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Desert Dwelling Elephant
Conservation and Research
Namibia`s desert-dwelling elephants
and people of the Kunene region |
The Area And Its Wildlife
 Namibia
is a vast arid country of over 824,000 km2 located between
Angola and South Africa.
The Atlantic Ocean forms its western boundary, while its eastern
neighbour is Botswana.
It is larger than most
of central Europe.
The desert-dwelling elephants live in Namibia’s Kunene Region, encompassing
115,154 km2 of mostly
sandy desert, rocky mountains and hyper-arid gravel plains.
Mountains of rock meet
valleys of sand where ephemeral rivers flow from the eastern
highlands to the ocean during the summer rainy season (December
through April).
Map of Namibia within Africa, with Kunene region marked.
The riverbeds support stands of tall Acacia and other
trees, often
with shrubs that provide
food and shelter for a wide variety of African animals,
from elephant and the equally famous black rhinoceros to the small
steenbok, jackal and honey badger.
Free roaming desert black rhino
 The region also boasts thriving populations of
more than 130 animal species, including giraffe,
Hartmann’s mountain zebra, springbok, kudu, gemsbok (oryx), ostrich,
cheetah, leopard, lion, hyaena, eland, warthog, klipspringer,
duiker, caracal and baboon.
Endemic bird species as
well as seasonal migrants make Kunene a birders’ paradise. An
identified 138 reptile species also abound, to the herpetologist’s delight.
Group of giraffe in western Kunene
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