Saadani National Park

Wildlife & Animals

Expert

Philip is the author of the Bradt guidebook to Tanzania.

Although Saadani National Park has been hit hard by poachers, wildlife numbers are increasing slowly. Animals you are likely to see on a game drive include giraffe, buffalo, common waterbuck, Lichtenstein's hartebeest and yellow baboon. Also look out for bohor reedbuck, wildebeest, zebra, greater kudu and eland. Big elephant herds roaming the savannah make for incredible sightings.

ElephantOccasional

GiraffeCommon

HippoCommon

BuffaloCommon

ZebraOccasional

WildebeestOccasional

White RhinoNone

Black RhinoNone

LionRare

LeopardVery Rare

CheetahNone

HyenaRare

Wild DogNone

Wildlife Highlights

Saadani harbors a small population of Roosevelt's sable, an endangered species found otherwise only in Nyerere National Park (formerly Selous Game Reserve) and Kenya’s Shimba Hills National Reserve. Another coastal special is the tiny red duiker, often seen scurrying away in the undergrowth. The beaches in and around Saadani form one of the last major breeding sites in Tanzania for green turtles. Boat trips on the mangrove-lined Wami River offer a chance to see the acrobatic Angola colobus monkey.

Best Time for Wildlife Viewing

The park is open all year round, but the access roads are sometimes impassable during April and May. The best wildlife viewing is after the rains, in January and February and from June to August, when there is still plenty of water on the plains and the wildlife stays within the park.