Blog & News

Obwohl die Regenmenge in dieser Regenzeit bisher nicht besonders gut war 🌧️, waren die Regenfälle immer so nah beieinander, dass das junge Gras nicht wieder austrocknete 🌱. Der starke Regen (52 mm) vor ein paar Tagen hat das Pflanzenwachstum endlich wieder angekurbelt 🌿. Hier genießen Juno und Yemba frische Kräuter (Tibulus spp.) 🌿.

***************************************

Although this rain season so far was not good measured in the quantity of rain 🌧️, the rain events were always just close enough for the young grass not to dry up again 🌱. The big rain event (52mm) a couple of days ago finally kickstarted vegetation growth 🌿. Here Juno and Yemba enjoying some fresh herbs (Tibulus spp.) 🌿.

Unser Kalahari Glamping-Erlebnis ⛺ entführt Sie aus der Zivilisation. Sie verbringen einen Nachmittag und eine Nacht in unserem gemütlichen Buschcamp, das rustikalen Komfort wie ein hochwertiges, bequemes Bett und alle Annehmlichkeiten bietet, die Sie brauchen.

Kein Internet, kein Strom, aber ein Lagerfeuer 🔥, ein traditioneller Eintopf und eine gute Flasche Wein 🍷 stehen bei Sonnenuntergang für Sie bereit. Die perfekte Mischung aus Abenteuer und Entspannung, die Ihnen die Möglichkeit gibt, die immense Ruhe der Savanne zu genießen.

************************************

Our Kalahari Glamping Experience ⛺ takes you away from civilization. You will spend an afternoon and a night in our cozy bush camp, featuring rustic comforts like a good quality comfortable bed and all the amenities you need.

No internet, no electricity but a campfire 🔥, a traditional stew and a good bottle of wine 🍷 will be ready for you as the sun sets. The perfect blend of adventure and relaxation, giving you the opportunity to soak up the immense tranquility of the savanna.

🦏 Wenn wir Nashörner verfolgen, nähern wir uns ihnen nie „mit“ dem Wind ...
 Nashörner haben einen außergewöhnlichen Geruchs- und Gehörsinn, sodass sie uns leicht erkennen können, wenn wir uns im Wind befinden.
Da wir sie nicht stören möchten, verwenden wir einen einfachen Test, um die Windrichtung zu bestimmen: "Wirf einfach eine Handvoll Sand in die Luft und beobachte, in welche Richtung er weht"💨🍃

 ************************************

🦏 When tracking rhinos, we never approach them "with" the wind ...
Rhinos have an exceptional sense of smell and hearing, making it easy for them to detect us if we're upwind. Since we don't want to disturb them we use a simple test to determine the wind direction:
"Just toss a handful of sand into the air and observe which way it drifts" 💨🍃

Der Vollmond hat erhebliche Auswirkungen auf die Nashornwilderei.

Während der drei Tage um den Vollmond, die gemeinhin als „Wilderermond“ bezeichnet werden, steigt das Risiko der Nashornwilderei, da die bessere Sicht den Wilderern hilft, sich in der Wildnis zurechtzufinden und Nashörner auch in abgelegenen Gebieten aufzuspüren. Daten zeigen, dass die Zahl der Nashornwildereien bei Vollmond am höchsten ist.

Zu den Bemühungen zur Bekämpfung der Nashornwilderei gehört daher auch eine erhöhte Wachsamkeit während diesem Mondspektakel.

***

The full moon has a significant impact on rhino poaching.

During the three days around a full moon, commonly referred to as the “poachers’ moon,” the risk of rhino poaching increases, because of increased visibility helps poachers to navigate through the wilderness and locate rhinos, even in remote areas.

Data shows that incidents of rhino poaching tend to peak during the full moon.

Efforts to combat rhino poaching include increased vigilance during these lunar spectacles.

Chilled out for once.
The King of Kuzikus, the father of many, a remnant of the old regime, introduced from Etosha National Park in 1997 as part of 6 Black Rhino translocated to Kuzikus.

Now the last survivor of that old lot, him still patrolling Kuzikus since 27 years.
What an awesome character. What a privilege to track him and see what he is up to…always ready for a surprise.

Other than used for effective breaking of branches for feeding, the Black Rhinos horns are essential for self-defense and territorial battles.

