SMALL
CARNIVORES
OF BOTSWANA
(page 1)
The small carnivores of
Botswana
Botswana's smaller carnivores
are an important piece of nature's great food chain
and many of these animals provide excellent safari
entertainment, that is if you are lucky enough
to find them. Some of these animals, like
the jackals, are almost always present around a
kill, as they are looking to scavenge small pieces,
while others like the small cats and foxes typically
do their own hunting. These small cats are
fairly elusive and more likely to be seen on a
night drive than in broad daylight. The honey
badger is a favorite of many for its fearless attitude
towards even the largest of Botswana's animals.
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Black-backed jackal
Canis mesomelas
 The
black-backed jackal is one of two jackals found
in Botswana (the side-striped jackal being the
other); both are members of the dog family. The
black-backed species is found throughout the
Okavango Delta, the Linyanti and in Chobe. Its
ability to eat just about everything including
insects and scavenged bits of a kill contribute
to its success in various habitats.
The black-backed
jackal is one of the mammals which mates
for life. Its social structure is one
of cooperative family units whereby several
family groups may liaise and form a temporary
"pack" which allows them to search wider
for food and contact each other over long
distances once a source is found.
Black-backed
jackals are tenacious scavengers at a kill,
even among lions and hyenas and watching
them fight off vultures and quarrel with
each other over scraps is fascinating. |
Side-striped jackal
Canis adustus
 One
of the best places to see side-striped jackal is
the Moremi Game Reserve. This species is
slightly more heavily built than the black-backed
and it is distinguishable by the white stripe along
its flank and the white tip to its tail.
In terms of
diet and adaptability, the side-striped species
is just as versatile as its cousin, though
it perhaps relies a bit more on scavenged
kills and rodents for food. This animal
is also more dependent on water than the
black-backed.
The lonely
sounding call of the side-striped jackal
is one of Botswana's signature calls and
it is a lovely call indeed. One can
often hear them calling at dawn and dusk
to their mates and they also call without
fail whenever they spot a leopard; they
will follow the cat calling continuously
until they lose sight of it. |
Serval
Felis serval
 The
serval is a beautiful, medium-sized
cat, not unlike a cheetah in appearance only
smaller and with a shorter tail. They
have a lovely, spotted pattern to their fur
and they have been hunted mercilessly as a
result.
The serval
prefers environments with water and tall
grasses nearby for hunting. They are
usually nocturnal but can sometimes be seen
foraging in the early morning and evenings. They
are typically solitary but may also be encountered
in pairs.
Servals prey
mainly on small mammals, birds, reptiles
and even insects. They are good climbers
and are specialists at capturing animals
in tall grass. A serval often hunts
by jumping up to pounce down onto small creatures
to make a kill. Their ears function
like sound dish receivers to pick up the
slightest sound and pinpoint its location. It
has long legs, perfectly adapted to give
it extra height while hunting in the grasses
and for making its spectacular high leaps.
Serval
are seen sporadically in Botswana but your
best chances are in Moremi Game Reserve
and also in the Savuti Channel in the Linyanti
region. We
have seen them at both Mombo
Camp and also
at Savuti
Camp and on night drives at camps like
Chitabe
Camp or Duba
Plains Camp. |
Caracal
Felis caracal
 |
| Image © Michael
Poliza |
Like
the serval, the caracal is mainly a nocturnal
cat and normally leads a solitary life. It is
a fierce cat which will spit loudly and defend
itself savagely if cornered, but is otherwise silent. This
is a robustly built cat (males up to 14 kg) with
its hindquarters being slightly higher than the
shoulders and very big feet. The
caracal has a lovely, tawny coat of short hair
and diagnostic pointed ears with a long tuft
of black hair at the tip.
The caracal
hunts by stalking prey and getting as close
as possible before sprinting and
pouncing, or leaping high into the air
to catch a retreating bird. The caracal
is very powerful and can kill medium-sized
antelopes over twice its own size. It also
has a liking for birds and has even been
known to capture martial and tawny eagles
and also kori bustards! No small feat.
