There are not many Cranes in Botswana or resident Flamingos, although huge numbers of the latter sometimes come and go. Cranes require marshy areas and relatively undisturbed open grasslands to live and breed; Flamingos need large expanses of open, saline water: places such as Botswana’s Makgadikgadi Pans, Namibia’s Etosha Pan and the lakes in East Africa’s Great Rift Valley. So why are the futures of these birds threatened? It is not a long story: the basic problem is people and their activities. First, let’s look at the birds.

Collectors Note: