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Future |
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Freedom on a gentle
drip
Despite the fascination and enthusiasm it must be kept
in mind that the Wild Horses also raise questions. The
area around Garub is situated on the eastern fringe of
the Namib Desert. Rainfalls are rare and unreliable -
often just enough for succulents, prickly shrubs and grasses.
Still, the horses usually find sufficient grazing. But
years of drought occur regularly on the fringes of the
Namib. Like in 1991/92, or in 1998/99, when the horses
were starving and weaker animals perished. The public
outcry in Namibia and far beyond the borders resulted
in costly efforts to catch or feed the horses. In both
cases success was only moderate – mainly because
action was taken too late. Many horses were already weakened
to a point where feeding did not help anymore, or they
succumbed to the strain of being caught. |
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The horses do not pose a threat
to indigenous animals.
Photo: Telané Greyling |
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Another problem touches on the principles
of nature conservation. The horses live mostly in state-owned
Namib Naukluft Park, which is supposed to protect the
indigenous flora and fauna. The area around Aus is seen
as a biological hotspot – with more than 500 plant
species, some of them endemic, which means that they do
not occur anywhere else. What if the horses were a disruptive
element in their environment and contributed to unique
plants becoming extinct? What does the presence of the
Wild Horses mean for the management plan of the nature
reserve? Can they be treated like game, to be simply abandoned
in years of drought? Or should there be some intervention?
If so, what form should it take? |
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Especially in times of drought horses
cross the tar road in order to find grazing on the other
side. Photo: Telané Greyling |
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African biologist Telané Greyling has dealt
with these and other questions in her thesis on
the Wild Horses. Her work was supported by the Ministry
for the Environment and Tourism, by the lodge and
tour company Klein Aus Vista as well as the other
partners of the Gondwana Desert Collection. Greyling
found no indication that the horses displace the
indigenous flora or fauna. She stated that by and
large the same species and same numbers of individuals
which are found in nearby areas of comparison occur
also in the area where the horses live. |
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Biologist Telané Greyling. |
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Measures
of moderation
Clearly the horses cannot be regarded as game like gemsbok
or springbok. But they are no longer domesticated animals
either and as part of ‘the wilds’ are subject
to nature’s rules. Therefore the death of weak animals
in times of drought is the natural cycle taking its course.
On the other hand, man cannot simply deny all responsibility.
Fences block access to natural watering places and better
grazing on farms bordering the area to the east (a death-trap
for gemsbok as well, by the way). And in times of drought
the number of animals might drop so severely that the
gene pool is affected negatively and their survival endangered
by inbreeding. Saying yes to the horses is therefore also
a yes to preservation.
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In November 2005 a meeting of experts agreed
on possible goals for preservation: to ensure a stable
population of Wild Horses, to keep the costs for their
care as low as possible, to utilise their attraction more
efficiently for tourism, to gather more information on
the animals and improve public knowledge about them. |
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prerequisite for controlling the horse population
is to monitor rainfall, grazing, the numbers and
the condition of the animals on a regular basis.
It was agreed that the reference value for a stable
population is 130, with short-term fluctuations
between 80 and 180. Such fluctuations occurred in
the past as well. During the seventies and eighties
the number of horses was estimated at 250, but it
dropped considerably when fences were put up at
the area’s eastern boundary in the late eighties.
104 horses were caught in June 1992. There were
110 horses in 1993, an increase to 149 in 1997,
in 1999 the number dropped to just 89, and in early
2006 it was back to about 150 animals. |
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The death of weak animals is part of the natural
cycle.
Photo: Telané Greyling |
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The expert team also recommends that intervention
should be limited to the event of a crisis emerging and
that appropriate steps should always be kept at a minimum.
In times of drought a watering place could initially be
set up in a neighbouring grazing area to shorten the horses’
trip to the water. Even though they have adapted to the
arid conditions and can go without water longer than domestic
horses and without suffering stress, they spend the more
energy the longer the distance between grazing and water.
Should the condition of the horses deteriorate, lucerne
should be made available as additional fodder. In this
case it is important to spread fodder over a wide area
in order to prevent competition which causes stress or
even fighting. |
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Proposals were also put forward for catching
horses as an advance measure of keeping the population
stable. Capture will only be considered when the population
reaches a maximum limit of 200 individuals. Young animals
(2 to 4 years) and equal numbers of mares and stallions
should be chosen from the herd to avoid long-term disruptions
in their social structure. Such disruptions were caused
when more than 100 horses, regardless of age or gender,
were caught in 1992. |
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Some
progress has already been made in reaching the third
goal, namely, to ‘utilize’ the attraction
of the horses more efficiently. Not only can visitors
watch the horses from the shelter at the drinking
trough near Garub, but since the middle of 2006
they can also obtain all the background information
at Aus Information Centre, just 20 km away. The
centre serves as a source of income for the community
of Aus. At some stage in the more distant future
it could be combined with a wild horse research
centre.
Results of the research could thus be passed on
to visitors from Namibia and abroad. |
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The drinking trough at Garub; the shelter for visitors
is in the background. Photo: Telané Greyling |
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Visitors
protect horses
The Aus Information Centre already has instructions
in place on how visitors can themselves contribute to
the horses' protection:
- Take special care on the tar road.
- Do not get too close to the horses at the drinking
trough at Garub;
- tourists often cause foals
to be separated from their mothers.
- Keep your distance for your own protection, too. The
horses are not
- aggressive, but serious
injury may be sustained through their
- careless movements or
kicks.
- Please refrain from feeding at all times. Feeding
results in
- competitive behaviour.
Kicking and biting one another puts foals at
- great risk.
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© 2007 Nature Investments (Pty) Ltd |
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- More pictures at www.namibhorses.com
- For a detailed media release see
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www.gondwana-desert-collection.com
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