Difference between revisions of "Kalahari Desert" - New World Encyclopedia

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The '''Kalahari Desert''' is a large arid to semi-arid sandy area in southern [[Africa]] extending 900,000 km&sup2;, covering much of [[Botswana]] and parts of [[Namibia]] and [[South Africa]], as semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains.<ref name=SAltena>Mary Sadler-Altena, "Kalahari: Introduction" webpage: {{dlw|http://www.southerncape.co.za/geography/regions/kalahari/welcome.html|SouthernCape-Kalahari}}: Kalahari name/climate/reserves and history.</ref> The surrounding Kalahari Basin covers over 2.5 million km² extending farther into Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa, and encroaching into parts of [[Angola]], [[Zambia]], and [[Zimbabwe]]. The only permanent [[river]], the Okavango, flows into a [[delta]] in the northwest, forming marshes that are rich in [[wildlife]]. Ancient dry riverbeds&mdash;called omuramba&mdash;traverse the central northern reaches of the Kalahari and provide standing pools of water during the rainy season. Previously havens for wild animals from elephant to giraffe, and for predators such as lion and cheetah, the riverbeds are now mostly grazing spots, though leopard or cheetah can still be found.
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[[Image:LocationKalahari.PNG|thumb|380px|The Kalahari Desert (shown in maroon) and Kalahari Basin (orange)]]
[[Image:LocationKalahari.PNG|thumb|350px|The Kalahari Desert (shown in maroon) & Kalahari Basin (orange)]]
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The '''Kalahari Desert''' is not really a desert, but rather a large arid to semi-arid sandy area in southern [[Africa]], covering much of [[Botswana]] and parts of [[Namibia]] and [[South Africa]]. Though it is semi-desert, it has huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains and is rich in [[wildlife]]. The homeland of the [[Bushmen]] for perhaps thirty thousand years, the desert was the setting for the movie ''The Gods Must Be Crazy,'' which featured a Bushman family.
  
==Climate==
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A strange, yet essential feature of this region are the pans, which are shallow hollows consisting of hard, gray clay. While appearing drab and flat, these pans provide essential [[salt]] for the animals of the Kalahari. They vary in size from a few hundred meters to a few square kilometers. There are two other distinct [[ecosystem]]s found in the central Kalahari region: rich [[savanna]] and [[grasslands]].
Derived from the Tswana word ''Keir'', meaning the ''great thirst'', or the tribal word ''Khalagari'' or ''Kalagare'' (meaning "a waterless place"<ref name=SAltena>Mary Sadler-Altena, "Kalahari: Introduction" webpage: {{dlw|http://www.southerncape.co.za/geography/regions/kalahari/welcome.html|SouthernCape-Kalahari}}: Kalahari name/climate/reserves and history.</ref>), the Kalahari has vast areas covered by red-brown sands without any permanent surface water. Drainage is by dry valleys, seasonally inundated pans, and the large [[salt pan (geology)|salt pan]]s of the Makgadikgadi Pan in Botswana and Etosha Pan in Namibia. However, the Kalahari is not a true desert. Parts of the Kalahari receive over 250 mm of erratic rainfall annually and are quite well vegetated; it is only truly arid in the south-west (under 175 mm of rain annually) making the Kalahari a fossil desert. Summer temperatures in the Kalahari range from 20 to 40 °C. In winter, the Kalahari has a dry, cold climate with frosts at night. The low winter temperature can average below 0 °C. In addition, this desert was the setting for the movie "The Gods Must Be Crazy."
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{{toc}}
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The core area of the desert covers an area of 100,000 square miles (260,000 square kilometers). But the surrounding Kalahari Basin covers over 2.5 million square kilometers, extending farther into Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa and encroaching into parts of [[Angola]], [[Zambia]], and [[Zimbabwe]]. The only permanent [[river]], the Okavango, flows into a [[delta]] in northwest Botswana, forming marshes that draw abundant wildlife. Ancient dry riverbeds&mdash;called ''omuramba''&mdash;traverse the central northern reaches of the Kalahari and provide standing pools of water during the rainy season. Previously havens for wild animals from [[elephant]]s to [[giraffe]]s, and for predators such as [[lion]]s and [[cheetah]]s, the riverbeds are now mostly grazing spots, though [[leopard]]s or [[cheetah]]s can still be found.
  
