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Animals of Africa

Africa has more of the animals people reach for in this game than anywhere except Asia: the savanna heavyweights (lion, elephant, giraffe, hippo), the antelopes, the great apes of the rainforest, and a long tail of smaller things like meerkats, jerboas and naked mole-rats.

Each line says where in Africa the animal actually lives. A few are here because people took them there, such as the largemouth bass, and the page says so.

103 animals, A to Z.

• 🐾AardvarkMuch of the southern two-thirds of Africa, avoiding rocky areas.
• 🐕African wild dogSub-Saharan Africa, mostly Southern and East Africa; rare in North Africa.
• 🐾AgoutiCentral America, northern and central South America and the southern Lesser Antilles; introduced elsewhere in the Caribbean and to Benin in West Africa.
• 🐾AntelopeMost of Africa, the Middle East, India, Central Asia and a small area of Russia.
• 🐾ApeSub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia; gibbons live only in Asia.
• 🐒BaboonOpen savanna, open woodland and hills across Africa; the hamadryas baboon also lives in part of the Arabian Peninsula.
• 🐟BassNative to the eastern and central US, south-eastern Canada and northern Mexico. Introduced widely, including Japan, Namibia, Cuba, Guatemala and the Iberian Peninsula.
• 🦊Bat-eared foxTwo separate populations: East Africa from Sudan and Ethiopia to Tanzania, and southern Africa from Angola to South Africa.
• 🐆Black pantherMostly tropical forests: black leopards in Africa and Asia, black jaguars in Central and South America.
• 🐾BlackbirdEurope, western Asia and North Africa; introduced to Australia and New Zealand.
• 🐾BongoForests of West and Central Africa, from Sierra Leone and Guinea to the Congo basin and South Sudan, plus a few mountains in central Kenya.
• 🐒BonoboA 500,000 km² area of the Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, south of the Congo River.
• 🐍BoomslangSub-Saharan Africa.
• 🐃BuffaloSub-Saharan Africa.
• 🐝BumblebeeMostly the Northern Hemisphere, north to Greenland; also South America and North Africa; introduced to New Zealand and Tasmania.
• 🐾BushbabyContinental sub-Saharan Africa.
• 🦅BuzzardMost of Europe and east to western Siberia, Mongolia and China; northern and eastern birds winter as far south as South Africa.
• 🐾CaecilianWet tropics of South and Central America, East and West Africa, India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
• 🐫CamelMostly domestic. The dromedary comes from the hot deserts of the Arabian Peninsula and the Sahara; the Bactrian camel from the steppes of Central Asia.
• 🐆CaracalAfrica, the Middle East and Central Asia, to arid parts of Pakistan and northwestern India.
• 🦎ChameleonMostly Africa, about half of species only in Madagascar. One species in southern Europe, a few across southern Asia to India and Sri Lanka.
• 🐆CheetahOpen savanna and dry grassland in eastern and southern Africa, a few pockets of the Sahara, and a tiny remnant population in Iran.
• 🐒ChimpanzeeForests and savannas across equatorial Africa.
• 🐾CivetTropical Asia and Africa, especially tropical forests; most species live in Southeast Asia.
• 🐍CobraTrue cobras: Africa and Asia. King cobra: India through Southeast Asia to southern China.
• 🐾CraneEvery continent except Antarctica and South America.
• 🐊CrocodileTropical rivers, lakes and swamps, and for the saltwater crocodile the coast, in Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas. Unlike alligators, all crocodiles are sensitive to cold.
• 🐾CuckooBreeds across Europe and Asia; winters in Africa and South Asia.
• 🐾Dik-dikBushlands of eastern Africa, plus a separate population of Kirk's dik-dik in Namibia and south-west Africa.
• 🐾DodoMauritius, east of Madagascar (now extinct).
• 🐾DormouseAfrica, Asia and Europe.
• 🐪DromedaryDry regions of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Thar Desert of India and Pakistan, plus a feral population in Australia.
• 🐾ElandEast and southern Africa, from Ethiopia and South Sudan south to South Africa and west to Angola and Namibia.
• 🐘ElephantSub-Saharan Africa (bush and forest elephants) and South and Southeast Asia (Asian elephant).
• 🦊Fennec foxThe Sahara, from Western Sahara and Mauritania to the Sinai Peninsula.
• 🦩FlamingoThe Americas and the Caribbean (four species), and Africa, Europe and Asia (two species).
• 🦇Fruit batTropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Oceania; Papua New Guinea has the most species.
• 🐾GazelleAfrica, south-west and central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
• 🐾GenetAfrica; the common genet also lives along the coasts of Arabia, Yemen and Oman, and in Spain, France and Italy.
• 🐾GerbilDry regions of Africa, India and Asia; the Mongolian gerbil lives in China, Mongolia and Russia.
• 🦒GiraffeSavanna and open woodland, mostly in eastern and southern Africa, with scattered populations in central and west Africa.
• 🦍GorillaTropical forests of equatorial Africa, from lowland swamps at sea level to mountain cloud forest at up to 4,300 m.
• 🐍Grass snakeMainland Europe from mid Scandinavia to southern Italy, the Middle East and northwestern Africa.
• 🐇HareNative to Africa, Europe, Asia and North America, from Arctic tundra to desert edges.
• 🐾HartebeestMuch of sub-Saharan Africa, from West Africa to Ethiopia and south to South Africa; now extinct in North Africa.
• 🦔HedgehogEurope, Asia and Africa; none native to the Americas or Australia. The European hedgehog was introduced to New Zealand, where it is now a pest.
• 🦛HippopotamusRivers, lakes and swamps of sub-Saharan Africa, with grassland nearby to graze.
• 🐾HornbillSub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent east to the Philippines and the Solomon Islands. No genus lives in both Africa and Asia.
