The sparsely vegetated plains but about Garub on the eastern fringe of the Namib Desert is no paradise. The acre is barren , the climate dry out in addition to hot , in addition to vegetation is few in addition to sparse. Yet , over the decades , a grouping of a wild horses bring managed to conform to the harsh weather condition in addition to made the desert their home.
Numbering betwixt xc in addition to 150 , these wild horses are ane of the most isolated Equus caballus populations inward the globe , in addition to the solely feral herd residing inward Africa.
Kolmanskop , nigh the port metropolis Lüderitz , inward 1908. The High German colonials rapidly sealed off the percentage creating a 350 foursquare kilometer restricted expanse known equally Sperrgebiet. Garub is located inside Sperrgebiet.
Nobody is allowed inside Sperrgebiet , a policy that has kept out hunters in addition to Equus caballus capturers , allowing the horses to alive costless from human interaction. Over the side yesteryear side ane hundred years , through the procedure of natural choice , they bring larn a breed of their ain , resilient to drought in addition to the heat. In summertime , at forty-degrees-heat , a Namib desert Equus caballus tin piece of occupation without H2O for equally long equally xxx hours. In wintertime , they tin final fifty-fifty longer—an astounding 72 hours.
For sustenance the horses consume desert grass , supplementing their meager diet amongst pieces of their ain dung. Surprisingly , Equus caballus manure is a adept root of nutrient containing nearly 3 times to a greater extent than fatty than the area’s dry out grass in addition to nearly twice equally much protein. But afterwards a adept pelting , when grass becomes abundant , foraging becomes less stressful. During these happy periods , the horses feed at nighttime in addition to stay closed to the waterhole , drinking all hateful solar daytime long. Their numbers likewise growth significantly during this time.
In 1977 , when the mining fellowship replaced steam engines amongst diesel fuel locomotives , in addition to pumping of H2O stopped , many horses died of dehydration. Then an employee petitioned the mining fellowship to supply H2O for the horses , in addition to De Beers installed a twain of belongings tanks in addition to a H2O trough for the horses. Today , the borehole at Garub is maintained specifically for the horses.
Namib horses resting inward the shade side yesteryear side to an abandoned High German educate station. Photo credit: Raymond June/Wikimedia
Photo credit: jbdodane/Flickr
The watering hole at Garub , amongst a shelter for human visitors inward the background. Photo credit: Sven-Eric Kanzler/Wikimedia
Photo credit: Allan Gray/Flickr
Photo credit: Gerald de Beer/Wikimedia
Photo credit: Gerald de Beer/Flickr
Source: Wikipedia / wildhorsesandmustangs.com / wild-horses-namibia.com / info-namibia.com