==Game reserves==
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==History==
[[Image:Suricata.jpg|right|thumb|100px|A [[meerkat]] in the Kalahari]]
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[[Image:David Livingstone.jpg|thumb|180px|David Livingstone]]
[[Image:Wd4_ian_710_01.JPG|left|thumb|100px|The endangered African Wild Dog in CKGR]]
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The Kalahari has existed as an inland [[desert]] since the [[Cretaceous]] period (65-135 million years ago). It has experienced both periods of greater humidity and more aridity, documented in [[fossil]] dune fields. It was during a period of greater [[rain]]fall that the Makgadikgadi Depression in northern [[Botswana]] was formed. The former [[lake]] at one point covered 23,000 square miles (60,000 square kilometers), about the same size as [[Lake Victoria]] today. The dry riverbeds that now only hold water when it rains are also from such periods.
The Kalahari has a number of game reserves - the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), the world's second largest protected area); Khutse Game Reserve; and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Animals that live in the region include brown [[hyena]]s, [[lion]]s, [[meerkat]]s, several species of [[antelope]] (including the [[oryx]] or [[gemsbok]]), and many species of [[bird]]s and [[reptile]]s. Vegetation in the Kalahari consists mainly of [[grass]]es and [[acacia]]s but there are over 400 identified plant species present (including the wild [[watermelon]] or tsamma melon).
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The first [[Europe]]an to cross the Kalahari was [[David Livingstone]], accompanied by William C. Oswell, in 1849. In 1878-1879 a party of [[Boer]]s, with about three hundred wagons, trekked from the [[Transvaal]] across the Kalahari to Ngami and on into [[Angola]]. Survivors stated that some 250 people and nine thousand cattle died on the journey.
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The first Europeans who entered the Kalahari after Livingstone came as travelers, missionaries, [[ivory]] hunters, and traders. The only European settlement was in the Ghanzi District, where a number of families were allowed ranching blocks in the 1890s. Until the 1960s they led a life of isolation and poverty, but since then they have been able to gain ownership of the land and improve their living conditions. Most other whites in the Kalahari are government employees or are engaged in private enterprise.<ref name=Britannica>George Bertrand Silberbauer,  “Kalahari.” ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online''.</ref>
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===Ancestral land===
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{{main|Bushmen}}
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[[Image:Bushmen-general-1.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Bushmen community at Gope, Central Kalahari Game Reserve, [[Botswana]]. Image © courtesy of [http://www.survivalinternational.org/info  Survival International].]]
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{{readout|The Kalahari is the ancestral land of the [[Bushmen]] or ''San'' peoples|right}}. There are many distinct tribes, and they have no collective name for themselves. The names ''San'' and ''Basarwa'' are sometimes used, but the people themselves dislike these names (''San'' is a Khoikhoi word meaning ''outsider'', and ''Basarwa'' a Herero word meaning ''person who has nothing'') and prefer the name "Bushman." Their language, Khoisan, is a language of clicks. The name Bushmen was given to them by early settlers who may have named them for the fact they live in the bush or it might have been given because of their use of aromatic spices collected from various bushes. They are thought to have been the first human inhabitants of Southern Africa; there is evidence that they have been living there continuously as nomadic [[hunter-gatherer]]s for over twenty thousand years.
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The Bushmen were first brought to the Western world's attention in the 1950s when South African author [[Laurens van der Post]] published his famous book ''The Lost World of the Kalahari'', which was also turned into a [[BBC]] TV series. This and other later works about the Kalahari prompted the British colonial authorities to create the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in 1961 to preserve the Bushmen and the wildlife. After independence, [[Botswana]] provided food, water, and medical care to them, but eventually they began raising goats and planting crops. Wildlife officials were concerned about the impact on the environment and the government balked at providing services to remote villages. About three thousand of the estimated hundred thousand remaining Bushmen moved into settlements.
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Some two hundred, however, sued the government of Botswana for the right to return to their homeland, and the High Court ruled in December 2006 that the Bushmen are entitled to live and hunt on their ancestral lands. However, the government placed limits on what they could take with them. They cannot bring domesticated animals with them or build permanent structures. Hunters have to apply for permits, and only those named in the original lawsuit may return.
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Today the Bushmen are offering a taste of their life to tourists to bring in money. Bushman activities that can be experienced by visitors include identifying natural salt/mineral licks, medicinal plants, trees, bushes, spoor, birds, and other animals; gathering and preparing foods; learning their dances and playing the foot bow. They can go on a guided simulation hunt and watch demonstrations of traditional skills, such as making "jewelry" from [[ostrich]] eggshells, glass beads, and seeds; tanning skins and curing hides; and making rope and glue.
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==Geography==
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[[Image:800px-Kalahari PICT0036 .jpg|thumb|right|250px| Kalahari in Botswana]]
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Derived from the [[Tswana]] word ''Keir'', meaning the ''great thirst'', or the tribal word ''Khalagari'' or ''Kalagare'' (meaning "a waterless place"),<ref>Mary Sadler-Altena, Overview and description of the Kalahari-basin.</ref> the Kalahari has vast areas covered by red-brown sands without any permanent surface water. Drainage is by dry valleys, seasonally inundated pans, and the large salt pans of the Makgadikgadi Pan in [[Botswana]] and Etosha Pan in [[Namibia]].
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The Kalahari is not considered a true desert. Traditionally, an area was classified as desert if it received less than 10 inches (250 millimeters) of rain annually. A more accurate definition of a desert is a region in which the potential [[evaporation]] rate is twice as great as the [[precipitation]]. Both of these criteria are applicable to the southwestern half of the Kalahari, which receives less than 175 millimeters of rain annually.  
  
