Our Stories

Tswalu is South Africa’s largest private game reserve, a place of iconic wildlife, vast landscapes and rich biodiversity. From hanging with habituated meerkats to dinner at Restaurant Klein JAN, expect the unexpected.

Pangolin research has become synonymous with Tswalu Kalahari Reserve as scientists supported by the Tswalu Foundation work to understand the impact of environmental changes in the face of climate change on these elusive creatures.

Your purchase of wildlife photography from Tswalu helps support the science behind our conservation vision as 50 percent of the sale of these limited-edition prints is donated to the Tswalu Foundation to help fund research.

Marcus Westberg spent time with the scientific research team studying the intricate social lives of White-browed Sparrow Weavers. Their aim? To figure out whether the birds’ gregarious behaviour influences their intelligence.

In Part two in our Q&A with Wits master’s student Daniel Rossouw, find out more about his methodology for gathering data, for example studying soil samples, to determine the pangolin’s role in the ecosystem.

Part four in our series about the use of burrows in an environment, like the Kalahari, where denning, or finding shelter underground for fragile cubs and pups, is critical to surviving temperature extremes.

Wits PhD candidate Azraa Ebrahim is studying the thermal physiology of a snake called a puff adder, a project that falls under the climate change focused Kalahari Endangered Ecosystem Project (KEEP).

In part one of a two-part Q&A, Daniel Rossouw tells us how he came to be researching pangolins on the Tswalu reserve, a new project that falls under the umbrella of the Kalahari Endangered Ecosystem Project.

Part three in our series about the importance of burrows in the Kalahari describes the many types of burrows that protect animals from extreme temperatures, while providing safety, shelter and a place to sleep.