Zeekoevlei is a major freshwater

Freshwater

Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...

 lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 on the Cape Flats

Cape Flats

The Cape Flats is an expansive, low-lying, flat area situated to the southeast of the central business district of Cape Town. To many people in Cape Town, the area is known simply as 'The Flats'....

 near Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

, Western Cape Province, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. The name means "hippopotamus

Hippopotamus

The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...

 vlei

Vlei

The word vlei is used predominantly in South Africa. In most instances a vlei is a shallow minor lake of a seasonal or intermittent nature. It even might refer to seasonal ponds or marshy patches where frogs and similar marsh dwellers breed, but too minor to be granted recognition in the form of a...

," with "vlei" being afrikaans for "lake", and "zeekoe" (i.e. "sea-cow") being an archaic spelling of the afrikaans for hippopotamus.

Zeekoevlei Nature Reserve (established in June 2000) is based on the lake. It is separated by a peninsula from the Rondevlei Nature Reserve and preserves endangered Cape Lowland Freshwater Wetland

Cape Lowland Freshwater Wetland

Cape Lowland Freshwater Wetland is a critically endangered vegetation type of the Western Cape, South Africa.-Environment:This type of riparian vegetation and its accompanying ecosystem is found in the Western Cape, South Africa, on freshwater floodplains, along the lower stretches of rivers and...

 ecosystems.

See also

• Biodiversity of Cape Town
  Biodiversity of Cape Town
  - Floristic region :The city of Cape Town lies within the Cape Floristic Kingdom . - Vegetation types :...
  
  
• List of nature reserves in Cape Town
• Rondevlei
  Rondevlei
  The Rondevlei Nature Reserve is located in Grassy Park, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. The bird sanctuary covers approximately 2.2 square kilometres of mostly permanent wetland and consists of a single large brackish lagoon...
  
  
• Cape Lowland Freshwater Wetland
  Cape Lowland Freshwater Wetland
  Cape Lowland Freshwater Wetland is a critically endangered vegetation type of the Western Cape, South Africa.-Environment:This type of riparian vegetation and its accompanying ecosystem is found in the Western Cape, South Africa, on freshwater floodplains, along the lower stretches of rivers and...