The Nama padloper (Homopus sp., formerly known as H. bergeri) is the least studied pecies of the southern African genus Homopus. The life history of this species is virtually unknown. Homopus sp. is endemic to the southwestern part of Namibia. The area of distribution of the species as it is known is limited to the vicinity of Aus and areas in the adjacent "Sperrgebiet" between Aus and Liideritz (BRANCH 1998). However, this does not necessarily mean that the species does not occur in other areas in the region. Homopus sp. lives very secretively in rocky habitat according to farmers in the Aus region (pers. comm.), and appears to be active only after rare thunder storms (BONIN et al. 1996, MULLER and SCHMIDT 1995). The habitat is characterised as semi-desert and receives an average rainfall between 10 and 100 mm per year, depending on the exact location, with a peak between February and June (MULLER and SCHMIDT 1995, RICHTER 1983). Low temperatures in the area during that time of the year can cause the precipitation to fall as snow (MULLER and SCHMIDT 1995, pers. comm. with farmers). Due to the cold Benguela Current along the coast of Namibia, the area receives foggy nights frequently. Average maximum temperatures increase moving inland, due to the decreasing influence of the Benguela Current. In 1995 a captive study was initiated in order to gather information about the biology of Homopus sp., and to investigate possibilities for captive breeding. The restricted dimensions of the area of distribution of Homopus sp. emphasise the fundamental vul nerability of the species. Therefore, gathering information for developing sound management programmes, and creating ex situ "assurance colonies", may be considered useful.