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The ‘Big Five’ was a term that was made out of the Big Game, an effort a hunter spent to hunt animals like the lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and the rhinoceros.

Each of these animals has a character that made it hard for hunters to kill. The lion was very tough, the leopard is very cunning, the elephant is very powerful, the buffalo is very unpredictable and the rhino is very reactive.

This is why the tourism and wildlife industry from all over Africa borrowed the word to market the animals. These animals are very rare to see in parks on one safari, although there are some countries with them in their parks. These countries include South Africa and Kenya.

Uganda has the ‘Big Five’ animals although it may be hard for one to see all of them in one safari that is why tourists are encouraged to spend more than one day in the parks in order to see these ‘Big Five’ animals.

Lion:

Commonly known as ‘King of the jungle’, the lion is the largest member of the cat family in Africa. Lions are the top predators in any African eco-system where they live. The males have a mane while the females do not have.
They are social animals that live in prides of 5-15 consisting of related females, their offspring and attendant males which are not related to the females. Lionesses are smaller, tougher and hunt food for the herd. They live with their pride for life while the lions leave the pride of birth at 2-4 years. The males are very protective and they maintain the pride.

Lions hunt at night and their characteristic diet includes zebras, giraffe, buffalo, gazelles and impala. They have lifespan of 15 to 20 years and a gestation period of 110 days, giving birth to about four cubs.

Uganda is also gifted with the tree climbing lions that can be found in Queen Elizabeth National Park. The tree climbing lions are found in only two countries in Africa, the other country being Tanzania in Manyara National Park.
They are mainly found in Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth and Kidepo Valley National Parks.

Leopard:

The leopard is a very secretive, elusive, and shrewd animal. Leopards are also solitary animals that go out of their way to avoid one another and are primarily nocturnal, usually resting during day.

Like the lion, the leopard has been held in awe by generations of people across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The animal is however, the most adaptable of the large predators and may still be found in close proximity to man. The leopard can be able to survive in just about any environment, be it at home, in forest savannahs, deserts or even mountain tops.

This animal is one of the most endangered animals in Uganda today that feeds mainly on fish, reptiles, birds, rodents, hares, hyraxes, warthogs, antelopes, monkeys and baboons.
With a gestation period of two months, leopards usually give birth to two or three cubs and their lifespan is 21 years. Their population in Uganda is currently at about 2,843.

These animals in Uganda can be found in Ishasha area of Queen Elizabeth, Murchison Falls, Kidepo and Semliki National Parks.

Elephant:

The African Elephant is the largest land mammal and perhaps the continent's most charismatic creatures. An adult elephant is 3.5m high and weighs over 6,000Kgs. They are also very aggressive animals that have a very good memory. Its trunk is remarkable for its multipurpose nature: it serves as a nose, a hand, an extra foot and a tool for gathering food or even caressing a companion.

This animal is very social and forms small family groups of up to 100 members consisting of an old matriarch as a leader and three to four off springs, along with their young ones. Elephants can live in nearly any habitat that has adequate quantities of grass and water. Their diet consists of grass, leaves, twigs, bark, fruit and seedpods.

Elephants have a gestation period of 22 months, usually give birth to one offspring and their lifespan is 70 years.
Uganda has mainly the Forest elephants and the African elephants that are very common in Queen Elizabeth, Murchison Falls, Kidepo, Bwindi, Semliki and Kibale National Parks.

They are the biggest challenges in National Parks today because they attack farm lands of communities that live around these parks destroying crops of the farmers because they are growing larger in numbers.

Buffalo:

This member of the ‘Big Five’ group of animals is unpredictably very dangerous especially if it is wounded. In fact, buffalos are said to kill more people in Africa than lions do. On the contrary, they are very calm if they are left alone.

These animals live near water bodies in National Parks and they stay in herds of few hundreds. Females and off springs make up the biggest number in the herd. These animals stay in water or under tree shades during the hot season to regulate body temperature because they have poor ability to regulate body temperature.

Grass forms the greatest part of the savannah buffalo’s diet and they feed more at night than during the day. The female buffalos have their first calves at 5 years after a gestation period of 12 months. The lifespan of a buffalo is between 22 to 25 years.

Their current population is approximately 22,031 and can be found in Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth, Kibale and Mt. Elgon National Parks.

Rhinoceros:

This animal is a large primitive looking mammal that is critically endangered in Uganda today, the reason why they are not free ranging. There are two types of rhinos in Africa today that is the Black and White rhino. The two species of African rhino are similar in height, averaging about 1.6m at the shoulder, but the black rhino has roughly half the mass of a white rhino, weighing in at a demure 1000 kg.

Rhinos live alone; the closest rhino relationship is between a female and her calf lasting 2-4 years. They are also herbivorous animals that feed on leaves, buds and shoots of plants. Their gestation period is between 15 to 16 months giving birth to 1 to 6 cubs and their lifespan is 40 years.

Rhinos have been poached to the point of extinction in Uganda. They were only recently re-introduced and they are now kept at Zziwa Sanctuary in Nakasongola district and at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre in Entebbe.