Big Five vs Big Nine: What Each List Means and Which Is Easier to See

Written by the Paramount Gorilla Expeditions guiding team · Last updated 31 October 2026

The Big Five are lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino. The Big Nine adds cheetah, giraffe, zebra and hippopotamus. This guide explains big five vs big nine in full: where the Big Five came from, what each animal is, who uses the Big Nine and why the lists vary, which list is easier to complete in East Africa, and how they compare with the Little Five, Ugly Five and Shy Five. The Big Nine is far easier to complete on a single safari, and for most travellers it describes what they enjoy most. If you want parks, seasons, odds and routes, our where to see the Big Five guide covers that; this page covers the Big Five animals, the Big 5 and Big 9 lists and why they exist. For the wider picture of Kenya's wildlife, see our guide to Kenya's wildlife and biodiversity.

Quick answer

What is the difference between the Big Five and the Big Nine? The Big Five is the older list, coined by hunters for five animals that were hard or dangerous to hunt on foot: lion, leopard, African elephant, African buffalo and rhinoceros. The Big Nine is a looser, newer tourism list that adds cheetah, giraffe, hippo and zebra. Neither list is official. The Big Nine is easier to complete because rhino and leopard are the hard ones, and the four extra animals are common.

Big Five vs Big Nine at a glance

The first five rows are the Big Five (rhino counts once, so black and white share one slot) and all rows together are the Big Nine. Weights are typical adults and vary by region and sex. Difficulty is a guide's judgement of how likely a visitor is to see the animal on a well-planned trip of a week or more, not a promise.

Chapter 01 — Where did the term "Big Five" come from?

Why are they called the Big Five? The name was coined by big-game hunters for the five animals they considered hardest, or most dangerous, to hunt on foot. It was never a ranking of size or beauty. Photographic safaris inherited the phrase and turned a hunter's trophy list into a viewing checklist.

Three details are worth knowing, because they correct what many pages say.

The coiner is not recorded. The phrase grew out of the colonial hunting era and was used by hunters well before photographic safaris. No author, year or publication is attached to its first use, and popular accounts disagree on the century, so a page that names a person or a date is guessing.

The reason is "on foot", not "biggest". Accounts differ on whether the five were the hardest to hunt or the most dangerous, but all agree on the foot-hunting test. That is why the hippo, which is dangerous and large, is not on the list: it could be shot from a river bank, so it did not meet the test. The giraffe was placid, and the cheetah was easier to track and posed little danger. The hunters' list had nothing to do with how many photographs each animal would attract.

"Five" counts animals, not species. Two species of African rhinoceros (black and white) share the single rhino slot, so a strict species count gives six. The list is a tradition, not a biological grouping.

The meaning changed completely over the 20th century. Kenya banned all sport hunting in 1977, and the five animals that were once trophies are now worth more alive to the tourism economy than they ever were to hunting. Today a Big Five safari is a photographic and conservation pursuit. Our Kenya Big Five guide tells that story for Kenya.

The Big Five also reached everyday life. South Africa's rand banknotes carry the five animals, among them the rhino on the R10 note, the lion on the R50 and the leopard on the R200, and the notes issued from 2023 show the animals as families.

Chapter 02 — The Big Five animals

What are the Big Five animals? They are the African lion (Panthera leo), the leopard (Panthera pardus), the African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) and the rhinoceros, which in Africa means the black rhino (Diceros bicornis) or the white rhino (Ceratotherium simum). Each profile below gives the field facts, a spotting tip and where to read more.

Lion

The lion is the only truly social big cat. Prides are built around related females, and a typical East African male weighs about 175 kg and a female about 120 kg. The IUCN Red List lists the species as Vulnerable. Lions rest for most of the day and hunt mainly at dusk, at night and around dawn, so the best sightings come in the first and last two hours of light. Guides look for pride members lying in shade or on termite mounds, follow vultures dropping to a kill, and listen for roars at night. In two places, Ishasha in Uganda and Lake Manyara in Tanzania, lions rest in trees regularly. Our guide to tree-climbing lions covers where and why. Odds in the Mara or Serengeti on a multi-day stay: very high. In Uganda, lions are regularly seen in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Leopard

The leopard is the solitary, secretive one. Males weigh 31 to 72 kg and females 21 to 43 kg, and the species is Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. It hunts at night, drags kills into trees and rests in dense cover or branches by day, which is why it is the hardest of the Big Five for most visitors to find. Guides watch riverine trees, listen for alarm calls from baboons, impala and monkeys, and look for a kill hoisted into a branch. Patience and a guide who knows the individual cats of an area make the difference. The best-known areas are the Masai Mara, the central Serengeti around Seronera and Samburu. Odds on a four-day stay with a good guide: fair, never certain. Our Kenya Big Five guide goes deep on tracking, and our species guide to leopards in East Africa covers the animal across the region.

