{"id":10473,"date":"2026-05-24T06:17:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T06:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mat-travel.com\/?page_id=10473"},"modified":"2026-05-24T13:39:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T13:39:34","slug":"wildlife","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mat-travel.com\/de\/namibia\/skeleton-coast\/wildlife\/","title":{"rendered":"Skeleton Coast Wildlife Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Skeleton Coast’s wildlife divides into two categories as different as the coast’s two sections: the marine and coastal wildlife accessible on the southern self-drive (seals, coastal birds, occasional dolphin), and the remote desert wildlife of the northern wilderness (desert lion, desert elephant, brown hyena).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marine Wildlife<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cape fur seal:<\/strong> The dominant coastal wildlife. Multiple colonies along the southern coast; Cape Cross alone holds 100,000+ individuals. The Pelican Point colony at Walvis Bay is accessible by kayak. Full guide: Kap-Pelzrobben<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heaviside’s dolphin<\/a> (Cephalorhynchus heavisidii<\/em>):<\/strong> Endemic to the Benguela Current system; one of the world’s rarest dolphins and one of the few cetaceans found only in a single ocean current system. Distinguished by a distinctive black-and-white colouring pattern and a small, robust body. Seen from the shore and from boats along the southern Skeleton Coast; particularly concentrated in the Walvis Bay to L\u00fcderitz zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humpback whale:<\/strong> Seasonal; May to November; migrating past the coast between Antarctic feeding grounds and tropical breeding areas. Seen from shore occasionally; more reliably from boats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

African penguin:<\/strong> Occasional visitor to the Namibian coast; not resident but recorded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Desert Wildlife (Northern Wilderness)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Desert lion:<\/strong> See desert lion guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desert-adapted elephant:<\/strong> See Hoarusib elephant guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown hyena:<\/strong> Common throughout the Skeleton Coast but predominantly nocturnal. Scavenges seal carcasses at coastal colonies; ranges widely between water sources in the interior. Tracks are very frequently found; the animal itself is rarely encountered in daylight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black-backed jackal:<\/strong> Active at dawn and dusk; reliably seen along the coastal zone near seal colonies where carcasses provide food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oryx:<\/strong> Use the coastal zone and river corridors; visually striking against the dune and ocean backdrop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

V\u00f6gel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Damara tern (Sternula balaenarum<\/em>):<\/strong> One of the world’s rarest terns; Namibia and South Africa coast endemic; nests on gravel plains near the coast; approximately 7,000 individuals total. A specific birding target at known nesting areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cape cormorant:<\/strong> Breeds at Cape Cross in large numbers; regularly seen fishing in the surf zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bank cormorant:<\/strong> Endangered; restricted to the cold-water Benguela zone; identified by its distinctive rounded profile and lack of white facial markings compared to Cape cormorant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelp gull:<\/strong> The most visible bird along the entire coast; large, bold, and opportunistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

African oystercatcher:<\/strong> Black-and-red; distinctive on rocky shore sections; restricted to the southern African coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birdwatching on the Skeleton Coast<\/a><\/strong>
Welwitschia on the Skeleton Coast<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the full coastal birding experience including the Walvis Bay lagoon, see the birdwatching guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Skeleton Coast’s wildlife divides into two categories as different as the coast’s two sections: the marine and coastal wildlife accessible on the southern self-drive (seals, coastal birds, occasional dolphin), and the remote desert wildlife of the northern wilderness (desert lion, desert elephant, brown hyena). Marine Wildlife Cape fur seal: The dominant coastal wildlife. Multiple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":10447,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"slim_seo":{"title":"Skeleton Coast Wildlife","description":"A complete guide to the wildlife of the Skeleton Coast, desert lion, desert elephant, Cape fur seals, Heaviside's dolphin, brown hyena, and the extraordinary coastal bird life of the Benguela system."},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10473","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"trip-thumb-size":false,"destination-thumb-size":false,"destination-thumb-trip-size":false,"activities-thumb-size":false,"trip-single-size":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"trp-custom-language-flag":false,"wte-embed-list-image":false,"wte-embed-grid-image":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"MatAdmin","author_link":"https:\/\/mat-travel.com\/de\/author\/getlostinnamibiawithus\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The Skeleton Coast’s wildlife divides into two categories as different as the coast’s two sections: the marine and coastal wildlife accessible on the southern self-drive (seals, coastal birds, occasional dolphin), and the remote desert wildlife of the northern wilderness (desert lion, desert elephant, brown hyena). Marine Wildlife Cape fur seal: The dominant coastal wildlife. Multiple…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mat-travel.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mat-travel.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mat-travel.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mat-travel.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mat-travel.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10473"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mat-travel.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10568,"href":"https:\/\/mat-travel.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10473\/revisions\/10568"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mat-travel.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mat-travel.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}