BBC Wildlife feature by Zimbabwe-born Anton Crone is the editor of African Birdlife magazine

Posted on Wed June 5, 2024.

I was at Khoisan Karoo Conservancy in South Africa’s Northern Cape to see the Shy Five, a pentad of extraordinary creatures on the opposite end of the spectrum to the safari industry’s Big Five (leopard, lion, elephant, buffalo and rhino).

Safari operators deliver truckloads of tourists to within mobile-phonephoto distance of all five within a week. But ask for an aardvark, bat-eared fox, porcupine, aardwolf or black-footed cat, and your guide will ask nervously: “How long have you got?” I had three days – two nights to be precise, for that is when the critters typically appear. My expectations were not high; it is notoriously difficult to see any of them, never mind all five on one trip. Read the full article on Page 76.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Zimbabwe-born Anton Crone is the editor of African Birdlife magazine. He visited the Karoo courtesy of the Khoisan Karoo Conservancy: khoisankaroo.co.za.