• 🐺HyenaFour species of dog-like carnivores, including the spotted, brown and striped hyenas.
• 🐾IbexMountains of Europe, Asia, North Africa and East Africa.
• 🐾ImpalaEastern and southern Africa; the black-faced impala only in southwestern Angola and northwestern Namibia.
• 🐺JackalCentral and southern Africa (black-backed and side-striped jackals); south-central Europe and Asia (golden jackal).
• 🐾JackdawEurope, western Asia and western North Africa.
• 🐾JerboaHot deserts across North Africa and Asia.
• 🦅KestrelEurope, Asia and Africa; occasionally reaches the east coast of North America.
• 🐾KuduEastern and southern Africa, from Ethiopia and Eritrea south to South Africa, with a small population in Chad and Sudan.
• 🐆LeopardMuch of sub-Saharan Africa, with fragmented, declining populations across the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, China and the Russian Far East.
• 🦁LionSavanna, grassland and open woodland in sub-Saharan Africa, plus Gir National Park in western India. Historically absent from the central African rainforest and the Sahara.
• 🦗LocustSwarming species live on every continent except Antarctica; the desert locust ranges across Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
• 🐾LungfishAfrica, South America and Australia; lungfish once lived all over the world.
• 🐒MacaqueAsia from Japan to the Indian subcontinent; the Barbary macaque lives in North Africa and Gibraltar.
• 🐍MambaSub-Saharan Africa.
• 🐒MandrillSouthern Cameroon, mainland Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and parts of the Republic of the Congo.
• 🦫MeerkatSouthern Africa.
• 🐾MongooseAfrica, Asia and southern Europe; introduced to Hawaii.
• 🦎Monitor lizardAfrica, Asia and Oceania, including New Guinea and Australia; the Nile monitor is invasive in South Florida.
• 🐵MonkeyCentral and South America (New World monkeys), and Africa and Asia (Old World monkeys). Most live in trees; some, like baboons, live on the ground.
• 🐾MudskipperThe Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic coast of Africa. One widespread species runs from East Africa and Madagascar to Southeast Asia, northern Australia, southern China and Samoa.
• 🐾Naked mole-ratThe Horn of Africa and parts of Kenya.
• 🦎NewtNorth America, Europe, North Africa and Asia.
• 🐾NightingaleBreeds in Europe, North Africa and western and central Asia; winters in sub-Saharan Africa.
• 🐾NuthatchWoods of North America, Europe and Asia, with a few in North Africa (Algeria and Morocco).
• 🐾NyalaSoutheast Africa, from southern Malawi through Mozambique and Zimbabwe to eastern South Africa and Eswatini.
• 🐾OkapiNorth-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• 🐾OryxDry lands of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula; gemsbok were also released in New Mexico, USA.
• 🦤OstrichParts of Africa, and historically Arabia.
• 🦔PangolinAsia and sub-Saharan Africa.
• 🦜ParrotMostly tropical and subtropical regions, with the greatest variety in South America and Australasia.
• 🐾PartridgeNative to Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East; introduced to North America and elsewhere for hunting.
• 🦚PeacockIndian peafowl: the Indian subcontinent. Green peafowl: Southeast Asia. Congo peafowl: the Congo Basin.
• 🐧PenguinAlmost entirely the Southern Hemisphere, from Antarctica to the Galápagos Islands at the equator.
• 🐾PolecatEurope and the Rif mountains of Morocco.
• 🦔PorcupineOld World porcupines: Italy, West and South Asia and most of Africa. New World porcupines: North America and northern South America.
• 🐍PythonSub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia, southern China, the Philippines and Australia. Burmese pythons are invasive in Florida’s Everglades.
• 🦏RhinocerosAfrica (black and white rhinos) and South and Southeast Asia (Indian, Javan and Sumatran rhinos).
• 🐈Sand catScattered through the deserts of North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East and Central Asia.
• 🦂ScorpionEvery continent except Antarctica.
• 🐆ServalWidespread in sub-Saharan Africa; in North Africa only in Morocco, and reintroduced in Tunisia.
• 🐾ShrewAlmost worldwide, except New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and most of South America (a few now live in the northern Andes).
• 🐾SpringbokSouth and south-west Africa: north-west South Africa, the Kalahari, Namibia, Botswana and south-west Angola.
• 🐾StorkTwenty species of large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with stout bills.
• 🕷️TarantulaThe Americas, Africa and Asia, in savanna, grassland, rainforest, desert, scrub, mountains and cloud forest.
• 🐒Vervet monkeySouthern and East Africa, from Ethiopia and southern South Sudan down to South Africa.
• 🐍ViperThe Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia. The adder ranges from Britain across Eurasia to the Pacific, north of the Arctic Circle.
• 🦅VultureOld World vultures: Europe, Africa and Asia. New World vultures and condors: North and South America.
• 🐗WarthogSub-Saharan Africa.
• 🐗Wild boarNative to much of Europe, Asia and North Africa; introduced to the Americas and Oceania, where it is often invasive.
• 🐾WildebeestEastern and southern Africa.
• 🐦WoodpeckerWorldwide except Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the polar regions.
• 🐾WrenThe Americas, plus the Eurasian wren across Europe, Asia and North Africa.
• 🦓ZebraPlains zebras across the savannas of eastern and southern Africa, Grévy’s zebras in the dry north-east, and mountain zebras in the south-west.
• 🐂ZebuThroughout the tropics: South Asia, China, Africa and Madagascar, and in large numbers in Brazil.
• 🐾ZonkeyVery rare. Zebra–donkey hybrids occur in South Africa where zebras and donkeys live close together; others are bred in captivity.

How each answer is decided: How we answer. Every animal, in one list: All animals.