Spotlight on: The Ugly 5
Written by Marrian Haileselassie
The ‘Big 5’ are on every African traveller’s to-see list. Entire vacations are built around encountering these mesmerizing animals. A few of those travellers might know of the ‘Little 5’ even though they’re much more difficult to spot. In this blogpost, you will learn everything you need to know about the Ugly 5. Never heard of them? Read on.
1. Hyena
With yellow and brown spotted fur, hyenas are relatively easy to spot. They are highly adaptable and can survive in various environments like savannahs, forests and even mountains. Hyenas never waste a bite and eat a prey’s bones and hooves too. As social animals, they travel in a group called a clan.
Fun fact: Each hyena has a unique whoop that other hyenas use to identify it like a signature!
2. Marabou Stork
Famously known as the ‘Undertaker bird’, marabou storks are scavengers that feed on dead and live prey alike. Considered harsh on the eyes because of their bald head and neck, marabou storks do not have hair on these areas to protect them from bacteria infections while feeding. Nonetheless, they are excellent flyers with a wingspan of almost 3 m!
Fun fact: In hot weather, marabou storks pee on themselves to cool down.
3. Warthog
Pumbaa, the beloved companion of Timon of the world-famous animation is a warthog. Belonging to the pig family, this wild animal is short and has two pairs of tusks (yes, that’s 4 in total!) It uses these tusks to fight, hunt and dig. Warthogs are also quite intelligent; often stealing burrows dug out by other animals to sleep instead of making their own.
Fun fact: They always enter burrows tail first to burst out running in the morning!
4. Vultures
A famous member of ‘Nature’s clean up crew’, vultures are scavenger birds that prey on dead animals. Vultures have an excellent sense of smell and sight allowing them to easily spot their next meal. They are social birds and when feeding together, they are called a wake. Their bald heads and necks are compensated by their impressive wing length – nearly 3 m long!
Fun fact: One reason vultures are endangered is because some cultures view the birds as bad omens!
5. Wildebeest
Sometimes considered a combination of 3 animals – buffalo, horse and ox – these wild animals are actually antelopes. A long face, horns and mane are distinct features of any wildebeest. Despite their extremely poor sight, wildebeests are serious grazers and cross long distances in search of greener pastures. This results in the annual migration of around 1.5 million wildebeests from the southern Serengeti plains in Tanzania to Maasai Mara in Kenya.
Fun fact: After just 6 minutes of being born, a wildebeest calf can stand!
Unlike their unkind label suggests, the Ugly 5 are quite interesting animals to watch and definitely deserve a check-out on your next safari. With that, you should have 5 animals on your to-see list and a couple of fascinating facts for your next safari buddy.
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