Given these facts one might easily suppose that the obvious connection is water - water for the wild animals and water for man and his stock. Surprisingly, this is not quite so and only recently have we begun to understand the complexity of pan ecosystems and their importance in the regional ecology. More common game animals in the Kalahari are adapted to its rigorous climate, the unreliability of its rain and the lack of surface water. Antelope such as eland, gemsbok, springbok, hartebeest, steenbok and duiker can all manage without large quantities of water, as can giraffe, kudu and warthog. The same is true of creatures such as hyeana, jackal, bat-eared fox and a host of smaller animals.
Pans are particularly rich as a food resource.
There is a greater diversity of plant species within a radius of one kilometre of a pan than there is in any Similar region of the Kalahari. Game is seldom seen drinking rainwater from pans and this is so because of its high salinity which is acquired from salts evaporated from previous rain and runoff.