African Cape Buffalo

Syncerus caffer

The African Cape buffalo is the most underrated member of the Big Five. While first-time safari visitors often fixate on lions and leopards, seasoned guides will tell you that buffalo are among the most fascinating and unpredictable animals in the bush. A breeding herd of several hundred buffalo moving through the savanna is one of Africa's great spectacles, kicking up dust clouds visible from kilometers away. Old bulls, known as 'dagga boys' for the mud they cake themselves in, carry enormous curved horns fused at the base into a solid shield called a boss. These solitary males are famously bad-tempered and considered by many hunters and rangers to be the most dangerous of the Big Five. Buffalo herds display remarkable collective decision-making. When it's time to move, adult females stand and face the direction they want to travel, essentially voting on which way the herd goes. They also defend their own fiercely. Few sights in the bush are more dramatic than a herd of buffalo charging back to rescue a member caught by lions, sometimes tossing predators into the air with their massive horns. Found across sub-Saharan Africa wherever there's sufficient water and grazing, buffalo are a reliable safari sighting in most major parks. Their relationship with lions makes for some of the most intense predator-prey drama you'll witness on any game drive.