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  4. Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana

Central Kalahari Game Reserve

Game Reserve
Southern AfricaDesignated in 196152,800 km²
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The second largest protected area in the world; ancestral home of the San people, whose forced relocation in the 1990s and 2000s drew international controversy

Area

52,800 km²

Protection category

IUCN IV

Área de gestión de hábitats o especies —

Designated in

1961

Declared in 1961, it is one of the largest game reserves in the world, and the ancestral home of the San (Bushmen), whose presence in the reserve goes back thousands of years. Their forced removal from the reserve by the Botswanan government in the 1990s and 2000s, on the argument that they were incompatible with wildlife conservation, led to a long legal battle and considerable international controversy over indigenous rights, culminating in a 2006 ruling by Botswana's High Court recognising the San's right to return to their ancestral land.

Location

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Central Kalahari Game Reserve: 34 documented species

Mammals21Birds5Reptiles5Amphibians

Flora and ecosystems

Ecosystems found in Botswana, where Central Kalahari Game Reserve lies.

SavannahDesertWetland

Experiences in this park

Birdwatching

Wildlife you can see now

What is worth looking out for this month in Botswana?

Now is a good time: Dry season in the Okavango (May to October)

Similar parks

Which other parks are like this one?

Same country: Botswana

Same country: Botswana

Same country: Botswana

Same country: Botswana

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Based on what we already know about this park.

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Region

Southern Africa

Climate

Tropical, Arid / desert

Best season

May to October

Plan your visit

Best season
May to October
Area
52,800 km²
See location
2
Insecta1

Threatened:,,,,,,

Botswana · Southern Africa
what the IUCN categories mean
See on the interactive map→
African Savanna ElephantEndangered

African Savanna Elephant

Loxodonta africana

Game Reserve

Central Kalahari

Botswana

Black-maned Kalahari Lion · Gemsbok

May to October

See park
Moremi (Okavango Delta)UNESCO
Game Reserve

Moremi (Okavango Delta)

Botswana

African wild dog · lion

May to October

See park
Okavango DeltaUNESCO
National Park

Okavango Delta

Botswana

African Savanna Elephant · Lion

May to October

See park
National Park

Makgadikgadi Pans

Botswana

Burchell's Zebra · Common Wildebeest

May to October

See park
CountryBotswana

AI-generated image: an illustration, not a photograph.

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More places in Botswana
Martial Eagle
Lappet-faced Vulture
Cheetah
Lion
Leopard
Secretarybird
Black-footed Cat
Martial EagleEndangered

Martial Eagle

Polemaetus bellicosus

Common OstrichLeast Concern

Common Ostrich

Struthio camelus

BoomslangLeast Concern

Boomslang

Dispholidus typus

Lappet-faced VultureEndangered

Lappet-faced Vulture

Torgos tracheliotos

AardvarkLeast Concern

Aardvark

Orycteropus afer

African JackalsLeast Concern

African Jackals

Lupulella mesomelas

Cape CobraLeast Concern

Cape Cobra

Naja nivea

Common ElandLeast Concern

Common Eland

Taurotragus oryx

CheetahVulnerable

Cheetah

Acinonyx jubatus

Brown HyenaNear Threatened

Brown Hyena

Parahyaena brunnea

LionVulnerable

Lion

Panthera leo

LeopardVulnerable

Leopard

Panthera pardus

See all 34 species found here