The abundance of large wild herbivores in a semi-arid savanna in relation to seasons, pans and livestock

Large herbivores, including livestock and ostrich, were counted alone a 200-km long track in south-western Kalahari. Botswana. Altogether, 37 counts were made during different seasons. The number of animals seen and group size were recorded. These variables were compared with monthly and accumulated rainfall (number of animals and group size) and distance to pans (number of animals). Observations of game and livestock were also related to distance to villages. In four of the seven studied species, most animals were seen during the wet season. Group size also varied between seasons apart from the non-gregarious steenbok and duiker, Number of animals and group size were in some cases correlated with rainfall during the month of observation or with accumulated rainfall during the preceding months. The various species were more often observed close to pans than further away from the pans. Compared to livestock. game was on average observed >10 km further au ay from the villages. Few observations of game were made between village centres and the livestock observations most distant from the village.