For seven years, Mark and Delia Owens lived in tents, and studied a pristine wilderness and its inhabitants. They did landmark research on black-maned Kalahari lions and the elusive brown hyena. After surviving violent storms, wildfires, and 120-degree heat during their research, they chronicled their findings in their book ''Cry of the Kalahari''.
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The northeastern portion, however, receives much more rainfall and, climatically, cannot qualify as a desert; and yet, it is totally lacking in surface water. [[Rain]] drains instantly through the deep sands of the area, which creates a situation of edaphic drought (soil completely devoid of moisture).<ref name=Britannica/>
  
==Ancestral land==
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Summer temperatures in the Kalahari range from 20 to 40 °C. In winter, the Kalahari has a dry, cold climate with frosts at night. The low winter temperature can average below 0 °C.
<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:Kun san.jpg|right|thumb|200px|A Bushman in the Kalahari]] —>
 
The area is the ancestral land of the [[Bushmen]] (San) peoples. There are many distinct tribes, and they have no collective name for themselves. The names ''San'' and ''Basarwa'' are sometimes used, but the people themselves dislike these names (''San'' is a Khoikhoi word meaning ''outsider'', and ''Basarwa'' a Herero word meaning ''person who has nothing'') and prefer the name "Bushman".  Their language, Khoisan, is a language of clicks. The name bushmen was given to them by early settlers who may have named them for the fact they live in the bush or it might have been given because of their use of aromatic spices collected from various bushes. They are thought to have been the first human inhabitants of Southern Africa; there is evidence that they have been living there continuously as nomadic [[hunter-gatherer]]s for at least 22,000 years.
 
  
The Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert were first brought to the Western world's attention in the 1950s when South African author [[Laurens van der Post]] published his most famous work ''The Lost World of the Kalahari'', which was also turned into a [[BBC]] TV series. This and other later works about the Kalahari prompted the creation of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in 1961 to preserve the Bushmen and their homeland.
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===Environmental issues===
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Local herders who overgraze their [[sheep]], [[goat]]s, and [[karakul]] (a kind of sheep) contribute to [[desertification]] by removing the vegetation.
  
The majority of Bushmen were placed in settlements in the 1980s, ostensibly to protect the reserve and to provide a better lifestyle for them. Some, however, sued the government of Botswana for the right to return to their homeland, and the supreme court granted them the right to return in 2007.
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In the Okavango Delta region, [[Botswana]] and [[Namibia]] have at times made plans to tap its waters during prolonged periods of drought. Though those plans were shelved, a future water crisis as the population grows might renew the calls to use the waters from the [[Okavango River]] and the delta in which it ends. [[Angola]], where the river originates; Botswana; and Namibia have signed a regional agreement on water usage, overseen by the Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission.
  
 
==Natural resources==
 
==Natural resources==
 
===Minerals===
 
===Minerals===
There are large [[coal]], [[copper]], [[nickel]], and [[uranium]] deposits in the region. One of the largest [[diamond]] mines in the world is located at Orapa in the Makgadikgadi, North-Eastern Kalahari. Pomfret, on the edge of the desert, has [[asbestos]] in the subsoil and a shuttered asbestos mine.<ref>{{cite web
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There are large [[coal]], [[copper]], [[nickel]], and [[uranium]] deposits in the region. One of the largest [[diamond]] mines in the world is located at Orapa in the Makgadikgadi, in the northeastern Kalahari. Pomfret, on the edge of the desert, has [[asbestos]] in the subsoil and a shuttered asbestos mine.<ref>Daniel, Zoe. August 11, 2005. [http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2005/s1496370.htm “South Africa Pomfret.”] ''The Australian Broadcasting Corporation''. Retrieved April 14, 2007.</ref>
|url=http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2005/s1496370.htm
 
|title=South Africa - Pomfret
 
|publisher=abc.net
 
|accessdate=2007-01-03
 
}}</ref>
 
  
===Diamond mining===
 
The overseas campaign group Survival International say the real reason for the re-settlement of Bushmen by the Botswana government is to free up the land for [[diamond]] mining, especially in the area of Orapa, the diamond capital of the country. But the Botswana Centre for Human Rights, ''Ditshwanelo'', disputes this, claiming that the government is being altruistic but misguided.
 
