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Botswana Botswana is famous for its wildlife. Most of the most well known African animals are found there. In fact, there are more elephants in Botswana than anywhere else in the world: about 120,000 of them. Botswana has excellent conservation programs and the wildlife are well protected from poachers (illegal hunters). The Government has made thousands of square kilometres protected wildlife areas. The largest are: Chobe National Park (north). Central Kalahari Game Reserve (2nd largest in the world), Moremi Game Reserve (in Okavango Delta) and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (along the border of Botswana and South Africa).
Mammals
There are 164 different kinds of mammal in Botswana, 
including:
Vervet
monkeys,
Meerkats, Chacma Baboons, Wild
Dogs, Bat-eared Foxes, Black backed Jackels, several kinds of
Genet and Hyena, Lions, Leopards, Cheetahs, Burchell's Zebra, White
Rhinoceros,
Hippopotamus, Elephant, Wildebeest. There are
several kinds of antelope, including Kudu, Gemsbok,
Eland, Sable, Roan and Waterbuck.
Birds
There are about 550 different kinds of bird in Botswana, some
of them living there for part of the year as they migrate. People
come from all over the world to watch birds in Botswana because
there are so many but also because it is easy to see the birds
owing to the flatness of the land and the vegetation. Among the
birds there are Ostriches, Cormorants, Egyptian Geese, African
Jacanas, Cape Vultures, African Fish Eagles, Kingfishers, Masked
Weavers and Hornbills.
Flamingo are often seen in Botswana. There are two kinds, the Greater and the Lesser.
Greater
flamingoes have a pink bill with black tip, and Lesser flamingoes
have an evenly coloured dark purplish bill, which looks black
from a distance. The Lesser flamingo is smaller and pinker than
the Greater flamingo. Flamingoes form large flocks of up to a
thousand birds, and each makes a honking sound which, all together,
makes a continuous babbling noise. They prefer shallow salty water.
They stay in one place while conditions suit them, and then move
on. They fly with neck and legs outstretched.
The Secretary
bird is a large, long-legged grey and black bird with long,
loose black feathers sticking up at the back of the head. 
Adults have orange faces, while
young ones have yellow faces. They are usually silent, but sometimes
make a frog-like croak.
Secretary birds are usually in pairs walking in grassland, savanna or Kalahari scrub. Sometimes they run a short distance with spread wings and may also fly to a great height. They roost on the top of thorn trees. Secretary birds feed on small animals, reptiles and insects, and are well known for killing snakes. They make nests on tree tops, made of a platform of sticks just below the highest branches.
The Cape vulture is an endangered species and fully protected in Botswana. It is thought that the vultures fly several hundred kilometres to scavenge food. The wingspan of the Cape vulture is about 3 metres, and they weigh about 5 kg. Vultures rely on rising hot air to help them rise and glide. They feed mainly by scavenging, which means eating animals that they have not themselves killed. They have excellent eyesight, and glide high in the sky where they can spot food. Once a kill has been spotted, a vulture drops down at great speeds to land by the carcass, and other vultures see that and follow. A large flock of vultures can strip a carcass down to the bone in half an hour.
Go here to see a photo of the Cape Vulture http://www.encounter.co.za/article/41.html
Reptiles
There are about 157 different kinds of reptile in Botswana, including: Nile crocodiles, Pythons, Geckos, Tortoises, Flap neck chameleon
and snakes such as the Black Mamba, Green Mamba, Cape cobra, Egyptian
cobra, Spitting cobra, Puff adder and Boomslang.
Click here to
find out more about animals of Botswana http://www.botswana-safari.net/botswana_mammals.html
Acknowledge
this source in your bibliography like this:
Botswana
(2004).
[Online], Available: www.kidcyber.com.au
Updated/checked May 2007