Wild
herds of horses in the Namib Desert.
During
the next few years, the population growth is anticipated to be slow at 5 -10
horses per years, primanly due to the current small number of breeding mares
and the high mortality of foals ( approximately 40% ). This high mortality rate
is due to foals geeting left behind or lost; if long distances are
covered on a regular basis. They can get over tired and weak, in which case they
become a relatively easy pray for leopard, cheetah and hyena. Increased traffic
has also resulted in motor vehicle accidents involving feral horse. Other
mortality factors are fatal injuries, malnutrition during excessively dry
periods, and complications at foaling.
The
Garup feral horse population is divided into breeding and bachelor group. A
breeding group consists of one or more stallion/s with one or more mare/s
and their offspring.
Stallions
not associated with mares are referrend to as a bachelor stallions and live on
their own or in temporary groups. The groups often change as stallions get
injured, old or weak and are no longer able to defend their places in a
group.
The
horses do not follow a specific routine in their daily activities; They eat and
sleep in bouts during the day and night, and visit the water trough at a
frequency that depends primarily on the temperatura and the availability of
food.
The
horses main diet consists of Eragrostis nindensis, a perennial grass that grown
average height of 2-5 cm in dry periods, as well as Stipagrostis species and a
few shrubs. In hot weather ( above 30 degrees celsius) they drink on average
every 30 hours, but in cold temperaturas (below 22 degree celsius) they
only drink on average every 72 hours. This would explain the frequent absence
of horses from the trough.
