Predators of the Namib live on NamibiaCam

There are no lions in the dunes in southwestern Namib of Namibia. But there is the number two big cat, its smaller cousin, also spotted, and other predators. They all cause excitement, time and again for fans of the NamibiaCam, which is installed at a watering hole near the Namib Desert Lodge.

Like an Aardwolf (Proteles cristata) three days ago. It is not a wolf, but belongs to the hyena family. And lives preferably, quite unspectacularly, on termites. But it is a predator (see Wikipedia).

Shy and nocturnal as it is, the Aardwolf is rarely seen. That's why the two minutes it spent at the waterhole on the edge of the Namib Desert were saved as a video and can be seen on the NamibiaCam channel on YouTube.

Highlight: Cheetah with four cubs

Barely a week earlier, fans of NamibiaCam observed a Strandwolf or Brown Hyena (Parahyaena brunnea). A video also bears witness to this. A Laughing Hyena or Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) with prey in its mouth was filmed by the camera drinking in early September.

Even more attention was paid to a Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). It was loudly announced by a Black-Backed Jackal (Lupulella mesomelas), as captured on the video.

However, with around 43,000 views so far, this clip does not yet come close to the "viewership" of a recording from early June. It shows a Cheetah mother with four still very young cubs and has been viewed by over 50,000 fans so far.

Largest predator in the area is (camera) shy

This year's record, however, is held by the Namib's largest predator in southwestern Namibia. In mid-April, a Leopard (Panthera pardus) came to the waterhole. This clip has received more than 91,000 "views" so far. It was the first and so far the only time that this big cat has shown itself in front of the webcam.

But it is not so much the video clips that make the NamibiaCam near the Namib Desert Lodge of the Gondwana Collection so popular (see report on Namibian.org). It's the live transmission from the desert directly into the living room.

Sven-Eric Stender