Okavango Delta Wildlife

Put simply, the Okavango Delta boasts one of the greatest concentrations of wildlife in the world. Historically a remote and underpopulated region and now tightly protected, the guarantee of water and vegetation in an arid, unforgiving environment ensures that the Delta remains a magnet for a dense and diverse population of animals.

Large mammals

Regular surveys put the number of large mammals at between 160,000 and 260,000 - peaking in the dry season (May to October). Tens of thousands of elephant and buffalo roam the Delta, often in large herds, while the several thousand hippos that move through the channels keep the waterways open, or form new ones. The white rhino, long extinct in Botswana, has recently been reintroduced into the Delta.

The most abundant antelope is the red lechwe, usually seen grazing on the floodplains or dashing through shallow water with their strange loping stride. The shy reedbuck and semi-aquatic sitatunga creep through thick cover while waterbuck, impala, tsessebe and kudu prefer the surrounding grasslands and woods. The rare sable and roan antelopes can be spotted slipping out of the woodlands to drink. Giraffe slowly nod their way across the savannah, while herds of skittish wildebeest or regal zebra are all commonly seen on game drives or walks.

The abundance of herbivores encourages high numbers of predators: big prides of lion, whooping packs of spotted hyena and the ever watchful Nile crocodile make up the apex predators; cheetah and African wild dog are relatively common on the larger grasslands and floodplains while leopards are often seen moving through cover or lazing on the bough of a riverine tree.

Smaller mammals

The Okavango Delta is the perfect habitat for southern Africa's smaller mammals: troops of vervet monkey and baboons fill the air with their barks and shrieks, black-backed jackals skulk on the fringes of a kill while its shyer cousin, the side-stripped jackal, patrols the forest edges and rank vegetation. Different species of mongoose dash into thick cover as you take a game drive and Cape clawless and spotted-necked otters are sometimes glimpsed as you drift slowly along a deep channel or lagoon. A host of smaller cats, honey badgers, porcupines and genets are occasionally seen - if you're staying in a private concession and have the chance to go on a night drive, then these rarer species are more easily spotted.

Fish

The abundance of water in the Delta belies the fact that fish populations in the Delta are surprisingly low compared to other wetland systems. The river's low nutrient level results in relatively few algae and planktonic plants which would provide food for a larger number of fish - compare the Delta's average fish biomass of between 100 and 200kg of fish per hectare against other wetland systems of anything up to four times higher.

Nevertheless, 80 or so species are found in the Delta, providing a source of protein to some 3,000 subsistence fishermen. Recreational fishing plays an important role in the local tourist industry, particularly in the Panhandle, with the fighting tiger fish and tasty bream being the most sought after. Generally in good environmental health, the Delta's fish population contains many species whose breeding cycles are linked to the floods - the seasonally inundated floodplains offer a safer and more nutrient rich environment for young fish.

Birds

Prolific and diverse, the birdlife of the Delta is a big tourist drawcard. Some 500 species have been recorded in the Delta and, happily for the visitor, the variety is at its greatest along the more accessible fringes of the Delta where the drier woodlands and scrub meet the wetland habitats.

A hugely important area for the survival of many rare or endangered species, the Delta's beauty as a birding destination lies in the fact that so many different habitats can be accessed: game drives, canoe or motorboat trips, walking trails or just strolling around the camp or lodge will reveal a huge variety of birds from the stately African fish eagle calling from a treetop to the shyest warbler plunging into a thick reedbed.

What to Look Out For- Special Sightings in the Okavango Delta:

On the floodplains and at the water's edge

Wattled crane, saddlebilled stork, African skimmer, slaty egret, lesser jacana, pink-throated longclaw, malachite kingfisher, carmine bee-eater, painted snipes, long-toed plover, pygmy goose, goliath heron, great snipe, whitecrowned plover, crowned crane and Natal nightjar.

In swamp vegetation

Coppery-tailed, black, and white-browed coucals, chirping cisticola, swamp boubou, purple and lesser gallinules, greater swamp warbler, brownthroated and thickbilled weavers, black crake, rufousbellied heron, lesser moorhen, redchested flufftail, Ballion's crake, whiterumped babbler and redshouldered widow.

In riverine/ swamp forest or scrub

Pel's fishing owl, whitebacked night heron, brown firefinch, western banded snake eagle, Bradfield's hornbill, longcrested eagle, cuckoo hawk, bat hawk, Cape parrot and palmnut vulture.

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