When Captain James Shortridge wrote about Namibia in 1934, he observed that elephants were largely confined to the Caprivi and, quite unexpectedly, to the dry, rugged Kaokoveld in northwestern Namibia (now in the Zambezi and Kunene regions, respectively). Some elephants used the ephemeral springs on the southern edge of the Etosha Pan, but they were few in number. Today, elephants are plentiful in the Zambezi and Kavango regions and Etosha National Park, while they persist in the northwestern Kunene Region. The elephants in the Kunene move across communal land, among villages and settlements, and also into freehold farmland, crossing and traversing farm fences. This population includes the famed 'desert elephants', who prefer the arid western parts of the dry Ugab, Huab, and Hoanib riverbeds. Occasionally, they have even wandered through the Skeleton Coast onto the beach. The ability of these elephants to adapt to these arid conditions has rightly earned them global recognition.