Wildlife

Matusadona wildlife: what lives here now

Matusadona was once famous for more lions and buffalo than almost anywhere. That peak was a product of the new lake, and the park's own plan says it will not return. What it has now is a recovering park: elephant and hippo on the shore, lions that hunt crocodiles, and a string of reintroductions since 2019, the latest of them wild dogs in February 2026.

If you only want the answer

Expect elephant, hippo, crocodile, impala and waterbuck along the lakeshore, buffalo in smaller numbers than the famous herds of the 1990s, and lion with patience. Wild dogs were reintroduced in February 2026 after decades of local extinction. Cheetah and roan are locally extinct. Leopard are present, especially in the escarpment. About 350 bird species are recorded.

What lives here, and what your odds are

These odds are our reading of the park's own reports and surveys, for a stay of a few days in the dry season. Most of the game is on the lakeshore grassland and the valley floor below the escarpment, which is where the boats and the drives from Tashinga and the lodges go.

Hippo Guaranteed Over 2,100 on the shoreline in 2021
Crocodile Guaranteed Abundant, and the reason nobody swims
Impala Guaranteed About 4,000 in 2020
Elephant Very likely Resident at Tashinga campsite
Waterbuck Very likely
Buffalo Very likely 470 in 2020, plus 50 moved in 2025
Greater kudu Good chance
Zebra Good chance 223 moved in from Bubye Valley in 2021
Lion Good chance No current count published
Spotted hyaena Good chance Moves through the camps at night
Leopard Takes luck Densest in the escarpment
Wild dog Takes luck 20 released in February 2026
Sable Takes luck 36 after the 2025 translocation
Eland Takes luck 12 after the 2025 translocation
Cheetah Not here Locally extinct; at most a transient
Roan Not here Locally extinct; return planned

Counts come from different surveys with different methods and areas, so they are not comparable with each other or across years.

Lions: a famous past, an unpublished present

In its heyday Matusadona was known for one of the highest densities of lion in Africa. The park's management plan puts the peak at 138 lions in the late 1990s, when the grass that grew on the drained lakeshore fed an exceptional prey base of 4,000 to 5,000 buffalo. The plan is explicit that the park is not expected to support that prey base again.

Today the plan says lion, hippo and impala are not a current concern on the valley floor, but that lion numbers remain significantly lower than the peak. No current population figure is published by African Parks, ZimParks or the plan, so we do not give one and we do not repeat the old density claim as if it were current.

What is well documented is how they hunt. Lions here are known for taking crocodiles basking on the banks, a behaviour reported by Tracks4Africa and by Fothergill. The park's Jenje bush camp has a resident pride, and guests at Changa, Spurwing and Fothergill have reported lions with cubs in 2025 and 2026.

Elephant, buffalo and the counts that do not agree

An aerial survey in October 2020 counted about 700 elephants, 470 buffalo, 4,000 impala and 1,000 hippos in the park. A KAZA survey in 2022 counted 480 elephants. The management plan says the elephant population has been slowly decreasing since the first surveys in the 1970s, when there were 1,300 to 1,400. We have found no source showing that elephant numbers are now growing.

Elephants are still the animal you are most likely to meet on foot, because they are resident at Tashinga campsite and wander through all the camps. Nine were fitted with collars in 2021, and the data shows seasonal movement through several surprisingly intact corridors.

Buffalo were once the park's defining animal. The plan lists them among species now present in low numbers, and 50 were moved in from Tsetse Island on Lake Kariba in July 2025.

Wild dogs, and the other animals brought back

In February 2026 African Parks released 20 African wild dogs in two packs, of six and fourteen, marking their return after decades of local extinction. Older guides and even the 2024 management plan say there are no wild dogs; that is now out of date. Treat a sighting as luck while the packs settle.

The dogs are the latest in a run of reintroductions. In 2021, 223 zebra came from Bubye Valley Conservancy, some of them ferried across the lake, after a 2020 survey found just 36 on the valley floor. In July 2025, 74 animals arrived: 50 buffalo and 10 eland from Tsetse Island and 14 sable from Sibilobilo Safari Area, which took eland from two to twelve and sable from 22 to 36. Six Temminck's ground pangolins were released in 2024, four of them rescued from traffickers.

Cheetah and roan are locally extinct. The management plan names bringing cheetah back as an objective, but there is no established population, so any cheetah you hear about is at most passing through.

Leopard and the smaller predators

Tracks4Africa reports an average of around 12 leopards per 100 km², highest in the escarpment, citing a camera-trap study it does not name. We pass the figure on with that caveat. A resident leopard is known at Tashinga campsite.

The park also names African clawless otter, spotted hyaena and aardwolf, and the pangolin research project means Temminck's ground pangolin is one of the park's quieter stories.

Birds: about 350 species

Published counts range from 240 to nearly 400. We use the management plan's documented 348, nine of them endangered or critically endangered, including the white-backed, hooded and white-headed vultures. Grey crowned crane, lappet-faced vulture, martial eagle, secretarybird and bateleur are also on the park's list of threatened species.

On the water expect kingfishers, herons, storks, darters, cormorants and geese, and a heronry on an island that can be reached by boat. No official source names the best birding months.

348 bird species recorded

African fish eagle The sound of the lake. A thriving population perches on the drowned trees along the shore
Taita falcon One of the park's named specials, a small, rare falcon of cliffs and gorges
Pel's fishing-owl A named special of the park, and one of the most sought-after birds in southern Africa
African pitta The third special on the park's own list, a secretive summer visitor of thickets
White-backed vulture Critically endangered; the park tracks some of its birds with collars

Fish

Tigerfish are the famous one, alongside several breams and tilapias and catfish. The kapenta that supports the rigs you see lit up on the lake at night was introduced. The Kariba tilapia is now critically endangered, outcompeted by introduced Nile tilapia, the longfin tilapia is vulnerable and the mottled eel near threatened.

Sources

Where to go next

Best Time To Visit Which months put these animals in front of you Things To Do Drives, walks and boats, and what each one shows you Map Where the game circuits actually run