What are the different kinds of PREDATORS found in Gabon?

These are often the first animals you think of when you imagine visiting Gabon! The exciting, beautiful, and sometimes terrifying carnivores are some of the most fun to learn about. 🙂

In this article, you’ll find interesting facts, photos, and even range maps of these amazing animals!

6 Predators Found in Gabon:

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#1. Leopard

• Panthera pardus

Identifying Characteristics:

• Adults are 92-183 cm (36-72 in) long.
• They have relatively short heads and long bodies, broad heads, small round ears, and long whiskers.
• Adults may be tawny, light yellow, reddish-orange, or black, and they often have black rosettes on their faces and bodies and black rings on their tails.

Leopards have the most varied coloring of any predator in Gabon.

In fact, individuals’ coat coloring is so unique it can be used to identify individuals like fingerprints. Their color patterns help these carnivores to remain camouflaged in various habitats.

Individuals found in dry habitats tend to be lighter than those living in dense forests. Interestingly, the shape of their spots seems to be determined by location. For example, leopards living in eastern Africa have circular spots, while those in southern Africa tend to have square spots. Occasionally, solid black leopards are found in humid forests.

This excellent camouflage is essential as leopards are ambush predators. They approach prey while remaining hidden, crouched low to the ground, and then pounce before the animal has a chance to react. These big cats have tremendous strength and can tackle prey up to ten times their own weight!

Leopards have incredible athletic ability, which is one reason they are an apex predator in Gabon. They can swim, climb trees and descend from them head first, run at bursts of 60 kph (36 mph), and jump 6 m (20 ft) horizontally and 3 m (10 ft) vertically. This is one carnivore that would break every record in gym class! 🙂

Sadly, leopard populations are declining due to habitat loss, range fragmentation, and hunting. Today, they are listed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species.

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#2. Side-striped Jackal

• Lupulella adusta

Identifying Characteristics:

• Adults are 69-81 cm (27-32 in) long.
• They are heavily built and have shorter legs and ears than other jackal species.
• Coloration is buff-gray with a darker gray back and a blackish tail with a white or almost silver tip.

Look for these predators in moist habitats in Gabon.

Side-striped Jackals live in swamps, marshes, humid savannas, and wooded areas up to 2,700 m (8,800 ft) above sea level.

They’re strictly nocturnal, so they can be hard to spot, but you may hear them calling out at night. These canines are incredibly vocal creatures that make various noises, including yipping to communicate with other jackals, screaming when threatened or wounded, and an owl-like hoot, which sets them apart from other jackal species.

Unlike others, Side-striped Jackals are true omnivorous scavengers. While their diet often varies with location and season, they commonly feed on insects, small vertebrates, fruit, carrion, and plant material. They occasionally kill small prey like rats or birds, but they never run down prey, spending more time feeding on the leftovers from other large predators.

Sadly, massive trapping and poisoning efforts have damaged the population of these animals. Side-striped Jackals have also been seriously impacted by rabies and distemper epidemics. While they’re rare in much of their range, they are not endangered and have been given some protection at national parks.

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#3. Rusty-spotted Genet

• Genetta maculata

Identifying Characteristics:

• Adults are 42-52 cm (17-20 in) long with 40-53 cm (16-21 in) long tails.
• They have slender bodies, long tails, and short legs.
• Coloration is yellowish-gray with rust-colored to black spots, a continuous dark line down their backs, and dark rings around their tails.

Look for these cat-like predators in Gabon at night.

Rusty-spotted Genets are small omnivores closely related to mongooses. They’re nocturnal and solitary, although they occasionally hunt or live in pairs. They LOVE to eat rodents, which means they’re frequently spotted around cultivated fields where mice and similar species feed

These mammals are semi-arboreal, meaning they spend much of their time in the trees and prefer to live in densely forested areas. They sleep during the day and use densely vegetated tree branches, aardvark burrows, or rock crevices as shelter. As you might expect, they have excellent climbing skills!

You may be able to spot a Rusty-spotted Genet right now on our LIVE animal camera from South Africa. They are often seen at night visiting the feeding station.

