This southern African country is one of the world’s most successful wildlife conservation stories, with many stable or increasing endangered animal populations.
If there was ever an animal that could have spawned the legend of the unicorn, it is Namibia’s magnificent Gemsbok antelope. It has two rapier-straight and devastatingly sharp horns, and viewed side-on in the setting Namib sun, it could be mistaken for the mythical creature itself.
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Happily, in Namibia, the Gemsbok is not in danger of becoming the stuff of legend. The antelope is the southern African country’s national symbol, and its population is thriving due to the fact that Namibia is one of the few countries in the world that constitutionally enshrines its land and wildlife conservation values. In fact, this poor, arid and sparsely populated land lays claim to one of the world’s most successful wildlife conservation stories.
Populations of vulnerable and endangered animals like desert elephants, cheetahs, black and white rhinoceros, lions and endemic birds are stable or increasing, protected both in national parks and community-managed private lands. Namibia bases its brand of conservation on the principle of alleviating poverty through the sustainable use of its wildlife resources. This means attracting visitors to see the animals, involving locals in the necessary infrastructure, then investing profits back into communities. Locals are employed as anti-poaching guards, and in some places, carefully managed hunting is allowed. It is a win/win strategy for the environment and local communities.
From Gemsbok to African wild dogs, visitors have the chance to spot some of Namibia’s most characteristic wildlife and witness the country’s innovative conservation measures first hand.
Gemsbok
With its long horns, bay-coloured coat outlined in charcoal and elegant gait, the Gemsbok is a striking national symbol. Able to live on little water and partial to wild desert melons, it is ideally suited to Namibia’s desert landscapes (the country is 44% desert or semi-desert). Though numbers fell during the Namibian War of Independence (1966 to1988) and throughout the severe droughts of the 1970s and 1980s, the population has since rebounded strongly. There are currently more than 200,000 Gemsbok, with the largest proportion living on privately-owned farming land managed for conservation by communities (although it is possible to spot herds almost anywhere outside of Namibia’s urban areas). To photograph Gemsbok against a spectacular desert dune backdrop, head to the Sossusvlei region of the Namib Naukluft National Park, in the country’s southwest.
Cheetah
The world’s fastest land animal thrives in Namibia. The country is estimated to have about a quarter of the world’s total cheetah population, the majority of which live on privately-owned land conservancies. Public and private conservation bodies have been working for two decades on rehabilitation and capture-and-release programs, to re-integrate injured animals into the wild and help build populations. One of the best places to spot cheetahs is on the Waterberg Plateau, near Otjiwarongo in Namibia’s north. Here cheetah, leopard, buffalo, roan and sable antelope and other endangered species roam in more than 400sqkm of national park and adjacent private conservation land. Close to the park is the headquarters of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, where you can visit their education centre and get up close to cheetahs that have not reintegrated into the wild.
Black rhinoceros
In 1982, after decades of war, people were desperate and poaching was lucrative. In Namibia’s far northwest Kunene region (also known as Kaokoland), black rhinos were almost extinct. Today, Kunene has the largest number of free-roaming black rhino in the world — the only rhino worldwide living on communally- and traditionally-owned land without formal conservation status. Namibia created a culture of good human-wildlife interactions by involving communities, employing locals in anti-poaching patrols and generating income from rhino-related tourism. Lodges like Palmwag Lodge and Serra Cafema offer varying degrees of luxury as well as trips to see the desert rhino by vehicle or on guided walks.
Elephant
Etosha is Namibia’s prime national park, one of seven national parks in the country. A 22,750sqkm wildlife sanctuary in the country’s north, it encompasses a vast, shallow pan that attracts thousands of flamingos after heavy rains. There is also a network of perennial waterholes that draw large herds of game from the arid savannah grassland and thorn scrub. Etosha is home to 114 mammal species — several of which are rare and endangered — and 380 species of birds. The abundance of elephant at Etosha (about 2,300) means sightings here are almost guaranteed; the best place to spot them is at the permanent watering hole close to the Okaukuejo rest camp. The rare black-faced impala is often viewed here too, as are herds of Gemsbok, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe and rhino. Some species have become so abundant that Etosha now re-locates animals to other parts of Namibia.
African Wild Dog
African wild dogs are Namibia’s most endangered mammal species. Distinctive for their mottled coats and large ears, these pack-living canines are elusive and fast moving, ranging over an area of up to 3,000sqkm, and sometimes moving 50km in one day. The isolated northeast of the country is home to an estimated 300 to 600 wild dogs, but only five percent of that area is protected. Though sparsely populated, this part of Namibia is also home to pastoralists of Namibia’s Herero tribe, resulting in negative human-wildlife interaction as the dogs may attack livestock. NGO- and government-run loss mitigation and educational programs are working intensively in this area to protect the wild dog. New communal conservancies in the Otjozondjupa and Omaheke regions on Namibia’s north eastern border with Botswana, and also remote Khaudom National Park on the edge of the Kalahari Desert, may become one of the last strongholds of African wild dog – and judging by the success of the country’s national park- and community-based conservation efforts, the endangered wild dog may be coming back from the brink – in Namibia at least.
The article ‘Caring for wildlife, Namibian-style’ was published in partnership with Lonely Planet.