Travel Guide Manyelanong Game Reserve

Manyelanong Hill is home to a large colony of Cape Vultures, which are established on the southern slope of the cliffs. It was declared a nature reserve in 1985 in order to halt the dramatic decline in the numbers of these birds of prey observed between the 1960s and 1970s. It is not known when the birds first arrived on the hill, but it is assumed that they have been in the area for centuries. In particular, it is known that after the extinction of the colonies at Otse Hill, Baratani and Manyana in the 1970s, the surviving vultures returned to Manyelanong, where there are now about 70 breeding pairs. The Cape Vulture is an endangered species, listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List and fully protected under Botswana law. Its survival is mainly threatened by a nutritional problem: in the past, the birds used to feed their young bones from carcasses they found in the bush. With the disappearance of hyenas and large predators from this now industrialized region, the birds of prey no longer have enough bones for the proper growth of their young, who consequently suffer from a lack of calcium and bone disease. Other threats to this rare species of vultures include power lines, the poison that farmers deposit in their carcasses, and poaching, mainly by witch doctors who use the legs, brains and hearts of raptors for their traditional medicine.