Wildlife in Kenya
The geographical diversity of Kenya means that it supports an extraordinary range of wildlife. The country has a number of national parks and reserves including Masai Mara National Reserve, Amboseli National Park, Tsavo West and East, Samburu – Buffalo Springs Reserves, Meru National Park and Laikipia among others which are all home to a wide range of wildlife including the Big Five – lion, leopard, buffalo, elephants and rhinos.
The iconic Masai Mara National Reserve is ranked as one of the top five reserves in Africa for its incredible lion and cheetah sightings. Also, it is unusually reliable for leopards, along with other less glamorous carnivores such as spotted hyenas, jackals, and bat eared foxes.
The scenic Amboseli National Park is one of the top places anywhere in Africa for watching elephants interact at close quarters.
A Kenya safari is a top choice destination for seeing both black and white rhinos, with healthy and conspicuous populations of one or both to be found in Tsavo West, Meru, Lake Nakuru and several of the reserves on the Laikipia Plateau.
Other wildlife in Kenya tend to be more regional. The relatively moist southern savannah – protected in the Masai Mara and Amboseli is home to elands, Coke’s hartebeests, topi, Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles, and impalas as well as Maasai giraffe, plains zebras and warthogs.
Wildebeests are resident in both protected areas, but the Masai Mara is renowned for the migration of hundreds of thousands of these doleful-looking antelope from neighboring Tanzania between August and October. The more arid northern reserves, most notably Samburu – Buffalo Springs, support a quite different set of grazers like beise oryx, lesser kudu, Guenther’s dik-dik, and the unique long – necked gerenuk. Here, you will also see the critically endangered Grevy’s zebras, the world’s largest wild equid and far more narrowly striped than the more widespread plains zebra, which occurs alongside it in Samburu – Buffalo Springs. Another creature unique to the northern Kenya is the reticulated giraffe, which has a more geometric and striking coat pattern than the Masai giraffe.
Other major reserves in Kenya such as Laikipia, Meru, and Tsavo East and West tend to support an intermediate selection of grazers. Very different again are the montane forests of the Aberdares and Central Highlands, coastal forests around Diani and Watamu, and tropical lowland forests in western sites such as Kakamega. These areas tend to support a wide range of monkeys, most notably the striking black – and white colobus, small forest antelope known as duikers, and oddities like the golden – rumped elephant shrew (coast only), mountain bongo (Aberdares only) and giant forest hog.
List of Wildlife in Kenya
- Lion
- Leopard
- Cape Buffalo
- Elephant
- Rhinos
- Wildebeest
- Giraffe
- Zebra
- Hippopotamus
- Cheetah
- Hyena
- Beisa Oryx
- Gerenuk
- Copper Tailed Monkey
- Common Eland
- Chimpanzee
- Crested Porcupine among others.
Birdwatching in Kenya
Kenya is one of the world’s finest bird watching destinations. A national checklist of more than 1,000 species places it among the world’s top 15 countries in terms of avian diversity. However, even this figure doesn’t correctly convey the variety of colorful and striking birds you can spot countrywide.
There are several places, most notably perhaps Lake Naivasha or Boringo, where a moderately skilled birder could tick off 100 species in a day. And for dedicated birders, a well – planned two – week itinerary taking in Key ornithological sites such as Kakamega Forest, Samburu – Buffalo Springs, Mount Kenya, the Rift Valley Lakes, and the coast forests around Watamu should result in a trip list of at least 350 species or quite possibly more.
Bird List in Kenya
- The endangered Turner’s Eremomela
- Turacos
- Hornbills
- Yellow warbler
- Gonolek
- White winged warbler
- Papyrus Canary
- Forbes Watson’s swift
- Sooty falcons
- Egyptian vulture
- Hooded vulture
- Griffon vulture
- Golden woodpeckers
- Nubian vulture
- White-backed and White-headed vulture
- Ostrich
- Cardinal Quelea
- Pink Flamingoes
- Black herons
- Pelicans
- Fish Eagles
- Pied Kingfishers
- Long-tailed
- Great Cormorants
- Grey-backed fiscal
- Yellow-Collared Lovebird
- Little spotted woodpeckers among others.
Marine Life in Kenya
Kenya hosts a diverse marine wildlife with the colorful reef fish that proliferate diving and snorkeling sites in the reef offshore of Watamu, Malindi, Mombasa and Diani a year round attraction. Further, more seasonal, marine wildlife includes dolphins, whale sharks, marine turtles and manta rays.
