Big Five game

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The phrase Big Five game was coined by big-game hunters and refers to the five large mammals that were originally most sought in Africa. The term is still used in most tourist and wildlife guides that discuss African wildlife.

The collection consists of the lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard and black rhinoceros. The members of the big five were chosen for the difficulty in hunting them and not their size, which is why the leopard is on the list and the enormous hippopotamus (noted for lazing around in pools and rivers all day) is absent. The big five are among the most dangerous mammals.

The Lion is a large carnivorous feline mammal (Panthera leo) of Africa and northwest India, having a short tawny coat, a tufted tail, and, in the male, a heavy mane around the neck and shoulders.

The Elephant is one of three very large herbivorous mammals, Elephas maximus of south-central Asia, or Loxodonta africana and Loxodonta cyclotis, both of Africa, having thick, almost hairless skin, a long, flexible, prehensile trunk, upper incisors forming long curved tusks of ivory, and, in the African species, large fan-shaped ears.

Cape Buffalo are quite intimidating. They are the most dangerous of the "Big Five" game animals, with the longest list of attributed trophy hunters' deaths. They are definitely bovine characters, but also primal and with slightly mean appearance at times, despite the bouffant look of their horns.

Leopards are large, ferocious cats (Panthera pardus) of Africa and southern Asia, having either tawny fur with dark rosette-like markings or black fur, and are the epitome of elegant cats. They often eat and store food in trees. Leopards are the most difficult to acquire license for and hunt of the "Big Five" due to their overcatious behavior and almost exclusively night-time feeding habits. Leopard hunt usually overlaps several weeks of baiting.

The Rhinoceros is any of several large, thick-skinned, herbivorous mammals of the family Rhinocerotidae, of Africa and Asia, having one or two upright horns on the snout.

South African rand banknotes feature a different Big Five animal on each denomination.

African elephant (Loxodonta africana)	Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum)	Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer)	Lion (Panthera leo)
Leopard (Panthera pardus)