A SCIONA team travelled through Skeleton Coast National Park to the Kunene River Mouth at the end of January 2020. Driving north, under guidance of Johan Van Rooyen, we set up camera traps next to the few water points along the route. On the way back, we met with the well-known lion researcher Dr Flip Stander, who handed over his book “Vanishing Kings – Lions of the Namib Desert” to the project. Our trip was topped off with the image of a very curious lioness when recovering our last camera trap.

A team of two SCIONA student researchers left Windhoek for three weeks long (10th 30th November 2019) trip to Epupa conservancy. The team was set to work in seven management blocks of the conservancy; Okandombo, Epupa, Omuramba, Omuhonga, Ondendu, Okanjandi and Ogondjanambari block. The students were joined by game guards who assisted and directed them to kill sites within their duty blocks.

The persistent and unprecedented drought in northwest Namibia continues to strike down livestock and wildlife in the SCIONA study area. Three SCIONA researchers that recently visited the area to evaluate giraffe habitat reported 11 carcasses of Hartmann’s mountain zebras close to water holes in Orupembe conservancy.  Zebras are often the last species to die during a drought, and in this area, competition between zebras and cattle for the last remaining grazing probably signed the animals’ death warrant.

Three SCIONA students performed field work in Iona National Park during the month of October 2019. This included a vegetation survey in the mountainous area near Iona village. 46 plots were established in five different habitats: mountains, riverbeds, sand plains, hills and rocky areas. About 81 different plant species were recorded in the plots, from which 15 are endemic to the SCIONA study area. Unidentified plant species in the field were collected and taken to the “LUBA” herbarium in Lubango for identification and to be stored there.