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Animals in South Africa
South Africa is extremely blessed with the world's largest variety of wildlife. Its superlative list of unique animals has well-over 400 reptiles, 229 mammal species and 800 bird species. South Africa is renowned for a lot of its animals but mostly because of its mammal species.

Out of all of the mammals that exist in South Africa, the five best known mammals are buffalos, elephants, lions, rhinos and leopards. Then again, thanks to there being an endless amount of animals found throughout South Africa, it would not be fair to declare the listed five mammals as the best known in South Africa. The various regions of South Africa contain unique families of wildlife. From, zebras to hyenas, apes, warthogs, tigers,
giraffe
giraffes and so many more, the immense amount of wildlife is the advantage that South Africa holds over other continents.

South Africa is buried neck-deep with unique animals. For some animals, living life in South Africa is far from easy. The conditions in various parts of South Africa are harsher than others. Nevertheless, there are five main habitat types in South Africa -- Karoo, savannah, grassland, Forest and Fynbos. The mammals, especially the big cats, suffer the most and more frequently. When there is a drought, the water and food supply diminishes quickly. Therefore, several animals are now endangered. Lions are the most popular. They are found throughout South Africa. However, the biggest problems they face are people and their weapons. More now than in the past, lions mainly reside in conservation areas. However, as a whole, South Africa's wildlife is thriving and offers visitors an experience of a lifetime. For a long time, the bigger animals dominated much of the world's attention. Nowadays, the smaller animals, such as, the elephant shrews, are gaining more and more attention than ever before.

South Africa is covered with a lot of animals that have been in existence for centuries. As the population in South Africa continues to increase, the habitats reserved for the various wildlife are slowly being taken over. Nevertheless, the wide range of animals are spreaded all across the extraordinary landscape of South Africa.


