The savannah and bushveld regions of South Africa are home to a large variety of animals which create images of the wildest Africa, and included is the famous Big five: Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Buffalo and Elephant. These animals were given the collective name of "the Big5", by hunters in the old days, for a group of animals which were hardest to hunt on foot. The term is still used widely today by tour operators and safari guides throughout the world. These magnificent animals can be found in both in the Kruger National Park and the Hluhluwe Umfolozi Park in KwaZulu-Natal, as well as other major reserves in South Africa for example Pilanesberg in North West province - and various other smaller reserves and private game lodges.

The first, and most well known of these creatures is the Lion, King of the beasts. These large cats gain much respect and fascination due to their awesome power and hunting skills. Each pride may consist of up to three males, roughly a dozen females, and their offspring. The lionesses of the pride are usually all related, and female cubs are known to stay with the family unit as they age. Young males leave the pride over a certain amount of time to go out and form their own prides by challenging a head male from another group. Only the male lions grow manes, and their task is to defend the pride's territory, which may cover an area of about two hundred and sixty square kilometers of wilderness consisting of open woodlands, scrub or grasslands. These large males perform their duty by marking their territory with urine, giving off threatening roars, and sending off intruders on their way. The task allocated to the female lions of the pride is to be the primary hunters of the group, often working in unity to bring down prey such as antelope, zebra and wildebeest. Although they have well planned strategies, each with their own part to play, Lions have been known to hunt alone if the opportunity arises, and have often also been sighted stealing prey from hyenas and other scavengers.

The Leopard is another of the five, inflicting both awe and fear upon those who behold it. Leopard are both identical in shape and proportion to domestic cats, only their bodies are much larger and their unique markings differ from those of their tame cousins. The body of the leopard is positioned slightly lower, on short strong legs, and the broad head is carried on its strong neck. Long whiskers act as tactile sensory indicators, which help these large cats with judging the size of tight areas they move through. The leopard utilizes its long tail for balance when moving fast, moving it side to side almost like a rudder. Leopards are solitary animals only making contact with others when they meet to mate. Individual leopards live within specific territories, and similar to lions, they regularly make others aware of them by calling and marking of scent. Both sexes scratch around at the base of trees and urinate on them, but only the male of the species ejects a spray over the foliage. Droppings are deposited in obvious areas where trespassers, or rival leopards are likely to find them and be warned off. Leopards generally avoid conflict when it comes to enforcing their territory, and rather prefer to do so by means of leaving scents, signs and signals. As a solitary hunter, a leopard cannot afford to become injured and must avoid confrontation at all times. These big cats are ultimate opportunists, often known to eat just about anything. In areas of abundant wildlife, they prefer to prey upon medium to small sized antelope, which include duiker, impala and bushbuck, but often make quick reaction when an easy opportunity presents itself. They hunt their prey by patiently stalking it, and suddenly pouncing on it to bring it down. When there are hyenas or lions in the area, they pull their prey up into trees, where they can feed on it in relative peace. Leopards often display feats of immense strength, and are and capable of hauling prey which weigh as much as they do. Although a diet of game is preferred, they are often satisfied with feeding on various insects like on winged termites, stranded catfish and baby guinea fowl. Outside of protected areas, leopards survive on rodents, birds which frequent the ground, reptiles and; often making a bad reputation for themselves lambs, dogs and poultry. Unlike lions, they rarely scavenge but will have been known to fend off lesser carnivores such as cheetah from fresh kills.

