Matlabas Game Lodge - Fauna & Flora

Here at Matlabas Game Lodge we have a healthy respect and love for nature and all it's
creatures. Therefore, our mission is to conserve the fauna & flora indigenous to the area for future
generations to come. Our motto is "conservation through sustainable and responsible utilisation"
and we practice both consumptive and non-consumptive utilization of natural resources. It is
therefore important to us to manage the environment (and man's impact on it) in a scientific
manner by monitoring the veldt condition and by ensuring that our actual game stock does not
exceed the carrying capacity.

Birding (download bird list)
The Matlabas Bushveldt's abundant birdlife include eagles (such as bateleurs, brown- and black
breasted snake eagles, tawny eagles, fish eagles, etc), vultures, owls, francolins, bee eaters,
warblers, flycatchers, larks, shrikes, waxbills, canaries, etc. , etc. Although birding is good all
year round, the wet summer months can be particularly rewarding for birders, with specials such
as yellowbilled storks, spoonbills, spurwinged geese, wahlberg's eagles, wattled plovers, double
banded and burchell's sandgrouse, Meyer's parrot, Kalahari robins, crimsonbreasted shrikes,
barecheeked babblers, redbilled oxpeckers, Marico sunbirds, melba finches, blackcheeked and
voileteared waxbills and Marico flycatchers.

The variety of habitats (i.e. riverine bush, reed thickets, acacia woodland, open waterpans and
mixed bushveld) contributes to a rewarding birding experience.
Birding groups are welcome to book the lodge and daily activities will be structured according to
their interests and needs.

Dendrology (download tree list)
The entire Bushveld region of the Limpopo province is a paradise for those interested in trees. The
Matlabas Bushveldt is no different. The area around Matlabas Game Lodge is known for excellent
specimens of camelthorn (acacia erioloba), black monkey thorn (acacia burkei), knob thorn
(acacia nigrescens), marula (sclerocarya birrea), russet willow (combretum hereroense) and many
others typical of the sweet Bushveld's sandy soils.

Mammals and Game Farming (download mammal list)
The Bushveld has been a wildlife Garden of Eden for millenia. The first white hunters and pioneers
started exploring the area in the early nineteenth century. For much of the nineteenth century the
early pioneers made a living from stock farming and hunting. The Matlabas - Buffelsdrift area was
known for its huge herds of buffalo, blue wildebeest and zebra. Game farming only took off in the
late twentieth century. Although the traditional imigration routes have now been blocked by game
and cattle fences, there can be little doubt that the Bushveldt today has more game than was the
case only fifty years ago. The entire Bushveld has turned primarily to game farming and the
industry is in good shape, providing a livelihood to thousands.

An impressive variety of mammals occur on the property. Antelope are common and predators
include brown hyena, cheetah and leopard.