What animal do you consider specific African countries to be "known" for?

[Muskox]

So who gets the buffalo? Ive seen Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Tanzania proposed, but which do we agree is iconic buffalo country? Don't just think of the buff size etc, but the habitat, the Buffalo hunting safari quality.

I think the Masai Mara and Masailand in the 1920's would have been the place for buffalo. Before all these national parks, and farmers.

 

[Anbessa Gedai]

Limiting my contribution to Ethiopia . .

The "signature trophy" most associated with Ethiopia has evolved over the years . . first the lion, Back in the late fifties, sixties, and early seventies, most hunters came to Ethiopia primarily for it's legendary full and black maned lions. Mountain nyala and other lesser game were frequently (not always) considered secondary, and not always the primary objective. It is also THE animal most revered in Ethiopian culture resulting in "The lion of Juddah" being one of Emperor Haile Selassie's many royal titles, and the rampant lion being a central image on Ethiopian Airline's livery (the significance of the lion to the centuries old Ethiopian culture is worthy of a book in it's own right, but I digress).

Lion was followed by elephant, and now in the current era, the mountain nyala.

In the eighties, with the discovery of good numbers of really big tuskers in the west and a relatively small area along the border with what is now Southern Sudan, Ethiopia became famous for really big ivory. This population had apparently been previously unknown to the hunting world, but their discovery made Ethiopia the last great destination where a 100 pounder was possible (and many were taken ranging in the 80 to 140 plus pound range). During this period Ethiopia was most famous for producing ivory of historic weights, and other species became less synonymous with the countries reputation. Alas, habitat loss, human population growth, and civil strife put an end to this population, and elephant hunting is no longer possible in Ethiopia.
Ditto for lion . . the entire country-wide quota for lion today is ONE.

In the current era, THE species most associated with Ethiopia is of course the mountain nyala. Endemic to Ethiopia, (among several other species generally judged to be less significant) . . . they are quite rightly the primary objective and the species most associated with Ethiopia today.

 

[LucasK]

From endemic South Africa has several, as mentioned above; in addition the Vaal Rhebok, Cape Grysbok and the Cape subspecies of eland, kudu and bushbuck.
Historically there were several others that had endemics but most are closed now or to unsafe to hunt. Anyone remember what Mozambique was known for before the time of game farming in South Africa?

 

[Tanks]

South Africa, ear-tagged buffalo.

 

[Doug3006]

So who gets the buffalo? Ive seen Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Tanzania proposed, but which do we agree is iconic buffalo country? Don't just think of the buff size etc, but the habitat, the Buffalo hunting safari quality.

That‘s a tough one. I suppose my vote is for Tanzania.

 

[Doug3006]

I think western Zambia’s iconic animal is Sable.

 

[Philip Glass]

My only hunt (but definitely not the last) in Africa happened by chance. I was in Namibia getting my Private Pilots License in Swakopmund, and we went on a sort of field trip. One of the guys (who was Namibian) already had a PPL and was building hours and studying to get his Commercial Rating. This guy's family owns a farm North of Outjo, and they used to run a hunting operation there (sort of on pause for right now).

Anyway, the PH they had there had a Cessna 210, and my buddy wanted to practice landing and taking off on their dirt strip with our instructor. So we set up a weekend to leave Swakopmund and go up there in the Cessna 172 from the school. I flew the 172 for the hours with our instructor and met my buddy up there. While we were there, the PH offered me the opportunity to choose from a couple different animals to hunt for a decent price. If I recall correctly, my options were an Oryx, Springbok, Impala, or a Zebra. I had never hunted Africa before, and this was spur of the moment, so I had no real frame of reference for what to go for and said, "I guess I'll go after an Impala".

Both my Instructor (who was South African) and my buddy who was Namibian, seemed to be in immediate agreement that since we were in Namibia, and because I was only going for one animal, I should go after an Oryx. So that's what I did. My instructor said that if we were in SA and I only had one option, that it should be either Springbok or an Impala

Sorry for the long story, but I figured some background would give some context to the question.

The question I pose is.....

When you think of specific countries, does a specific animal come to mind as well?

View attachment 376576

Africa is a big place For one thing. I would say it is more of a regional question you are asking. Sure there is the Mountain Zebra that is my iconic species of Namibia but not all countries will necessarily have one animal. Cameroon for instance some would say LDE while others would say no it’s known for the Bongo. Again it is a regional thing.
South Africa is so diverse you will have to break it down into regions for certain.

 

[TSIBINDI]

My only hunt (but definitely not the last) in Africa happened by chance. I was in Namibia getting my Private Pilots License in Swakopmund, and we went on a sort of field trip. One of the guys (who was Namibian) already had a PPL and was building hours and studying to get his Commercial Rating. This guy's family owns a farm North of Outjo, and they used to run a hunting operation there (sort of on pause for right now).

Anyway, the PH they had there had a Cessna 210, and my buddy wanted to practice landing and taking off on their dirt strip with our instructor. So we set up a weekend to leave Swakopmund and go up there in the Cessna 172 from the school. I flew the 172 for the hours with our instructor and met my buddy up there. While we were there, the PH offered me the opportunity to choose from a couple different animals to hunt for a decent price. If I recall correctly, my options were an Oryx, Springbok, Impala, or a Zebra. I had never hunted Africa before, and this was spur of the moment, so I had no real frame of reference for what to go for and said, "I guess I'll go after an Impala".

Both my Instructor (who was South African) and my buddy who was Namibian, seemed to be in immediate agreement that since we were in Namibia, and because I was only going for one animal, I should go after an Oryx. So that's what I did. My instructor said that if we were in SA and I only had one option, that it should be either Springbok or an Impala

Sorry for the long story, but I figured some background would give some context to the question.

The question I pose is.....

When you think of specific countries, does a specific animal come to mind as well?

View attachment 376576

 

[TSIBINDI]

Cookson's wildebeest, Zambia

 

[Kenneth McMillan]

Ethiopia has several such as the Mountain Nyala and Meneliks Bushbuck. Uganda the Sesee Islands Sitatunga, Zambia has the Black Lechwe. Africa has both common and unique species no matter where you go.

 

[Daktari]

Royal antelope - Ghana
Jungle duikers - Liberia
Western Greater Kudu - Chad
White backed duiker - Gabon