Africa Travel -The Big Cats of East Africa

Each of Africa’s big cats are fascinating, and they’re all very different from each other. Africa’s three big cats include the “fastest land animal”, the cheetah, the magnificent King of the Jungle, the lion, and the mysterious and secretive leopard.

We’re going to look in more detail at these glorious wild cats of East Africa, for those who are interested in going on safari to Tanzania.

The Lion

The lion, the second largest big cat in the world after the Tiger, is found on the plains of East Africa, and is known as the King of the Jungle. The biggest male lion is estimated to weigh 250kg with the female weighing an estimated 168kg both with exceptional strength capable of bringing down the biggest of buffaloes 4 times its size.

Lions have short fur of an ocher color, with tufted tails. Males also have a mane around their heads and necks, composed of long darker brown or black fur. One of the most spectacular events to watch as lions chase prey is one of the new wonders of the world known as the Great Mara Wildebeest migration where millions of wildebeests as well as zebras trek thousands of kilometers in search of food being pursued by hungry predators.

Unlike most big wild cats, the lions are pretty social and can be found in prides of about 15 ranging from 5 to 10 females, their young, and 2 or 3 territorial males. The role of the males in the pride is to protect the females as they hunt for food and raise their young.

Leopard

Leopards are large cats known for their spotted fur, they tend to have ocher colored fur, but it can be quite dark or even black. Spotting Leopards has often proven to be a daunting task due to the fact that they are very elusive, solitary and nocturnal boasting of abilities such as climbing, swimming and can live in rather diverse habitats as compared to other wild cats.

Leopards rarely remain in the one place too long, and move all around their own territories, which means they can be here one day and gone the next. Ranges are marked with urine and claw marks and leopards proclaim their presence to other leopards with a rasping cough.

Leopards put their climbing skill to good use by hauling prey they’ve caught up into trees to eat. This is necessary as other predators and scavengers like hyenas and lions will quickly help themselves to a leopard’s kill if they don’t.

The Cheetah

The Cheetah is a sprinter renowned for its speed estimated at 120km/hr usually for short distances of 460m. This amazing speed is achievable due to the physiology of the cheetah which includes large nostrils, and an extra large heart and lungs, which are able to circulate oxygen efficiently during the chase, where cheetahs may take as many as 150 breaths per minute.

There are only about 12,000 cheetahs remaining in the wild now, most of which live in the eastern and southern parts of Africa. In East Africa, easy spot are made in the Maasai Mara game reserve Kenya and Serengeti national park in Tanzania.

Tanzania and Kenya are the countries to visit if you really want to see big cats in their natural habitats. One will be spoilt for choices on what type of tour to go for as they enjoy the scenery in East Africa. Some popular tours include beach based safaris, Tanzania camping safaris and even luxury safaris.