FAUNA
Our fauna in the estate
Our Fauna
With our focus on conserving and protecting the environment, our residents have the unparalleled opportunity to live closely alongside nature. Ungulates such as blesbok or nyala roam the Estate and smaller creatures such as mongoose, porcupine and bush babies live in the woodlands. We are home to 280 different species of birds which can be observed from 4 different bird hides scattered throughout the Estate.
Black Wildebeest
Connochaetes gnou
Black wildebeest, which is also known as the white-tailed gnu, has a white fluffy tail that resembles a horse’s tail, but as its name suggests, black wildebeest is indeed blackish in colour. This mammal is an even-toed ungulate antelope species and is endemic to South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho.
Xanadu Bird Count
10 February 2025
The annual bird count plays a crucial role as an indicator of ecological health and resilience.
We express our sincere gratitude to the Eco Committee members for their relentless dedication, making this initiative a reality. Your commitment to preserving our natural heritage inspires us all, highlighting the impactful results of collective conservation efforts.
Nyala
Tragelaphus angasi
The handsome slate-brown shaggy coat is marked with white vertical stripes and spots on the flanks. Bulls appear more charcoal-grey in colour. The bulls have long inward curved horns (650 mm) and a white chevroned face.
They have a ridge of long hairs along the underparts, from behind the chin to between the hind legs, they also have a mane of thick, black hair from the head along the spine to the rump.
Hadeda Ibis
Egyptian Goose
10
White-breasted cormorant
11
Reed Cormorant
2
African Darter
9
Grey heron
3
Great Egret
1
Little Egret
48
Cattle egret
1
Squacco Heron
3
Black Heron
3
Little Bittern
69
African Sacred Ibis
37
Glossy Ibis
14
3
22
Yellow-billed Duck
9
White-faced Duck
2
Black Crake
14
Common Moorhen
4
Red-knobbed Coot
7
African Jacana
2
Three-banded Plover
13
Blacksmith Lapwing
5
African Wattled Lapwing
1
White-winged Tern
1
Pied Kingfisher
1
Giant Kingfisher
2
Malachite Kingfisher
3
Cape Wagtail
FLORA
Our flora in the estate
Our Flora
At Xanadu Nature Estate our values are deeply intertwined with protecting the natural environment. Our environmental management team focuses on managing and conserving our biodiversity. As a registered conservancy, our Environmental Management Plan leads the way in guiding the sustainability of the natural, indigenous and bio-diverse environment of the Estate.
False Olive
Buddleja saligna
The False Olive, Buddleja saligna, is an indigenous evergreen tree widely found across South Africa. Graceful and hardy, it carries slender grey-green leaves and textured bark that deepens in character with age. In spring and early summer, clusters of small, creamy-white flowers appear, lightly fragrant and alive with visiting birds and insects.
Perfectly suited to a nature estate setting, this resilient tree thrives in a variety of conditions, from rocky slopes to open woodland. It offers year-round structure and shade while supporting local biodiversity, making it both a beautiful and ecologically valuable presence in the landscape.
