Which South African national park is famous for the Big Five?

Kruger National Park is the South African national park famous for the Big Five.

The Big Five are the African bush elephant, black rhinoceros, Cape buffalo, lion and leopard. The term originally referred to the five most difficult and dangerous animals for hunters to track on foot, but today it is mainly a wildlife-tourism label. Kruger contains all five species, making it one of Africa’s best-known safari destinations.

Located in northeastern South Africa across Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, Kruger covers about 19,623 square kilometres. The area was first protected in 1898, and the park was formally established in 1926 by combining earlier reserves. It is managed by South African National Parks and forms part of the larger Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area.

The Big Five should not be confused with Kruger’s “Big Six Birds,” a separate informal group of notable species found in the park.