Jackals were seen daily in KGNP — both during the day and on night drives — and most often in pairs. Additional animals were at Anib Lodge and Etosha NP. This one (left) has found a shady spot during the mid-day heat in Etosha.

"Zorilla" is just a superb name. The beast itself recalls our skunks in America. We were thrilled to see a wild one during a night drive at Augrabies Falls NP. We were then saddened to find a fresh road-kill (right) out near Uis in northwestern Namibia.

This was the common mongoose in the dry interior; it was seen almost daily in Kalahari scrub habitat, north of Brandvlei, through Etosha NP. Some were rather tame in KGNP camps. This shot (right), of an adult with just-caught prey, was along the road near Kaimois, South Africa, and far from any park. I am very pleased with the composition of this shot; note the flowers blooming in the background.

Local and widespread: we had parties in Cape of Good Hope NP (where they are re-introduced); in rocky country from Augrabies Falls NP to Erongo Wilderness Lodge (where they made quite a racket); and then daily along Okavango River (Mahango Reserve [this shot, left] and in Botswana)

This widespread African species of savanna and thorn forest was encountered only at Augrabies Falls NP (right) and in the woods around Xaro Camp in Botswana. We were very familiar with them from prior visits to east Africa.

We had small parties of elephant most days in Etosha NP, and especially at waterholes at night. This 'happy-to-see-you' male was the largest one we encountered during the day. His tusks were broken, though, possible through digging in this hard, arid land. We some substantial evidence (e.g., uprooted trees) of elephants along the Okavango River but did not see their hides there.

Hyraxes were common and widespread in rocky jumbles, mountains, and cliffs throughout southwestern Africa. We recorded them from the Cape Town area to KGNP, from Augrabies Falls to Fish River Canyon to the Erongo Mountains, and again at Waterburg NP. Hyraxes are smallish, woolly mammals with no visible tail and 'hoofed' digits. They were once grouped with rodents, and then later with elephants (because they were ungulates), but they have been placed in an Order of their own [Hyracoidea] for some decades now. They feed mostly on grass; have three-chambered 'stomachs' for digestion; and have a poor ability to control their body temperature. For this reason they sun themselves on rocks (mother and youngster, below right) and have long period of inactivity. Adult territorial males (below left) keep watch and give a sharp yelp if danger is sensed. Then the entire colony dashes into the rocks. The locals call then "dassies."

photo Canyon Lodge nr Fish River Canyon, Namibia

photo Erongo Wilderness Lodge, Namibia

We really did see an Aardvark. I almost have to pinch myself to believe it. This is one of the most mythical beasts in Africa: no one ever sees one (although you find their burrows widely). Ours crossed the road and then up toward the car during a night drive in the karoo outside Brandvlei. This photo (left) is taken handheld without flash using only the beam in Richard's spotlight. This is a big beast: size of German Shephard! It was certainly the "mammal of the trip."

Common in Etosha NP (up to 250/day), and a few in Mahango Reserve, where they are protected. None seen outsize of national parks and reserves. This shot of mother and colt (right) was near one of Etosha's waterholes.

After quite a search, we found a party of five animals in Daan Viljoen Game Reserve, east of Windhoek, on the final morning of the trip. This species almost went extinct with hunting and land conversion, and is now limited in distribution to a very few reserves in southwestern Africa. This photo was taken at a long distance, but note the broad hip stripes, the white belly, and the long ears.

Seven at night at Okaukuejo waterhole in Etosha NP our first evening was great, but the real thrill was the next day when this mother (right) brought her very small baby in to the waterhole at dusk. Mom had a very impressive horn; baby was so young she didn't drink water yet. After dark another 9 rhinos visited. This is a wonderful comeback from the days of near extinction.

Surprisingly absent from South Africa, we finally saw two (left) at a waterhole in Etosha NP. They became regular only when we reached the Okavango River, and then a few were seen daily in Mahango Reserve or along the banks of the river.

This is a large but shy antelope that we saw only twice, and both times they were re-introduced populations: Cape of Good Hope NP (~20) and four (1 male, 3 female) at Daan Viljoen Reserve outside Windhoek (photo of male, right)

A few daily in Etosha Nat'l Park but not common (max 8/day; photo below right is of a lovely big-horned male at a waterhole there); a few were also seen on both visits to Mahango Reserve, and then scattered individuals were in open country on the drive back toward and from the Waterburg in northwest Namibia. Also reintroduced at Anib Lodge. Red-billed Oxpeckers were riding this female at Mahango (below left)

This much-wanted swamp antelope was seen twice in the Okavango Delta, both times on small flooded openings in the papyrus-lined river. Both were females: our closest one (right) was just a brief look at the head and neck and then she was gone . . . This is an exceptionally shy antelope and specially adapted with 'high-heel' hoofs for an aquatic existence.

These are also semi-aquatic antelope, but unlike the Sitatunga they feed out in the open lightly-flooded plains. We saw them only at a distance at Mahango Game Reserve (left). They are apparently the primary prior for prides of lion in the watery Okavango Delta [the birds shown are White-faced Whistling-Ducks]

A gorgeous antelope, we encountered small herds on both visitis to Mahango Game Reserve. They are in the tribe Hippotragini, the 'horse-like antelope,' as is the next species. The two shown (right) are impressive males.

Another striking large antelope which, like the Sable, is very smart-looking (left). Like the Sable, we found them only in Mahango Game Reserve on our trip. They have been on the decline throughout Africa.

Common and widespread in the interior but almost all of them were in the parks: large numbers daily in KGNP and Etosha NP (100+/day). This photo (right) was taken at Anib Lodge, though, where they have been re-introduced. It is impressive to see this large long-horned antelope in such numbers. The locals all use the term Gemsbok (with a Germanic guttural pronunciation that is rather like "hemms-bok"). In east Africa they are called Oryx.

