​Wildlife & Animals – Thornybush 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’.

Thornybush has dropped fences with Timbavati, which is open to Kruger Park and is, therefore, part of a large ecosystem. All of the Big Five are regularly seen as well as spotted hyena, cheetah and hippo. Wild dog sometimes passes through and viewing opportunities are especially good when they choose to den in the reserve.

Abundant
Common
Occasional
Rare
None
ElephantCommon
GiraffeCommon
HippoCommon
BuffaloCommon
ZebraCommon
WildebeestCommon
White RhinoOccasional
Black RhinoOccasional
LionCommon
LeopardOccasional
CheetahOccasional
HyenaCommon
Wild DogVery Rare

Wildlife Highlights

The usually very shy and secretive black rhino is spotted and tracked in Thornybush quite regularly. Night drives are excellent with possible sightings of genet, civet and caracal, as well as porcupine. Lion are easily seen, and the very rare white lion, from neighboring Timbavati, has also been spotted on several occasions.

Best Time for Wildlife Viewing

Wildlife viewing is best in the dry months of June through September. August to September is an especially nice time since the temperature rises again after the cold mid-winter months. In addition, this is the end of a long, dry period and animals gather around reliable water sources, which makes spotting them easier.

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