Namibia one of the greatest African wildlife recovery stories

FORTY-TWO per cent of Namibia’s land is under conservation management. This makes Namibia one of the countries with the largest conservation area.

At independence in 1990, only 13 per cent of the land area in Namibia was under conservation management.
Namibia’s 42 per cent is no mean feat considering that Belize has 36 per cent, Zambia 35 per cent, Botswana 30 per cent and South Africa 12 per cent under conservation.
The areas under conservation include national parks and protected areas, communal conservancies and freehold conservancies.
There are currently 71 gazetted communal conservancies in Namibia, covering over 18 per cent of the country. There are also 19 freehold conservancies, formed by commercial farmers grouping together as conservancy associations.
Namibia is also the only country where the elephant population grew by a third between 1995 and 2008.
Translocated black rhinos are expanding their range as Namibia is leading Africa in moving black rhino out of national parks into the safety of communal conservancies. The country also has the largest population of wild cheetah and the largest annual game count in the world takes place in Namibia.
It is also the only country in Africa with expanding free-roaming giraffe and lion populations.
The ranges and numbers of lion populations from the Caprivi wetlands, where the black-maned lions prey on the African buffalo, to the Skeleton Coast where documented numbers have risen from just 25 in 1995 to well over a hundred today, make Namibia one of the greatest African wildlife recovery stories ever told.
There are 42 established joint-venture lodges and campsites, which makes Namibia a world leader in developing a tourism product that contributes to conservation and community development.
The first four conservancies were formed in 1998 after legislation made it possible for communities to have the same rights over wildlife as commercial farmers, who were allowed to hunt on their farms.
For the first time, rural communities could generate income from conservancies through trophy hunting.
Conservancies are meant to protect wildlife and its habitat, so having rights over wild animals does not mean unlimited hunting.
Game guards from the community are employed by the conservancy to patrol and deter poachers. The guards also assist the Ministry of Environment and Tourism with the monitoring of the annual game counts. The ministry also sets the quotas for hunting to allow the wildlife populations to grow.
Conservancies have rights over tourism operators and investors who want to open lodges and the two parties enter into a joint partnership with the conservancy for the benefit of all. The conservancy shares in the income from the lodge and also benefits from job opportunities created from the joint ventures.
Namibians are invited to experience the conservation journey of the country at the annual Tourism Expo. Guides from different conservancies will be on hand in Hall M at the Windhoek Showgrounds to show visitors around and talk about their conservancy.

Growing... Namibia's elephant population has grown by a third between 1995 & 2008

Derived from: The Namibian

By: Tanja Bause

Namibia's Wild Horses grow in number

AUS - The number of feral horses in the Namib Desert has been increasing and now stands at 220 horses.
The figure for the horses roaming the area around Aus settlement and Lüderitz in the Karas Region had increased from 160 in 2010 to 180 in 2011.

During the most recent count some two weeks ago, a total of 220 feral horses were observed.
Sperrgebiet National Park ranger Alex Mowa, an employee of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, provided the figures to Nampa upon enquiry on Friday.

The figure of 220, however, only accounts for the wild desert horses that were counted at Garub Waterhole, so it is not clear whether there are more animals in the plains.

Mowa told Nampa that apart from vehicles that hit and kill feral horses, as the animals frequently cross the roads in search of grazing and water, the animals’ lives are normally not in any danger, as there are no predators in the desert to hunt them.
“As a result of this, their numbers continue to rise, which is good for tourists, as these amazing animals fascinate visitors who come to our beloved country,” he said.

The ranger, who is stationed at Aus, explained that the horses are also reproducing well, especially because the area received good rains over the past two years.

“The area where the horses roam can support more than 220 horses so there is no problem with the carrying capacity. We have also not detected any signs of disease. The ones that die are those that are old when nature takes its course,” Mowa said.
The horses graze in an area covering approximately 350 square kilometres in the Namib Desert.

The actual origin of these animals is still not clear. However, speculation is that they might be descendants of horses used during the German colonial war in Namibia.

Some theories point to a ship with a cargo of horses and other domestic animals, which ran aground along the Skeleton Coast in the late 19th century, about 25 km south of the Orange River mouth – roughly 200 km from Garub.
Some feral horses might also have originated from the Schutztruppe mounts, or from those belonging to a South African Expeditionary Force that took control of the Lüderitz- Keetmanshoop line during the First World War. - Nampa

Derived from: New Era

India rejects Nam cheetahs

A MULTI-MILLION project to introduce Namibian cheetahs to India after 60 years of extinction there was halted by the Indian Supreme Court yesterday.

The court hearing was a result of objections filed by the state of Gujarat against the Indian government’s decision to undertake Project Cheetah, armed with a budget of about N$452,4 million, to restore the animal’s lost heritage in that country. The cheetahs were supposed to be reintroduced to the Palpur-Kuno sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh which is in the state of Gujarat.
In 2009 Namibia’s Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) was invited by the Indian authorities to participate in the planned programme, but the Supreme Court with its judgement yesterday killed the project in its tracks.
In the first phase 15 cheetahs would have been imported by the Indian government from Namibia and then supplemented every two to five years as needed. Overall about 45 cheetahs, donated by CCF, would have been reintroduced to India. The court said that the imports from Namibia would not have help conservation in India in any way, therefore, the project was being stayed.
“Why are you bothered about cheetah in Africa? Let us give priority to our own species,” the top court observed while hearing a case relating to the proposed shifting of a few Asiatic Lions to the sanctuary from Gujarat.
The court further stated that proper approvals were not given by the National Board of Wildlife.
“The cheetah reintroduction project is poorly conceived scientifically and has very little probability of establishing a viable population of wild cheetahs in India over the longer term. It therefore is a distraction and waste of scare conservation resources” says wildlife biologist Ullas Karanth of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Bangalore.
In the meantime Environment and Tourism Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah told The Namibian that she is aware that the Indian government was interested in importing cheetahs from Namibia.
However, she said her office did not receive any export application in this regard. “Cheetahs form part of the endangered species in terms of CITES’ classification and I have to give permission for the movements of these animals.”
Executive Director of the CCF Dr Laurie Marker is currently in the US and told The Namibian that she does not want to comment on the issue at this stage.

By: JAN POOLMAN
Derived from The Namibian