Africa's Nocturnal Animals

As the sun sets, a completely different cast of animals emerges from the shadows, and the bush takes on a new life of eye-shine and unfamiliar calls. Night drives and quiet evenings reveal Africa's secretive nocturnal wildlife — genets, civets, bushbabies, aardvarks and hunting cats that vanish by daylight. Experiencing the bush after dark is one of the most atmospheric and underrated parts of any safari.

The species

LC

Aardvark

Orycteropus afer

LC

African Civet

Civettictis civetta

LC

African Marsh Owl

Asio capensis

LC

African Scops-owl

Otus senegalensis

LC

Barn-owl

Tyto alba

NT

Brown Hyena

Parahyaena brunnea

LC

Caracal

Caracal caracal

LC

Common Genet

Genetta genetta

LC

Crested Porcupine

Hystrix cristata

LC

Helmeted Guineafowl

Numida meleagris

LC

Honey Badger

Mellivora capensis

Big Five VU

Leopard

Panthera pardus

Where to see them

Look for these species in the national parks and reserves that protect their preferred habitats across Africa, and remember that each has its own favoured landscape and rhythm. The dry season generally makes them easier to find, as wildlife concentrates around water and cover thins out. A knowledgeable local guide who knows recent movements will dramatically improve your sightings.

The other half of the safari

When the sun sets, an entirely different cast takes over the African bush. Genets, civets, servals, bushbabies, aardvarks, porcupines, owls and nightjars — many of them rarely if ever seen by day — emerge to feed, hunt and move through the dark. Even the familiar big cats become far more active once the heat has gone.

Most travellers experience only the daylight shift and go home with half the story. Making the effort to get out after dark, where it is permitted, opens up a secretive world and often delivers a safari's most surprising and memorable encounters.

How to see nocturnal wildlife

The classic tool is the night drive, offered by many private reserves and conservancies (though restricted inside some national parks), where a guide sweeps a spotlight to pick up the eye-shine of animals in the dark. A red filter is kinder to the animals' eyes and to your night vision, and a good spotter can turn two glowing dots into a positive identification.

Even without a drive, dusk and dawn are productive edges when nocturnal and daytime worlds overlap, and listening from camp after dark — to calls, rustles and distant roars — is a safari pleasure in itself. Move quietly, keep lights low and let the night reveal itself.

• ➜Take a night drive where reserves permit it
• ➜Look for eye-shine and use a red-filtered light
• ➜Work dusk and dawn, when night and day overlap
• ➜Listen from camp — calls and rustles tell the night's story

References & further reading

1. Sinclair, A. R. E., et al. (Eds.) (2015). Serengeti IV. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
2. Estes, R. D. (2012). The Behavior Guide to African Mammals. Berkeley: University of California Press.
3. Kingdon, J. (2015). The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals (2nd ed.). London: Bloomsbury.
4. IUCN (2024). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Version 2024-1. www.iucnredlist.org.