Animals of Namibia

 Jackal which is related to our fox, its a scavenger

 Leopard, which is a very powerful animal, it can jump metres, climb trees.  It stalks its prey and pounces on it, rips its throat with it's powerful jaw and teeth.  They electrify the fences around the game farms to keep the leopards out, but they figure out how to jump the fences.  Some can jump the fences, others use trees and climb then jump in search of more prey.  At Africat, which is a foundation committed to saving the cats of Namibia (many are killed or orphaned by farmers as they kill their livestock), the leopards kill the cheetah as the cheetah do not have a lot of open plains to run and escape.  Leopards stalk their prey in the bush.

 Chameleon slowly making his way across the road, he forget to change his colour from the grass to the road.

 Little tick which only comes out after the rain, it looks a lot prettier than our ticks

 Cheetah watching the oryx.  He is being rehabilitated so he and his "brothers " can be released into the wild.  they have to learn how to hunt for themselves.  Male cheetahs tend to hunt in groups of 3.  The females are more solitary.  Cheetahs are sleek and can run up to 100km/h, so they need open fields to catch their prey and escape predators.  Unfortunately, there is not much open savannah left. although there is an effort to debs (a huge job)

 Kudu, males, it takes 2 1/2 years for one twist to grow in their horns (they taste good too)

Warthog, the "warts" on his face help protect him during fights, the tusks are very strong and sharp.  When they run, their tails stand straight up

 Impala, the "macdonalds" of Africa, they even have a little M on their bums

 3 male cheetahs resting in the afternoon, notice how they are all looking in different directions, although they feel safe as we are nearby

 Baboon

 young bull elephant, trying to show us who is boss

 elephant after the heard has crossed the road, they had young ones with them, so we kept our distance

 male giraffe, you can tell by the dark hairs (not tufts) on top of their horns

 male lion, guarding his female

 leopard, which spend a lot of time in the trees, they often sleep there and drag their kills up the tree

cheetah waiting to be feed

Images of Namibia

 Our unscheduled trip to Angola

 It is amazing what African ladies can carry on their heads, bundles of wood, laundry, groceries, often with babies on their backs

 African beauty shop

 

cows everywhere, sometimes they will even let you pass

Namibia used to be mostly plains, but due to overgrazing since the Europeans have come, the soil blew away and the thorny acacia and other trees took over and they cover most of the landscape.  Unfortunately it makes it difficult for some of the animals like cheetahs which hunt on the open plains.  Other antelope also like the open plains, which are slowly being restored in private game reserves.  Most of the land and animal conservation is done by private individuals.  They are trying to remove some of the trees and fences as these interfere with the game and their predators.

Cheers Kim and Dan