This game reserve was established in 1971 mainly to protect the pans, the fossil river valley system and the wildlife it attracts. It was the second game reserve to be established on tribal land in Botswana, Moremi being the first.

Before the establishment of the reserve, Kgalagadi (people of the Kalahari) and Bushmen roamed the area and today there are still a large number of villages situated on the periphery of the reserve. This relatively small game reserve (2590 square kilometers, which is large by normal standards) is the closest of Botswana's reserves and parks to Gaborone.

Set in typical pan country of undulating savannah, it is dwarfed by the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, which runs along the Northern boundary. The name Khutse means place where you can kneel down to drink and Letlhakeng means place of reeds - sufficient evidence that the surface water in this area has supported man and beast in days past.

Khutse is situated in a unique part of the Kalahari and is dramatically different to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Khutse is part of an ancient river system that once flowed northeastwards to fill lake Makgadikgadi.

The reserve's grass and shrub lands attract vast herds of antelope, which in turn attract the attention of the endangered predators, such as lion, leopard, cheetah and wild dog.

Birdlife abounds in the Khutse Game Reserve and after a good rainfall you may see around 150 individual species of birds around the pans.