 
===Plants===
 
===Plants===
As one might expect from a unique landscape such as the Kalahari desert, it contains many unique plants. Add to this the aeons old experience and knowledge of the San or Bushman and you have a wealth of botanical medicines that can and have been exploited, both historically and at present.
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The Kalahari Desert contains many unique plants, including medicinal plants whose uses have been learned from the [[Bushmen]]. The great value of Devil’s claw, or Harpagophytum, as a natural medicine was learned by the Germans (from the Bushmen). This resulted in a multimillion-dollar international industry, which incidentally led to the local extinction of the plant in many areas.  
  
The great value of Devil’s claw or Harpagophytum, as a natural medicine was learned by the Germans (from the Bushmen) during the last century. This has resulted in a multi-million dollar international industry, which has incidentally led to the local extinction of the plant in many areas. Sad to say, the San or Bushman did not see a dime of all this money. The latest wonder medicine to come from the Kalhari, is “Hoodia”, the miracle “Bushman solution to appetite control”. The South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) discovered the valuable properties of this plant in the 1970’s and extracted and tested a miracle ingredient which was later dubbed “P75”. Besides being an almost ideal appetite supressor, P75 had several other valuable medical properties.
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Plants in the Kalahari use a number of strategies to deal with the extreme conditions found there:
  
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* Extremely deep root system: for example, the Camel Thorn Tree, ''Acacia erioloba'', has roots up to 40 meters long.
ghdzlkhjkdhjjkzdhl;ldfhalnfhfgnjsdnff.ngfrica, lying mainly between 20 and 28 S. and 19 and 24 E., and covering fully 120,000 sq. m. The greater part of this territory forms the western portion of the (British) Bechuanaland protectorate, but it extends south into that part of Bechuanaland annexed to the Cape and west into German South-West Africa. The Orange river marks its southern limit; westward it reaches to the foot of the Nama and Damara hills, eastward to the cultivable parts of Bechuanaland, northward and north-westward to the valley of the Okavango and the bed of Lake Ngami. The Kalahari, part of the immense inner table-land of South Africa, has an average elevation of over 3000 ft. with a general slope from east to west and a dip northward to Ngami. Described by Robert Moff as the southern Sahara, the Kalahari resembles the great desert of North Africa in being generally arid and in being scored by the beds of dried-up rivers. It presents however many points of difference from the Sahara. The surface soil is mainly red sand, but in places limestone overlies shale and conglomerates. The ground is undulating and its appearance is comparable with that of the ocean at times of heavy swell. The crests of the waves are represented by sand dunes, rising from 30 to ioo ft.; the troughs between the dunes vary greatly in breadth. On the eastern border long tongues of sand project into the veld, while the veld in places penetrates far into the desert. There are also, and especially along the river beds, extensive mud fiats. After heavy rain these become pans or lakes, and water is then also found in mud-bottomed pools along the beds of the rivers. The water in the pans is often brackish, and in some cases thickly encrusted with salt. Pans also occur in crater-like depressions where rock rises above the desert sands. A tough, sun-bleached grass, growing knee-high in tufts at intervals of about 15 in., covers the dunes and gives the general color of the landscape. Considerable parts of the Kalahari, chiefly in the west and north, are however covered, with dense scrub and there are occasional patches of forest. Next to the lack of water the chief characteristics of the desert are the tuberous and herbaceous plants and the large numbers of big game found in it. Of the plants the most remarkable is the water-melon, of which both the bitter and sweet variety are found, and which supplies both man and beast with water. The game includes the lion, leopard, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, buffalo, zebra, quagga, many kinds of antelope (among them the kudu and gnu), baboon and ostrich. The elephant, giraffe and eland are also found. The hunting of these three last-named animals is prohibited, and for all game there is a close time from the beginning of September to the end of February.
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* Large underground tubers, with a small exposed part: Many little-known Kalahri plants follow this route.
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* Extremely rapid growth cycle: the Devils thorn, ''Tribulus terestris'', that completes its complete life cycle from germination to flowering and seed-forming within as little as two weeks, is a typical example.
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* By forming large and treelike to shrublike forms of the same plant, depending on local conditions: The Grey Camel thorn, ''Acacia haematoxylon'', is a prime example of this.
  
The climate is hot, dry and healthy, save in the neighborhood of the large marshes in the north, where malarial fever is prevalent. In this region the drainage is N.E. to the great Makarikari marsh and the Botletle, the river connecting the marsh with the Ngami system. In the south the drainage is towards the Orange. The Molopo and the Kuruman, which in their upper course in eastern Bechuanaland are perennial streams, lose their water by evaporation and percolation on their way westward through the Kalahari. The Molopo, a very imposing river on the map, is dry in its lower stretches. The annual rainfall does not exceed 10 in. It occurs in the summer months, September to March, and chiefly in thunderstorms. The country is suffering from progressive desiccation, but there is good evidence of an abundant supply of water not far beneath the surface. In the water-melon season a few white farmers living on the edge of the desert send their herds thither to graze. Such few spots as have been under cultivation by artificial irrigation yield excellent returns to the farmer; but the chief commercial products of the desert are the skins of animals.
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==Game reserves==
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[[Image:Suricata.jpg|right|thumb|180px|A meerkat in the Kalahari]]
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[[Image:Wd4_ian_710_01.JPG|right|thumb|180px|The endangered African Wild Dog in CKGR]]
  
