SPECIES THAT LIVE IN THE NAMIB DESERT HAVE EVOLVED SOME REMARKABLE STRATEGIES TO SURVIVE WHEN WATER IS SCARCE.

Life in the Namib Desert is harsh, and water is hard to come by. But evolution has equipped species that live in this challenging environment with a range of unique adaptations that are essential for survival.

Speed is of the essence in the Namib Desert of south-west Africa, where summer temperatures reach 40°C in the shade and annual rainfall averages a mere 70mm – but can be as low as 2mm in the most arid coastal areas. When rain does fall, mostly in the summer (October to April), survival is dependent on the ability to react very quickly.

“The Namib is a boom-and-bust ecosystem,” explains ecologist Danica Shaw. “Grasses, such as several species in the genus Stipagrostis, can complete their life-cycle in a mere seven days. The sudden appearance of good grazing draws huge numbers of antelopes and the desert can, for short periods, sustain abundant wildlife. But the bust occurs once resources are depleted and animals must migrate to find water.” Larger animals cover larger distances, and their journeys were disrupted by fenced livestock farms until the NamibRand Nature Reserve – a 202,200ha private reserve established in 1992 – removed internal fencing to create a migration corridor between the coastal Namib-Naukluft National Park and less-arid inland areas.

All life in the Namib has adapted to desert conditions. The remarkable welwitschia, a floppy-leaved plant that may live for over 1,000 years, is one of many species relying for moisture mainly on the coastal fog that drifts inland on about 180 days of the year. The tok-tokkie beetle harvests this moisture at dawn, performing a headstand at the top of a dune while facing west – the sea fog condenses on its body and trickles down its back into its mouth. Other animals control moisture loss by reducing sweating.

This challenging ecosystem was put into context for photographer Theo Allofs during one of his aerial surveys over the reserve: “I saw enormous herds of gemsbok, springbok, hartebeests and zebras. It was like the Serengeti – except all these animals were surviving in a harsh desert, and not in a lush savannah with an abundance of food.”

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