All 5 in 3 days here: ~70%
Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park
🇿🇦 South Africa
Southern Africa, South Africa 980 spp. recorded
Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park is a tropical savanna reserve tucked into the rolling hills of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province. This protected area features dense acacia thickets, open grasslands, and winding river valleys that visitors navigate along dirt tracks.
-28.311° S 31.880° E
🦜 Nature
446 Species sighted
18,577 Verified sightings From 2019 to 2026
Dec Best month
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
🌙 Most active after dark
+ 712 more species with insufficient data
Challenges you can complete here
All 4 in 3 days here: ~40%
All 4 in 3 days here: ~30%
All 3 in 3 days here: ~10%
Recent sightings in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park
LIVEiNaturalistSounds of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park
Morning soundscape0:53
South Africa · 2024
© Daan van der Hoeven · XC955668 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Sighting Calendar
How many species you'd see in a day
50Jan
55Feb
49Mar
60Apr
53May
42Jun
40Jul
50Aug
40Sep
50Oct
50Nov
61Dec
Sighting Zones
Warmer areas are where all species together are recorded most often.
-
Memorial Gate
Daily sight. prob.vs avg -
Hilltop Camp
Daily sight. prob.vs avg -
Nyalazi Gate
🏕️ Experience
Essentials
Entrance
Paid
Tourism
Medium
Typical stay
1–2
daysTrails
Moderate
World Heritage
No
Climate
Temp °C Rain mm
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
0.0 Excellent
Wallace's Line Score
How good is this park for seeing wildlife? 🦜
Biodiversity
Very goodHow rich is the wildlife?
4.3
Species by taxon
🦅 Birds 646
🐒 Mammals 157
🦎 Reptiles 119
🐸 Amphibians 58
980 Total Species
828 Global average across 316 parks
37 Threatened 7 Endemic
🔭
Sighting
ExcellentHow likely to see animals?
4.3
🎯
Top-12 Avg Probability
65% 📊
Coverage (228 species at ≥5% of 980 in the inventory)
23% 🔀
Taxon variety in top 12 (6 bird, 6 mammal)
67% 🔭
Species per 10 outings (distinct species a visitor would meet over 10 outings — effort held equal across parks)
157 🌟
Iconic-group species (≥15%) (every species from the 19 iconic groups — monkeys, cats, toucans, macaws, sloths, crocodilians… — not just the 4 highlighted above)
28 ⭐
High-prob species (>40%)
27 🏕️
Experience
Very goodHow easy and pleasant is the visit?
4.0
Climate Pleasant High
Entrance Paid Low
Tourism Medium Medium
Trails Moderate Medium
World Heritage No —
What visitors say
Our vehicle for the drive I had to take a picture so I would remember how to spell it… We were very excited to see our first impala.
Many of the most interesting animals we saw fell into the “huge and kind of hard to miss” category – rhinos, elephants and giraffes, for example (full list below).
Our first nyala sighting Young zebra nestling a parent Just a shot of the landscape, for general context Two elephants blocking the road Elephant browsing on some grass This baboon spread eagle as soon as he saw me.
Fifty yards ahead we see a dozen Impala jumping around.
Before you go
What animals can you see in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park?
980 species
Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park has 980 recorded vertebrate species. The ones wildlife watchers report most often on a given day are Common Bulbul (about 70%), Fork-tailed Drongo (about 70%), Red-shouldered Glossy-starling (about 70%), White-backed Vulture (about 70%) and African Buffalo (about 70%). Among reptiles, the most-seen is Leopard Tortoise (about 40%); among amphibians, Grey Foam-nest Treefrog (about 30%).
When is the best time to visit Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park for wildlife?
April–June, August, October and December–January
In those months the park's 12 most-seen species average about 70% on a given day, against about 60% in February–March, July, September and November.
Can you see a White Rhinoceros in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park?
Yes
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a White Rhinoceros sighting in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park on a given day, based on 217 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is September (about 70%).
Can you see a Lion in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park?
Yes
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Lion sighting in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park on a given day, based on 95 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is March (about 50%).
Can you see a Painted Hunting Dog in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park?
Yes
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Painted Hunting Dog sighting in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park on a given day, based on 22 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is March–April, June–July and November (about 30%).
Where in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park is wildlife easiest to see?
Around Memorial Gate
The richest sighting zone is around Memorial Gate, followed by Hilltop Camp, ranked by how many of the park's headline animals visitors can expect to see in each. See the zones on the map.
Is Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park good for wildlife watching?
4.3 out of 5
On the Wallace's Line Score, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park rates 4.3/5: 78th of 316 parks worldwide and 42nd in Africa. 36 of its species are reported by about 40% or more of wildlife watchers on a given day.
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