the ostrich is found throughout africa, but the most handsome specimens came from the little karoo, where the dry weather, but plentiful water in the streams formed an ideal habitat for these large, flightless birds. here, they grow to over 2 m in height, and weigh over 100 kg. the male’s feathers have been prized by many cultures in africa, europe, and asia over thousands of years. in the 1860s, a farmer in the graaff-reinet district was apparently the first person to demonstrate that the ostrich could successfully be domesticated, bred in captivity, and the eggs hatched in incubators, while still producing the magnificent feathers. this idea was quickly adopted by farmers in the little karoo, where they started growing lucerne as the birds’ favorite food. during 1880, no less than 74,000 kg of feathers were exported, and in 1904, it passed the 210,000-kg mark.