Lion
The lion is a member of the carnivore order and the felid family. The males are the only ones to wear a mane. They measure around 1.20 m at the withers and weigh between 150 and 225 kg. The females measure around 1 m and weigh between 110 and 150 kg. The species lives in Africa and mainly in its savannahs. It can also subsist in more deserted areas or on the contrary in open forests. The lion feeds on large and medium-sized mammals, mostly ungulates. It is one of the few sociable felines. It lives in groups of three to thirty individuals. These groups are made up of related females and their offspring, as well as one or two males (or more). In Zimbabwe, the lion is present in different national parks: Hwange, Mana Pools, Matusadona, Chizarira, Gonarezhou.
Leopard
Like the lion, the leopard is a member of the felidae. It measures between 70 and 80 cm at the withers. The males are much more massive than the females, being able to reach 90 kg, against 60 kg at most for a female. The leopard has a wide range in Africa, but also in Asia. It frequents a wide variety of habitats: savannahs, dense forests, semi-deserts, mountains... It feeds on a wide variety of prey (birds, reptiles, fish...), but most of them are medium-sized ungulates. Unlike the lion, the leopard is solitary. A male defends his territory from other males. He may overlap the territory of several females. In Zimbabwe, the leopard is present in most of the national parks. It has a particularly high density in the Matopos National Park.
Black and white rhinoceros
The two African rhinos, the white and the black, are present in Zimbabwe. The rhinoceros is an ungulate of the order Perissodactyla (with an odd number of fingers). The white rhino is more massive than the black rhino (1.80 m at the withers and 2,300 kg for a male white rhino against 1.60 m at the withers and 1,100 kg for a white rhino). The white rhino has a square snout, adapted to its diet as a grazer (eating grass), while the black rhino has a more triangular snout (with a prehensile lip), adapted to its diet as a grazer (eating more leaves). Both species are highly endangered, due to poaching (for their horns), and their ranges have largely declined. The white rhino is particularly fond of open savannahs, while the black rhino prefers savannahs and steppes with trees and shrubs. In Zimbabwe, the white rhino is found in Gonarezhou, Hwange, Kazuma Pan, Zambezi and Matusadona. The black rhino is only found in Hwange and Mana Pools. Many of these populations have recovered from reintroduction.
Elephant
The savannah elephant is a member of the proboscidean order. Larger than its forest cousin, it can reach 4 m at the withers and weigh more than 6 t (for a male). It frequents the savannahs but also some arid areas. It feeds on a very large variety of plants and parts of plants (leaves, fruits, barks, herbs...). An adult consumes 150 to 300 kg of vegetation each day, for 100 to 220 l of water. Related females and their offspring form herds, led by matriarchs. Several herds may temporarily join together to form large herds. Males live alone or in very small groups. In Zimbabwe, the elephant is present in many parks (Hwange, Mana Pools, Gonarezhou, Matusadona...). Zimbabwe hosts the second largest population on the continent (after neighboring Botswana).
Buffalo
It belongs to the artiodactyl (even-toed) ungulates of the bovid family. The Cape buffalo, which is the subspecies found in southern Africa, measures about 1.40 m at the withers and weighs up to 800 kg. Again, the males are more massive than the females. They can be recognized thanks to their horns which meet on the forehead to form a "helmet". It likes savannah areas, rather open, but also swampy areas, feeding on grass and aquatic plants. Very gregarious, it can form herds of several dozen to several thousand individuals. In Zimbabwe, it can be found in the protected areas of the west and the north, but also in Gonarezhou.
Hippopotamus
The amphibian hippopotamus is also part of the artiodactyls. It measures around 1,50 m at the withers and can weigh up to 2 000 kg (for a male). It frequents all kinds of aquatic environments. It stays in the water or on the banks most of the day, and moves away at night to graze (consuming about 40 kg of grass). They generally live in groups of ten to fifteen individuals, sometimes more, but solitary males are not rare. They are particularly territorial.
Giraffe
The giraffe is also part of the artiodactyls. The southern giraffe is the subspecies present in Zimbabwe. Its height at the withers is around 3,5 m, but its head can reach more than 5 m. It frequents the savannah with trees, but also more desert areas. Trees and shrubs are in any case necessary for its subsistence, since it feeds mainly on leaves, flowers and buds. It usually lives in groups of four to thirty individuals, but these groups are relatively unstable. The giraffe is found in Zimbabwe in Hwange, Zambezi and Gonarezhou.
Zebra
Like rhinoceroses, zebras are part of the perissodactyls. While the former have three toes on each leg, the latter, like all other equids, have only one. The species present in Zimbabwe is the plains zebra. It measures around 1.30 m at the withers and can weigh up to 340 kg. It frequents the savannahs of eastern and southern Africa and feeds mainly on grass. Zebras form small family units of four to six individuals, but can group together to form much larger herds. In Zimbabwe, they are found in the northern, western and southern parks.
Antelopes
In Zimbabwe, there are many antelopes. These are part of the artiodactyls of the bovid family. All species have horns, which are keratin envelopes surrounding bony supports. Among the larger species found in Zimbabwe are the Cape eland, greater kudu, crescent cob, impala, sassabi, black-tailed wildebeest, roan antelope and black hippotrague. Among the smaller species, let's mention the harnessed guib, the steenbok, Grimm's duiker, the oréotrague..
Other predators
Zimbabwe is home to other large carnivores besides the lion and leopard. Among the most emblematic are the cheetah, present mainly in Hwange, the wild dog, present in Hwange, Mana Pools and Gonarezhou, and the spotted hyena (family Hyenidae), present throughout most of the country. There is also a multitude of carnivores: jackals, striped jackals, ratels, civets, genets, mongooses, servals, caracals..
Other small and medium-sized mammals of the savannah
The Zimbabwean savannahs are home to a multitude of small and medium-sized mammals: primates (baboons, vervet, diademed cercopithecus, galago...), aardvarks, warthogs, bushpigs, pangolins, porcupines, damsons, hares, squirrels..
Birds
Zimbabwe's birdlife is particularly rich. Among the emblematic species, let us quote the jabiru, the marabout, the parasol, the ostrich, the crowned crane, the great hornbill of Abyssinia, the serpentaire, the vultures, the bateleur, the eagle of Verreaux, the fishing eagle, the touracos, the hornbills, the owls, the bee-eaters, the rollers, the engoulevents, the kingfishers and hunters, the souimangas..
Reptiles
The herpetofauna is not left out with the Nile crocodile, the Nile monitor, the Seba python, various venomous snakes (boomslang, black and green mambas, spitting cobra, bumping viper ...), leopard tortoise ..
