Leopard Tortoise

Reptiles > Turtles & Tortoises

The Leopard Tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis, formerly Geochelone pardalis) is the fourth-largest tortoise species in the world and the second-largest tortoise native to the African continent, surpassed in size only by the African spurred tortoise (sulcata)....

Serval

Mammals > Felids & Carnivora

The Serval (Leptailurus serval), celebrated across Africa as the cheetah of the grass stems and the quintessential long-legged wetland hunter, is a slender, exceptionally gracile medium-sized wild cat belonging to the lineage Felinae within the cat family Felidae...

Spotted Hyena

Mammals > Hyaenids & Carnivorans

The Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta), widely known as the ‘laughing hyena’ for its eerie, vocal repertoire, is an immense, intelligent carnivoran mammal belonging to the family Hyaenidae, native to the savannas and open woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa....

Aardvark

Mammals > Tubulidentates

The Aardvark (Orycteropus afer), known in Afrikaans as the ‘earth pig’, is a bizarre, heavily built nocturnal mammal that stands as the sole surviving species of the entire mammalian order Tubulidentata. Possessing an anatomical mosaic that puzzled early...

Honey Badger

Mammals > Mustelids

The Honey Badger (Mellivora capensis), known natively across southern Africa as the ratel, is an indomitable, powerfully built terrestrial carnivoran belonging to its own monotypic subfamily (Mellivorinae) within the weasel family Mustelidae. Instantly recognized by...