This species of many names (White-bearded Gnu, Brindled Gnu) is famous for its migrations across the interior of east and southern Africa. Some percentage of the populations, though, may be resident. We encountered small herds daily in KGNP and Etosha NP (and nowhere else). Herds would come daily to waterholes to drink (below left) but would spook and panic (below right) if any danger was suggested.

photo Etosha NP

photo Kalahari-Gemsbok NP

Only small numbers of this distinctive antelope were encountered. We saw exactly one in KGNP but had small hers (up to 25/day) in Etosha NP.

This strikingly patterned antelope is no longer found anywhere in their original wild state (Kingdon 1997). They were an isolated population in grasslands among fynbos around the Cape. Today a re-introduced population exists in Cape of Good Hope NP (photo left).

The other subspecies [D. d. phillipsi] is known as the Blesbok. It is a paler reddish-brown and the white areas are not as well-defined as on Bontebok. It, too, exists only where re-introduced. We five re-introduced Blesbok in the late afternoon drive at Anib Lodge, Namibia.

Unlike east Africa, where this is the common antelope, only small herds were in Etosha NP and again in Mahango Reserve. These populations have black blazes on the male's muzzle (right) and are called 'Black-faced Impala' A. m. petersi (sometimes treated as a separate species)

I have full frame photos from Augrabies Falls NP, but I just really like this 'beast-in-habitat' shot from Walker Bay, east of Cape Town, where it is quite lucky to see one. They were tame and right next to the road at Augrabies Falls NP (up to 8/day).

The common and widespread antelope throughout the trip (except Okavango River). Recorded daily from Augrabies Fall NP through KGNP to Etosha NP (often 300+/day in the parks). Small parties were also in the karoo around Brandvlei. We witnessed many sparring bouts between males for ranking within the herd: only the dominant males get to mate. The photos below are from two such bouts in Etosha NP: a face-off (left) and then the collision (right)

This gentle, small antelope lives mostly in pairs in scrub country — anyplace with protective cover. We found them regularly in the karoo, in thornscrub of the Kalahari, and in open woodlands of Etosha NP and Caprivi Strip. This shot of a female (left) is from coastal scrub in West Coast NP. Pairs apparently defend permanent territories, heavily relying on scent marking. They were often seen on night drives as well as during daylight hours.

This tiny territorial antelope was in thornscrub along 'Dik-dik Loop' in eastern Etosha NP (photo right); another small group was in Waterburg NP. Rita had very close encounters at the latter spot, including a female using its suborbital gland to mark a grass stem. Some lump this with Kirk's Dik-dik M. kirkii of east Africa but the populations are widely separated.

Duikers represent a new subfamily for us. This widespread species was encountered during the day in West Coast NP (photo left) and at dusk at N'kwazi Camp on the Kavango River in northeastern Namibia.

This i.d. could be wrong; indeed it could be dramatically wrong. However, in working with Kingdon (1997), and then the entire world list with ranges in Macdonald (1984), this is as close as I can get. If the genus is right, it seems likely the species is right (there are 10 species of Aethomys but only two reach South Africa). This rat or mouse was sitting in a small bush, just as you see, at the edge of the road in karoo scrub near Brandvlei. I got this shot out the window; it dashed into the bush once the car door opened. I called it 'red-eared mouse' in my field notes, for what that is worth. It was pretty large for a mouse, or about the size of a wood-rat in the U.S.

This mouse was common in grasslands of the Kalahari Desert; another (probably a different subspecies) was on the Cape of Good Hope. Kingdon (1997) says it has a wide but discontinuous range in cooler grasslands of southern Africa. You can see the back stripes in the photo; they were very apparent in the field.

One of the more unexpected and interesting creatures of the Kalahari was the whistling rat. They were common (200+/day) in roadside colonies. They are sociable animals, active by day, that live in a colony of burrows. They feed on vegetation outside the burrows and must form a significant bulk of prey for diurnal predators. When alarmed they whistle loudly and stamp their feet before disappearing underground (Macdonald 1984). We heard these high pitched whistles on our first day in the park, and wondered if something was wrong with the engine of our car, or was in Rita's video-camera? Eventually we traced the source to these critters, and thereafter found them everywhere. The Park Service personnel didn't seem to know about them. I bet most visitors — looking for big game — spent days in the park without seeing them, although they are everywhere.

This is the only living representative of the family Petromyidae, although the fossil record shows it to have been large and diverse. The Dassie Rat has a flattened skull and flexible ribs which allow it to squeeze into rock crevices. It can be variable in color, mimicking the rock color. They are apparently most closely related to African porcupines and to Cane Rats [another small rodent family; altogether there are 30 families of rodents]. The long tail has scattered hairs and long white hairs at the tip. We saw only a couple, at Spitzkoppe and at Erongo Wilderness Lodge, in the same rocky slopes that held hyraxes.

Of the 11 slit-faced bats in the world, only two species range to southern Africa: Egyptian Slit-faced Bat N. thebaica (widespread south of the Sahara and also Egypt, the Middle East, and Morocco) and Hairy Slit-faced Bat N. hispida (range given as Senegal to Ethiopia to S Africa). The language of the latter range suggest it might not include Namibia and, in any event, this bat did not seem particularly hairy. Etosha is very arid country, like Egypt or the Middle East, so it seems quite likely this is N. thebaica. Slit-faced bats are known to roost in buildings, often singly, as well as caves, rock cliffs, and trees. They are said to give birth twice a year (Macdonald 1984).