The phrase Big Five game was coined by big-game hunters and refers to the five large mammals that were sought in Africa. The term is still used in most tourist and wildlife guides that discuss African wildlife safaris.

The collection consists of the lion, the African elephant, the African buffalo, the leopard and the black rhinoceros. The members of the big five were chosen for the difficulty in hunting them and not their size, which is why the leopard is on the list and the enormous hippopotamus is not. The big five are among the most dangerous mammals:

• The Lion (Panthera leo) is a large carnivorous feline of Africa and northwest India, having a short tawny coat, a tufted tail, and, in the male, a heavy mane around the neck and shoulders.
• The African elephant is a very large herbivore having thick, almost hairless skin, a long, flexible, prehensile trunk, upper incisors forming long curved tusks of ivory, and large, fan-shaped ears. There are two distinct species of African elephant: African Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) and the African Bush Elephant (L. africana).
• The African buffalo or Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is a large horned bovid. It is the most dangerous of the Big Five, reportedly causing the most hunter deaths.
• The Leopard (Panthera pardus) is a large, carnivorous feline having either tawny fur with dark rosette-like markings or black fur. Leopards are the most difficult to acquire hunting licenses for and are often difficult to hunt due to their behavior and their nocturnal feeding habits. Leopard hunting usually overlaps several weeks of baiting.
• The Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) is a large, thick-skinned, herbivore having one or two upright horns on the snout.

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