Fauna

Until recently (1990s and into the 21st Century) much of the land in the Landscape that falls outside the Ai-Ais National Park was used primarily for small-stock farming. Hunting of wildlife was practiced, usually as a secondary activity, and greatly in excess of sustainable off-takes. As a result, wildlife numbers were severely depressed and many species are locally extinct.

The area is totally unsuited to conventional farming due to its extreme aridity and highly variable rainfall. Because of this and other exacerbating factors, the veld condition on these farms was poor to very poor at the time that the land was converted to wildlife and tourism. The condition of the veld will take many years (probably decades) to fully recover, but signs of recovery are already evident over large areas. Another consequence of small-stock farming was the eradication of predators, and the impacts that gin traps and particularly poisons had on non-target scavengers, both mammals and birds. As a result, a number of important components of the ecosystem have been totally eliminated and others reduced to critically low levels.

Many of the animals have developed special adaptations to enable them to survive in the extremely arid conditions.

Birds

Over 240 bird species have been recorded in the Landscape.

» Species list of birds

Mammals

The  Richtersveld-/Ai-/Ais area is home to at at least 56 species of large mammals, including leopard, Hartmann’s mountain zebra, springbok, gemsbok, red hartebeest, kudu, klipspringer, gemsbok, ostrich, ground squirrel and suricate. The /Ai-/Ais Hot Springs Game Park also contains a relict population of the grey rhebok (Pelea capreolus).

» Species list of mammals

Reptiles and amphibians

The landscape supports a rich reptile diversity. The Richtersveld-/Ai-/Ais area supports a large variety of lizards (35 species) and snakes (16 species).

» Species list of reptiles and amphibians