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| Location: |
Africa - Southern Africa - Namibia |
| Subject: |
Distribution - Records |
| Species: |
Black Rhino |
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The north-western region of South West Africa/ Namibia is extremely arid country and forms part of the Namib Desert. A narrow strip of coastline has been proclaimed a national park and is known as the Skeleton Coast Park but is not more than 40 kilometres wide at any point. The southern boundary of the park is the Ugab River and the northern boundary the Kunene River. Damaraland to the south and Kaokoland to the north form the eastern boundaries and these areas combined form the Kaokoveld, a locally derived botanical term which describes the vegetation type. There is no fence dividing the Skeleton Coast Park from Damaraland and Kaokoland which allows the free ranging of all wildlife in and out of the proclaimed area. Although the desert regions of Daniaraland and Kaokoland remain unproclaimed due to political difficulties, conservation management of wildlife, wildlife safari tours and wildlife research programmes are successfully implemented with the full support of the local authorities and the government's Directorate of Nature Conservation and Recreation Resorts.
The terrain is vast and rugged mountain ranges intercepted by wide gravel plains running into sandy gravel plains running into sandy, vegetated river beds and hot, dry valleys. Although harsh in appearance, these rivers are in fact the arteries of life for most of the desert-dwelling animals. When the annual rains fall, these rivers flow in a flood across the sandy surface nf the riverbeds, the waters then sink below to filter silently through the sand to the Atlantic Ocean. It is in this extremely and habitat that a number of black rhinoceros survive. `Nowhere else in the world does the rhinoceros live under such stressfully arid conditions, nor in such ruggedly hostile terrain', said Professor Gideon Louw, Head of the Zoology Department at the University of Cape Town, when he visited the area.
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The Damaraland rhino
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