When faced with threats, black rhinos use their horns to fend off attackers or protect their young. Despite being made of keratin (the same material as our hair and nails), these horns are strong and sharp enough to penetrate even the thick hide that rhinos have.

In that respect, dehorning some members of a black rhino population while leaving others intact should be carefully considered in the light of disrupting Black Rhino ecology and the likelihood of increased mortality through territorial fighting.

If you are tracking a certain black rhino population for over 25 years you can’t help but to become emotionally attached to the individuals.

You learn to tell them apart by their footprints, you recognize individual character triads and habits, you see them grow up and develop. Every time you track and find them you learn more about their incredible behavior and individual character.

The black rhino that arguably taught us the most was Hermes, who died from the wounds suffered in yet another fight with his great rival Columbus. Respect to this great beast of an ancient world.

Happy World Rhino Day

Today we announce the birth of Little female Rhino *Khwe, first spotted this month .

Funny enough, September seems to be Kuzikus Rhino month, from Kiacho to Jemba to Khwe, rhino Babies on Kuzikus seem to be delivered in September.

In that regard Happy world rhino day to everyone who visited Kuzikus and big Thanks for your support.

*The KHWE people are a very proud minority in Namibia related to the San but originally home to the North-eastern part of Namibia (West Caprivi, now Bwabwata National Park), Southern Angola, Botswana and parts of Zambia. Khwe people are traditionally hunter-gatherers and have a rich cultural heritage such as their own language, which is a dialect continuum of the Khoe family with only some 8,000 speakers. In their distinct history the Khwe people have faced various challenges over the years, including land dispossession and discrimination. However, efforts are being made to preserve their culture.

In the beginning of the last century settlers introduced lamb to the jackal’s menu of the Kalahari. They then went on to spend the following decades engineering ever evolving strategies aimed at eradicating this cunning and clever opportunist from “his savannah” or “their farms”.

And yet, the scavenger known to eat almost anything, still scuttles and skulks about as ever, still looking for the perfect chance to steal a meal.

On Kuzikus we surely grant the jackal the ultimate accolade as Africa’s most opportunistic omnivore, quickly adapting to overcome any new challenge.

Puffadder and friends...

One of the most frequently asked questions. And the answer is, yes there is.

The puff adder is one of two venomous species. But don't worry, you have to be "lucky" to see one.

Yesterday was such a day. Fritz caught them and released them further out into the wild. Fritz was trained in dealing with snakes some time ago by Francois Theat from Snakes of Namibia. Good for both sides.

Look forward to unique people, animals and insights !

My name is Nicola, I'm from Germany and I'm here to take pictures at Kuzikus Wildlife Reserve. In the coming weeks we will show you this beautiful place in more detail. In addition to the landscape, the variety of species and the activities offered, I will also accompany the individual people in their work photographically. Look forward to unique people, animals and insights into everyday work at Kuzikus.

Want inspiration? Try being charged by a two-ton African black rhino.

Early in her career, wildlife biologist Zoe Jewell and her team came across a mother rhino and her calf and carefully moved closer to get a better look.

Black rhinos are very secretive during the day, especially when they have a baby. After a number of attempts, to the delight of the guests accompanying us, we managed to follow the new black rhino calf and its mother on the trail and get it right in front of the lens....

Eight years ago, Fritz and Berend set out to make Kuzikus the best-documented wildlife reserve in Africa. The entire reserve was to be digitally quantified in high resolution using drones. At that time, the drones flew for barely half an hour and the performance of the computers left a lot to be desired.

Predominantly nocturnal, the African Wild Cat is very territorial. Over the past year we have been able to find out where their territories are on Kuzikus. Therefore we are getting great opportunities to observe them. Their largest recorded prey items include hares, springhares, and birds (up to the size of a guinea...

Man and Nature

Processing and pondering about yesterday’s eventful effort, I can’t help the thought that dehorning somehow seemed to show me what my and my kids relationship with Nature might boil down to in the future.

All 41 Giraffes of Kuzikus are now named  Everybody knows that photoidentification of individual giraffes living in the wild is possible by using characteristic coat or skin patterns. Computer vision techniques are often mentioned to be an appealing and unavoidable help to tackle this apparently simple task in the big-data era.