Large mammals in the ecoregion include hippo ("Hippopotamus amphibius"), African buffalo ("Syncerus caffer caffer"), waterbuck ("Kobus ellipsiprymnus"), southern reedbuck ("Redunca arundium"), plains zebra ("Equus quagga"), Nyala ("Tragelaphus angasi"), blue wildebeest ("Connochaetes taurinus"), steenbok ("Raphicerus campestris"), and common warthog ("Phacochoerus africanus"). Mammal predators include the lion ("Panthera leo"), leopard ("P. pardus"), cheetah ("Acinonyx jubatus"), spotted hyena ("Crocuta crocuta"), side-striped jackal ("Canis adustus"), Cape genet ("Genetta tigrina"), African civet ("Civettictis civetta"), serval ("Leptailurus serval"), African clawless otter ("Aonyx capensis"), spotted-necked otter ("Hydrictis maculicollis"), banded mongoose ("Mungos mungo"), white-tailed mongoose ("Ichneumia albicauda"), and bushy-tailed mongoose ("Bdeogale crassicauda"). Some large mammals migrate seasonally between the flooded savannas and the grasslands, forests, and woodlands of the neighboring uplands. Common eland ("Taurotragus oryx") migrates to the seasonal wetlands at the start of the rainy season to browse on the young grasses. Populations of Lichtenstein’s hartebeest ("Alcelaphus lichtensteinii") and sable antelope ("Hippotragus niger") live in the flooded savannas during the dry season, and migrate to the uplands at the start of the rainy season. The flooded savannas are home to large populations of resident and migratory water birds, including African openbill stork ("Anastomus lamelligerus"), saddle-billed stork ("Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis"), lesser flamingo ("Phoeniconaias minor"), great white pelican ("Pelecanus onocrotalus"), great snipe ("Gallinago media"), and African skimmer ("Rynchops flavirostris").