Study Analysing 70 Million Photos Ranks Kenya Best Wildlife Photography Destination

A photo of wildlife at a national park in Kenya
Wildlife at a national park in Kenya.
Photo
Kenya Wildlife Tours

Kenya is the best destination for wildlife spotting and photography, a new study by Go2Africa, a South Africa-based travel portal, has shown.

The study, which analysed 70 million images on Flickr, showed that Kenya had the highest number of wildlife photographs taken. 

Travellers and visitors to Kenya took a total of 584,013 photographs and uploaded them to the site. 120,814 of the photos taken, came from Kenya thus signifying a 20.69 per cent share of the total. 

The study further showed that Kenya's wildlife was remarkable, boasting of 25,000 species of animals, 7,000 species of plants, and 2,000 species of fungi and bacteria.

A ranger feeding Apollo, a black rhino, at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Kaluku
A ranger feeding Apollo, a black rhino, at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Kaluku
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

Kenya is also home to the big five including lions, leopards, elephants, African buffalo, and rhinoceroses, which are a favourite for tourists globally. 

Kenya was followed by Canada which had 765,981 photos but 156,420 were of wildlife. Singapore came in fourth.

Canada came in second with 765,981 photos where 156,420 of them were wildlife. Singapore, the South East Asian country, followed in third.

Countries that rounded off the top 10 are Australia, Botswana, Tanzania, Lithuania, Namibia, India and South Africa.

Most of the countries appearing on the Top 10 list are from Africa signalling the continent's attractiveness to tourists.

Kenya has constantly ranked among the best tourist attraction sites for years owing to its abundance of national parks, wild animals and favourable warm weather.

At the beginning of the year, the New York Times listed Tsavo National Park among the 52 travel destinations of 2024 worldwide.

The park was selected for its outstanding nature, especially the elephants. Out of the the over 36,000 elephants in Kenya, half are located in Tsavo which makes the park attract visitors in droves.

Tsavo is the largest national park in Kenya and one of the largest in the world spanning a total of nearly 22,000 square metres of land.

The publication noted that the existence of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in the park has been a contributing factor to the increase in the number of elephants in the country.

"The organisation has rehabilitated and released 200 elephant orphans and runs anti-poaching teams, builds water sources and secures vulnerable boundaries," read part of the publication.

A collage of animals and tourists at the Tsavo National Park
A collage of animals and tourists at the Tsavo National Park
Photo
Tsavo National Park