African Barred Owl - Botswana

The Kalahari Desert, covering an area of over 900,000 square kilometers, is the 5th largest desert in the world. It is located between Southwestern Botswana and Northern South Africa. The Kalahari Desert is home to the Khoi-San people, whose language is characterized through labial or bilabial clicking sounds.

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Glaucidium capense - The African barred owl is sometimes referred to as an “owlet” because of its diminutive size; 20 centimeters in length and weighing 80 to 140 grams. There is little sexual dimorphism between the female and male. The female is slightly larger, but has the same plumage coloring of the male. The African barred owl feeds primarily on insects, but during the breeding season, it will include smaller rodents and birds. The common owl features of ear tufts, nape spots, and false eyes are absent in the African barred owl.

Wattled Crane - Botswana

Bugeranus carunculatus - The wattled crane is the largest and rarest crane in Africa and the second largest crane in the world. Cranes and herons are similar in appearance, but they are unrelated and easy to distinguish; cranes fly with necks outstretched, herons fly with necks pulled back. The wattled crane relies more on wetlands for nesting sites and food sources than the other crane species. The largest concentration of wattled cranes can be found in Botswana’s Okavango Delta.

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Drought and desertification are two important issues confronting the people of Botswana on a daily basis. Surface water in the form of lakes and rivers are sparse in Botswana. The people are overly dependent on ground water as their primary source for personal consumption and farming needs. Approximately 71% of the country’s land is used for raising cattle. This places a heavy strain on water resources and causes depletion of ground water, desertification of the land, and soil erosion.

Rhinoceros of Africa

In evolutionary terms, the rhinoceros is a surviving member of one branch of an ancient line of animals, the ungulates, the first animals to develop hooves. The rhinoceros belongs to a group of ungulates known as the perissodactyls or odd-toed ungulates; this group also includes the horse and tapir. There are currently five extant species of rhinoceros in the world. Of these five, four are under severe threat of facing extinction. There are efforts underway to help preserve the rhinoceros, but those efforts may lack the time and resources necessary to insure their survival. The two species found in Africa are the white and the black rhinoceros. They are respectively classified as Ceratotherium simum and Diceros bicornis. The two African species are easily recognized by the differences in their lips; the white rhinoceros is square-lipped, the black rhinoceros is hooked-lipped.