Anax tristis
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Anax tristis, the black emperor or magnificent emperor, is an African species of dragonfly in the family Aeshnidae. At up to about 120 mm (4.7 in) in total length and 135 mm (5.3 in) in wingspan, it is one of the world's largest dragonflies and the largest in Africa.
This common species has been recorded from much of sub-Saharan Africa, including Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, possibly Burundi, and possibly Ethiopia. It has been recorded once as a vagrant in the Maldives and in Oman. It is found at pools, waterholes, dams, marshes and other types of usually small, standing and temporary waters, generally in open habitats such as savannas but sometimes also in forest openings. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black Emperor sighting in Kruger National Park on a given day, based on 38 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 519th most-seen of the 748 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black Emperor in Kruger National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February to December, the lowest months. That is one of Kruger National Park's wettest months, with about 95 mm of rain against almost none in August.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black Emperor sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Kruger National Park, in our data
Kruger National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Black Emperor sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Anax
The closest relatives of the Black Emperor that you can see in Kruger National Park (genus Anax) are Blue Emperor (about 10%) and Vagrant Emperor (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black Emperor is recorded against all the insects logged in Kruger National Park (38 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
