As a nature lover, Paco is keen on animals. He is very excited about the safari and he is especially enthusiastic about seeing the 'Big Five'. He has read a few leaflets about it and he has learned it includes the lion, the elephant, the buffalo, the leopard and the black rhino. They were called like that many years ago because they were considered to be the five animals which were the most difficult and dangerous to hunt.

The 'Big Five' live in Maasai Mara, the national park Paco has chosen for his Kenyan safari. He hopes to see all of them but he is aware of the difficulties in finding animals in their natural habitat. The leopard is especially difficult to find because of its nocturnal life and because this lonely animal spends most of the day on the top of a tree.

Paco is also worried about the animals in danger of extinction. For example, both elephants and leopards are examples of endangered species, which would become extinct if there was no control on illegal hunting. At the other end, black rhinos are nearly extinct. Thus, many of the African animals can still be hunted legally but only with limited licenses.

There are several reasons for the extinction. On the one hand, animals have been hunted for years without any control. Hunters were looking for their ivory, in the case of the elephants, or for their skins (in the case of lions, for example). On the other hand, animals are being affected by the climate change which is spreading in the whole world.

Apart from the 'Big five', Paco is also interested in finding other animals such as the hippopotamus or the cheetah, also in danger of extinction, the hyena, the impala, the zebra or the giraffe. Paco thought the cheetah was included in the 'Big Five' but it is quite the contrary. Although it is very similar to the leopard because of its skin, it is a relatively harmless animal whereas the leopard is very aggressive.

Let's hope Paco is lucky!

By Arno & Louise, C. Commons	By Arno & Louise, C. Commons	By Arno & Louise, C. Commons