As you probably already know, the “Big 5” are five African animals (African Elephant, Black Rhinoceros, Cape Buffalo, African Lion, & Leopard) that big game hunters consider to be the hardest to hunt. But that’s only for Africa. What about for the other 6 continents? What do you guys think the Big 5 for the other 6 continents would be, and would you change Africa’s Big 5 in any way?
I believe the Asian Big Five animals are the Asian elephant (more specifically the Indian elephant), the greater one-horned rhino, the gaur, the tiger (more specifically the Bengal tiger) and the bear (more preferably the Ussuri brown or polar bear).
Top 10 in North America would probably be American Black bear Cougar Bald eagle White tailed deer Moose
I suppose it depends where it is in North America though. If it was in Mexico which is also part of the continent then you could also add Baird's tapir and jaguar too it (the jag could also be added in the American South-West).
I have no idea what would constitute a "big five" or how it would be defined but for South America perhaps for large bodied mammals and birds it might be : Jaguar Spectacled bear Lowland tapir Giant anteater / giant otter / maned wolf Andean condor / harpy eagle / hyacinth macaw / rhea If we are going by the traditional definition of "Big five" as in the old hunting term / expression I know that big game hunters like Roosevelt during their trips to South America used to hunt jaguar, puma, tapir and peccary as targets / trophies and specimens.
Thats exactly the problem though, "Big five" can be different for Each Country or something even smaller then that. So maybe a "Big five" for each country could be more realistic.
Here's my guesses for Oceania and Antarctica. For Antarctica, oceanic species will be included. Oceania Red Kangaroo Saltwater Crocodile Emu Southern Cassowary/Freshwater Crocodile Perentie/Common Wombat Antarctica Emperor Penguin Leopard Seal Wandering Albatross Southern Elephant Seal Southern Fur Seal/Crabeater Seal
Is it well known? I mean It took me a while to learn about this one, but then again a few years ago I had a big shift in my interests other than Mammals, spreading to inverts, birds, and fish. I'm not from Australia so I'm not one to judge.
For North America it would probably be: Grizzly bear or polar bear American bison Moose Puma Gray wolf or American black bear
I'm not from Australia either but it is the largest goanna in the world and a very impressive lizard that I've seen quite a few times in books and articles about Australian fauna.
One small correction, the Big Five were considered the most dangerous to hunt, not the most difficult.
If we are suggesting ‘valid’ Big 5’s as per the old definition, it would do well that a generally dangerous creature (like hippo or sperm whale) is not necessarily very dangerous to hunt, as many kind of just sit in one place. I’d imagine those would probably be pretty easy to hunt. They’re slow on land, can’t attack if you’re on a boat, and generally aren’t that afraid of humans.
While I do agree, there's not much else there that's big, not fully-aquatic, and would look good as a game trophy.
I think the green anaconda would also count for South America as some truly gigantic specimens of these were commonly shot by the old explorers and naturalists.
The US has/had jaguars though, so it'd still be valid to add them if the list only included US animals.
Yes, I know and I agree that they should be included as US animals too , even though there will hardly be enough of them anymore. I think there is actually only one of them left now ?
Oops, I guess I should of read the first post better. I thought it was the top 5 most POPULAR animals, My bad.