A Wildlife Guide to Botswana

© Wildebeest and Hyena. Linyanti

Botswana is considered one of Africa's premier wildlife countries and is the first choice for many African wildlife safari connoisseurs. With a broad range of habitats Botswana offers varied safari experiences.

Personal Observations

Through many years of guiding safaris through Botswana, animal behavior has been observed in detail, and after having studied a number of guide books, one realizes how little we know about the variances in animal behavior.

There is a general standard to our knowledge of animal facts, but when it comes to wildlife behavior, guide books are too small to record all the variations from the different wilderness areas of Africa. Even in Botswana, with its numerous eco-systems, the behavior within the same species varies from area to area.

Botswana Wildlife Behaviour

©Shem Compion
A prime example of this variation is in the prey preferences of lions in Botswana; there is pride that specializes in killing Buffalo, another specializing in killing Hippo and even one that specialized in killing Elephants before the eco-system changed.

These three prides are all within 50 km of each other and some members of the prides may even have been part of one of the other prides at one time.

The question is how did this individual feeding behavior develop - especially considering that the prides are so close together? Botswana has numerous behavioral differences between species in the various regions and this Botswana wildlife guide will discuss some of these.

Botswana Wildlife Species Guide

©Shem Compion

This is by no means a scientific journal - it is merely a record of thoughts and observations during many years of guiding in Botswana. Having spent a number of years travelling and guiding in other African countries, Leigh Kemp has added some observations from these countries to enhance the guide. The Botswana Wildlife Species Guide is also a record of the experiences of the Siyabona staff on their travels through Botswana.

The aim of this Botswana Wildlife Guide is not to provide a scientific paper on the wildlife of Botswana but to provide information on the fascinating world of Botswana's ecology, and to allow the reader to experience a little of what we at Siyabona have experienced over the years.

Botswana Wildlife Behaviour

Learn about animal behavior and why animals do what they do in the wild - and what signals to look out for while you are on safari in Botswa...more

Botswana Wildlife Species Guide

This Botswana Wildlife Species Guide provides info on Botswana wildlife including their appearance, diet and behaviour, plus the best places...more

Wildlife Conservation in Botswana

Sustainable tourism in Botswana is managed by keeping tourism numbers low in order to reduce the environmental impact that could spiral out ...more
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