The Kalahari is the home of wandering Bushmen (~.v.), who live entirely by the chase, killing their prey with poisoned arrows, of Ba-Kalahari, and along the western border of Hottentots, who are both hunters and cattle-rearers. The Ba-Kalahari (men of the Kalahari), who constitute the majority of the inhabitants, appear to belong to the Batau tribe of the Bechuanas, now no longer having separate tribal existence, and traditionally reported to be the oldest of the Bechuana tribes. Their features are markedly negroid, though their skin is less.black than that of many negro peoples. They have thin legs and arms. The Ba-Kalahari are said to have possessed enormous herds of large horned cattle until deprived of them and driven into the desert by a fresh migration of more powerful Bechuana tribes. Unlike the Bushmen, and in spite of desert life, the Ba-Kalahari have a true passion for agriculture and cattle-breeding. They carefully cultivate their gardens, though in many cases all they can grow is a scanty supply of melons and pumpkins, and they rear small herds of goats. They are also clever hunters, and from the neighboring Bechuana chiefs obtain spears, knives, tobacco and dogs in exchange for the skins of the animals they kill. In disposition they are peaceful to timidity, grave and almost morose. Livingstone states that he never saw Ba-Kalahari children at play. An ingenious method is employed to obtain water where there is no open well or running stream. To one end of a reed about 2 ft. long a bunch of grass is tied, and this end of the reed is inserted in a hole dug at a spot where water is known to exist underground, the wet sand being rammed down firmly round it. An ostrich egg-shell, the usual water vessel, is placed on the ground alongside the reed. The water-drawer, generally a woman, then sucks up the water through the reed, dexterously squirting it into the adjacent egg-shell. To aid her aim she places between her lips a straw, the other end of which is inserted in the shell. The shells, when filled, are buried, the object of the Ba-Kalahari being to preserve their supplies from any sudden raid by Bushmen or other foe. Early travellers stated that no amount of bullying or hunting in a BaKalahari village would result in a find of water; but that on friendly relations being established the natives would bring a supply, however arid the district. The British government has since sunk wells in one or two districts. Though the Ba Kalahari have no religion in the strict sense of the word, they show traces of totemism, and as Batau, i.e. men of the lion, revere rather than fear that beast.
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The Kalahari has a number of game reserves, includng the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), the world's second largest protected area; Khutse Game Reserve; and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. The area's remoteness, unforgiving climate, and harsh terrain have kept it pristine. Animals that live in the region include brown [[hyena]]s, [[lion]]s, [[meerkat]]s, several species of [[antelope]], including the [[oryx]] or [[gemsbok]], [[warthog]]s, [[cheetah]]s, [[wild dog]]s, [[leopard]]s, and many species of [[bird]]s and [[reptile]]s. Vegetation in the Kalahari consists mainly of [[grass]]es and [[acacia]]s but there are over four hundred identified [[plant]] species present (including the wild [[watermelon]] or tsamma melon).  
  
The Kalahari was first crossed to Lake Ngami by David Livingstone, accompanied by William C. Oswell, in 1849. In 1878-1879 a party of Boers, with about three hundred wagons, trekked from the Transvaal across the Kalahari to Ngami and thence to the hinterland of Angola. Many of the party, men, women and children, perished of thirst during the journey. Survivors stated that in all some 250 people and 9000 cattle died. The Kalhari desert is red.To this day it is still there.It would be a great place to visit, just watch for animals!
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===Central Kalahari Game Reserve===
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Four [[fossil]] rivers twist and turn through the arid reserve. Among them is Deception Valley, a dusty old watercourse that wound its way through the northern Kalahari sixteen thousand years ago and is today a well-known game watching area. For seven years, Mark and Delia Owens lived in tents in Deception Valley, doing landmark research on black-maned Kalahari lions and the elusive brown hyena. After surviving violent storms, wildfires, and 120-degree heat during their research, they chronicled their findings in their book ''Cry of the Kalahari''.
  
-->
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A variety of grasses, acacia, thorn trees, and other tough, drought-resistant [[plant]]s cover most of CKGR. Among the shallow valleys, tsamma melons and gemsbok cucumbers are found, which provide the main source of water for the animals and [[Bushmen]] during the dry season. The CKGR was originally set aside in 1961 as a homeland for the Bushmen.
  
