Kafue does not offer the sheer numbers of wildlife you would see at the South Luangwa or the Lower Zambezi national parks, however it does play home to 4 of the Big 5. It has a superb range of antelopes including large herds of red lechwe and puku and elusive antelope such as the blue and yellow-backed duiker.
All of Africa’s big cats can be found in the park, even cheetah which cannot be found in South Luangwa or Lower Zambezi. Though not a common site, cheetah are found most frequently in the north of the park. Lions are relatively widespread all over the park, you may witness them stalking herds of puku and lechwe nightly, using the natural drainage ditches for cover with deadly efficiency. If leopard are your favourite big cat then Kafue could be for you, the park is regarded by experts as one of the best places in Africa to find the elusive cat.
It’s not just cats which can be found in the park, Kafue is said to have the largest population of the African wild dogs compared to any other national park in Africa. The wild dogs are on both sides of the Kafue River and in almost all habitat types from dense woodland to riverine and dambo areas.
Kafue also boasts great sightings of more unusual species such as pangolin, bush pig, aardvark, wild cat, honey badger and more.
The birding in Kafue is exceptional, according to Exotic Birding Kafue houses 497 species, this is roughly as much as the whole of Europe and suggests the park has probably the richest birdlife of any Zambian park. Critically endangered and endangered species such as the white-backed vulture, hooded vulture, hottentot buttonquail and gray crowned-crane can be spotted in the park.
