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Always remember that the gentle giants are wild animals! They cannot think as we do but their memory is legendary – an elephant never forgets, as the saying goes. Also remember that we are encroaching on their space, not the other way round. Elephants are seen as being good-natured, deliberate, calm and tame. But when we cross the invisible line between them and us they are dangerous, powerful, ruthless and unpredictable. 

To see the second largest canyon with your own eyes is always an exciting experience. To stand in front of that huge gorge in the middle of the crimson landscape, which cleaves in endless curves and turns, makes you feel small and unimportant. Within a second, there’s no space for stress or worries – all that counts is the calmness and dignity of this great canyon. A truly unique experience. Well, that was my opinion until I got the chance to hike inside the Fish River Canyon for three days and to learn that no viewpoint could ever show you the true face of that beautiful landscape.

One of the few line-fish species sought after by anglers on our coast, is the west coast seabream (Lithognathus aureti), better known as Steenbras. The bigger the fish the better, but that had tremendous effects on the species. In the 90s Dr Hannes Holtzhausen, researcher at the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, found out that the west coast seabream is one of the few species which is protandrous. 

In some years thousands of armoured bush crickets are run over on Namibia’s arterial roads at the end of the rainy season, when winter is on its way. The spiky, almost black insects are about three centimetres long and occur only during the summer months. One of their defence mechanisms is to squirt their yellow blood. Many people find them disgusting. Colloquially this cricket is referred to as dickpens (Afrikaans for fat stomach).

In the midst of a dense bush an Oates’ bird snake (Thelotornis capensis oatesi) is holding on to a Leopard whip snake (Psammophis leopardinus). The prey, gripped behind its head, finds itself lodged askew in the far back of the bird snake’s mouth. Bird snakes usually eat lizards, chameleons and frogs. They rarely catch birds and other snakes. Cobras in particular are known for eating other snakes.

During his four years of research in the Naye Naye communal conservancy the predator expert and researcher Flip Stander found over 240 prey animals of leopards. On only two occasions these were cheetahs. With the help of the Ju/Hoansi, who can read spoors like an open book, Stander was able to reconstruct one of the hunts of one of the spotted cats.

In the middle of July a nine-ton block of white marble was offloaded at the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC) in Windhoek. The block had been selected by well-known French artist and sculptor Gé Pellini from a quarry near Karibib. In the midst of fine white dust and chunks of marble Pellini created a white rhino, which is to be auctioned on 31 August. The aim of the project is to raise urgently needed funds for the protection of rhinos and elephants in Namibia.

The Wild Horses of the Namib are threatened by extinction. Following five years without any substantial rainfall, they barely find pasture in their habitat near Aus, and their survival depends on additional feeding. The Namibia Wild Horses Foundation would like to thank Mr Josef Vitus Schubert, Austrian Honorary Consul in Namibia, for the latest generous donation of 800 bales of hay, which will help the horses through the coming weeks. 

Africa’s population of giraffe has decreased at a startling rate. Scientists are sounding the alarm bell. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) now lists giraffe, as a single species, as vulnerable to extinction. What is more, the common belief – still upheld internationally – that there is only one species of giraffe with several subspecies was recently refuted.