Click here for a list of endangered animals in South Africa.
Even-toed ungulates in South Africa
Common hartebeest
Springbok
Grey duiker
Tsessebe
Oribi
African buffalo
Common hippopotamus
Roan antelope
Blue buck
Cape grysbok
Sable antelope
Sharpe's grysbok
Steenbok
Southern reedbuck
Mountain reedbuck
Waterbuck
Bushbuck
Nyala
Greater kudu
Blue duiker
Suni
Natal duiker
Desert warthog
Common warthog
Bushpig
Klipspringer
Gemsbok
Blesbok
Giraffe
Common rhebok
Black wildebeest
Impala
Blue & white-bearded wildebeest
Carnivores in South Africa
Marsh mongoose
Yellow mongoose
Cape grey mongoose
African clawless otter
Slender mongoose
Antarctic fur seal
Common dwarf mongoose
African lion
Afro-australian fur seal
Egyptian mongoose
Aardwolf
Amsterdam island fur seal
White-tailed mongoose
Banded mongoose
Selous' mongoose
South atlantic elephant-seal
Meller's mongoose
Meerkat
Honey badger
Striped polecat
African striped weasel
African civet
Common genet
Side-striped jackal
Panther genet
Black-backed jackal
Blotched genet
African caracal
Cape fox
Black-footed cat
Wild cat
Leopard
Serval
Bat-eared fox
Speckle-throated otter
Cheetah
African wild dog
Spotted hyaena
Dolphins, porpoises, and whales in South Africa
Long-beaked dolphin
Grey dolphin
Bunch
Rough-toothed dolphin
Blainville's beaked whale
Gray's beaked whale
Hector's beaked whale
Layard's beaked whale
True's beaked whale
False killer whale
Common minke whale
Shepherd's beaked whale
Coalfish whale
Bryde's whale
Blue whale
Flatheaded bottlenose whale
Common rorqual
Arnoux's beaked whale
Pygmy sperm whale
Pygmy right whale
Bottle-nosed dolphin
Southern right whale
Fraser's dolphin
Hourglass dolphin
Dusky dolphin
Pygmy killer whale
Benguela dolphin
Cuvier's beaked whale
Killer whale
Southern right whale dolphin
Indo-pacific beaked whale
Chinese white dolphin
Pacific pilot whale
Long-finned pilot whale
Bridled dolphin
Melon-headed whale
Euphrosyne dolphin
Bats in South Africa
Rüppel's pipistrelle
Egyptian free-tailed bat
Rusty pipistrelle
Sundevall's roundleaf bat
Madagascan large free-tailed bat
Mauritian tomb bat
Lesser long-fingered bat
Angolan free-tailed bat
Midas free-tailed bat
Natal free-tailed bat
Straw-coloured fruit bat
Damara woolly bat
Blasius's horseshoe bat
Lesser woolly bat
Cape horseshoe bat
Geoffroy's horseshoe bat
Wahlberg's epauletted fruit bat
Darling's horseshoe bat
Long-tailed house bat
Dent's horseshoe bat
Cape hairy bat
Botswanan long-eared bat
Rüppell's horseshoe bat
Welwitch's bat
De winton's long-eared bat
Hildebrandt's horseshoe bat
Lander's horseshoe bat
Bushveld horseshoe bat
Egyptian slit-faced bat
Swinny's horseshoe bat
Wood's slit-faced bat
Light-winged lesser house bat
African yellow bat
Greenish yellow bat
Ansorge's free-tailed bat
Little free-tailed bat
Large-eared free-tailed bat
Percival's trident bat
Hyraxes in South Africa
Bush hyrax
Eastern tree dassie
Rock dassie
Hares, pikas, and rabbits in South Africa
Bushman hare
Scrub hare
Greater red rockhare
Cape hare
Jameson's red rockhare
Smith's red rockhare
Elephant-shrews in South Africa
Cape elephant shrew
Western rock elephant shrew
Short-snouted elephant shrew
Bushveld elephant shrew
Eastern rock elephant shrew
Round-eared elephant shrew
Four-toed elephant shrew
Horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs in South Africa
Black rhinoceros
Quagga
Mountain zebra
Square-lipped rhinoceros
Burchell's zebra
Pangolins in South Africa
Cape pangolin
Primates in South Africa
Mohol galago
Blue monkey
Garnett's greater galago
Elephants in South Africa
African elephant
Rodents in South Africa
Saunder's vlei rat
Natal multimammate mouse
Namtap
Barbour's rock mouse
Damara mole rat
Namaqua rock rat
Sloggett's vlei rat
Rock dormouse
Pygmy rock mouse
African mole rat
Bush vlei rat
Stone dormouse
Brukkaros pygmy rock mouse
African marsh rat
Gray glimbing mouse
Brant's climbing mouse
Chestnut climbing mouse
Cape gerbil
Nyika climbing mouse
Highveld gerbil
Cape short-eared gerbil
Bushveld gerbil
Cape porcupine
Black-tailed tree rat
Namaqua dune mole rat
Desert pygmy mouse
Acacia rat
Four-striped grass mouse
Cape dune mole rat
Pygmy mouse
Shortridge's rat
Neave's mouse
Greater cane rat
Free state pygmy mouse
White-tailed mouse
South african ground squirrel
Single-striped grass mouse
Woosnam's broad-headed mouse
Pouched mouse
Smith's bush squirrel
Cape mole rat
Red bush squirrel
Hairy-footed gerbil
Brants's whistling rat
Bushy-tailed hairy-footed gerbil
Littledale's whistling rat
Spiny mouse
Kreb's fat mouse
Spring hare
Cape spiny mouse
Angoni vlei rat
Gerbil mouse
Fat mouse
Vlei rat
Small-eared dormouse
Mozambique thicket rat
Red rock rat
Laminate vlei rat
Southern multimammate mouse
Woodland dormouse
Dassie rat
Woodland thicket rat
Grant's rock mouse
Aardvark in South Africa
Aardvark
Information about the animals living in South Africa is brought to you by "List of countries of the world", your first stop in discovering all countries and animals of the world.

The animals displayed on this page are grouped in their scientific order. View also countries of the world ordered by:
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