Ostriches, Cape Point.

One of Cape Point's Ostriches families, father with his three babies at Neptune's Dairy in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve.
Up until 1941 ostriches lived in Syria, Arabia, and Africa. However, they have been hunted to extinction in both Syria and Arabia, and now they can only be found in Central and Southern Africa. Ostriches are the largest living birds. Ostriches do well in captivity and may live up to 50 years both in and out of the wild. Their powerful legs are their main defense against natural enemies. They can achieve speeds of up to 40 miles per hour, and if cornered they can deliver a powerful blow with their legs. Males are black and white, females are gray brown. Their mass can reach up to 130kg. Ostriches were almost wiped out in the 18th century due to hunting for feathers. By the middle of the 19th century, the practice of farming ostriches began to spread. This enabled ostriches to be domesticated and plucked, instead of being hunted and killed.

		Proud member of the ostrich family, the baby, is not too impressed with the camera.
See the Ostrich on the Cape Point bird watching page, if you haven't been there.

Follow Hartlaub's Gulls on the Bird Watching Tour to learn more about the birds in the in the vicinity of Cape Town's Guest House on the Beach.

	Bird Watching Tour		Cape of Good Hope Virtual Tour.
Some of the information on this page from the Cape Peninsula National Park, Cape of Good Hope brochure.


	Where to go?



Contact: info@sunsetbeach.co.za Tel: +27 21 783 4283 Fax: + 27 21 783 4286	Janthina for pictorial sitemap	Pepper Steak at the Beach Hotel Kitchen.	Red Protea for Fynbos.
		Siffie for Beach Hotel Rates

Ostriches. Cape Point.