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#4. African Civet

• Civettictis civetta

Identifying Characteristics:

• Adults are 67–84 cm (26–33 in), with a 34–47 cm (13–19 in) long tail.
• They have large hindquarters, low heads, and short manes that extend down their backs.
• Coloration is silverish or cream with black or brown markings and spots, a black raccoon-like face mask, and white neck stripes.

If you see this predator in Gabon, you might not know exactly what you’re looking at!

African Civets are incredibly unique. They have some similar features to raccoons and cats but aren’t related to either. Their large hindquarters and extended mane are dead giveaways that you have found an African Civet.

These unusual-looking animals will live in both forested and open areas, but they need plenty of cover for hunting and hiding from larger animals. For example, in open areas, they require tall stands of grasses or thickets to shelter in during the daytime.

African Civets are primarily nocturnal but occasionally move around during the morning or evening of cloudy days. They’re secretive and solitary except when they come together to breed.

Despite being a relatively shy animal, they can become a nuisance to farmers. Occasionally, they go after poultry and young lambs. When catching live prey, they overpower it with their teeth rather than their paws.

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#5. Nile Crocodile

• Crocodylus niloticus

Identifying Characteristics:

• Adults are 2.8-3.5 m (9-11.5 ft) long.
• Coloration is dark olive to gray-olive with yellowish bellies, but young individuals may be more greenish or brown with darker crossbands on their bodies and tails.
• They have long, sturdy tails, long, powerful jaws, stout legs, and thick, scaly, heavily armored skin.

The Nile Crocodile is the largest freshwater predator in Gabon.

These reptiles have a nasty reputation as man-eaters, and it isn’t entirely undeserved. Nile Crocodiles are indiscriminate carnivores that feed on whatever they can catch, and because their habitat often overlaps with human settlements, run-ins happen.

Although the data can be unreliable, some reports indicate that Nile Crocodiles kill about 200 people annually.

These intimidating carnivores are patient, agile ambush predators. They will feed on nearly any prey that comes into range and may swallow it whole or rip it apart. Their conical teeth and strong jaws give them a uniquely powerful bite with a grip that’s nearly impossible to loosen. As if that weren’t enough, these incredible predators can swim at 30-35 kph (19-22 mph) and remain underwater for up to 30 minutes.

During mating season, males attract females to their territory by bellowing, slapping their snouts in the water, blowing water out of their noses, and making other noises. In areas with high populations of males, they sometimes get into physical altercations over females, especially if they’re similar in size. These altercations aren’t terribly common but can be quite a spectacle to witness!

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#6. African Wildcat

• Felis lybica

Identifying Characteristics:

• Adults are 46-60 cm (18-24 in) long.
• Coloration varies and may be tawny brown, sandy yellow, reddish, or gray with faint tabby spots and stripes, banded legs, and reddish or rusty-brown on the backs of their ears.
• They have long legs, small ear tufts, and long thin tails with a couple of rings near the end and black tips.

These predators in Gabon are the ancestors of the domestic cat!

While they’re also known as Desert Cats, they can be found in many habitats, including steppes, savannas, and bushlands.

African Wildcats are skillful hunters with incredible hearing. Once they’ve located prey, they slowly and sneakily approach it and pounce once they’re in range. They usually feed on mice, rats, and other small mammals.

African Wildcats are most active at night. During the day, they tend to avoid the heat and rest under bushes or other shelter, although sometimes they can be observed out hunting on cloudy, overcast days. Additionally, when threatened, these cats raise their hair to make themselves seem larger and intimidate their opponents, similar to what we see in domestic cats.

However, they have some distinctly wild traits. For example, when they sit upright, their long front legs raise their bodies almost vertically (more so than domestic cats). This posture can be seen on Egyptian bronze mummy cases and tomb paintings. They also have high shoulder blades that give them a distinctive cheetah-like gait.

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Check out these other guides about animals found in Gabon!

• 50 Most Common Animals Found in Gabon!

• The 14 MOST Common Birds in Gabon!

• The 7  Types of Snakes That Live in Gabon! (ID Guide)

• 6 COMMON Spiders found in Gabon!

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Which of these predators have you seen before in Gabon?

Leave a comment below!