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What Wildlife Can I See in Victoria Falls?

Africa's best authentic tailor-made safaris

While you explore the paths around Victoria Falls, you’ll be able to spot many birds (look out for Hornbills, Fork-tailed drongos, African paradise flycatchers, and Goliath herons) and some mammals in the lush forest, such as Chacma baboons, Vervet monkeys, Banded mongooses and if you’re lucky, warthog and elusive bushbuck. Hotels on either side of the falls also attract animals, including warthogs, zebras, and giraffes who graze on their manicured lawns.

Depending on where you stay, wildlife spotting can be done from the comfort of your balcony. For more wildlife and big game, there are two national parks, one in Zimbabwe and one in Zambia, where you can enjoy a variety of safari experiences.

The African paradise flycatcher can be seen in and around Vic Falls

On the Zimbabwean side of the falls, the Zambezi National Park has the Big Four (only rhinos are missing), as well as many more animals in beautiful mopane woodland and forest landscapes, including African wild dogs, giraffes, waterbuck, bushbuck, impala, and sable antelope, and lots of hippo and crocodiles in the river. It’s easy to drive yourself around the park, but you can also take walking safaris accompanied by a guide, which will get you close to animals on foot.

Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia, while the smallest in the country at only 23km2 (9 square miles), boasts an impressive range of species, including buffalo, elephant, Burchell’s zebra, giraffe, bushbuck, and sable antelope.

The star highlight of the park is tracking White rhinos (which were reintroduced from South Africa) on foot. Rhinos are absent from many parks, so this is a great chance to see them, and tracking these fascinating creatures is a memorable and thrilling experience.

Birding is a highlight of a trip to Victoria Falls. 470 species of birds have been recorded in both these parks and in the Victoria Falls area, including Pel’s fishing owl, African skimmers, Taita falcon, African finfoot, Verreaux’s eagle, African fish eagle, Miombo pied barbet, Collared palm thrush, Lanner falcon, Goliath heron, osprey, and Half-collared kingfisher.

The Zambezi River is home to more than 75 species of fish, including the famous Tigerfish. Fishing trips on the river allow anglers to try their hand at catching this toothy predator. Meanwhile, relaxing river cruises and canoeing trips (which can be multi-day adventures) in Zimbabwe and Zambia are a great way of seeing the area’s wildlife, including hippos and crocodiles, elephants drinking and bathing on the banks, antelopes, and lots of birds.

animals in the chobe national park hippo

Only an hour’s drive from Victoria Falls, Hwange National Park is Zimbabwe’s flagship reserve and one of the top safari destinations in Africa. It’s home to 40 000 elephants, buffalo, rhinos, leopards, lions, one of the continent’s largest African wild dog populations, and antelope such as roan and sable. The park is easily accessible and can be explored in a sedan car – you don’t need to rent a 4×4.

Less than 100km (62mi) away from the town of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, just over the border in northern Botswana, Chobe National Park has one of the most significant concentrations of wildlife in Africa and, with 50 000 pachyderms, hosts the largest elephant population in the world. There’s plenty more to see, from the rest of the Big Five to roan and sable antelope, cheetah, hyenas, wild dogs, and zebra.

Cheetah play during a brief thunderstorm

Chobe and Hwange are popular safari destinations to combine with a trip to Victoria Falls, but if you’re short on time, you can also make day trips to both parks from either Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe or Livingstone in Zambia.

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"Planning the trip with Bianca was a pleasure - she was patient and helpful and provided prompt answers to all our questions. The trip itself was remarkable, offering a wide variety of locations and experiences to make our exposure to Africa and safaris a..."

Barbara S., United States18 Aug 2026

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"I have just returned from my third African safari organised by Discover Africa, and once again Susan did an outstanding job of planning every detail. The journey began at my favourite destination, Kruger National Park, where the wildlife experiences were..."

Gary Lowen, Australia18 Jul 2026

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Trustpilot review

"We really enjoyed our trip from South Africa to Botswana and Zimbabwe! Sometimes a lot of whether a trip is successful comes down to the logistics. In this case, Susan Veldman and the company took care of all details related to our accommodations, transitio..."

Martha Engber, United States22 May 2026

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"This was the most thrilling vacation I have ever taken. Justin at Discover Africa planned everything down to the finest detail so it was effortless, magical and perfect from start to finish. A trip of a lifetime and then some!"

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"We had a great trip in Namibia. In 11 days we did a roundtrip, which was organised through online meetings. Every thing went on as agreed on and ver smoothly. We had a very good guide/driver, who explained us a lot about the country, politics, history and m..."

Peter Esslinger, Switzerland30 Nov 2025

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"We just completed our second African safari planned by Megan Warrington, this one to Botswana, and we couldn't have been more pleased with our trip! Megan did a fantastic job of starting us out in the Kalahari (Tau Pan Camp) which was unique in its landscap..."

Darrh, United States09 Sep 2025

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