This stunning desert is alive with unique wildlife that can only be found here on Earth.

The Van Zyl’s golden mole is a remarkable animal, more closely related to elephants than the common moles you’d find in gardens. With no visible eyes or ears, it moves gracefully just beneath the surface of South Africa's sandy dunes.

This critically endangered species is only known to inhabit two locations, both within the Succulent Karoo desert. It’s one of many rare and elusive creatures found in this surreal region, which stretches between Namibia and South Africa – recognized by UNESCO as the planet’s most biodiverse arid desert.

The Succulent Karoo is home to over 6,300 plant species, many of which are found nowhere else on Earth. It’s a place of incredible beauty, with expansive spring wildflower blooms and 70 types of scorpions, making it a thriving wilderness.

However, human pressures on this fragile landscape are immense, from overgrazing by livestock to the illegal harvesting of plants and sand mining. Only a quarter of this desert remains untouched, and conservationists are urgently calling for research and protection of the region.

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Cobus Theron from South Africa's Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) emphasizes the urgency of the situation. 'The area is not sufficiently protected, and the goal is to expand formal conservation efforts,' he says.

Theron points out the challenge of helping the public understand that this seemingly desolate desert is actually a delicate and valuable ecosystem. 'Despite its harsh and unusual appearance, the environment is incredibly fragile,' he explains.

Bursting with plant life

Unlike most deserts, the Succulent Karoo is rich in plant diversity, including a third of the world’s succulent species. These hardy plants – such as cacti and aloe – thrive in the extreme heat by storing water in their fleshy stems and leaves. Covered in vibrant flowers, they provide vital food and moisture for the myriad of insects, including monkey beetles, termites, and long-tongued flies.

These insects, in turn, attract insect-eating creatures like scorpions and golden moles. A variety of tortoises, birds, and lizards are found nowhere else but in the Succulent Karoo, making it a truly unique ecosystem.

During spring, the Karoo plants explode into color, drawing crowds of tourists to witness the spectacle. However, this beauty can also attract harmful attention.

Illegal poaching and overgrazing

When you think of the 'illegal wildlife trade,' rhinos and tigers might come to mind, but there's a rising black market for succulents that is driving poaching activities in the Karoo region, according to Marienne De Villiers, an ecologist with the South African government’s conservation body, CapeNature.

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In 2015, CapeNature officials apprehended a couple who had illegally harvested over 2,200 plants near the Knersvlakte Nature Reserve. De Villiers highlights that poachers also target scorpions, baboon spiders, and various lizard species in the area.

The Succulent Karoo is also plagued by severe and long-standing overgrazing, according to De Villiers. Livestock such as ostriches, sheep, and cattle can cause significant damage to the desert ecosystem, especially during droughts. In regions with limited rainfall, the environment is highly vulnerable and takes a long time to recover.

Parts of the Succulent Karoo have been subjected to mining for uranium, diamonds, and sand, leaving behind lasting scars on the landscape, De Villiers adds.

Tracking the region’s wildlife

One of the biggest challenges for ecologists working to protect the Karoo's endangered species is pinpointing where exactly they reside in the vast, sprawling desert.

Ian Little, a researcher from the University of Cape Town and a member of the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), is dedicated to conserving Van Zyl’s golden moles – but locating them proves to be an exceptionally difficult task.

‘If you approach quietly, they can sense your presence from far away and quickly burrow deep,’ says Little. ‘They’re too swift for us to catch – but they can’t escape if someone comes along and disrupts the area. They don’t spread easily and avoid traveling long distances.’

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Drones might provide a potential solution. In the nearby Nama Karoo desert, a team of scientists successfully used drones the previous year to track riverine rabbits. These critically endangered animals don’t reproduce prolifically – a female typically has just one or two offspring each year. They’re at risk of extinction due to hunting and habitat destruction.

The drone team, from Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, partnered with the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) and collaborated with ecologists and astrophysicists to track the riverine rabbits.

Drones equipped with infrared sensors were deployed over the desert, and a machine-learning algorithm helped identify the species being recorded. The team was able to confirm five sightings of this highly elusive and rare species – a remarkable achievement.

Little aims to apply this technology to locate golden moles in the Succulent Karoo. These creatures emerge at dawn and dusk to hunt for insects, and because desert temperatures drop sharply at night, carefully timed drone flights could detect the moles' body heat against the cooler sand.

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‘The next step, once we’ve mapped the distribution of golden moles, will be to secure formal protection for those areas,’ says Little.

Defenders of the desert

Only 2-3% of the Succulent Karoo is officially protected, according to the Environmental Literacy Council, a global non-profit organization.

CapeNature is working to change this. In 2002, it launched the Biodiversity Stewardship program. Instead of purchasing land, which would be prohibitively expensive, the program encourages landowners and farmers to establish wildlife sanctuaries on their own properties.

Villiers and her team identified the privately owned areas most critical for biodiversity and convinced landowners to participate in conservation efforts, which range from adopting sustainable farming techniques to creating new nature reserves on private land.

‘At first, we were outsiders,’ says Villiers. ‘But now I’m working with a truly dedicated group of landowners who are fully committed to conservation.’

These initiatives have gradually established buffer zones and wildlife corridors across the Western Cape, playing a crucial role in safeguarding the Succulent Karoo and its endangered species.

However, their protection depends on people developing an appreciation for these 'mind-blowingly beautiful landscapes,' says Villiers. She hopes the Stewardship program will inspire long-term awareness about the desert’s value. 'There’s still so much we don’t understand about the Succulent Karoo,' she adds. 'And there are likely many species yet to be discovered.'