ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK
Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa.
It was proclaimed a game reserve in March 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the
Governor of German South West Africa, Friedrich von Lindequist. It was
designated as Wildschutzgebiet in 1958, and was awarded the status of
national park in 1967, by an act of parliament of the Republic of South
Africa. It spans an area of 22,270 sq km (8,600 sq mi) and was named
after the large Etosha pan which is almost entirely within the park.
With an area of 4,760 sq km (1,840 sq mi), the Etosha pan covers 23% of
the total area of the national park. The area is home to hundreds of
species of mammals, birds and reptiles, including several threatened and
endangered species such as the black rhinoceros. Sixty-one black
rhinoceros were killed during poaching in Namibia during 2022, 46 of
which were killed in Etosha.
Explorers
Charles John Andersson and Francis Galton are the first Europeans to
record the existence of the Etosha pan on 29 May 1851, although it was
already widely known by locals. These European explorers were traveling
with Ovambo
copper ore traders when they arrived at Omutjamatunda (now known as
Namutoni). They passed through, and discovered the Etosha pan when they
traveled north upon leaving Namutoni. The name Etosha (spelled Etotha in
early literature) comes from the Oshindonga word meaning "Great White
Place" referring to the Etosha pan. The Hai//om called the pan Khubus
which means "totally bare, white place with lots of dust". The pan is
also known as Chums, which refers to the noise made by a person's feet when walking on the clay of the pan.
At this time the Hai//om people recognized the authority of the Ovambo chief at Ondonga but the Hereros did not.
The Hai||om were forcibly removed from the park in 1954, ending their
hunter-gatherer lifestyle to become landless farm laborers. The Hai||om have had a recognized Traditional Authority
since 2004 which helps facilitate communications between the community
and the government. The government of Namibia acknowledges the park to
be the home of Hai||om people and started to carry out plans to resettle
displaced families on farms adjacent to the national park. Since 2007
the Government has acquired six farms directly south of the Gobaub
depression in Etosha National Park. A number of families have settled on
these farms under the leadership of Chief David Khamuxab, Paramount
Chief of the Hai||om.
