FOR A GUY LIKE ME, A WORDSMITH WITH A romantic streak and a fondness for drama, it’s just about impossible to keep from assigning colorful (and lamentably anthropomorphic) characterizations to the dangerous big-game animals of Africa. I know it isn’t scientific, but it’s fun, and—what the heck, nobody takes it seriously, anyway, least of all me.

It came as a shock to me, as I browsed a recent issue of Sports Afield Magazine ( for which I used to write occasionally ), to notice the red lechwe listed as one of the most endangered antelopes in Africa. The reason for my surprise was that on my visits to Botsawana's great Okovango delta in 1974, 1976 and 1987, the red lechwe was arguably the most abundant antelope present.

Zebras get no respect. They're common and widespread, and aren't classed as dangerous game. Oh, yeah? Ask Harry Shelby, the legendary professional hunter, about the time his client dropped a zebra and Harry drove the safari car close and got out. The "dead" zebra leaped up and charged.

It's a little sad that almost everything written about African Hunting features the great dangerous game, the "Big Five" (ie. lion, leopard, elephant, cape buffalo, and rhinoceros). I say "sad" because there are so many other fascinating species of game in Africa that present a very real sporting challenge to a hunter.

An aspect of African hunting you’ve probably never heard of is the so-called little antelopes. When you see the word Africa, you rightly enough expect lions and leopards, buffalo and elephants, or maybe the big, glamorous antelopes – kudu, sable, oryx and such.

No African safari could get very far without native trackers. These men are proud professionals, indispensable to the Professional Hunters (PH) they assist, and their talents are admired even among their own people. They are the elite of the safari crew.

Elephants are so familiar – as symbols, in cartoons, comics, advertisements, etc. – that they may seem unsuitable subjects for this series. But when you first find yourself in the presence of live wild elephants with nothing between you and these monsters but clear African air, I guarantee you’ll be shocked by their otherworldly-ness.

After having begun this occasional series with the African pangolin, I’m having second thoughts: for sheer, all-around weirdness, the pangolin is a tough act to follow. Still, there are different kinds of weird, so let’s have a look at the situtunga, an African antelope of which I’m told some Hill Country game ranches have a few specimens.

Among the most interesting things about hunting in foreign lands are some of the really outlandish animals one meets. These are not necessarily game animals that a hunter is there to shoot, although some do fit that description.

Back in the 1930s, nine-year-old boys with imagination and a flair for the dramatic were wont to assume superhero personas (and costumes) and go about the neighborhood rescuing damsels, battling evildoers, and generally standing up for truth and justice.