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===Khutse Game Reserve===
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The Khutse Game Reserve, the southern extension of the Kalahari Game Reserve, was established to conserve the pans of the Central Kalahari. The reserve’s grass and shrub lands attract herds of antelope, and these in turn attract the attention of endangered predators such as the [[cheetah]] and wild dog. After a good rainfall as many as 150 species of [[bird]]s may be spotted around the pans.
  
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===Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park===
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Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a large wildlife preserve and conservation area located largely within the southern Kalahari Desert, straddling the border between South Africa and Botswana. It comprises two adjoining national parks:
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*Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa
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*Gemsbok National Park in Botswana
  
==Notes==
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Kgalagadi means "place of thirst." The terrain consists of red sand dunes, sparse vegetation, occasional trees, and the dry riverbeds of the Nossob and Auob Rivers. The rivers are said to flow only about once per century. They may flow briefly after large thunderstorms, a cause for celebration among the wildlife who flock to the river beds to drink. However, water flows underground and provides life for grass and camelthorn trees growing in the river beds.
<references/>
 
  
==External links==
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== Notes ==
*[http://www.upington.com Flying to the Kalahari]
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<References/>
*[http://www.owens-foundation.org/docs/kalahari2.htm  "Cry of the Kalahari"]
 
*[http://www.ianandwendy.com/OtherTrips/BotswanaNamibia/Botswana/Kali/slideshow.htm Central Kalahari Game Reserve Pictures, Botswana]
 
*[http://abbott-infotech.co.za/index-kalahari.html Dream an electronic dream of the Kalahari]
 
*[http://kalaharimarketing.com Tourism and Produce of the Kalahari Region]
 
*[http://www.kalahari-desert.com Destination information about the Kalahari Desert.]
 
  
{{Deserts}}
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==References==
{{coor title dm|23|00|S|23|00|E|}}
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* de Villiers, Marq and Sheila Hirtle. ''Into Africa: A Journey through the Ancient Empires''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1997. ISBN 1550138847
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* [http://www.go2africa.com/location/6325/why-go/kalahari Kalahari Safari] Go2Africa.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
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* Oldfield, Sara. ''Deserts: The Living Drylands''. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004. ISBN 026215112X
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* Owens, Mark James, and Cordelia Dykes Owens. ''Cry of the Kalahari''. Mariner Books, 1992. ISBN 978-0395647806
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* Stoppato, Marco C. and Alfredo Bini. ''Deserts''. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2003. ISBN 1552976696
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* "Court victory proves hollow for Bushmen." ''Washington Times'' (January 18, 2007).
  
[[Category:Deserts of Botswana]]
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==External links==
[[Category:Deserts of Namibia]]
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All links retrieved October 4, 2022.
[[Category:Deserts of South Africa]]
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* [http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/bushmen The Bushmen] Survival International.
[[Category:Historical continents]]
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*[http://www.owens-foundation.org/docs/kalahari2.htm Bushmen of the Kalahari] &ndash; Owens Foundation for Wildlife Conservation.
[[Category:Ergs]]
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*[http://www.ianandwendy.com/OtherTrips/BotswanaNamibia/Botswana/Kali/slideshow.htm Central Kalahari Game Reserve Pictures, Botswana] &ndash; IanandWendy.com.
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*[http://www.upington.com Welcome to the Green Kalahari] Upington.com – Tourist Information about the Kalahari.
  
[[af:Kalahari]]
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[[ja:カラハリ砂漠]]
 
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[[ro:Deşertul Kalahari]]
 
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[[Category:Deserts]]
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[[Category:Africa]]
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Latest revision as of 06:57, 28 February 2023

The Kalahari Desert (shown in maroon) and Kalahari Basin (orange)

The Kalahari Desert is not really a desert, but rather a large arid to semi-arid sandy area in southern Africa, covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa. Though it is semi-desert, it has huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains and is rich in wildlife. The homeland of the Bushmen for perhaps thirty thousand years, the desert was the setting for the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy, which featured a Bushman family.

A strange, yet essential feature of this region are the pans, which are shallow hollows consisting of hard, gray clay. While appearing drab and flat, these pans provide essential salt for the animals of the Kalahari. They vary in size from a few hundred meters to a few square kilometers. There are two other distinct ecosystems found in the central Kalahari region: rich savanna and grasslands.

The core area of the desert covers an area of 100,000 square miles (260,000 square kilometers). But the surrounding Kalahari Basin covers over 2.5 million square kilometers, extending farther into Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa and encroaching into parts of Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The only permanent river, the Okavango, flows into a delta in northwest Botswana, forming marshes that draw abundant wildlife. Ancient dry riverbeds—called omuramba—traverse the central northern reaches of the Kalahari and provide standing pools of water during the rainy season. Previously havens for wild animals from elephants to giraffes, and for predators such as lions and cheetahs, the riverbeds are now mostly grazing spots, though leopards or cheetahs can still be found.

