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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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"An outstanding safari through Discover Africa- from the organisation and attentiveness, Thanks Vihann, to the sublime wildlife viewing and stunning sunsets this was Africa as you imagine it. Okavango is stunning and pristine form the air and the camps fabul..."

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"Amazing and truly unique experience! Susan was absolutely wonderful from start to finish. She was incredibly friendly, professional, and always available to help with every detail. Her knowledge, organization, and passion made the entire safari unforgett..."

Chloé, United States12 Jun 2026

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Trustpilot review

"Going to south and central Africa was a bucket list item for me and booking a big and expensive trip always feels a bit risky and you hope you have made the right choice. Booking with Discover Africa was fantastic from beginning to end! Our trip coordina..."

Deanna Rozak, United States25 May 2026

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"Coming in absolutely blind on how to plan an Africa trip, I stumbled across Discover Africa Safaris on the internet and reached out for an inquiry. Susan responded and started off with a video conference to ask about what we were thinking. Susan was extreme..."

Luke Stamatakis, United States20 Jan 2026

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"We started to plan our Safari only 2 months prior to arriving in South Africa. The planning and logistics provided by Discover Africa were superb. We only visited Botswana (4 different camps for 2 nights each) and each camp was a wonderful, and yet very dif..."

Peter Mckown, United Kingdom15 Oct 2025

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"We have just returned from a trip to 3 different safari camps in Botswana, a short trip to Victoria Falls and a gorilla trek in Rwanda that was booked with Susan from Discover Africa. We couldn't be happier with the direction and support she gave us to trul..."

Robyn Dell, Canada02 Oct 2025

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