Data Zone
Country/territory: Botswana
IBA criteria met: A1, A4ii (1998)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 100 hectares (1.00 km2)
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2020 | good | not assessed | high |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2001 baseline)
A sandstone hill with a sheer and high cliff-face at its southern end. It lies just south-east of the village of Otse in the hardveld of south-east Botswana. The lower slopes of this hill are well wooded. The whole hill was declared a Game Reserve in 1965 and the cliff and the wooded slope below was fenced off. There is no public access within this area except by permission from DWNP.
Key biodiversity
See Box for key species. The cliff-face is included as an IBA because of its important nesting population of Gyps coprotheres, one of only two localities currently used by this species in Botswana. G. coprotheres is known to have nested in south-east Botswana since at least the end of the 19th century. The Mannyelanong cliff, the two nearby sandstone hills of Otse and Baratani, and a sandstone escarpment, Manyana, about 30 km away, have been used in the past as breeding sites by G. coprotheres, but Mannyelanong is now the only occupied site in south-east Botswana. Historical counts have been sporadic, although the colony is now regularly surveyed. During the 1960s, over 100 breeding pairs occurred at Mannyelanong with two smaller colonies on Otse and Baratani. Over 450 nestlings were ringed between 1973 and 1983. The south-eastern Botswanan breeding population underwent a decline of about 45% from 1963 to 1982 and then stabilized during the following decade at around 50 pairs breeding per season. One pair of Ciconia nigra nests on the cliffs; the nest-site has been used in most seasons since 1941. Aquila verreauxi also breeds on the Mannyelanong cliffs, together with Falco biarmicus and F. tinnunculus.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mannyelanong Hill (Botswana). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mannyelanong-hill-iba-botswana on 22/12/2024.