#okavango river

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Okavango River, Angola. No words ☮️💟

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(via GIPHY)

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A lion in the Okavango Delta, Africa

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‘Hippo Huddle’

Hippopotamuses seeking refuge in Botswana’s Okavango River became trapped in the mud, requiring wildlife officials to pump water into the river to help them escape.

by Talib Almarri (Terrestrial Wildlife Finalist)

BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition

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Oil drilling, possible fracking planned for Okavango region—elephants’ last stronghold

Hundreds of oil wells could come to cover a huge expanse in Namibia and Botswana, in what has been called possibly the “largest oil play of the decade.”

If ReconAfrica finds oil, a February investor presentation says, then the ultimate goal is to drill “hundreds of wells” in the area and open at least some of them using “modern frac stimulations,” a reference to fracking, the controversial practice where underground shale is injected with high-pressure fluid to crack open the rock and release oil and gas.

ReconAfrica’s drilling areas overlap with a multicountry conservation park, six locally managed wildlife reserves, and one UNESCO World Heritage site (and could affect another, the Okavango Delta, nearby). The Okavango region is home to the largest herd of African elephants left on Earth and myriad other animals—African wild dogs, lions, leopards, giraffes, amphibians and reptiles, birds—and rare flora.

Oil and gas infrastructure involves “the construction of roads, pipelines, and buildings” that “could all negatively affect important animal habitat, migratory pathways, and biodiversity,” according to the World Wildlife Fund.

This desert oasis is so extraordinary—and fragile—that in 2014, UNESCO added it to its list of World Heritage sites. The delta is also sheltered by Ramsar, an international treaty to protect wetlands whose signatories include Namibia and Botswana. The Okavango Delta is recognized by an act of the U.S. Congress and various other treaties.

Most of the delta’s water originates as seasonal rain in Angola’s forested central highlands, flows into the Okavango River, and snakes in a three-month journey across the Caprivi Strip before spreading out like a many-fingered hand in the northwestern corner of Botswana. ReconAfrica’s licensed exploration area abuts the main river that feeds the Okavango Delta for some 170 miles. Few other water sources are available during the long dry season here.

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Okavango River - Caprivi Strip - Namibia - Africa - 2024

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Okavango River, Shakawe, Botswana

Taken by Wynand Uys