Wildlife of South Africa

There are few forested areas, much savanna grassland, semi-arid Karoo vegetation and the fynbos of the Cape Floristic Region.

To the north the Great Karoo fades into the drier and more arid Bushmanland, which eventually becomes the Kalahari Desert in the far north-west of the country.

Cold and warm coastal currents running north-west and north-east respectively account for the difference in climates between west and east coasts.

In the plateau area, the influence of the sea is reduced, and the daily temperature range is much wider; here the summer days are very hot, while the nights are usually cool, with the possibility of frosts in winter.

The country experiences a high degree of sunshine with rainfall about half of the global average, increasing from west to east, and with semi-desert regions in the north-west.

[4] The most prevalent biome in the country is the grassland, particularly on the Highveld, where the plant cover is dominated by different species of grass; fires, frosts and grazing pressure result in few trees occurring here, but geophytes (bulbs) are plentiful and there is a high level of plant diversity, especially on the escarpments.

The karoo occupies much of the drier western half of the country; this area is influenced by its proximity to the Atlantic and has winter rainfall.

There is some concern that the Cape Floristic Region is experiencing one of the most rapid rates of extinction in the world due to habitat destruction, land degradation, and invasive alien plants.

[9] The Mediterranean climate produces hot, dry summers, and many of the plants have underground storage organs allowing them to resprout after fires.

It supports a wide range of ungulates including Burchell's zebra, impala, greater kudu, blue wildebeest, waterbuck, warthog, Cape buffalo, giraffe and hippopotamus.

[13] With its diverse habitat types, South Africa has a wide range of residential and migratory species.

Migratory species include the greater striped swallow, white-rumped swift, white stork, African pygmy kingfisher, yellow-billed kite and the European bee-eater.

[20] Also included among the fauna are the Nile crocodile, the leopard tortoise, the Speke's hinge-back tortoise, the serrated hinged terrapin, various chameleons, lizards, geckos and skinks, the cape cobra, the black mamba, the eastern green mamba, the puff adder, the mole snake and a range of other venomous and non-venomous snakes.