Oudtshoorn, the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located to the south of the Outeniqua Mountains. Two ostrich-feather booms, during 1865-1870 and 1900-1914, truly established the settlement. With approximately 60,000 inhabitants, it is the largest town in the Little Karoo region. The town's economy is primarily reliant on the ostrich farming and tourism industries. Oudtshoorn is home to the world's largest ostrich population, with a number of specialized ostrich breeding farms, such as the Safari Show Farm and the Highgate Ostrich Show Farm.Bongelethu is a township 10 km east of Oudtshoorn. Derived from Xhosa, its name means "our pride".HistorySettlementThe pioneer farmers in the area that would be known as Oudtshoorn arrived in the 1750s, and became well-established in the area by the end of the 18th century. In addition to rearing livestock, they cultivated wheat and barley, made wine and brandy, and grew tobacco as well as a variety of soft fruit. As market opportunities in neighboring districts such as George and Mossel Bay developed, the economic benefit of mixed farming came to be understood and utilized.Initially, the pioneer farmers in the area fell under the administrative and legal sphere of Swellendam, but in fact George was the closest that inhabitants had to government headquarters. By the 1820s, the increasing population along the Olifants River and in the valleys of its tributaries increased the need for more local administrative and especially judicial supervision; especially the 1809 Hottentot Proclamation increased the legal and administrative burdens on slave owners. For these reasons, with its founding in April 1811, the magisterial district of George subsumed Oudtshoorn.
