African Savanna Animals: 25 Species of the Grasslands

What is the African savanna?

A savanna is a grassland dotted with scattered trees, such as acacias and baobabs, in a climate with a long dry season and a shorter rainy season. Savannas cover large parts of Africa south of the Sahara, from the Sahel to East Africa’s Serengeti and the bushveld of South Africa.

The dry season shapes everything. Grass withers, water holes shrink and many animals must travel to find food and drink. Fire, grazing and elephants that push over trees all help keep the land open, stopping it from turning into woodland.

How savanna animals share food and water

So many large herbivores can live together because they eat different things. Grazers eat grass, while browsers eat leaves, shoots and twigs from trees and bushes. Among the grazers, zebras crop the tall, tough grass stems, which exposes leafier growth for wildebeest, which in turn open up short new shoots for gazelles. Scientists call this a grazing succession.

Browsers divide the trees by height. Giraffes feed highest, elephants and eland in the middle, and black rhinos and small antelopes lower down. In the dry season, elephants dig for water in sandy riverbeds, and the holes they leave are used by many other animals.

Giants of the savanna

1. African bush elephant

The largest land animal on Earth. Bulls stand about 3–4 m (10–13 ft) at the shoulder and often weigh around 6 tonnes. Elephants live in family herds led by an older female, the matriarch. Status: Endangered. Learn more in our African bush elephant profile.

2. Giraffe

The tallest animal, with males reaching about 5.5 m (18 ft). Giraffes browse acacia leaves with a long, tough tongue, out of reach of almost every other herbivore. Status: Vulnerable. Some scientists now divide giraffes into several species. See the giraffe profile.

3. Hippopotamus

Hippos spend the hot day in rivers and lakes and leave the water at night to graze, often walking several kilometers. Adult males often weigh 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) or more. They are among the most dangerous large animals in Africa. Status: Vulnerable. See the hippopotamus profile.

4. White rhino

The largest rhino; bulls can weigh around 2,000–2,300 kg (4,400–5,100 lb). Its broad, square lip is made for grazing short grass. Thanks to protection, the southern subspecies recovered from fewer than 100 animals, but only two northern white rhinos survive, both female. Status: Near Threatened.

5. Black rhino

Smaller than the white rhino, the black rhino is a browser with a pointed, grasping upper lip for plucking leaves and twigs. Poaching for horn cut its numbers by more than 90% in the 20th century. Status: Critically Endangered.

6. African buffalo

Buffalo live in herds that can number hundreds of animals and will mob lions to defend calves. Both sexes have heavy, curved horns. Status: Near Threatened.

Grazers, browsers and diggers

7. Plains zebra

Each zebra has a unique stripe pattern. Studies suggest the stripes help deter biting flies. Zebras eat tough grass that many other grazers avoid. Status: Near Threatened.

8. Blue wildebeest

A large antelope with a shaggy beard and cow-like horns, famous for the Great Migration. The herds of the Serengeti belong to the white-bearded subspecies. Status: Least Concern. See the blue wildebeest profile.

9. Impala

A graceful antelope that both grazes and browses, so it does well in mixed bush. Impalas can leap up to about 3 m (10 ft) high and 10 m (33 ft) long. Status: Least Concern.

10. Common eland

One of the two largest antelopes. Bulls typically weigh 400–940 kg (880–2,070 lb), yet elands can jump fences well over their own height. Status: Least Concern.

11. Common warthog

A wild pig that kneels on its padded wrists to graze short grass, and that runs with its thin tail held straight up. Warthogs shelter in old aardvark burrows, often reversing in so they face out. Status: Least Concern.

12. Aardvark

A shy, nocturnal digger that eats ants and termites, licking them up with a long sticky tongue. Its burrows give shelter to many other animals, from warthogs to hyenas. Status: Least Concern.

Predators and scavengers

13. Lion

The only truly social cat, living in prides of related females, their cubs and a coalition of males. Lions often hunt zebras, wildebeest and buffalo. Status: Vulnerable. See the lion profile.

14. Leopard

A powerful, solitary cat that often drags its kills into trees, away from lions and hyenas. Leopards eat a wider range of prey than any other big cat in Africa. Status: Vulnerable.

15. Cheetah

The fastest land animal, with sprints timed at about 93–104 km/h (58–65 mph). Cheetahs hunt mainly by day, chasing gazelles and impalas, and often lose kills to lions and hyenas. Status: Vulnerable. See the cheetah profile.

16. Spotted hyena

Far from a mere scavenger, the spotted hyena kills most of its own food in many areas. Clans are led by females, and powerful jaws let hyenas crack bones. Status: Least Concern.

17. African wild dog

Packs hunt antelopes by long cooperative chases and share food with pups and sick members. Each dog has a unique mottled coat. Wild dogs need huge ranges and suffer from habitat loss and disease. Status: Endangered.

18. Nile crocodile

A reptile, but a key savanna predator. Large males reach about 4.5–5 m (15–16 ft), and crocodiles ambush wildebeest and zebras at river crossings. Status: Least Concern.

Birds of the savanna

19. Ostrich

The largest living bird. Males stand 2.1–2.75 m (6.9–9 ft) tall and weigh about 100–130 kg (220–290 lb), and ostriches can sprint at about 70 km/h (43 mph). Status: Least Concern.

20. Secretarybird

A tall bird of prey on long legs, up to about 1.3 m (4.3 ft) tall, that hunts on foot and kills snakes, rodents and insects with rapid stamping kicks. Status: Endangered.

21. Kori bustard

The largest flying bird native to Africa; males typically weigh 7–18 kg (15–40 lb), and the heaviest may be the heaviest flying animals alive. Status: Near Threatened.

22. Southern ground hornbill

The largest hornbill in the world, a black, turkey-sized bird with red facial skin that hunts on the ground in groups. Its deep booming calls carry for kilometers. It breeds very slowly. Status: Vulnerable.

23. White-backed vulture

The most widespread vulture of the African savanna, with a wingspan of about 2 m (6.5 ft). Vultures clean up carcasses, but many die from poisoned baits. Status: Critically Endangered.

24. Martial eagle

One of Africa’s largest eagles, weighing around 4 kg (9 lb), it hunts from high in the sky, taking guineafowl, monitor lizards and small antelopes. Status: Endangered.

25. Lilac-breasted roller

A small, dazzling bird with a lilac throat and turquoise wings, often seen perched on dead branches watching for insects and lizards. Males perform tumbling, rolling display flights. Status: Least Concern.

The Great Migration

Every year, about 1.3 million wildebeest, joined by hundreds of thousands of zebras and gazelles, move in a great loop between Tanzania’s Serengeti and Kenya’s Maasai Mara, following rain and fresh grass. Early in the year, the herds gather on the short-grass plains of the southern Serengeti, where hundreds of thousands of calves are born within a few weeks.

As the plains dry out, the herds move north and west. From about July to October they reach the Maasai Mara, crossing the Mara River, where crocodiles lie in wait. Lions, hyenas and cheetahs follow the herds, and the migration supports much of the life of the whole ecosystem.

Conservation status at a glance

The main threats are habitat loss as farms and settlements spread, poaching for ivory, horn and bushmeat, conflict with livestock farmers, and poisoning, which hits vultures especially hard. National parks such as the Serengeti, the Maasai Mara and Kruger protect some of the largest remaining populations.