Nxai Pan National Park, Botswana Photograph by © WWF-Canon/Martin HARVEY   southern Africa: including parts of Botswana, northeastern Namibia, Zimbabwe, and northern South Africa Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands   129,500 square miles (335,500 square kilometers) -- about the size of Utah and New York combined Vulnerable

· Bountiful Biodiversity
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Bountiful Biodiversity

The Kalahari Acacia-Baikiaea Woodland ecoregion is home to more than 130 mammals, including black rhinoceroses, cheetahs, brown hyenas, and many other endangered species. It is also famous for its rich and colorful array of 460 species of birds, including blackfaced babblers and Bradfield’s hornbills. In Botswana’s Central Kalahari Game Reserve, groups of Bushmen share the sandveld, or "sand ground," habitat with large herds of blue wildebeest, red hartebeest, eland, gemsbok, and springbok as well as lions, cheetahs, leopards, African wild dogs, and spotted hyenas. The Khaudom Game Reserve in Namibia is home to elephants, buffalo, giraffes and many other animals.

Special Features

The mostly flat sandveld landscape of this ecoregion, which is dominated by sand from the Kalahari Desert, lies in the center of the Great African Plateau. During the winter months of May to August, there is little or no rain and the land is very dry. But during the summer between October and March, massive thunderstorms pour down on the parched earth, renewing life. About once every seven years, droughts occur. In the southeastern part of this ecoregion, the sandveld gives way to undulating plains with complex rock formations called the hardveld, or "hard ground." The hardveld has many rivers that come and go with the seasons, depending on rainfall--some of which flow for only a few weeks out of the year.

	Wildebeest may travel more than 800 miles (1287 km) during the dry season as they search for food and water.

Wild Side

In the vast sandveld of this ecoregion, magnificent herds of wildebeest and other antelopes graze on bunchgrasses, while giraffes nibble on the sparse leaves of acacia trees. From zebras to elephants, virtually all of the animals here are drawn to watering holes. African civets prowl softly through the underbrush in search of insects, rodents, birds, and, occasionally, fruit. Wild dogs guard their freshly killed prey from sneaky hyenas that may steal it. Other predators, such as lions, cheetahs, and leopards, find abundant prey as thousands of wildebeest and hartebeest migrate across this landscape seasonally in search of food and water. The Kalahri purple-glossed snake slithers in search of prey, while vultures feast on the carrion of the fallen. Many of the animals here, such as the black rhinoceros and brown hyena, are endangered. The Tsodilo hills in the northwest of the ecoregion are the only place in the world to find the Tsodilo gecko.

Cause for Concern

The cattle industry is the biggest threat to conservation within this ecoregion. Not only is overgrazing by large cattle herds changing the composition of the natural vegetation, but predators such as wild dogs are often killed as nuisance pests. Moreover, the cattle industry’s network of fences that crisscross the ecoregion impede the critical migratory movements of elephants, zebras, wildebeest, eland, and other animals that must travel great distances in search of water and food during periods of drought. In the drought of the 1980s, 90 percent of the wildebeest population died because fences prevented them from moving to areas where they could find food. In addition to these problems, illegal hunting is a major threat to wildlife of the area.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.