This reserve has a wide range of game species, dominated by impala, tsessebe, kudu and, on the floodplains, red lechwe. Zebra are fairly numerous, blue wildebeest less so, and giraffe are very common in the bands of acacia thornveld. (Thirty-five were observed together at one point on the airstrip.) Reedbuck, duiker and steenbok are often seen; whilst eland and roan are found only rarely (usually towards the south of the reserve), and sable seem to be totally absent.
The sightings here of buffalo and elephants seem to follow the same broad patterns. Throughout the year there are small resident herds of both around, plus odd old bulls and small bachelor groups. However, from around June to October large breeding herds pass through. Then buffalo herds can number well over 1,000, and herds of 100 elephants are not unknown.
The key to understanding this is to realise that when there has been rainfall, usually starting around November–December, the big herds move into the large swathes of mopane forest between the Okavango and the Kwando–Linyanti River system. That is, into the interior forests of Kwando (NG14), Linyanti (NG15), Selinda (NG16), Khwai Community (NG18) and Kwara (NG20). Whilst there, their water needs are sustained by the seasonal clay pans which hold water. However, when these pans start to dry up, around May or June, they move back to the areas of permanent water, including this reserve.
The reserve has plenty of lion including, when I last visited, a resident pride 17-strong. Recently they seem to have mainly concentrated on hunting buffalo, though that may have been just the natural response to having a lot of mouths to feed.
Leopard are common here, with the mixed woodlands and floodplains being an ideal habitat for them. I’ve had one of my best leopard sightings in Botswana near Chitabe, and hence tend to regard it as one of the country’s best camps for leopard.
Cheetah stay here throughout the year, and are most frequently seen in the drier, more open eastern side of the reserve. Their populations are perhaps helped here by relatively low numbers of spotted hyena.
The reserve seems to have made a name for itself for wild dog. This may partially be due to the involvement in the reserve’s management of Dave Hamman, who took many of the photographs for the book Running Wild (see Further Reading) – about the ‘Mombo’ pack of wild dogs in Moremi.
There certainly is a healthy population of dogs here. They seem to like the marginal floodplains, and will flush the antelopes through plains and islands to catch them. In 1999 there were three dens in the concession, though as these are usually moved from one year to the next... the situation is relatively unpredictable between the years. Having said this, I’d probably choose a more open and less wooded area than Chitabe if I were specifically hoping to track down some wild dogs.
Finally, on a more unusual note, this reserve seems to have had a very high incidence of pangolin sightings: they have recorded about six sightings in the last two years. (Most camps would count themselves lucky with one such sighting, as these are very rare animals.) Many of these sightings have been on full-moon night-drives, when the pangolin has been seen foraging around in the open. Aardvarks and aardwolves are also frequently seen here at night. Perhaps this, and the pangolin sightings, are really a reflection of the camps’ enthusiasm for (or at least willingness to organise) serious late-night game drives, rather than a higher density of these animals in this area per se.