Khaudom National Park
Encyclopedia
Khaudom National Park is an isolated Nature Reserve
situated in the Kalahari Desert
at the west of the Caprivi Strip
in northeast of Namibia
. It is a very remote and inaccessible reserve but is home to some magnificent animals such as the lion
and the hyena
. The park also has a campsite for visitors.
. The three largest dry rivers, the Omiramba, Nhoma, Cwiba and Khaudom run through the wildlife park. They play an important ecological role, with rainfall during the wet season.
region has a long dry season
from April to November and a subsequent wet period from December to March.
In the dry season in winter, the humidity is at 30% and the daily maximum daytime temperatures are above 25°C. The temperature on cold nights can fall to less than 5°C, but is usually around 12°C. The rainy season in summer is marked by a humidity of 60% and daily highs typically between 30° and 40°C . Even at night the temperature does not fall below 15°C. The annual precipitation
average is 550 millimeters, with 80% during the months December to March.
forest.
Trees can reach a height of up to 10 m and have a relatively dense undergrowth. The species range includes Pterocarpus angolensis,Baikiaea plurijuga
, Burkea africana
and Guibourtia coleosperma
.
In contrast to the dry high forest the trees in the lower forest reach less than 5 meters height. Species include Lonchocarpus neisii and Terminalia serica, interspersed with Faidherbia albida
and Grewia
.
Along the Omiramba is denser acacia dry forest, often with very large population of thorn bushes including Acacia erioloba
, Acacia fleckii, Acacia hebeclada and Acacia tortillis together with occasional Combretum imberbe
and Combretum hereroense. The bed of the Omiramba is peaty-boggy and consists of dense Reed
including Phragmites
and more infrequently, Water lilies
. Terminalia prunoides (blood fruit trees) also dominate.
s and more than 50 birds of prey.
Big game can be found in the park occasionally, more than 500 elephant
s, many giraffe
s and many antelope
, including horse antelope, Kudu
, lyre antelope, Eland and Reedbuck
. Even the stock of prey animals is high. Besides the smaller cats, there is a larger population of lion
s, but also Leopard
s, stain hyena
s, Jackal
s and occasionally Cheetah
s and even Hyena dogs.
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
situated in the Kalahari Desert
Kalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savannah in Southern Africa extending , covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa, as semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains. The Kalahari supports more animals and plants than a true desert...
at the west of the Caprivi Strip
Caprivi Strip
Caprivi, sometimes called the Caprivi Strip , Caprivi Panhandle or the Okavango Strip and formally known as Itenge, is a narrow protrusion of Namibia eastwards about , between Botswana to the south, Angola and Zambia to the north, and Okavango Region to the west. Caprivi is bordered by the...
in northeast of Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
. It is a very remote and inaccessible reserve but is home to some magnificent animals such as the lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
and the hyena
Hyena
Hyenas or Hyaenas are the animals of the family Hyaenidae of suborder feliforms of the Carnivora. It is the fourth smallest biological family in the Carnivora , and one of the smallest in the mammalia...
. The park also has a campsite for visitors.
Geography
The Khaudom National Park is located in Kalahari DesertKalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savannah in Southern Africa extending , covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa, as semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains. The Kalahari supports more animals and plants than a true desert...
. The three largest dry rivers, the Omiramba, Nhoma, Cwiba and Khaudom run through the wildlife park. They play an important ecological role, with rainfall during the wet season.
Climate
The KavangoKavango
The Kavango people, also known as the vaKavango, reside on the Namibian side of the Namibian–Angolan border along the Kavango River. They are mainly riverine living people, but about 20% reside in the dry inland. Their livelihood is based on fishery, livestock-keeping and cropping...
region has a long dry season
Dry season
The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which oscillates from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year...
from April to November and a subsequent wet period from December to March.
In the dry season in winter, the humidity is at 30% and the daily maximum daytime temperatures are above 25°C. The temperature on cold nights can fall to less than 5°C, but is usually around 12°C. The rainy season in summer is marked by a humidity of 60% and daily highs typically between 30° and 40°C . Even at night the temperature does not fall below 15°C. The annual precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
average is 550 millimeters, with 80% during the months December to March.
Vegetation
The dominant vegetation in the park is species-rich, high and short dry forest and dry acaciaAcacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
forest.
