Page 66 - Discover Botswana 24th Edition 2024

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O KAVA N G O
THE TRAVELLERS
As the first rains fall in November, Zebra begin to appear in large numbers,
pulled in by the promise of mineral-rich grasslands. So coveted are the
nutritious grasses now growing in the former paleolake that up to 20,000
Kalahari zebras will risk an extraordinary annual journey of more than
500 km, from their dry season hangout along the Chobe River floodplain,
to gain access to them. Trusting in puddles and rainfed pans to sustain
them on their way, these Kalahari nomads head south to their Nxai Pan
summer retreat, staying only as long as the surface water before heading
350 kilometres back to permanent water as the dry winter months set in.
This adventurous band of travellers are far from alone. A further estimated
15,000 zebra make a similar march to Makgadikgadi from Moremi
and more than 25 000 Zebra and wildebeest head east from the Boteti
when rain comes to the pans. For a long time, researchers assumed these
astonishing journeys through featureless scrub were learned behaviours –
passed down through generations of ungulates. But for 36 years between
1968 and 2004 these migration routes were cut off by veterinary cordon
fences, erected to prevent disease transmission between wild game and
domestic cattle destined for the European meat market. The average
lifespan of a Zebra is 15 years, meaning none of these animals could have
learned this strategy from their parents. Despite this, within four years of
the fences being removed, the migration to the pans once again began, a
seemingly relentless pilgrimage that has yet to be fully understood.
But the zebras are not the only travellers into the desert. Pushed out
by growing elephant populations to the north, bull elephants gather