Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - Web posted at 8:04:33 GMT

Etosha Pan has water for first time in decade

PEARL COETZEE
WINDHOEK - The massive salty pan of the Etosha National Park is filled with water for the first time in a decade, attracting thousands of bird species, including flamingos.




The floods that hit the northern and northeastern parts of the country have been welcome for animals in the park.

The pan is a large dusty depression of salt and clay, and it only fills up in exceptional rainy seasons.

The ancient lake gradually dried up between two and 10 million years ago when climatic changes and topographic movements caused the Kunene River to change its course and to flow into the Atlantic Ocean.

Now, the pan is a stark, seemingly endless depression of pale greenish-white clay, silt and mineral salts.

In years of good rainfall, several tributaries of the Kunene River such as the Oshigambo and the Ekuma in the northwest and the Omuramba Ovambo in the east drain into the pan, attracting thousands of flamingos and other wading birds.

The water can be as much as twice saltier than seawater, and therefore generally unfit for animal consumption.

The unusually heavy rains this year also filled several small, usually dry lakes to the north.

A San legend about the formation of the Etosha Pan tells of how a village was raided, and everyone but the women murdered.

One woman was so upset about the death of her family that she cried until her tears formed a massive lake.

When the lake dried up, nothing was left apart from a huge white pan.

The Etosha National Park is one of the largest savannah conservation areas in Africa, and is renowned for its spectacular wildlife: elephants, black and white rhinoceros, lions, leopards, cheetahs, large herds of springbok, zebra, wildebeest, giraffe and a multitude of other fascinating species, big and small, interacting in their natural environment.

The mineral salts should be a big boost to wildlife. Maybe we'll see some 25 inch Springbok next year

Thanks for giving me even more to look forward to for next year. Almostacowgirl and I will be hunting with Omalanga in June of 2009. I hope a few of those 25-inchers stray off to the southeast!
Dave

It nice to see they received good rains this year. But don't forget last year was really bad! I know many areas and outfitters lost large numbers of Kudu and Warthogs.