Activity: Imagine life as an animal in the Okavango Delta

Journey to the Okavango Delta

The Okavango Delta is a large freshwater wetland located in northern Botswana.

A river delta is where the mouth of a river empties out, often into another body of water such as a lake or ocean. Where rivers empty out, they deposit sediments like sand and mud.

The Okavango Delta is an unusual and special place because it is an inland delta. This means the water that flows into this delta does not enter the ocean. Instead, it flows over the land, forming permanent marshes and seasonally flooded areas.

Okavango Delta. Image: © Gertrude M. Matswiri

Okavango Delta. Image: Jeremy Hance & Tiffany Roufs

The Okavango Delta is a biodiversity hotspot

The Okavango Delta provides a home to over 1000 plant species, 89 fish species, 64 reptile species, 482 bird species, and 130 mammal species (source: UNESCO), as well as many insect species. Some animals live in the Okavango Delta all year round. Others visit seasonally.

Here are a few of the animals that live in and around the Okavango Delta:

Mammals:

Lion
Leopard
Savanna elephant
Cape buffalo
Hippopotamus
Waterbuck
Chacma baboon

Birds:

African fish eagle
Slaty egret
Malachite kingfisher
Egyptian goose
African jacana
Lilac-breasted roller
Pel’s fishing owl

Amphibians, reptiles, crocodilians:

Nile crocodile
African bullfrog
Long reed frog
Painted reed frog
Leopard tortoise
Puff adder
Monitor lizard

All images: Jeremy Hance & Tiffany Roufs

Suggested projects

1. Research and writing project

Select one animal from each of the columns above. Your task is to imagine a day in the life of each of your three animals. For each animal, try to answer the following questions:

Does this animal spend more time in water or on land?
What does it do all day? Is it active during the day or at night?
What does it eat?
Is this animal prey for other types of animals?
Does this animal move over big distances or live in a small area?
Does this animal live alone or in small or big social groups?
What kinds of sounds does this animal make?

You can come up with your own questions, too! You can research your animals online or in a library. Ask a parent or educator to help if you have any questions.

Here are two suggestions for how you can write up your research findings:

Pretend you are writing a field guide to the animals of the Okavango Delta. For each of your three animals, write a one-page description that includes what the animal looks like, what it eats, how it behaves, and anything else that you think is interesting about the animal.
Alternatively, write a creative poem or story that features the three animals you chose as characters. Perhaps your animals are on an adventure, exploring their habitat. Or you could write a story about a prey species escaping from a predator.

2. Art project

Select 3-5 animals from the list above. Look them up online or in your local library to see what they look like. Then create an awesome wetland scene featuring your animals. You could draw, paint, or make a diorama.