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

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Cabinet approves opening of hunting season

WINDHOEK - Cabinet officially approved the opening of the 2012 hunting season.

The type of game species that may be hunted are three large game species or two large game species and four small game species, or one large game species and eight small game species or 12 small game species.

Large game species are kudu, oryx and red hartebeest. A hunter may not hunt more than one kudu during the hunting season. Small game species are springbok and warthog.

Various bird species may also be hunted. Hunting permits will only be issued to farm owners or lessees and in case of a conservancy, to the Conservancy Committee, while no permits will be issued directly to a hunter.

Permits are issued upon submission of a written invitation to the prospective hunter. The invitation must contain the name and address of the farm owner or lessee or conservancy, name and address of hunter, name, number and district where farm or conservancy is situated, type of fencing and whether it is registered, total number of animals to be hunted, period of hunt and the invitation must be signed by the farm owner or lessee or committee.

Each permit costs N$100 and is available at the offices of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in Karasburg, Keetmanshoop, Mariental, Gobabis and Otjiwarongo.

For the Kunene and Otjozondjupa regions, permits can be obtained at the ministry’s offices at Outjo, Grootfontein, Swakopmund and Walvis Bay.

Derived from: New Era

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

Namibian baby rhino beats Yellowstone grizzlies hands down

It's a fair bet that most people have heard about Yellowstone National Park, in the USA, famous for its grizzly bears. If you live near there, and want to find real adventure, you come to ..... Namibia.

That’s what Gary and Terry Trauner did with their son Aaron in April, when they witnessed the birth of a black rhino calf in the Klip River valley, near Grootberg Lodge, in the Kunene Region.
Finding rhino’s in the valley is tough at any time of the year, but that’s part of the attraction for tourists to Namibia, where endangered species have been translocated out of national parks and into communal conservancies, to roam freely as they did in the past.
In ≠Khoadi //hoas Conservancy, which owns Grootberg Lodge, rhino tracking is a top attraction. There is no guarantee of finding them, but the conservancy guides do their best, and get just as excited as the guests when they find a rhino that they have not seen for a while.
When Gary, Terry and Aaron set off, they were not sure what they would see.  They thought they knew the wild. After all, they live right next door to Yellowstone and see Moose and Grizzlies in their backyard, says Gary, but in comparison the Klip River is .... “rugged”.
The trip starts at 6am, just as the last stars are extinguished by the winter dawn. Although midday temperatures reach 38 degrees, its pretty near freezing at the start of the day. The climb down into the valley in an open Land Rover jars the bones, as the vehicle jolts through rocky river beds.
“The guides were fantastic,” says Gary. They know about the topography, how the landscape was formed, and can point out countless plant and bird species. Larger game is more a matter of luck, and on the way down the family were fortunate to see desert dwelling elephant and mountain zebra.
By 2pm the rhinos had proved elusive, and it was almost time to turn back. But the guides were not giving up. Although the walkie-talkie had packed up, the guide in the car and trackers on foot know the area so well they were able to meet at pre-arranged points, and at the last moment one of the trackers reported rhino down a side valley.
In the main valley there are sandy tracks for a vehicle. Traversing side valleys has to be done on foot. Despite the thick bush, guides and visitors pressed on, climbing the rocky valley sides for over an hour, when suddenly they caught sight of  a rhino in a wooded thicket below.
At last, it all seemed worthwhile. Indeed, after the hard trek it could hardly have been better. But then suddenly one of the trackers emerged from the bush to say he had seen a female rhino and a new-born calf on the other side of the valley. The baby was so fresh that the mother was still licking it.
“We crossed the valley gingerly,” says Gary, “and got within 50 feet of the mother and calf. We were very careful. Although the mother was preoccupied, you never know with wildlife.” But the family were close enough to take some pictures, and the trackers were able to record that the mother was a rhino called Horns, which they had not seen for four months.
The gestation period for a rhino calf is 15 months. For the family and trackers to have seen a calf just after birth, in the true wilderness of the Klip River valley, was close to a miracle. For the family who love the wild in the USA, this was something new and special.
Back home, Gary is on the board of an American NGO dedicated to the conservation of the Teton Mountains. As an environmentalist, he believes that ≠Khoadi //hoas Conservancy is doing a remarkable job. “In such a sparsely populated region, locals are sustaining wildlife through eco-tourism: that’s impressive.”
And Namibia? Gary says that he is telling everybody he meets that if you want adventure, it is the country to visit. Grootberg Lodge and ≠Khoadi //hoas Conservancy will be at the Tourism Expo from 6-9 June at the Windhoek Showgrounds, where visitors can learn more about tourism in Namibia’s communal conservancy areas.

IN THE WILD ... A Rhino, called Horns with its calf after she gave birth to it in April. An American family on a visit to the Klip River valley near Grootberg Lodge encountered the animals just after Horns gave birth to the calf.

Derived from: The Namibia

By: Steve Felton
Photo: Contributed