Oudtshoorn is a tourist resort in the province of Western Cape of South Africa. It is known as “the ostrich feather capital of the world.” From 1880 to 1915, there was a worldwide fashion for wearing ostrich feathers as decoration for hats and clothing. During this boom period, local farmers kept more than 750,000 ostriches. Today, ostrich farmers keep about 150,000 birds. But the ostriches are reared mainly for their skins, which are made into leather. Farmers in the district now grow alfalfa, cereals, fruit, tobacco, vegetable seed, and walnuts. Dairy produce, honey, and wine are also important. The Cango Caves, north of Oudtshoorn, are a national monument.
Oudtshoorn was laid out in 1847. It was named after Baron Pieter van Reede von Oudtshoorn, who died in 1773 on his way to take up the post of governor of the Cape Colony.
In the mid-1990’s, after the end of South Africa’s racial segregation system called apartheid, Oudtshoorn was merged with the Black African township of Bongolethu and the Coloured (mixed-race) township of Bridgton. In 2000, Oudtshoorn, including Bongolethu and Bridgton, was merged with the towns of Dysselsdorp and De Rust and other nearby communities and rural areas to form the Oudtshoorn local municipality. The municipality has a population of 138,257.
