For the record, they are the leopard, the lion, the buffalo, the elephant and the rhinoceros. But what about the cheetah, the hyena, the giraffe, the hippo and the crocodile? I could go on and on with the warthog, the kudu, the waterbuck etc., etc., but a quick reminder first, they are all to be seen in our wonderful Northern Zululand reserves.
In my bird book, and in KZN, we have the Big Five of the birding world too, with the largest eagle in Africa regularly flying and calling over uMhlanga rooftops. With a wingspan of almost 2.5 metres, and stunning plumage, the Fish Eagle (Roberts 148) has to be the King of them all. But then, what about the aptly named Crowned Eagle (Roberts 141)? He rules the Hawaan Forest, feeding mostly on vervet monkeys, and I’m sure he would be very welcome in our gardens these days. Fluffy the poodle wouldn’t be safe from those huge talons, though.
To the west in the Drakensberg, the common eagle is the Black/Verreaux’s Eagle (Roberts 131), while up north, the Martial Eagle (Roberts 140) is large enough to carry off small antelopes like red duiker, baby bushbuck, or a small warthog too.
The fifth of my Big 5 birds is the Tawny Eagle (Roberts 132) and, like the others, has a 6 ft+ wingspan, with variable colouring from light brown to beautiful blonde, which is probably why it forgets its status sometimes, and can be seen happily scavenging a smelly carcass among the vultures.
With the petrol price going sky high, we should have our Big Five Eagles on our bank notes, the way they fly out of our pockets these days.