Caracals
are seen sporadically in the Okavango Delta
and also in the Linyanti and Chobe. Normally
they are seen at dawn or dusk and more often
on a night drive. We have seen them
most often at Mombo
Camp and at Savuti
Camp in the Linyanti
region. |
African wild
cat
Felis lybica
 The
African wild cat is the species which was originally
domesticated by the ancient Egyptians around
4000 B.C. and Egyptian drawings and figures,
plus thousands of embalmed F. lybica,
indicate that today's domesticated cats all
descend from this cat. Since the
African wild cat and the domesticated cat are
one and the same species, interbreeding occurs
readily and loss of the true wild form is threatened
by hybridization wherever it lives in proximity
to villages.
The African
wild cat is widespread throughout Botswana
(and southern Africa) and tolerates a wide
variety of habitats. Their food preferences
differ little from domesticated cats, with
rodents being the mainstay, followed by small
birds, lizards, snakes, frogs and large
insects also on the menu.
F. lybica are
solitary, territorial and quite
nocturnal. It falls prey itself to
the caracal, leopard and large birds of prey. Although
occasionally spotted in the daytime, they
are quite relaxed and hunt primarily at night
and finding them on a night drive is your
best chance to see them in action and up
close in Botswana. |
Bat-eared
fox
Otocyon megalotis
 The
bat-eared fox might be considered one of Botswana's
"cute" animals. With its large
ears and masked face, its playful antics and
incredible hunting skills make it a favorite
among safari enthusiasts.
O. megalotis inhabits
open grassland, preferring short grass areas
or light woodlands. Its
main prey consists of insects, with harvester
termites being a favorite item on their menu. They
also eat scorpions, rodents, lizards, hunting
spiders, and even fruits on occasion. They
are seen regularly in the northern Savuti
Channel, which is easily accessible from
camps such as Savuti
Camp and DumaTau
Camp.
The foxes live
as monogamous and non-territorial pairs or
in family groups when rearing young. The
pair is rarely separated and sleeps
in the same burrow. Family units of
male, female and young forage together to
reduce the risk of predation.
Bat-eared foxes hunt
mainly at night and late afternoon, but may
be seen out of their underground burrows
resting during the day. The foxes
rely mainly on their ears and noses to locate
food when foraging. In fact, the bat-eared
fox's hearing is so acute that it can locate
beetles, insect larvae and other
insects underground by listening for their
movements and then unearthing them with vigorous
digging. This
activity is a pleasure to watch; they move
erratically, turning its head back and forth
and stopping to listen with ears cocked to
pick up sounds and locate the source. It
then stops and digs rapidly to excavate the
insect or invertebrate almost without fail. Food
which is unearthed is rarely shared with
other members, except for babies. |
Honey badger
(Ratel)
Mellivora capensis
 |
| Image © Mike
Myers |
One
of the most fearless and aggressive animals
in Africa is the honey badger. These
medium-sized (9-12 kg) mammals are best left
alone if encountered, even if you are a lion! They
have a powerful bite and their loose skin enables
them to turn easily on anything that attempts
to grab them and deliver a tenacious defense. They
have even been known to attack humans and
vehicles when threatened.
Honey badgers
are extremely efficient excavators (second
only to the aardvark) and one of their favorite
pastimes is digging up dung beetle balls
in search of tasty larvae. They
are mostly solitary, but may be seen in pairs
or even family groups. They are normally
nocturnal, but also forage in the early morning
and late afternoon.
Their diet
consists of a wide range of foods, but mainly
includes insects, other invertebrates and
rodents. Reptiles, birds, eggs, fruits,
and mammals small enough to kill are also
eaten. Their
common name derives from their natural tendency
to raid beehives to eat the larvae and honey.
In
the Okavango Delta, the honey badger has
an interesting symbiotic relationship with
a bird called the greater honeyguide (Indicator
indicator). The
honeyguide is well known by locals to lead
you to a beehive, calling, fluttering and
spreading its white tail feathers conspicuously
as you follow it. In
this same way, the honey badger has learned
to follow the bird to its favorite food. Once
at the hive, the badger's impenetrable
skin is impervious to the bees'
stings and it eats what it wants. The
honeyguide benefits by eating the leftover
larvae and beeswax. Unfortunately,
a honeyguide is also known to lead you
to lions using this same technique. |
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