This operation was funded in collaboration with African Parks, Stichting Natura Africae and Conservation International, through the Global Environment Facility, Wild Wonderful World Conservation NPC and Back2Africa. This is the second collaring that we were able to support, click here to read more about last year's collaring in Iona National Park.

‍

Report by Ben Muller, wildlife veterinarian for Wildscapes Veterinary Services and lead veterinarian for the collaring operation:

‍Iona National Park is located in the south-west corner of Angola, representing the northern edge of the Namib Desert. The National Park encompasses roughly 15 000 km2, and shares a border with theSkeleton Coast National Park in Namibia. Together they form one of the largest trans frontier conservationareas (TFCA’s) in the world, protecting 50 000 km2 and covering a substantial portion of the Namib Desert. At43 million years old, this landscape is recognised as the oldest desert in the world. Iona National Park has fine examples of fossilized dunes reaffirming its age.

The park was established in 1964, but the region has faced over 40 years of conflict, including the independence war from Portuguese colonial rule in 1961-1974 and the Angolan civil war from 1975 to 2002. This destruction led to the local extinction of black rhino, elephant and lion from the region. The traditional Himba people have also been left destitute, with many of them residing in the eastern portion of the park, whilst maintaining their pastoral lifestyle in this dry landscape. The Himba people share the space and compete for the scarce water resources with viable populations of Hartmann’s mountain zebra, oryx, springbok, ostrich, with isolated pockets of kudu, black-faced impala and small numbers of brown hyaena, cheetah and leopard.

To safeguard this remarkable landscape, the Angolan Government partnered with African Parks in December 2019 to evaluate Iona and promote its long-term ecological, social, and economic sustainability for both wildlife and local communities. Through conservation efforts and the enhancement of tourism and other sustainable revenue-generating activities, Iona has the potential to sustain healthy ecosystems, both terrestrial and at the terrestrial-marine interface, benefiting future generations. Initiatives to restore species that were previously lost from the area have commenced with the reintroduction of Angolan giraffe in 2023 and 2024. Despite the growing pressures from increasing human and livestock populations on the ecosystem, ongoing positive community engagement is fostering successful integration of local communities into sustainable management practices within the park.

The pastoral lifestyle of the Himba people has led to a certain level of human-wildlife conflict with the park's predators, as well as direct competition with antelope and zebra for grazing and water resources. The use of satellite tracking collars within these landscapes will allow management access to the following valuable data:

1. Group size and seasonal variations
2. Group/animal home ranges and seasonal habitat utilization
3. Water point utilization and locations
4. Grazing area utilization and locations
5. For predators, especially cheetah; home range, kill and territorial marking sites, can be identified. Camera traps can then be more strategically placed to further study population densities and the presence of other species.
6. Zones of conflict with local people utilizing the park
7. Drafting of a Land Use Plan in conjunction with local communities to ensure Iona’s long term viability.
   ‍

In a historic milestone for Angola, these cheetah are the first to be collared, together with what is likely the country’s first brown hyena. Interestingly, during our brief time with these animals, we observed a notable environmental adaptation: the cheetahs in this arid landscape appear to have smaller body sizes compared to their counterparts from Namibia and South Africa. This suggests a fascinating connection between their physical characteristics and the challenges of their environment. Through observations like these, combined with the ecological data collected through the collars and ongoing monitoring, we hope to introduce better management and conservation outcomes for cheetah and other species in the future.

The collaring took place over 4 days, in which time the team collared the following animals:

• Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra – 6
• Oryx – 5
• Springbok – 3
• Kudu – 1
• Donkey/Zebra Hybrids – 2
• Cheetah – 2
• Brown Hyena – 1

All animals were fitted with satellite and VHF neck collars, except the donkey zebra hybrids and the kudu who were fitted with GSAT Solar Satellite eartags.
Conditions were good for collaring, with most mornings being productive. Due to heat, we stopped operations at mid-day each day.

A very big thank you to WWW NPC for sponsoring a portion of the veterinary costs, and also to Back To Africa NPC for sponsoring 3 of the G-SAT tags we placed on some of the animals.

‍
Thank you for your continued support of our operations.

‍

To support operations like these, please visit our conservation webshop to donate to frontier projects!