Wildlife

The Government of Botswana has set aside thousands of square kilometres of national territory as protected travel areas (around 17% of the country area) and wildlife management areas (another 20% of the country). Among the largest protected areas in Botswana are Chobe National Park in the north, Central Kalahari Game Reserve (second largest protected area in the world), Moremi Game Reserve in Okavango Delta and the recently launched Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, which spans the border between Botswana and South Africa. In addition, the government carefully monitors 42 Controlled Hunting Areas, where hunters may shoot small quantities of game. Authorities issue only a limited number of shooting permits each year.

Mammals
Mammals have a number of common characteristics that set them apart from other animals; they breathe with lungs; females have mammary glands that produce milk for suckling the young; they possess a four-chambered heart; and nearly all species have a covering of body hair. Approximately 164 species of mammals have been recorded in Botswana .

The mammals that may be seen during your travel through the country include the following: vervet monkey, chacma baboon, wild dog, bat-eared fox, black-backed jackal, large-spotted genet, small-spotted genet, mongoose, spotted hyena, brown hyena, lion, leopard, cheetah, aardvark, Burch ell's zebra, square-lipped (white) rhino, warthog, giraffe, common duiker, klipspringer, springbok, steenbok, impala, blue wildebeest, tsessebe, gemsbok, sable antelope, roan antelope, reedbuck, waterbuck, lechwe, bushbuck, kudu, eland, buffalo, hippopotamus, elephant.

Birds
Some 550 bird species in total have been accepted for the Botswana national bird list. These are species known to live in the country at some time of the year, including the various rare vagrants, which are from time to time recorded. Total numbers of birds within the country fluctuate within a year and also from year to year. On more local scale, many bird species may undergo irregular movements within Botswana . Such movements may be triggered by rainfall, temperatures, food, breeding requirements or a combination of these ( see maps).

Not only is the diversity of bird species high in the national parks and reserves, but also throughout the north and east of the country. Over 400 species have been recorded in the Gaborone area alone. In many regions the terrain adds to the ease of bird viewing on your African travel expedition..

The Department of Wildlife and National Parks has recently instituted a bird research programme. Current research projects include a study of the breeding sites of several aquatic birds such as storks, herons, pelicans, flamingoes and cranes.

The birds you are most likely to see include the following: ostrich; cormorant; darter; stork; hammerkop; greater and lesser flamingo; pygmy goose, knobbilled duck and Egyptian goose; African jacana; black korhaan and kori bustard; Cape vulture, bateleur eagle and African fish eagle; Cape turtle dove, laughing dove, red eyed dove and Namaqua dove; bee-eater; kingfisher; hornbill; fork tailed drongo; black and pied crow; pied and whiterumped babbler; yellowbilled and redbilled oxpecker; masked weaver, paradise and shaftailed whydah. The majority of these species can be seen in the Okavango Delta or by River Chobe in northern Botswana .

Reptiles
About 157 species of reptiles have been recorded in Botswana . Most obvious characteristic of reptiles is their dry, horny skin that is usually modified into scales or plates. This prevents rapid water loss and has allowed them to move on to dry land, whereas amphibians are still restricted to moist habitats. Many reptiles lay eggs that have thick shells and which undergo development independent of water or parents.

All reptiles are cold-blooded, which means that they absorb their warmth from the environment, as opposed to mammals or birds which generate their heat internally. Many reptiles simply sit in the sun until their body reaches correct temperature, and subsequently shuttle between sun and shade, maintaining a constant optimal temperature. They do not generate heat internally by metabolizing foods as do mammals and birds.

The reptiles are divided into crocodilians, tortoises, terrapins and turtles, snakes, lizards and amphibians. Some of the most common for Botswana are: crocodile, python, gecko, tortoise, black mamba, green mamba, Cape cobra, Egyptian cobra, spitting cobra, puff adder, horned adder, egg eater, tiger snake, boom slang, shield-nose snake, Cape skink, striped skink, bushveld lizard, sand lizard, ground agama, flap-neck chameleon.