Elephant

The African savanna elephant is the largest land animal, with bulls commonly weighing three to six tonnes. In 2021 the IUCN split the African elephant into two species and listed the savanna elephant as Endangered and the forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) as Critically Endangered, after savanna numbers fell by at least 60 per cent over 50 years and forest numbers by more than 86 per cent over 31 years. The 2016 IUCN African Elephant Status Report put the continental total at about 415,000 for both species together. Elephants are easy to find where there is water: look at rivers and swamps in the dry season, and follow the dung and broken branches. Odds: very high in Amboseli, Tsavo, Tarangire, the Mara and the Serengeti.

African buffalo

The African buffalo, in East Africa the Cape buffalo, is a herd animal of 500 kg and more. Bulls average 650 to 900 kg, and the IUCN listed the species as Near Threatened in 2019. Herds graze near water and move in large groups, so a sighting takes little effort. A lone old bull is more likely to be irritable than a herd. Odds: very high almost everywhere.

Rhinoceros: black and white

Two species, one slot. The black rhino (Diceros bicornis) is the smaller, browsing, solitary one with a hooked upper lip, typically 800 to 1,400 kg. The IUCN lists it as Critically Endangered (2020). The white rhino (Ceratotherium simum) is much larger, males averaging about 2,000 to 2,300 kg, a grazer with a square lip, and more social. The IUCN lists it as Near Threatened (2020), though the northern white rhino is down to two females, both at Ol Pejeta in Kenya. Despite the names, both species are grey; the names describe the animals' lips and habits, not their colour.

The latest continental count from IUCN's African Rhino Specialist Group is 23,885 rhinos at the end of 2023: 17,464 white and about 6,421 black. Black rhinos fell by about 1 per cent that year, and 586 rhinos were poached across Africa in 2023, mostly in South Africa. The International Rhino Foundation's 2026 State of the Rhino report records 6,788 black rhinos at the end of 2024 and white rhinos falling to 15,752, mostly from losses in South Africa.

For a visitor, rhino is the limiting animal. East Africa's open parks hold few, and sightings happen at protected sites: Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, Lake Nakuru and Kenya's rhino conservancies, and, on foot with armed rangers, Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary in Uganda. Our rhino tracking guide compares them. Both African rhino species, like the elephant, are covered by CITES, the convention that regulates international trade in wildlife. Odds: hard on an ordinary safari, good at a dedicated sanctuary.

Chapter 03 — What is the Big Nine?

What are the Big Nine animals? The Big Nine is the Big Five plus the cheetah, giraffe, hippopotamus and zebra. It is an informal tourism phrase with no founding body, no date and no authority, so operators do not agree on one list. Check what a lodge means when it quotes it. The version on this page is the common one.

The logic of the list is easy to see. The Big Five measures danger to a hunter. The extra four measure what visitors actually enjoy: speed (cheetah), height (giraffe), the sound and sight of a hippo pod, and a herd of striped zebra on open plain. The Big Nine keeps the Big Five and adds four animals that are common, photogenic and easy, which is why it is much easier to complete.

Treat it as a conversation starter, not a standard. If your itinerary says "Big Nine", ask which nine.

Chapter 04 — The four extra Big Nine animals

What are the four extra animals in the Big Nine? They are the cheetah, giraffe, hippopotamus and zebra. Each is easier to see than a leopard or rhino, and each comes with its own conservation story.

Cheetah

The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is the fastest land animal and the only big cat that hunts by day, so it is the one most often seen hunting. It weighs 21 to 65 kg and the IUCN lists it as Vulnerable, with about 6,500 mature individuals across Africa and Asia. Cheetahs prefer open short-grass plains where they can spot prey, so the best chances are the Masai Mara, the Serengeti including the Ndutu area, and Amboseli. Guides scan from termite mounds and the tops of vehicles for the slim shape standing upright on a mound. Odds in the right plains: fair to good. Our guide to cheetahs in East Africa goes into speed, hunting and conservation.

Giraffe

The giraffe is the tallest land animal, with males averaging about 1,190 kg and females about 830 kg, and an adult standing 4.3 to 5.7 metres tall. The IUCN lists the group as Vulnerable, with about 97,500 giraffes in 2016. Taxonomy is under review: the IUCN has long treated them as one species with several subspecies, and genetic studies since 2016 argue for as many as four species. In East Africa you will meet the Masai giraffe in Kenya and Tanzania, the reticulated giraffe in northern Kenya and the Rothschild's (Nubian) giraffe in Uganda and western Kenya. Odds: very high in nearly every savanna park.

Hippopotamus

The hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius) spends the day in water and comes out at dusk to graze. Males average about 1.5 tonnes. The IUCN lists it as Vulnerable, with an estimated 115,000 to 130,000 hippos in 2017. Hippos are dangerous on land, particularly at night when they graze away from the water, so stay in the vehicle or with your guide. Odds: very high at any permanent water: the Mara River, Uganda's Kazinga Channel and the Nile at Murchison Falls, and the Rufiji River in Nyerere.

