Wildlife seen on safari in Botswana

Monday, July 10, 2006

A list of the mammals and reptiles and many of the birds we spotted on our safari in Botswana:

Large mammals -- Cape buffalo, elephant, hippopotamus, giraffe.

Predators/scavengers -- Lion, cheetah, wild dog, black-backed jackal, honey badger, African wild cat, small-spotted genet, cape clawless otter. (Possibly hyena from a distance -- there was disagreement about this -- but definitely an unsighted one that rubbed against our tent one night and left tracks).

Antelope -- Roan antelope, southern giraffe, impala, greater kudu, red lechwe, oryx (gemsbok), springbok, steenbok, common waterbuck, blue wildebeest (gnu), Burchell's Zebra.

Small/medium mammals -- Meerkat, banded mongoose, dwarf mongoose, slender mongoose, yellow mongoose.

Pigs -- Warthog.

Primates -- Vervet monkey, Chacma baboon.

Snakes -- African rock python.

Lizards/crocodile -- Nile crocodile, Nile (water) monitor.

Rodents and shrews -- Woodland dormouse, spring hare, cape ground squirrel, Smith's bush squirrel.

Birds -- Common ostrich, reed cormorant, African darter, great (white) egret, little egret, cattle egret, squacco heron, hamerkop, saddle-billed stork, marabou stork, glossy ibis, greater flamingo, white-faced duck, white-backed duck, Egyptian goose, red-billed teal, comb (knob-billed) duck, spur-winged goose, secretarybird, white-backed vulture, white-headed vulture, black-shouldered kite, tawny eagle, martial eagle, brown snake-eagle, bateleur, African fish eagle, pale chanting goshawk, greater kestrel, red-billed francolin, guineafowl, wattled crane, African jacana, kori bustard, red-crested korhaan, northern black korhaan, three-banded plover, blacksmith lapwing (plover), white-crowned lapwing (plover), black-winged stilt, double-banded courser, double-banded sandgrouse, African mourning dove, cape turtle dove, grey go-away-bird (Lourie), Verreaus' (giant) eagle-owl, pied kingfisher, giant kingfisher, malachite kingfisher, little bee-eater, lilac-breasted roller, African gray hornbill, red-billed hornbill, southern yellow-billed hornbill, southern ground hornbill, cape (black) crow, pied crow, African red-eyed bulbul, Fuelleborn's black boubou, crimson-breasted shrike, Meves's (long-tailed) starling, cape glossy starling, yellow-billed oxpecker, red-billed buffalo-weaver, white-browed sparrow-weaver.

-- John Engstrom