Tanzania large mammal list
The list below provides the most up-to-date information on which species of larger mammal we believe are found in Tanzania today. Naturalists are continually finding new species, both to science and for the country of Tanzania, so it is likely that this list will increase as more areas are surveyed in detail. On the other hand, Tanzania has also lost a large mammal species, namely the Uganda kob (Kobus kob), which used to inhabit the eastern shores of Lake Victoria until the 1970’s but which now appears to have been driven extinct in the country. Hopefully the conservation management plans drawn up at the conclusion of this Project, with the assistance of your data, will help prevent further extinctions amongst Tanzania’s mammals.
You will notice that the distribution maps for the non-carnivore species are currently rather paltry. These will be updated as people send in sightings and as we glean information from the literature.
Hedgehogs Bushbabies Monkeys and Apes Angolan black and white colobus Abyssinian black and white colobus Kirk's red colobus (Zanzibar red colobus) Iringa red colobus (Udzungwa red colobus) Dogs Mustelids African clawless otter (Cape clawless otter) Striped weasel (White-naped weasel) Civets and Genets |
Large spotted genet (Blotched or Rusty-spotted) Mongooses Hyaenas Cats Elephant Zebra Burchell's zebra (Common zebra or Plains zebra) Rhinoceros Hyrax Aardvark Pigs |
Hippopotamus Giraffe Antelope Blue wildebeest (Brindled gnu) Peters' duiker (Weyn’s duiker) Southern reedbuck (Common reedbuck) Pangolins |
The nomenclature for a number of these species is presently under debate and the Latin names are not consistent in the literature. We have followed the classification used in Mammals of the World by Wilson and Reader (1993). In cases where the common name or the Latin name is likely to be different in commonly used mammal field guides, we have recorded both names, and given the second name the prefix ‘syn’ for pseudonym.
As you will notice, we are missing pictures for a number of species. If you have reasonably good photographs that would suit identification purposes and would be happy to share them with us, please let us know. You can send to us pictures (size 640x480 at 72 dpi) with your name for copyright use to .