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Chief's Island, Okavango Delta
Chief's Island, a vast tongue of
sand comprising nearly 1000 square kilometres, is the largest land
mass in the Okavango Delta, streching from the southern Okavango to
the permanent waters near Mombo. It is an extension of the mainland
and, because it is slightly higher than the general level of the Delta,
it never floods. The Boro River, which runs south-east through the
centre of the Okavango Delta, skirts the western boundary of Moremi
Wildlife Reserve. It is called Chief's Island as this used to be the
traditional hunting ground of Chief Moremi, but is now incorporated
into the reserve and no hunting is allowed. It is home to a vast number
of animals who benefit from teh Kalahari sandveld habitat with its
close proximity to water. The arid interior of the island is covered
by mopane woodlands and acacia thorn-scrub interspersed with clay
pans. This is where the large resident buffalo herds of the Okavango
are often to be found as they prefer to drink from the rain-filled
pans and give preference to the sparsely growing but sweeter grasses
of the sandy areas rather than the coarser grasses with lower protein
yield of the floodplains.
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