Zebra

East Africa has two zebra species. The plains zebra (Equus quagga) is Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List (2016), with about 500,000 animals, and it is the striped herd animal of the Mara and Serengeti migration. Males weigh 220 to 322 kg. The Grévy's zebra (Equus grevyi) is larger, 350 to 450 kg, finer-striped and found mostly in northern Kenya, where Samburu is the best-known place to see it. The IUCN lists it as Endangered (2016), with fewer than 2,000 mature individuals. Odds: plains zebra very high; Grévy's zebra is found in Samburu and the Laikipia conservancies.

Chapter 05 — Big Five vs Big Nine: which is easier to complete?

Which is easier, the Big Five or the Big Nine? The Big Nine, by a wide margin. Rhino is the hardest of the Big Five to see, leopard is next, and the four extra animals are among the easiest in East Africa. A first-time visitor on a week-long safari will almost certainly complete the Big Nine apart from rhino and possibly leopard.

The reasoning is the same every time. Lion, buffalo and elephant are abundant in the main parks. Leopards are common in places but secretive, and a single leopard sighting can take days. Rhinos are the real filter, because open parks have almost none and a sighting means going to a protected site. The extra four are common in almost every park, so they add easy points and make the list feel complete.

Honest planning follows from that. If you want all five, decide early whether rhino matters and build one night at a rhino site into the route, not hope for it. If you want the Big Nine, the same rule applies, and the extras will take care of themselves. Our where to see the Big Five guide shows which parks hold which animals and which routes make all five realistic. If this is your first safari, our first-time safari planning guide shows how to choose the route.

Chapter 06 — The other lists: Little Five, Ugly Five, Shy Five and primates

What are the other safari animal lists? Besides the Big Five and Big Nine there are three more informal lists, each built to draw attention to animals the Big Five ignores, plus East Africa's own extra: the primates.

The Little Five are named after the Big Five and reward walking and slow looking. We cover them in detail in our guide to the Little Five animals. The Ugly Five celebrate animals people overlook, and our guide to the Ugly Five covers them. The Shy Five is a real term used by a few lodges, but its list is not fixed: one common version has the aardvark, pangolin, porcupine, bat-eared fox and aardwolf, another swaps in the meerkat, and others differ again. That makes it the least standard of all the lists, and all the animals are nocturnal or secretive, so treat any sighting as luck.

East Africa has its own extra that no list covers: primates. Uganda and Rwanda are the best places on earth to trek mountain gorillas, and Uganda, Kibale in particular, offers chimpanzees. Our guide to gorilla trekking and our guide to how many mountain gorillas are left cover them. Many travellers pair a Big Five or Big Nine safari in Kenya or Tanzania with gorillas in Uganda or Rwanda, and our guide comparing Rwanda's national parks shows how Akagera fits.

Chapter 07 — Where to complete each list

Where can I complete the Big Five and Big Nine in East Africa? The surest route is the Masai Mara plus one Kenyan rhino sanctuary, or the Serengeti plus Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. This table summarises the choices. Our where to see the Big Five guide has the full park-by-park odds, seasons and routes.

For a first trip that covers a lot of these in one go, our 12-day Kenya and Tanzania Great Migration Grand Safari crosses the Mara, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater and gives a strong chance at all nine. For Tanzania alone, the Classic Serengeti and Ngorongoro safari covers the same two parks in a shorter trip. If big cats are what you want most, our Kenya photographic big cat safari is built for photography. To see the animals in the dark, our guide to night drives and walking safaris explains where each is allowed. The Maasai Mara guide and the Ngorongoro Crater guide cover the two key places.

Chapter 08 — Do not tick a list

Is it worth chasing a full safari list? Not as the main goal. Many first-time visitors arrive focused on ticking off the five, and then remember a cheetah hunt, a hippo pod at a waterhole or a giraffe against the sunset far more than a distant rhino. We suggest enjoying the animals rather than counting them.

A checklist makes the safari about what you have not seen yet. A day with no leopard feels like a failure instead of a day with a lion pride on a kill and a baby elephant learning to use its trunk. A common pattern on safari: a guest spends a morning scanning for the one missing animal and drives past a pride of lions with cubs. The guests who return happiest are the ones who stopped counting.

Use the lists as a starting point and plan wisely, then let the days decide. Pick a route that gives you a fair chance at the animals you care most about, tell your guide which ones they are on day one, and spend the rest of the time watching what is in front of you. A well-planned route with a good guide will do more for your odds than any amount of checking things off.

Our guide's note

The Big Five tells you what a hunter feared and the Big Nine tells you what a visitor enjoys, and the best safari sits between the two lists, not on either. If you want a trip built around the animals you care about, tell us your dates, who is travelling and which animals matter most, and we will plan the route and be honest about what is likely and what is not.