Game viewing in Madikwe
Wild dogs, big cats and 300 bird species
Game viewing in Madikwe is done on twice-daily guided drives from the lodges — an early morning drive and an afternoon drive that runs into the dark with a spotlight. There is no self-drive game viewing in the reserve, so sightings are shared between a small number of lodge vehicles rather than a public road network.
The reserve offers the Big Five plus the Super Seven, which adds cheetah and wild dog to leopard, lion, buffalo, elephant and rhino. Other regularly seen species include brown hyena, sable, eland, gemsbok and giraffe, along with extensive plains game and bird populations.
Wild dogs are a Madikwe speciality. Also called Cape hunting dogs or painted dogs for their tri-coloured coats, they are among Africa's most formidable hunters and remarkably cooperative animals — they regurgitate food for their young and will even feed the babysitters left behind at the den. They range over vast distances when hunting and were driven close to extinction on farmland, but they thrive in Madikwe today.
