​Wildlife & Animals – Phinda GR

Philip Briggs
Expert
By Philip Briggs

Philip lives in South Africa and has authored many guidebooks to African destinations, including ‘The Rough Guide to Game Parks of South Africa’.

Philip lives in South Africa and has authored many Africa guidebooks, including ‘The Rough Guide to Game Parks of South Africa’.

Philip is the author of many Africa guidebooks, including ‘The Rough Guide to Game Parks of South Africa’.

Philip is author of ‘The Rough Guide to Game Parks of South Africa’.

Phinda is a fully enclosed game reserve. This makes sightings of all flagship species including the Big Five and cheetah very easy. Both black and white rhino are present and regularly spotted, although the black rhino less often. The beautiful nyala is the most common antelope. Night drives offer an opportunity to see nocturnal species such as porcupine and genet.

Abundant
Common
Occasional
Rare
None
ElephantCommon
GiraffeCommon
HippoOccasional
BuffaloCommon
ZebraCommon
WildebeestCommon
White RhinoCommon
Black RhinoRare
LionCommon
LeopardOccasional
CheetahCommon
HyenaCommon
Wild DogRare

Wildlife Highlights

Phinda is famous for its quality cheetah sightings. Smaller creatures to look out for are the shy red duiker found scurrying around in the forest undergrowth and, the smallest of all antelope, the tiny suni. A boat trip on the Mzinene River offers close encounters with big Nile crocodiles.

Best Time for Wildlife Viewing

The best time for wildlife viewing in Phinda is during the dry months of June to September. The end of the Dry season, from August to September, is an especially nice time since temperatures are higher than in mid-winter and animals are easier to find because they congregate around predictable water sources.

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