Located along the western coastline of South Africa, the West Coast National Park has many natural wonders attracting people to the park.
These range from the Geelbek farm-style restaurant to the vast array of blooms found in flower season to the Langebaan lagoon and now even swimming ostriches that are spending their recreational time in the lagoon.
They may be unable to fly but the ostriches at the park certainly know how to swim.
Living in the park the birds do not really migrate and their movements are restricted by the game fence surrounding the park. They are, however, very inquisitive and are always moving around the park investigating new areas which now also include cooling off in the waters of the lagoon.
The swimming takes place from the lagoon shore into the lagoon and the ostriches are territorial and often a bird or a pair of birds will aggressively defend a specific area, which is often the case during the breeding season. The areas where staff have encountered the birds swimming are:
Churhhaven area, where they could be seen swimming from the shore a short distance into the lagoon and then back to the shore.
Postberg to Schaapen Island, where they have been often seen.
“In one case we had a difficult situation – a bird swam from Postberg to Schaapen Island and then from the island to the main beach in Langebaan. We then had the arduous task of catching the bird before it ran into the town,” said Pierre Nel, Senior Section Ranger at the park.
The birds often wander off but management has assured the public that if a bird swims to the island again, it will be redirected off in the direction of Peninsula/Postberg to prevent it from reaching the town.
Ostriches are prominent at the park and are a major attraction for visitors. Large numbers occur in the park and they are always visible and quite captivating as they charge around the veld. Often the adults are seen with “nurseries” of juveniles and chicks, and this is always a special sighting.
The swimming phenomenon is something new to the park and is unusual.