List of animals in Kruger National Park we saw on a 8-day safari (mammal list)

Kruger is one of the most amazing national parks in the world. People from all over the world flock over to this national park to fulfill their wildlife watching dreams. And Kruger does deliver.

We visited Kruger for 8 days and came back with a huge list of mammal sightings. These are the animals in Kruger we saw during our trip (mammals list)

Mammal-Watchers

Bird-watchers are famous for carrying a check list of species and ticking them off as they are spotted, but Cristina and I are of a slightly different breed. We are “mammal-watchers”. This can be a bit of a challenge since most mammals are nocturnal and secretive. For example, as an American living in east-coast suburbia, the only wild mammal I’m likely to see in a day is a squirrel.

Occasionally I may spot a deer, woodchuck, or raccoon. However, in a South African game park, it is entirely possible to spot more than a dozen species of large mammals each day. That is one of the reasons we love traveling to Africa.

On our recent visit I actually did keep a list of the mammals we spotted. During eight days in Kruger we found no less than thirty four different species!
I wrote this post as a companion to my recent article How To Take Your First African Safari (For Only $750!), to show the diversity of mammals visible in Kruger, but I will also include the additional twenty mammal species we sighted on the rest of our six-week journey in southern Africa. Mammal-watchers rejoice!

Tip: if you visit Kruger but want to avoid the crowds check out how we avoid the famous Kruger traffic jams on our post here.

Photo gallery of some of our mammal sightings in Kruger.

When we go on an African safari, we always carry our beloved wildlife guides with us. They not only keep us entertained during times when animals are difficult to spot, but they also help us by identifying their tracks, understand their behavior, and even with identifying droppings we find in the middle of the road. For a list of our favorite wildlife guides to take on an African safari check out our post here. Or take a peek at our top ones below.

Mammals sighted during our 8 days in Kruger National Park, South Africa

1. Warthog
2. African Elephant
3. Impala
4. Plains Zebra
5. Hippopotamus
6. Giraffe
7. White Rhino
8. Wildebeest (Blue)
9. Chacma Baboon
10. Lion
11. Cape Buffalo
12. Steenbok
13. Kudu
14. Tree Squirrel
15. Bushbuck
16. Dwarf Mongoose
17. Spotted Hyena
18. Vervet Monkey
19. Greater Bushbaby
20. Common Duiker
21. Klipspringer
22. Waterbuck
23. Black-backed Jackal
24. Large-spotted Genet
25. Leopard
26. Slender Mongoose
27. Nyala
28. Sharpe’s Grysbok
29. Bush Hyrax
30. Civet
31. Four-toed Elephant Shrew
32. Small-spotted Genet
33. Lesser Bush Baby
34. Scrub Hare

Additional Mammals Sighted during the rest of our trip (Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in SA, various parks in Namibia)

1. Yellow Mongoose
2. Gemsbok
3. Red Hartebeest
4. Cheetah
5. Striped Mouse
6. Bat-eared Fox
7. Cape Fox
8. African Wild Cat
9. Spring Hare
10. Meerkat
11. Eland
12. Banded Mongoose
13. Kirk’s Dik-Dik
14. Bat (unidentified)
15. Gerbil (unidentified)
16. Cape Fur Seal
17. Benguela Dolphin
18. Rodent (unidentified)
19. Kangaroo Rat
20. Caracal (yay!)

That’s a total of 54 mammal species spotted during our safari vacation. Not bad for one single safari trip, right?