buffalo, Rhinos and Elephants). Amboseli national park is one of the premium national parks not only in Kenya but entire East African region. The park is famous with its large herds of African Elephants. The good population of wildlife at the park has made the park one of the most visited parks in Kenya. Talking about Big 5 in Amboseli national park, the park has only four members of the Big 5 missing out Rhinos which got extinct from the park. Early years, Big 5 in Amboseli national park were all present before the Rhinos were killed. Currently, the park has the largest population of Elephants in Kenya. Other available members of Big 5 in Amboseli national park are Lions which is called the king of the jungle locally known as “Simba”. The leopards and buffalos are also present making the list of Big 5 in Amboseli national park to be four (Elephants, lions, leopards, and Buffalos.
Below is the list of Big 5 in Amboseli national park
Elephants:Elephants are one of the members of Big 5 in Amboseli national park. They are the most populated animals at the park. The famousness of the park is derived from the high population of Elephants found at the park. Amboseli national park hosts over 1200 Elephants, its from this background that in 1991 the park was declared as UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve. The park hosts great wildlife celebrities in the world for example Elephant Tim one of the known Elephants across the world. Thanks to the team of Amboseli Trust for Elephants that has protected and advocated for the wellbeing of Elephants in the park. Elephants contribute to the largest population of animals at the park. By 2008 the population of Amboseli Elephants had increased to 1600. However the natural calamities like long drought has claimed the lives of some Elephants. Your game drives at Amboseli national park gives you opportunity to view the Elephants at very close range. The driver guides are knowledgeable on their routes hence easy to tress where they have gone at whet time.
Elephants at Amboseli national park are the most studied not only in Kenya but entire world. There are several international documentaries that were taken from Amboseli like Echo the Unforgettable Elephant in BBC. Echo was one of the famous Elephants in Amboseli that became the matriarch of her great family at the age of 23 years. In the year 1973 she was lifted using the radio collar for easy study of her life. She even got her name from that radio collar from the sound it used to make echoooo. In 2009 Echo died but her memories in Amboseli national park remains very fresh to many people especially conservationist.
The Elephants in Amboseli are sub-divided into 58 families with over 300 independent adult males. The families are led by the old fully adult females. Elephants can combine together some time to make a clan, this follow the genetic relationship between them. Elephants have the longest gestation period among all animals taking 640 to 660 days. It gives to a heavy calf that can weigh up to 120 kilograms.
Lions:The king of the juggle is the most admired animal to see during your African safari. Lions are one of the key member of Big 5 in Amboseli national park. There are over 100 lions in Amboseli which are commonly seen early in the morning or late in the evening following the road. There some few which have the characteristic of climbing trees however these cases are very few it’s by chance to find them. The lions form the third largest member population of Big 5 in Amboseli national park. Due to the small size of the park as well as open savannah grasslands, its easy to see the lions in the jungle. Lions can also be easily seen during the night game drives at the park. This is the action packed when they are busy hunting the prey as they prefer hunter when its cold. The advantage with lions in that after their meal of the day they take longer hours resting in the same place making guests to enjoy seeing them a full day at the same population. Lions like hunting in a group as the females are the most hunters while the males only wait for the kill. You will get them paired in two if they are in the mating period.
Leopards:Leopards are the most tricky and rare member of Big 5 in Amboseli national park. They are very shy but dangerous animals which spend most of their time on trees. They leave solo life unless they are mating then you will get them paired. To get a chance to see the leopards the driver guide must be senior since it needs an eagle eye to see them. It is rare for you to get close to them unless you get it hunting, the leopards have dots like Cheetah but more muscular than a cheetah. The front legs are more built that enables them to carry the prey which can double its weight up into the tree.
Buffaloes:Buffaloes are the dominant members of Big 5 in Amboseli national park. The park hosts large herds of buffaloes that stir up most times across the dry beds of lake Amboseli. During the dry season, the buffaloes are mostly found along the lake banks and water pools cooling themselves. They graze communally in large groups which is led by a dominant male. Buffaloes seem to be simple animals but much aggressive when they charge though they take longer to charge but very deadly.
Other animals found in Amboseli national park include Hippos, Zebras, kudu, wildebeests, giraffes, hyenas, Crocodiles, Cheetahs, Gazelles and many many. There are over 50 species of animals in Amboseli national park making the Big 5 in Amboseli national park just part of it. Your safari to Amboseli is never disappointing due to the large number of animals found at the park. The vegetation of the park makes the animals be permanent residents in the park.
