Splendor Safari
Wildlife group
Lion, leopard, cheetah and African wild dog are only the beginning. Tanzania holds one of the most complete predator guilds left in Africa — from the serval that hunts rodents by ear in wet grassland to the honey badger that will drive a lion off a carcass.
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16 species
Predators
Featured Panthera leo Simba
Tanzania is one of Africa’s great lion strongholds, with rewarding year-round viewing across both the northern and southern safari circuits.
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Predators
Featured Lycaon pictus Mbwa mwitu
A rare, wide-ranging pack hunter for which southern Tanzania remains one of Africa’s most important landscapes.
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Predators
Acinonyx jubatus Duma
A daylight hunter built for acceleration, best watched on the open Serengeti and Ndutu plains.
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Predators
Panthera pardus pardus Chui
An elusive, adaptable cat most often found by scanning river trees, kopjes and woodland margins.
Read field guideCrocuta crocuta Fisi madoa
Tanzania’s most numerous large carnivore and a formidable hunter in its own right, not merely the scavenger of safari legend.
Read field guideHyaena hyaena Fisi milia
A shy, shaggy night-walker of the drier north and centre — one of the genuinely rare sightings on a Tanzanian safari.
Read field guideLeptailurus serval Mondo
A long-legged, huge-eared small cat that hunts rodents in long grass by sound alone — best looked for in the Ngorongoro highlands.
Read field guideCaracal caracal Simbamangu
A powerful russet cat with black ear tufts, capable of taking birds out of the air in a standing leap of three metres.
Read field guideLupulella mesomelas Bweha nyekundu
The alert, rust-and-silver jackal of the open plains — a constant presence at Serengeti and Ngorongoro kills.
Read field guideLupulella adusta Bweha miraba
A quieter, greyer jackal of woodland and moist country, most likely in Nyerere and the southern circuit.
Read field guideCanis lupaster Bweha wa dhahabu
The "golden jackal" of the Ngorongoro Crater — reclassified in 2015 as a wolf, and found in Tanzania almost only here.
Read field guideOtocyon megalotis Bweha masikio
A tiny insect-eating fox with enormous ears, listening for harvester termites beneath the short-grass plains.
Read field guideMellivora capensis Nyegere
Small, stocky and famously fearless — a badger that will stand its ground against animals many times its size.
Read field guideHelogale parvula Nguchiro mdogo
Africa’s smallest carnivore, living in termite mounds in tight cooperative packs — a Tarangire favourite.
Read field guideMungos mungo Nguchiro miraba
Noisy, busy troops of twenty or more sweeping through camp and woodland, backs barred with dark stripes.
Read field guideGenetta maculata Kanu
A slender, cat-like climber with a spotted coat and a banded tail — the small carnivore most often seen around lodge lights.
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From guidebook to game drive
Our local safari planners will help you choose the right parks, season and route for the sightings that matter most to you.