History

David Livingstone

The Kalahari has existed as an inland desert since the Cretaceous period (65-135 million years ago). It has experienced both periods of greater humidity and more aridity, documented in fossil dune fields. It was during a period of greater rainfall that the Makgadikgadi Depression in northern Botswana was formed. The former lake at one point covered 23,000 square miles (60,000 square kilometers), about the same size as Lake Victoria today. The dry riverbeds that now only hold water when it rains are also from such periods.

The first European to cross the Kalahari was David Livingstone, accompanied by William C. Oswell, in 1849. In 1878-1879 a party of Boers, with about three hundred wagons, trekked from the Transvaal across the Kalahari to Ngami and on into Angola. Survivors stated that some 250 people and nine thousand cattle died on the journey.

The first Europeans who entered the Kalahari after Livingstone came as travelers, missionaries, ivory hunters, and traders. The only European settlement was in the Ghanzi District, where a number of families were allowed ranching blocks in the 1890s. Until the 1960s they led a life of isolation and poverty, but since then they have been able to gain ownership of the land and improve their living conditions. Most other whites in the Kalahari are government employees or are engaged in private enterprise.[1]

Ancestral land

Main article: Bushmen
Bushmen community at Gope, Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana. Image © courtesy of Survival International.
Did you know?
The Kalahari is the ancestral land of the Bushmen or San peoples

The Kalahari is the ancestral land of the Bushmen or San peoples. There are many distinct tribes, and they have no collective name for themselves. The names San and Basarwa are sometimes used, but the people themselves dislike these names (San is a Khoikhoi word meaning outsider, and Basarwa a Herero word meaning person who has nothing) and prefer the name "Bushman." Their language, Khoisan, is a language of clicks. The name Bushmen was given to them by early settlers who may have named them for the fact they live in the bush or it might have been given because of their use of aromatic spices collected from various bushes. They are thought to have been the first human inhabitants of Southern Africa; there is evidence that they have been living there continuously as nomadic hunter-gatherers for over twenty thousand years.

The Bushmen were first brought to the Western world's attention in the 1950s when South African author Laurens van der Post published his famous book The Lost World of the Kalahari, which was also turned into a BBC TV series. This and other later works about the Kalahari prompted the British colonial authorities to create the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in 1961 to preserve the Bushmen and the wildlife. After independence, Botswana provided food, water, and medical care to them, but eventually they began raising goats and planting crops. Wildlife officials were concerned about the impact on the environment and the government balked at providing services to remote villages. About three thousand of the estimated hundred thousand remaining Bushmen moved into settlements.

Some two hundred, however, sued the government of Botswana for the right to return to their homeland, and the High Court ruled in December 2006 that the Bushmen are entitled to live and hunt on their ancestral lands. However, the government placed limits on what they could take with them. They cannot bring domesticated animals with them or build permanent structures. Hunters have to apply for permits, and only those named in the original lawsuit may return.

Today the Bushmen are offering a taste of their life to tourists to bring in money. Bushman activities that can be experienced by visitors include identifying natural salt/mineral licks, medicinal plants, trees, bushes, spoor, birds, and other animals; gathering and preparing foods; learning their dances and playing the foot bow. They can go on a guided simulation hunt and watch demonstrations of traditional skills, such as making "jewelry" from ostrich eggshells, glass beads, and seeds; tanning skins and curing hides; and making rope and glue.

Geography

Kalahari in Botswana

Derived from the Tswana word Keir, meaning the great thirst, or the tribal word Khalagari or Kalagare (meaning "a waterless place"),[2] the Kalahari has vast areas covered by red-brown sands without any permanent surface water. Drainage is by dry valleys, seasonally inundated pans, and the large salt pans of the Makgadikgadi Pan in Botswana and Etosha Pan in Namibia.

The Kalahari is not considered a true desert. Traditionally, an area was classified as desert if it received less than 10 inches (250 millimeters) of rain annually. A more accurate definition of a desert is a region in which the potential evaporation rate is twice as great as the precipitation. Both of these criteria are applicable to the southwestern half of the Kalahari, which receives less than 175 millimeters of rain annually.

The northeastern portion, however, receives much more rainfall and, climatically, cannot qualify as a desert; and yet, it is totally lacking in surface water. Rain drains instantly through the deep sands of the area, which creates a situation of edaphic drought (soil completely devoid of moisture).[1]

Summer temperatures in the Kalahari range from 20 to 40 °C. In winter, the Kalahari has a dry, cold climate with frosts at night. The low winter temperature can average below 0 °C.

Environmental issues

Local herders who overgraze their sheep, goats, and karakul (a kind of sheep) contribute to desertification by removing the vegetation.

