The second largest land mammal.  Shoulder height up to 1,8m; weight males 2 - 2,3 tonnes, females 1,3 - 1,6 tonnes.  Requires grasslands, thick cover and water close together, and prefers flat or gently undulating terrain.  Gestation 16 months.  Single calves are born at any time of year.  Birth weight 40kg.  Wean at 12 -18 months, sometimes as late as 2 years, and stay with the mother for 2-3 years.  Active at any time of the day or night, but tends to avoid the midday heat and cold weather by lying up in cover.  It spends about 50% of the time feeding.

Lion 
Panthera Leo

A Massive cat, biggest of the African carnivores.  Pale tawny to sandy brown, with white underparts.  The long tail is short-haired, with a distinctive black tuft at the tip.  Adult males have manes varying in colour from tawny to black.  Shoulder height males 1,2m, females 90cm; weight males 190kg, females 130kg.  Able to exploit a wide range of habitats.  Gestation 110 days.  Litters of up to 6 cubs (usually 1- 4)  are born at any time of year,  concealed in dense cover or in a cave, away from the pride.  Introduced to the pride at 6 -8 weeks.  Weaning starts at 10 weeks.  Females stay with the pride, males leave by three years of age.  Typically active for only 2 - 4 hours in 24; most active at night, resting during the day in shade.  In the classical picture of lion social organisation the basic unit is the pride, consisting of a group of 2 - 12 closely related adult females with their young, attended by adult males.  Only pride males have access to the pride's females. 

Elephant
Loxodonta africana

Enormous and unmistakable.  The head is very large, carried on a short, thick neck.  The nose and upper lip are enormously enlongated into the muscular, mobile trunk with the nostrils and two 'fingers' at its tip.  Most, but not all, adults have a pair of curved tusks, which are very large incisor teeth, growing from the upper jaw.  Shoulder height males, 3,5m, females 2,7m.  Weight males up to 6 tonnes and females up to 3,2 tonnes.  An elephant's height can be estimated from the size of its footprints.  For females shoulder height is approximately 5,5 times the length of the hind footprint.  For males shoulder height is approximately 5,8 times the length of the hind footprint.  Historically, elephants had a very wide habitat range; present habitats are constrained by human encroachment.  They are typically found in tree savanna, woodland and grasslands near rivers, flood plains and similar areas providing food, water and shade.  They are dependent on water but can move up to 80km from it.  Gestation 22 months, wean at 3 - 8 years.  Females stay in family groups, males move out at 12 - 12 years.  Active throughout the day and night, alternating feeding (which occupies about 18 hours of the day) with movement, resting and drinking.

Cape Buffalo
Syncerus caffer

Except for their horns, buffalo look like heavily built cattle.  Shoulder height males 1,45m, females 1,4m; weight males 625kg, females 530kg.  Males have larger heads, thicker necks and heavier horns than females, and in old bulls the bosses join across the head.  Needs plentiful grass, shade and water.  Gestation 330 - 346 days.  Single young are born at any time of the year, nearly all in summer.  Calves are weaned at 5 - 15 months, and associate with their mother for at least 2 years.  Grazes for 8 - 10 hours a day; more able than others grazers to push in amongst bushes to reach grasses.  Sensitive to heat, and tends to feed in the evening, at night and in the morning when it is cool.  Drinks at least once a day, and spends the hottest part of the day in shade, ruminating.  Wallowing in mud and water relives heat stress and has social significance; bulls wallow more than females and subadults.

Stockier in build than the Cheetah.  Ground colour is pale buff to golden yellow, with black spots forming rosettes on the flank, hips and shoulders.  Weight males 60kg (up to 70kg), females 32kg (up to 35kg).  Wide habitat tolerance; usually associated with broken rocky country or forests, and dependent on good cover for shelter and hunting.  Gestation 100 days.  Litters of 1- 6 cubs, weaned at 6 - 12 weeks.  Independent at 18 months.  Most active at night, but may be seen during the day, especially in protected areas.  Hunting technique is classically feline: a stalk using cover within 10 m of the prey, a rush and pounce on the prey which is grappled with the foreclaws, and a killing bite to the back of the skull, nape of neck, or the throat.  Both sexes are solitary and territorial.

Spotted Hyaena
Crocuta crocuta

Somewhat like a large, heavily built dog.  Off-white to light brown with irregular dark spots that tend to fade with age.  The muzzle is black, and the face is the same colour as the body.  The head is massive, with a heavy muzzle.  Shoulder height 80cm (up to 88cm); weight males 60kg, females 70 kg.  A wide range of habitats.  Gestation 90 days.  Litters of 1-2 are born at any time of year.  Weaning at 9 months and is completed by 12 - 16 months.  Mostly active at night travelling as much as 70km. Often seen during the day resting in shade or lying in shallow water.  Highly social, living in clans whose size is related to food supply.  The stable core of a clan is its females, males disperse.  There are seperate dominance  hirarchies among males and females, and females dominate all males.  High ranking females have priority of access to food.  Clans are territorial.

Cheetah
Acinonyx jubatus

The head, body, legs and the first two thirds of the tail are covered with black spots on a buffy background.  The tail is long, its end third is banded with black, and it has a white tip.  There is a short ruff on the neck and a short mane from the back of the neck to the shoulders.   The head is small and rounded, the eyes are large and there is a distinctive tear stripe from the inner corner of each eye to the corner of the lips.  Shoulder height 87cm; weight males 54kg (up to 60kg), females 43kg (up to 48kg).  Open grasslands and savanna woodland, extending into arid areas..  Gestation 90 - 95 days, litters of 1 - 6 are born at any one time.  Weaning starts a 8 weeks, independent at 18 months.  Typically hunts during the day.  The classic cheetah hunting techique is a high-speed chase over distances of up to 600m: it lacks the stamina for longer chases.  Females are solitary, some males form coalitions of up to four, which are usually brothers.