Cape Town's Wonderful Wildlife

Did you know that Chacma baboons are one of the largest species of monkeys in Africa? In Cape Town, male baboons can weigh almost as much as an adult human! In Fish Hoek, baboons are not prevalent, but just around the corner in Welcome Glen and Simonstown, baboons roam the mountains and often the streets. Sadly, our Cape baboons are suffering from increasing human pressures in an urban setting - which is why we see more of them in local neighbourhoods. They have developed a taste for human food (a lot of it processed and therefore unhealthy) and tend to forage for waste left behind in streets, bins, and yards. They will even force their way into homes to get the food inside kitchens and refrigerators. 

Thanks to the rich biodiversity of Cape Town's landscape, a variety of fascinating creatures inhabit wetlands, rivers, rocky shores and beaches, mountains, fynbos and open grassy areas. Discover plentiful birds, small mammals, snakes, tortoises and chameleons, each species with its place in the web of life.

At Seaside Cottages, beautiful birds enjoy our succulent and fynbos gardens: Cape sugarbirds, sunbirds, dikkops, plovers, geese and the local hadeda and sacred ibis species. Sit on the green lawns under a thatched pagoda and watch the wildlife go by or take a walk on the wild side as you adventure along Fish Hoek Beach to see whales breaching, jellyfish floating and seagulls soaring.

We cater for your birding or hiking group with our wonderful self-catering accommodation!

Check out our facilities here!

Fun Fact!

Cape Town is home to around:

• 364 birds
• 83 mammals
• 27 amphibians (2 endemic)
• 8 freshwater fish
• more than 140 invertebrates 

Other mammals in Cape Town include Porcupine, Caracal, Cape fox, African Wild Cat, Honey Badger, Genet and Cape Leopard – to name a few. Smaller mammals like baboons, klipspringers, grysbok, dassies, mongooses and the striped field mouse are typical of the area.

The Cape has over half of South Africa's frog species. Of the 62 different frogs we have here, 29 are found nowhere else on earth. All six bird species endemic to the south-west Cape are fynbos species, particularly the Cape sugarbird and orange-breasted sunbird which are not found in any other type of vegetation. These birds play an important role in pollinating Cape flowers. In addition, fynbos supports a large number of butterflies, though many are at risk.

Many of the reptiles and amphibians are both endemic and threatened - the geometric tortoise is considered the world's second-rarest tortoise!

Urbanisation and development pose enormous and increasing threats to all wildlife as more and more people move into cities and fragment the natural environment. What's more foreign (often called 'alien invasive') plants and animals often replace the local species and they tend to thrive without predators or natural pests.

Some of Cape Town's Rarest Species

• Table Mountain Ghost Frog
• Micro Frog (or Cape Flats Frog)
• Geometric Tortoise
• Dickson’s Monkey Blue (butterfly)
• Western Leopard Toad
• Cape Mountain Toad
• Cape Clawed Platanna
• Barber’s Cape Flats ranger (butterfly)