In the Okavango Delta region, Botswana and Namibia have at times made plans to tap its waters during prolonged periods of drought. Though those plans were shelved, a future water crisis as the population grows might renew the calls to use the waters from the Okavango River and the delta in which it ends. Angola, where the river originates; Botswana; and Namibia have signed a regional agreement on water usage, overseen by the Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission.

Natural resources

Minerals

There are large coal, copper, nickel, and uranium deposits in the region. One of the largest diamond mines in the world is located at Orapa in the Makgadikgadi, in the northeastern Kalahari. Pomfret, on the edge of the desert, has asbestos in the subsoil and a shuttered asbestos mine.[3]

Plants

The Kalahari Desert contains many unique plants, including medicinal plants whose uses have been learned from the Bushmen. The great value of Devil’s claw, or Harpagophytum, as a natural medicine was learned by the Germans (from the Bushmen). This resulted in a multimillion-dollar international industry, which incidentally led to the local extinction of the plant in many areas.

Plants in the Kalahari use a number of strategies to deal with the extreme conditions found there:

  • Extremely deep root system: for example, the Camel Thorn Tree, Acacia erioloba, has roots up to 40 meters long.
  • Large underground tubers, with a small exposed part: Many little-known Kalahri plants follow this route.
  • Extremely rapid growth cycle: the Devils thorn, Tribulus terestris, that completes its complete life cycle from germination to flowering and seed-forming within as little as two weeks, is a typical example.
  • By forming large and treelike to shrublike forms of the same plant, depending on local conditions: The Grey Camel thorn, Acacia haematoxylon, is a prime example of this.

Game reserves

A meerkat in the Kalahari
The endangered African Wild Dog in CKGR

The Kalahari has a number of game reserves, includng the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), the world's second largest protected area; Khutse Game Reserve; and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. The area's remoteness, unforgiving climate, and harsh terrain have kept it pristine. Animals that live in the region include brown hyenas, lions, meerkats, several species of antelope, including the oryx or gemsbok, warthogs, cheetahs, wild dogs, leopards, and many species of birds and reptiles. Vegetation in the Kalahari consists mainly of grasses and acacias but there are over four hundred identified plant species present (including the wild watermelon or tsamma melon).

Central Kalahari Game Reserve

Four fossil rivers twist and turn through the arid reserve. Among them is Deception Valley, a dusty old watercourse that wound its way through the northern Kalahari sixteen thousand years ago and is today a well-known game watching area. For seven years, Mark and Delia Owens lived in tents in Deception Valley, doing landmark research on black-maned Kalahari lions and the elusive brown hyena. After surviving violent storms, wildfires, and 120-degree heat during their research, they chronicled their findings in their book Cry of the Kalahari.

A variety of grasses, acacia, thorn trees, and other tough, drought-resistant plants cover most of CKGR. Among the shallow valleys, tsamma melons and gemsbok cucumbers are found, which provide the main source of water for the animals and Bushmen during the dry season. The CKGR was originally set aside in 1961 as a homeland for the Bushmen.

Khutse Game Reserve

The Khutse Game Reserve, the southern extension of the Kalahari Game Reserve, was established to conserve the pans of the Central Kalahari. The reserve’s grass and shrub lands attract herds of antelope, and these in turn attract the attention of endangered predators such as the cheetah and wild dog. After a good rainfall as many as 150 species of birds may be spotted around the pans.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a large wildlife preserve and conservation area located largely within the southern Kalahari Desert, straddling the border between South Africa and Botswana. It comprises two adjoining national parks:

  • Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa
  • Gemsbok National Park in Botswana

Kgalagadi means "place of thirst." The terrain consists of red sand dunes, sparse vegetation, occasional trees, and the dry riverbeds of the Nossob and Auob Rivers. The rivers are said to flow only about once per century. They may flow briefly after large thunderstorms, a cause for celebration among the wildlife who flock to the river beds to drink. However, water flows underground and provides life for grass and camelthorn trees growing in the river beds.

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 George Bertrand Silberbauer, “Kalahari.” Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
  2. Mary Sadler-Altena, Overview and description of the Kalahari-basin.
  3. Daniel, Zoe. August 11, 2005. “South Africa – Pomfret.” The Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved April 14, 2007.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • de Villiers, Marq and Sheila Hirtle. Into Africa: A Journey through the Ancient Empires. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1997. ISBN 1550138847
  • Kalahari Safari Go2Africa.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  • Oldfield, Sara. Deserts: The Living Drylands. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004. ISBN 026215112X
  • Owens, Mark James, and Cordelia Dykes Owens. Cry of the Kalahari. Mariner Books, 1992. ISBN 978-0395647806
  • Stoppato, Marco C. and Alfredo Bini. Deserts. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2003. ISBN 1552976696
  • "Court victory proves hollow for Bushmen." Washington Times (January 18, 2007).

External links

All links retrieved October 4, 2022.

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