Trees can reach a height of up to 10 m and have a relatively dense undergrowth. The species range includes Pterocarpus angolensis,Baikiaea plurijuga
Baikiaea plurijuga
Baikiaea plurijuga, known as Rhodesian Teak, Zambian Teak or Zambesi Redwood is a species of legume in the Fabaceae family. It forms a dense hardwood valued for its termite resistance, used for railway sleepers, in construction and for furniture making. Extensive teak forests in some parts of its...
, Burkea africana
Burkea africana
Burkea africana Hook. f. is a deciduous, medium-sized, spreading, flat-topped tree belonging to the family Caesalpiniaceae.Widespread in tropical Africa, it is found in Chad, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Zaire, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali,...
and Guibourtia coleosperma
Guibourtia coleosperma
Guibourtia coleosperma, aka African Rosewood, Large False Mopane, Rhodesian Copalwood, Machibi, is a species of Guibourtia in the family Fabaceae. It is a large evergreen tree found in open woodland and occurring almost exclusively on Kalahari Sand....
.
In contrast to the dry high forest the trees in the lower forest reach less than 5 meters height. Species include Lonchocarpus neisii and Terminalia serica, interspersed with Faidherbia albida
Faidherbia albida
Faidherbia albida is a species of Faidherbia native to Africa and the Middle East, formerly widely included in the genus Acacia. It has also been introduced to India and Pakistan. Common names for it include Apple-ring Acacia, Ana Tree and Winter Thorn.It is a thorny tree growing up to 6–30 m tall...
and Grewia
Grewia
The large flowering plant genus Grewia is today placed by most authors in the mallow family Malvaceae, in the expanded sense as proposed by in the APG. Formerly, it was placed in either the linden family or the Sparrmanniaceae...
.
Along the Omiramba is denser acacia dry forest, often with very large population of thorn bushes including Acacia erioloba
Acacia erioloba
Acacia erioloba is also commonly known as the Camel Thorn, Kameeldoring , Giraffe Thorn or Mokala . The Mokala National Park in the Northern Cape is named after this tree. The type specimen of Acacia giraffae, proved on closer examination to be a hybrid of A. haematoxylon and the species which...
, Acacia fleckii, Acacia hebeclada and Acacia tortillis together with occasional Combretum imberbe
Combretum imberbe
The semi-deciduous Leadwood tree is found from KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa in the south to Tanzania in the north. It normally grows up to 20 metres tall...
and Combretum hereroense. The bed of the Omiramba is peaty-boggy and consists of dense Reed
Reed bed
Reed beds are natural habitats found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions andestuaries. Reed beds are part of a succession from young reed colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground...
including Phragmites
Phragmites
Phragmites, the Common reed, is a large perennial grass found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Phragmites australis is sometimes regarded as the sole species of the genus Phragmites, though some botanists divide Phragmites australis into three or four species...
and more infrequently, Water lilies
Nymphaeaceae
Nymphaeaceae is a family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called water lilies and live in freshwater areas in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains eight genera. There are about 70 species of water lilies around the world. The genus...
. Terminalia prunoides (blood fruit trees) also dominate.
Fauna
The unspoiled nature of the reserve encourages a rich and varied wildlife in the dry forest. The ideal time for seeing wildlife is from June to October. From November to March more than 320 species of birds inhabit the area, including parrotParrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
s and more than 50 birds of prey.
Big game can be found in the park occasionally, more than 500 elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s, many giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
s and many antelope
Antelope
Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...
, including horse antelope, Kudu
Kudu
The kudus are two species of antelope of the genus Tragelaphus:*Lesser Kudu, Tragelaphus imberbis*Greater Kudu, Tragelaphus strepsiceros- Etymology :...
, lyre antelope, Eland and Reedbuck
Reedbuck
Reedbuck is a common name for African antelopes from the genus Redunca. These species are:* Southern Reedbuck, Redunca arundinum* Mountain Reedbuck, Redunca fulvorufula* Bohor Reedbuck, Redunca redunca...
. Even the stock of prey animals is high. Besides the smaller cats, there is a larger population of lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s, but also Leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
s, stain hyena
Hyena
Hyenas or Hyaenas are the animals of the family Hyaenidae of suborder feliforms of the Carnivora. It is the fourth smallest biological family in the Carnivora , and one of the smallest in the mammalia...
s, Jackal
Jackal
Although the word jackal has been historically used to refer to many small- to medium-sized species of the wolf genus of mammals, Canis, today it most properly and commonly refers to three species: the black-backed jackal and the side-striped jackal of sub-Saharan Africa, and the golden jackal of...
s and occasionally Cheetah
Cheetah
The cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...
s and even Hyena dogs.