Okavango Delta

Oil drilling threatens the Okavango River Basin, putting water in Namibia and Botswana at risk

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

In total, the river basin covers 700,000km², encompassing a network of river systems across Angola, Namibia and Botswana.

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In total, the river basin covers 700,000km², encompassing a network of river systems across Angola, Namibia and Botswana.
The Cubango and Cuito rivers, which originate from the Angolan highlands, join the Okavango River at the border between Angola and Namibia, and flow into the Okavango Delta in Botswana.
The Okavango River sustains over half a million people in Namibia and Botswana.

Reasons to worry

The current exploration licence in Namibia allows the company to drill exploratory stratigraphic wells.
Drilling near the Omatako River in Namibia already endangers the groundwater since the drilling waste fluids have been discarded in unlined pits.
This is despite the fact that the lease area includes parts of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Park and the Okavango River.

What we found

We found that contamination could infiltrate the aquifer system and contaminate the groundwater near the Omatako River.
Contaminated groundwater could take three to 23.5 years to reach the Okavango River system via the shallow, sandy aquifer.
Contaminated groundwater from proposed drill sites could reach the Okavango Delta even faster along another route: certain geological structures underground.
The geological structures in the area are associated with parts of the Earth’s crust that are tectonically active: they might change.

Need to revisit clearance certificate

The Namibian government then awarded an updated environmental clearance certificate to the company.
Even though there wasn’t enough data to determine the possible groundwater impact, the environmental impact assessment deemed contamination to be negligible.

Colossal Biosciences Launches Partnership with Elephant Havens Wildlife Foundation to Develop New Models for the Successful Reintroduction of Orphan Elephants Using AI

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Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Colossal Biosciences , the world’s first de-extinction company, has today announced an integrated partnership with Elephant Havens Wildlife Foundation , the only elephant orphanage in Botswana, to establish a new model playbook for reintroducing orphan elephants back into the wild.

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Colossal Biosciences , the world’s first de-extinction company, has today announced an integrated partnership with Elephant Havens Wildlife Foundation , the only elephant orphanage in Botswana, to establish a new model playbook for reintroducing orphan elephants back into the wild.
View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230714487980/en/
Colossal Biosciences team at Elephant Havens in Botswana, Africa.
In a new initiative, Colossal has teamed up with Elephant Havens to implement a technologically-informed approach to elephant care and reintroduction methods.
As part of an ongoing initiative to delve into the population genomics of elephants, Colossal will be performing genomic sequencing on all elephants at Elephant Havens.

From enormous elephants to tiny shrews: how mammals shape and are shaped by Africa's landscapes

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Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Rat, Human, Shrew, Seed, Solution, Giraffe, Mammal, Tree, University of the Witwatersrand, Foot, Ecology, Food, Afrotheria, History, Elephant, Movement, Gondwana, Drought, Guinea, Population, Flood, Animal, Time, Primate, Water, Fish, Mouse, Climate, Weather, Ecosystem, Hyrax, Geography, Antelope, Hunting, Truffle, Road, Okavango Delta

Africa is the world’s most diverse continent for large mammals such as antelopes, zebras and elephants.

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Africa is the world’s most diverse continent for large mammals such as antelopes, zebras and elephants.
The heaviest of these large mammals top the scales at over one ton, and are referred to as megafauna.
In fact, it’s the only continent that has not seen a mass extinction of these megafauna.
The continent’s megafauna community includes the world’s largest terrestrial mammal, the African elephant.

Early mammal history

The history of African mammals begins with an apparently unrelated group of creatures.
They’re so dissimilar from each other today that taxonomists didn’t work out their true relationships until about two decades ago.
Today, this group accounts for only a small fraction of the mammal species on the continent.

Shaped by geography

The variables of physical geography have worked hand in hand with the tectonic forces of prehistory.
Africa is not a uniform landscape that enjoys the same climate and habitat throughout.
Some parts, such as Madagascar, are not even connected to the mainland but appear as offshore islands.

Population shifts

Another element that’s crucial to telling the story of Africa’s mammals is an understanding of how species and population groups are formed and fluctuate over time.
Hippopotamuses in the Okavango Delta create and maintain open water channels, which serve as critical habitat for fishes.
A key determinant of these population fluctuations is also the inherent life history characteristics of a species: short-lived, fast reproducing species such as rats and mice will, by definition, experience greater fluctuations in their numbers than long-lived, slow reproducing species like elephants.

Conservation

The ecosystem services provided by many mammals are crucial to a healthy environment for all species.
Humans evolved in Africa and have interacted with other African mammals for millions of years here.

United Airlines and Airlink Announce Commercial Agreement to Help Customers Explore Southern Africa

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

CHICAGO, Sept. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, United Airlines and Airlink , a South African airline, announced a new codeshare agreement that will offer customers more connections between the U.S. and Southern Africa than any other airline alliance.

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CHICAGO, Sept. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, United Airlines and Airlink , a South African airline, announced a new codeshare agreement that will offer customers more connections between the U.S. and Southern Africa than any other airline alliance.
The new agreement, which is subject to government approval, will offer one stop connections from the U.S. to more than 40 destinations in Southern Africa.
"And now through our codeshare agreement with Airlink - which is the most expansive partnership in Southern Africa - customers will be able to easily explore more bucket list destinations across the continent including easy connections to Zambia, Zimbabwe and more."
In 2019, United and United Express carriers operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 162 million customers.

De Beers and National Geographic Partner to Protect a Natural Wonder

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

The Okavango Basin, spanning southern Angola, eastern Namibia, and northern Botswana, is the main source of water for the Okavango Delta.

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The Okavango Basin, spanning southern Angola, eastern Namibia, and northern Botswana, is the main source of water for the Okavango Delta.
Since 2015, the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project has been working to secure permanent, sustainable protection for the Okavango Basin.
This is our last chance to help protect this natural wonder and we are pleased to partner with De Beers on this critically important project," said Dr. Steve Boyes, National Geographic Explorer and leader of the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project.
Through Okavango Eternal, De Beers and National Geographic will work together to help establish and activate one of the largest transboundary protected areas in sub-Saharan Africa.