Wildlife of South Africa

South Africa has a large variety of wildlife, including snakes, birds, plains animals, and predators. The country has 299 species of mammals and 858 species of birds.

Plains animals

Cape Buffalo

The Cape Buffalo, also known as the African Buffalo, is a powerful animal that has few natural enemies. Their power and size means that they are very much able to defend themselves. They have been known to kill lions, Hyena, humans, and other wild predators. Because of this they have taken their place in the African big five, elephants, lions, Cape Buffalo, rhinocerotes, and leopards. (The big five are known to be some of the most dangerous and aggressive animals in Africa.) Another African name for the Cape Buffalo is "Black Death", because of their color and their aggressive behavior.

Gemsbuck

The African Oryx Gazella also known as Gemsbuck or Gemsbok are African plains animals that travel in groups of 10-45. The Gemsbuck's groups are set up with a dominant male and in most cases a few dominant females. Male's horns are straight and pointed at the tip. Because of this they have been known to impale attacking lions. Females horns can be the same but sometimes they are curved backward. *There are two different varieties of Gemsbok, the southern and the northern. The southern variety have longer horns and the northern have black fringed ears. The Northern Gemsbok are rarely seen in South Africa.

Kudu

The Kudu are split into two different groups, Greater Kudu and Lesser Kudu. The Greater Kudu are regularly found in South Africa. Like the Gemsbok, Kudu are African antelope. They are fast and stealthy. They are a brown-grey color with white stripes that go down the center of their body. For those two facts their African name is Grey Ghost. The males have tall spiraling horns, females regularly have no horns. Kudu are peaceful and are normally not dangerous.

Predators

Lions

Lions are strong, fast, and vicious predators. They can kill almost any animal they come across. Because of this lions are in the African big five. Some of the most dangerous animals in all of Africa. Lions can kill most things but there are a few exceptions, like a cape buffalo, rhino, elephant, and crocodile. Sometimes lions are impaled by a Gemsbuck with its sharp pointy horns, but not regularly. Not many things can kill a lion. Lions have been known to kill humans and they could do so easily. The lion very well could be the greatest predator in the world.

Leopards

Leopards are another strong group of predators. They sometimes are mistaken for the cheetah because of the spotty appearance. But it's not hard to tell the difference between the two. The leopard has spots that are more like rosettes, they also are much larger, more powerful, and don't have the stripes going down their eyes. They are also much slower and they climb trees and other things where cheetahs don't climb. The Leopard is one of the African big five and is one of the most dangerous animals in Africa.

Hyena

There are a few groups of hyena, spotted hyena, brown hyena, and striped hyena. Mostly Spotted hyena roam South Africa. The Hyena is a powerful group of creatures that don't usually get the respect they deserve. They are thought of as lesser and weaker than most. They are not. The hyena is a powerful group and like the lion they too hunt in groups. Hyena's diet is nearly the same as a lion. The hyena has one of the most powerful bites in the animal in the world.

See also: List of mammals in South Africa

Birds

There are many different kinds of birds in South Africa, here are a few-

Ostrich - South Africa has the largest population of Ostrich in the world. The Ostrich is the largest bird in the world.

African Goshawk-The African Goshawk is a bird in the family of raptors such as eagles and buzzards

Tawny Eagle-The Tawny Eagle is a large bird of prey with a wing span of about 160 to 190cm

Black-chested Snake-eagle-The Black-chested Snake-eagle is a medium-sized bird of prey

Spotted Eagle-owl- The Spotted Eagle Owl is an African owl related to the Great Horned Owl of North America

See also: List of birds of South Africa

Snakes

Green Mamba-a deadly tree snake that could kill easily, luckily it is a very docile snake, one of the most deadly snakes in the world.

Black Mamba-The Black Mamba is a deadly snake that could kill up to 40 grown men with a single bite. It is one of the deadliest snakes in the world.

Cape Cobra-The Cape Cobra is an African cobra about medium sized and its color depends on where it lives.

Plant Life

There is a large variety of plant life or flora in South Africa. Here is a list of a few of those plants.

cola

curtisia

Dovyalis caffra

kigelia

mopane

ocotea bullata

Pink Ivory

See also: List of Southern African indigenous trees

National parks

* Addo Elephant National Park
* Augrabies Falls National Park
* Bontebok National Park
* Golden Gate Highlands National Park
* Karoo National Park
* Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
* Kruger National Park
* Madikwe Game Reserve
* Mapungubwe
* Mountain Zebra National Park
* Pilanesberg National Park
* Richtersveld
* Skukuza
* Table Mountain National Park
* Tankwa Karoo National Park
* Tsitsikamma National Park