It Gets Ugly

Even the newest Africa aficionado has heard of the Big Five animals that you want to see (and hopefully photograph) on safari — elephant, lion, rhino, buffalo and leopard. But did you know there’s also an Ugly Five?

While it’s no doubt debatable which animals are the least attractive, those in the know seem to have settled on these critters as the most revolting when it comes to looks — the vulture, the warthog, the hyena, the marabou stork and the hippopotamus.

They are talking about the adult versions, of course, not cute little baby hippos or warthogs. But we don’t think there’s anyone out there who is going to argue with placing vultures and those ghastly looking marabous at the top of this particular list.

Can you think of any animals that should be on the Ugly Five list instead of the current cadre? In future posts we’ll also tell you about the Northern Five of Kenya and the Tiny Five of African wildlife.

On a safari at The Elewana Collection properties in Kenya & Tanzania, or on their SkySafaris you stand a excellent chance of seeing all 5!