Horses Abandoned in the Namibian Desert by German Gold Prospectors
Channel: Wild World
Date: 2022-06-25

The Wild Horses of Namibia – Namib Desert Horses
February 21, 2011 by Elke 4 Comments

These horses have learned to adapt:
These very adjustable horses have managed to survive for more than 100 years in the heat of the Namib Desert where there is no shade and temperatures reach 45 degrees C (113 degrees F). In the small town of Garub*, 20 km west of Aus these wild horses can be observed even today.

How did these wild horses get there?
The Namib Desert:
The sun relentlessly scorches this amazing desert landscape of the Namib Desert – it is hard to believe that any creature can live at temperatures of around 45 degrees for any length of time or even survive.

But they managed to do just that: The wild horses of Namibia, the Namib Horses, have lived in this area for more than 100 years and without any human assistance. These feral horses were able to develop in almost complete isolation, and today we can speak of them as a separate breed, the “Namibs”.

Where did the Namib Horses come from?
The answer to this question was controversial for a long time. It was certain only that there were originally no wild horses in the Namib Desert, therefore the horses had to have been introduced with human help.

Some believe that they originated from a cargo ship, loaded with horses and other livestock that arrived in the late 19t century about 25 km south of the mouth of the Orange River (200 km from Garub).

Others mention the horse breeding station of Hansheinrich von Wolf (at Duwisib Castle, 250 km northeast of Garub). But a farm manager was continuously stationed there in the First World War during Wolf’s absences and after his death. Nothing in the books indicates that any horses had gone missing even into the late thirties, whereas the wild horses near Garub were mentioned in the 1920s already.

It would be unusual for horses to cover such great distances as they normally tend to stay in the area they know. Therefore, it seems likely that the wild horses were originally from the region of Garub and Aus and the first two theories put forward are incorrect. A few stray horses can hardly have been the basis for the herd that exists today as their diversity of characteristics and herd size suggest a rather large initial group.

Another theory mentions that the German Schutztruppe had about 2000 horses (probably Trakehner) stationed near Aus during WWI and when they had to retreat before the South African troops, they just left behind their horses. However, the retreat for the most part, was carried out in an orderly manner.

At the same time some reports state that there were even more horses in the area: 10,000 South African soldiers with their 6,000 horses had set up camp near Garub in March of 1915. A dug well existed at that location. It supplied water for the steam engines at the nearby railroad line. This means that there were about 8000 horses in all in at the edge of the desert within a 30 km radius!
read more: https://www.wildhorsesandmustangs.com/the-wild-horses-of-namibia-namib-desert-horses/

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