Big Five Game

The phrase Big Five Game was coined by white 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 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.