• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Map
• Reference and further resources

Site description (2001 baseline)
This IBA includes the portion of the Kavango river in north-eastern Namibia between Andara Mission and the Botswana border at the western end of the Caprivi Strip. The IBA includes the Mahango Game Reserve, which essentially consists of the vast flood-plain along the Kavango river (the start of the panhandle of the Okavango Swamps) and its associated riverine forests and woodlands. Once the Kavango river leaves Namibia it flows into and creates the Okavango Delta in Botswana. High water occurs in April from rains in the highlands of Angola, and floods usually reach heights of 3–4 m above the low-level water in November. This flooding is essential for the functioning of all aquatic systems along the river. The climate can be divided into two distinct seasons—a dry season between April and November, and a shorter wet season from the end of November to early April. The monthly average maximum temperature is 30°C and about 80% of the region’s rain (550–600 mm per year) falls between October and April.

Vegetation along the river is extremely diverse with 869 species from 88 families so far recognized, about 25% more species-rich than the delta itself. The vegetated dunes that dominate the topography away from the river include extensive dry woodlands. Dominant trees of the riparian woodland include Garcinia, Sclerocarya, Diospyros, Acacia and Grewia. The vegetation of the dunes is dominated by mixed Pterocarpus, Ricinodendron, Ziziphus and dense stands of Baikiaea and Baphia shrubs. The riparian vegetation is of particular importance. In Namibia, riparian woodland is increasingly rare as it is mostly destroyed during human settlement. The flood-plain comprises reedbeds, swamps, open flooded grasslands and papyrus Cyperus. Two conspicuous species on the edge of the flood-plain are the palm Phoenix and baobab Adansonia.

Key biodiversity
See Box and Table 3 for key species. The reserve’s most important feature is the flood-plain, which is critical habitat for breeding wetland bird species. About two-thirds of Namibia’s bird species have been recorded in Mahango, and it boasts the highest species diversity in Namibia, the result of a diversity of both wetland and tropical terrestrial species. The flood-plain supports important populations of rare wetland birds including Egretta vinaceigula, Grus carunculatus, Ardeola rufiventris, Pelecanus rufescens, Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis, Microparra capensis, Vanellus albiceps, V. crassirostris, Glareola pratincola, Macronyx ameliae and Circus pygargus. The riverbanks and rocks hold Glareola nuchalis and Rynchops flavirostris, while the fringing riparian vegetation supports Scotopelia peli and Gorsachius leuconotus. The surrounding grassveld also holds Palearctic migrants, including Glareola nordmanni.

Non-bird biodiversity: This is the second most species-rich area for mammals in Namibia, with 99 species. Threatened mammals occurring in the reserve include Lycaon pictus (EN), Loxodonta africana (EN), and Lutra maculicollis (VU), which requires pristine aquatic habitat. The frog Phrynomantis affinis, with only five specimens known, occurs here. About 71 species of fish occur in the Kavango river, including two threatened species.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mahango Game Reserve and Kavango river (Namibia). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mahango-game-reserve-and-kavango-river-iba-namibia on 22/11/2024.