Our brand is synonymous with zebras – we’re so fond of these stripy equids we even put one on a bicycle for our logo and we have no shortage of options for those looking to spend time with a zebra or indeed, a thousand of them. Their appearance is so remarkable that you’d struggle to invent these extraordinary creatures, however it’s not their monochrome looks that capture the imagination in real life, it’s the noise they make.
“As stunning as they are, the noise is incredible and so unlike a horse,” agrees Private Guide and Head of Sales Peter Allison. “When they gather at Meno a Kwena right in front of the camp there’s a chorus of thousands emitting an almost whistling sound.”
One of our flagship conservation projects is the Makgadikgadi Large Mammal Migration Conservation Initiative. Prior to the 1960s the area of north-eastern Botswana around the Makgadikgadi National Park and the Kalahari Desert held the longest and possibly the largest migration of zebra and wildebeest in Africa. Unfortunately land use changes brought extensive fencing to the area and cut short this historic migration. Astonishingly though, the migration has re-emerged over the last decade and we’ve committed significant funds to reopening these migration corridors so that the animals’ movement can continue undeterred. We work on a multifaceted conservation program, addressing wildlife and cattle movements, waterhole usage, human-wildlife conflict zoning and conflict mitigation efforts. We work alongside local communities and all stakeholders to develop land use plans that benefit all and allow this epic migration to flourish.
A happy by-product of this project are the incredible zebra sightings that our guests can enjoy from our Makgadikgadi properties.
Certainly Meno a Kwena is one of the best places to see zebra them. The clifftop position means that most of the camp, including the rooms overlook the river below and it’s here that they arrive to drink in April and then remain until around September. The floating hide at the water’s edge offers a water level view of the zebra as they flow up and down the hillside to quench their thirst. There’s a liquidity to the sight of so many of these equids as they stream past one another almost as one creature.
The most famous zebra sightings are in Kenya’s Masai Mara of course, and second only to that is this annual pilgrimage. The zebras travel through Northern Botswana and from as far away as Namibia to the Makgadikgadi Pans where they can be seen from roughly December through to March. “It’s amazing to see them in such huge numbers in a dead flat environment,” notes Peter. It’s not only their surroundings that might surprise you, “as pretty as they are they’re actually quite violent animals,” he adds. “The males fight within their bachelor groups to see who can take on a dominant stallion. They do this using donkey kicks, rearing chop-downs and biting. Biting is actually their main weapon and they usually bite one another underneath the chin.”
The zebras that migrate benefit from protein rich grasses from the mineral laden Pans and thus weigh around 20 percent more than their non-travelling cousins in the Okavango Delta. If you’re keen to see these more slimline individuals, or indeed any zebra outside the migration season, Khwai Private Reserve and the Okavango Uncharted lodges of Duke’s Camp and Duke’s East are excellent for year round zebra sightings.
Those who are travelling to Namibia also stand a good chance of seeing these striped delights. The Plains zebra is the most widespread and the familiar species at our Etosha Heights Private Reserve properties, but at Hoanib Valley Camp and Kwessi Dunes you might just come across the much rarer Hartman’s zebra which sports narrower stripes that don’t meet beneath the belly.
Should your time in the company of zebras leave you keen to support their conservation, you can do this with a donation to the Natural Selection Foundation
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