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Animals in Botswana
Botswana, a small country in Africa, lies north of South Africa and is bordered by Namibia to the west and Zambia to the east. Much of Botswana is low lying with the Kalahari Desert, in the south, making up nearly 70 percent of the land mass. In the northern region is the Okavango Delta, a vast tract of land of waterways and islands that seasonally floods and ebbs and draws one of the greatest concentrations of wildlife in Africa.

In the 1970s a great many East African safari firms moved to Botswana to escape the political unrest and a great tourist industry took hold that has shifted its focus from hunting to photo safaris and nature observation. Safaris are outfitted in Maun and travel to the Okavango to see the real Africa in its primal state.

It is estimated that there are over 200,000 large mammals that migrate in and out of the delta between the rainy season and the dry and elephant and buffalo herds make up nearly 30,000. The
African elephant
African elephant is well represented in the Okavango and these behemoths are impressive reaching 13 feet at the shoulder and weighing upwards to 30,000 pounds. The
African buffalo
African buffalo with their black coats and their huge curling horns can spark an atavistic memory of nature's power and menace.

The Okavango hosts both species of rhinoceros, both black and white and herbivores are well represented.
lechwe
Lechwe, topis and wildebeest are abundant, many antelope inhabit the grasslands, sable the forests and
giraffe
giraffe can be observed reaching for tender leaves high in the Acacia trees. There are herds of zebra, packs of
African wild dog
African Wild Dogs and a variety of primates including baboons.

Prides of African lions make the delta their home amidst a plentiful smorgasbord of lion's favorite fare and, although elusive, the beautiful leopard can often be caught napping high in a crook of a tree; a sight of Africa in the raw. Birdlife is plentiful with Crested cranes, ibis, fish eagles and the ungainly ostrich and the waters hold catfish, tilapia and fierce tigerfish.

The Okavango Delta is the real Africa.


Click here for a list of endangered animals in Botswana.
Even-toed ungulates in Botswana
Bushpig
Oribi
Roan antelope
Springbok
Sable antelope
Marshbuck
Common rhebok
Bushbuck
Greater kudu
Lechwe
Waterbuck
Puku
Sharpe's grysbok
Steenbok
Southern reedbuck
Blue & white-bearded wildebeest
Mountain reedbuck
Tsessebe
Grey duiker
African buffalo
Giraffe
Klipspringer
Gemsbok
Impala
Common hippopotamus
Common warthog
Common hartebeest
Carnivores in Botswana
African clawless otter
Side-striped jackal
Black-backed jackal
African caracal
Aardwolf
Cape fox
Serval
Speckle-throated otter
Spotted hyaena
African wild dog
Marsh mongoose
Yellow mongoose
Slender mongoose
Common dwarf mongoose
Egyptian mongoose
White-tailed mongoose
Banded mongoose
Black-footed cat
Selous' mongoose
Wild cat
Meerkat
Honey badger
Striped polecat
African striped weasel
Cheetah
African civet
Common genet
Panther genet
Bat-eared fox
African lion
Leopard
Bats in Botswana
Rüppel's pipistrelle
Lesser woolly bat
Rusty pipistrelle
Nigerian free-tailed bat
Botswanan long-eared bat
Little free-tailed bat
Percival's trident bat
Blasius's horseshoe bat
Darling's horseshoe bat
Dent's horseshoe bat
Rüppell's horseshoe bat
Hildebrandt's horseshoe bat
Bushveld horseshoe bat
African yellow bat
White-bellied yellow bat
Angolan free-tailed bat
Straw-coloured fruit bat
Greenish yellow bat
Midas free-tailed bat
Wahlberg's epauletted fruit bat
Hairy slit-faced bat
Large-eared slit-faced bat
Egyptian slit-faced bat
Egyptian free-tailed bat
Mauritian tomb bat
Egyptian tomb bat
Sundevall's roundleaf bat
Hyraxes in Botswana
Bush hyrax
Rock dassie
Hares, pikas, and rabbits in Botswana
Cape hare
Jameson's red rockhare
Elephant-shrews in Botswana
Short-snouted elephant shrew
Bushveld elephant shrew
Eastern rock elephant shrew
Round-eared elephant shrew
Horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs in Botswana
Square-lipped rhinoceros
Burchell's zebra
Black rhinoceros
Pangolins in Botswana
Cape pangolin
Primates in Botswana
Mohol galago
Elephants in Botswana
African elephant
Rodents in Botswana
Black-tailed tree rat
Acacia rat
Smith's bush squirrel
Greater cane rat
Brants's whistling rat
Cape porcupine
South african ground squirrel
Single-striped grass mouse
Woosnam's broad-headed mouse
Gambian rat
Four-striped grass mouse
Damara mole rat
Gerbil mouse
Angolan marsh rat
Gray glimbing mouse
Southern multimammate mouse
Brant's climbing mouse
Natal multimammate mouse
Cape short-eared gerbil
Pouched mouse
Shortridge's multimammate mouse
Kreb's fat mouse
Desert pygmy mouse
Tiny fat mouse
Setzer's pygmy mouse
Fat mouse
Hairy-footed gerbil
Small-eared dormouse
Spiny mouse
Rock dormouse
Red rock rat
Highveld gerbil
Angoni vlei rat
Namaqua rock rat
Bushveld gerbil
Large vlei rat
Aardvark in Botswana
Aardvark
Information about the animals living in Botswana is brought to you by "List of countries of the world", your first stop in discovering all countries and animals of the world.

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