Wildlife of Namibia
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The wildlife of Namibia is composed of its flora and fauna.
Namibia's endangered species include Wild Dog, Black Rhino, Oribi and Puku. The Puku antelope is limited to about 100 individuals along the Chobe River in Botswana and the Linyati marshes in Namibia. The Black and White Rhino have suffered the most from poaching and are on the verge of extinction. If there had been no moves to save them in the last 20 years they probably would have disappeared form the wild altogether. Although both species occur naturally in Namibia, today you will find in many of the reserves that they have been reintroduced. The country also has the largest population in southern Africa of cheetah not contained within National Parks. There are over twenty species of antelope in Namibia ranging from largest, the Eland, to smallest, the Damara dik-dik. The Gemsbok, a striking antelope with long symmetrical horns and distinctive black and white markings is featured on the Namibian coat of arms. Namibia also harbours a wealth of small mammals including Mongoose, Jackal as well as the less common Antbear and Honey Badger, these are not often seen as they are solitary and nocturnal.
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[edit] National parks and nature reserves
Namibia's parks and reserves range from the open bush of the centre and the north where wildlife is relatively plentiful, to the barren and inhospitable coastal strip with its huge sand dunes. The three main tourist attractions for wildlife in Namibia are Etosha National Park, Waterberg Plateau National Park and Cape Cross Seal Reserve.
[edit] National Parks
- Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park (see also Fish River Canyon and Ai-Ais Hot Springs)
- Etosha National Park
- Kaudom National Park
- Mamili National Park
- Mudumu National Park
- Namib-Naukluft National Park
- Skeleton Coast Park
- Waterberg National Pak
[edit] Nature reserves
- Caprivi Game Reserve
- Kaokoland Nature Reserve
- Khaudom Game Reserve
- Mahango Game Reserve
- Mamili Game Reserve
- Mudumugame Game Reserve
[edit] Fauna
There are 115 species of fish (5 of them are endemics) in Namibia.[1]
There are about 50 species of frogs (6 of them are endemics) in Namibia.[2] There are neither caecilians nor salamanders in Namibia.[1]
There are 250 species of reptiles (59 of them are endemics) in Namibia.[2]
There were recorded 1331 species of arachnids (164 of them are endemics) in Namibia.[2] but there is expected to live 5650 species of arachnids in Namibia.[2]
There were recorded 6331 species of insects (1541 of them are endemics) in Namibia,[2] but there is expected to live 35 000 species insects in Namibia.[2] Number of freshwater insects in Namibia include:
- 19 species of Ephemeroptera[1]
- 2 species of Plecoptera[1]
- 35 species of Trichoptera[1]
- 77 species of Odonata[1]
- 179 species of Diptera[1]
- 1 species of Neuroptera[1]
- 200 species of Coleoptera[1]
- 45 species of Hemiptera[1]
- 7 species of Orthoptera[1]
There were recorded the following number of freshwater species in Namibia:
- 3 species of Porifera[1]
- 2 species of Cnidaria[1]
- 9 species of Platyhelminthes[1]
- 5 species of Ectoprocta[1]
- 10 species of Nematoda[1]
- 13 species of Oligochaeta[1]
- 16 species of Hirudinea[1]
- 52 species of Ostracoda[1]
- 19 species of Copepoda[1]
- Branchiopoda: 19 species of Anostraca, 19 species of Cladocera, 2 species of Notostraca and 15 species of Conchostraca[1]
- Malacostraca: 6 species of Amphipoda, 4 species of Isopoda and 6 species of Decapoda[1]
[edit] Mammals
Animals native to Namibia:
There are 200 species of terrestrial mammals (14 of them are endemics) and 40 species of marine mammals in Namibia.[2]
[edit] Birds
There are 644 species of birds (14 of them are endemics) in Namibia.[2]
[edit] Molluscs
There were recorded 26 species of freshwater snails and 13 species of freshwater bivalves in Namibia.[1] There are also number of land gastropods in Namibia.
[edit] Flora
There were recorded 4334 species of plants (683 of them are endemics) in Namibia.[2]
- Senecio haworthii - Woolly senecio[3]
- Aloe dichotoma - Quiver tree
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Curtis B., Roberts K. S., Griffin M., Bethune S., Hay C. J. & Kolberg H. (1998). "Species richness and conservation of Namibian freshwater macro-invertebrates, fish and amphibians". Biodiversity and Conservation 7(4): 447-466. doi:10.1023/A:1008871410919, PDF.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Simmons R. E., Griffin M., Griffin R. E., Marais E. & Kolberg H. (1998). "Endemism in Namibia: patterns, processes and predictions". Biodiversity and Conservation 7(4): 513-530. doi:10.1023/A:1008879712736.
- ^ "Senecio haworthii (Sweet) Sch.Bip. record n° 98154". African Plants Database. South African National Biodiversity Institute, the Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève and Tela Botanica. http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/bd/africa/details.php?langue=an&id=. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