Another beast which holds a place in the big five is the Rhino. Often hunted for their valuable horns, these beasts have been hunted into near extinction in recent decades. Since 1970 the world rhino population dropped by a staggering total of almost ninety percent, with five species remaining on th globe today, all of which are endangered. Much like the Black rhino, the white rhinoceros suffered a lot due to poaching, and at one time their numbers totaled only about a hundred and eighty in the entire South Africa. The Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve was a well deserved stronghold for black rhino, and as their numbers started increasing, the reserve started supplying Kruger National Park with them. The Black Rhino are very shy and elusive creatures, and are solitary, the exception being mothers traveling with their young. There are a few subspecies of the Black Rhino, and their distribution in South Africa is dispersed, with the highest numbers occurring in the Kruger National Park and throughout the province of Kwazulu Natal. Black Rhino are significantly smaller than White Rhino and agile for their size, they are capable of achieving speeds of forty five kilometers per hour. They are very dangerous when approached on foot. The black, which is distinguished by its hooked lip, along with all other rhino species, is an odd toed ungulate, having three toes on each foot. It has a characteristic thick, hairless, grey hide, and two horns as does the larger white rhino, the longer of which sits at the front of the nose. The white rhino's name is derived from the Dutch word "weit," meaning wide, and referring to its wide, square muzzle which is specially adapted for grazing. The white rhino, which is actually grey, has a pronounced hump on the neck and a long face and being larger than the black rhino, can weigh up to two tons. Rhinos often reside in home ranges or territories which occasionally overlap with each other, and feeding grounds and water holes are shared from time to time. The black rhino is usually solitary, while the white rhino tends to be a much more social creature. Rhinos are famed for their short tempers and often show little or no tolerance when constantly disturbed. While their eyesight is poor, leading them to often charge without apparent reason, they display a heightened sense of smell and an excellent sense of hearing. They communicate via a complicated series of signal consisting of various grunts, growls, snorts, squeaks, and bellows. When in attack mode, the rhino will its head, snort, start charging the offender and goring it with powerful blows of its horns. The rhino has a symbiotic partnership with oxpeckers, often also called tick birds. In Swahili the tick bird is named "askari wa kifaru," meaning "the rhino's guard." The bird relieves the rhino of ticks and other parasites which it finds on the beast, and often provides a noisy warning of danger. Although the birds also eat blood from sores on the rhino's skin and thus obstruct healing, they are still tolerated.

Cape buffalo , scientifically known as Syncerus caffer, and also called the African buffalo are one of the most seen species of the big five, often traveling in huge herds of up to one thousand. It is one of the most dangerous game animals, with human as its only natural enemy, they have been known to defend themselves also against lions. Buffaloes are extremely social animals, and are very peaceful amongst themselves. The role of dominant bull of the herd is normally given to the oldest bull in the group. Both sexes of the species display horns, but those of males are more robust and heavier. According to the the horns, age and sex can be differentiated. Mature males have a broad base shielding forehead with horns up to a hundred centimeters wide and a hundred and fifty centimeters long along curve. Females’ horns are ten to twenty percent smaller, without boss. Their fur is short, thin and scant, mostly bark coloured or dark brown, align for camouflage. The Cape buffalo is extremely well built, with powerful limbs and a tail much like that of a cow's. The average height of male is between a hundred and fifty and one hundred and seventy centimeters, with length varying up to 3 meters and weighing anything between four hundred and twenty five to nine hundred kilograms. Females are about usually about ten percent smaller. It head is broad with wide mouth, moist nostrils and drooping ears. Males can grow up to a mass of about eight hundred kilometers, and have a typical life span of about twenty years. Buffalo are exclusively grazers, and are known to frequent dense forest and open plains. Abundant supplies of grass, shade and water are essential components for the buffalo habitat. They tend to avoid wide open areas and flood plains which lead them too far from shade. Buffalo drink at regular intervals, often twice a day, usually remaining in the vicinity of the water supply when feeding. Female buffalo become usually reach sexual maturity at the age of about five years, rearing young after a gestation period of eleven months, and only having one calf.

Due to outstanding conservation efforts the Kruger National Park alone has well over ten thousand elephants, where as in 1920 there were an estimated hundred and twenty elephants left in the whole of South Africa. African elephants are slightly larger than their Asian cousins and can be identified by their larger ears that look somewhat like the continent of Africa. Asian elephants have smaller, rounded ears. African elephants usually live in small groups, led by an older female elephant. The males prefer a solitary life and only make contact with others when they wish to mate. Mating takes place throughout the entire year, and the cow will carry its calf for a gestation period of approximately twenty two months, after which only one calf is born. The African Elephant is the largest living land mammal, and grows to a length of up to seven and a half meters, and a height of eleven feet. Typical weight of these beasts could be anywhere up to 5.8 tones. The African elephant lives in a variety of biomes, which include forests, grasslands, river valleys, and deserts. The elephant can be very destructive to its biome, as it tends to defoliate areas by stripping trees of bark and branches with its powerful trunk. Its trunk is strong enough to even uproot trees. The trunk alone contains about 100,000 various muscles. With its trunk it can perform a number of tasks which include drinking water, bathing, smelling, and gripping and transporting food. Its diet mainly consists of bark, grass, leaves, fruit etc, and is capable of eating over onr hundred and forty kilograms of food per day. Its ears enable it to cool off its head, and to swipe at insects. To pick up smaller objects they use two finger tips located at the end of their trunk whereas, the Asian Elephant has only one. African elephants, unlike their Asian relatives, are not easily domesticated