The Namib, a desert miracle: fauna (4)

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 One of the mammalian wonders of the Namib is the Cape fur seal colony at Cape Cross, but the combination of noise and smell is not for the faint-hearted.

Up to 100.000 of these large fur seals may be present on this rocky promontory at certain times of year but in October, when the mature bulls fight for the right to become "beach-masters" and establish harems, things are at their most interesting.

From late November to early December the small black pups are born and the bulls assert their right to mate.

Black-backed jackals and brown hyaenas patrol the fringes of the colony, feeding on dead or weak seal pups and debris. Kelp gulls also grab any morsel.

Great skeins of Cape cormorants, flying just above the waves, wing north and south along the Namib coastline, moving between the pelagic fishing grounds and their roosting sites.



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