Carnivore Care Centre Experience
Visit our project at AfriCat’s Carnivore Care and Information Centre.
A highlight at Okonjima is learning about our big-cat passion. The Okonjima Nature Reserve is home to the headquarters of The AfriCat Foundation http://www.africat.org a non-profit organisation committed to long-term conservation of Namibia’s large carnivores.
AfriCat has evolved over the past three decades, and what started out primary as a welfare organisation has, over the years, identified the need to incorporate a focus on education and develop an ongoing collaboration with researchers, scientists, and conservation authorities. This is undertaken through practical research of species-specific ecology and behaviour, as well as through the development of effective conservation and management strategies.
AfriCat’s Carnivore Care Centre is a by-product of the Rescue and Release Programme which started in the early 1990s.
Some of AfriCat’s captive carnivores in our care today are too old or habituated to be reintroduced into the wild and will, therefore, remain under the expert care of the AfriCat Team. These animals have assumed the role of being Species Ambassadors for their wild counterparts.
Find out more about our ambassadors and how you can help by Sponsoring a Carnivore.
After an informative afternoon trail, we end the day with a sundowner in an area of the Okonjima Nature Reserve which has a high density of the secretly-social and rarely-seen brown hyaena.
Carnivore Care Centre
Providing a ‘healthy living environment’ for large carnivores in temporary or permanent captivity is fundamental to minimising illness and injuries. The animals at AfriCat are housed in spacious enclosures of between twelve and fifty acres in a natural, stress-free environment. They are fed a well-balanced diet and vitamin and mineral supplements are used to prevent deficiencies. The animals are observed on a daily basis to monitor their wellbeing and condition, allowing for a quick response and treatment for any illness or injuries should they occur.
Annual health checks on the carnivores at AfriCat are headed by veterinarians from Namibia and South Africa. In-depth health examinations are carried out on all the captive and rehabilitated carnivores. All the cats are darted and then taken to a well-equipped clinic at AfriCat’s Carnivore Care Centre (ACCC) for evaluations.
All the animals are vaccinated and treated for both external and internal parasites. Each cat receives a thorough dental examination. All the carnivores are also weighed & measured – an ongoing research project to be able to accurately determine the body mass index of a captive and free-roaming carnivore. Read up on some of our Cheetah Research conducted over the years.
What is 'Welfare'?
“The most widely accepted definition of ‘animal welfare’, is that it compromises the ‘state of the animal’s body and mind, and the extent which its nature is satisfied.” (i.e: genetic traits manifest in breed and temperament)
The above would suggest that ‘animal welfare’ includes not only the state of the animal’s body, but also its feelings. Most would agree that animals have feelings like fear, frustration, boredom, aggression etc and it has been proposed that ‘animal welfare’ consists entirely in feelings and that these have evolved to protect the animal’s primary needs.
Thus, if an animal feels well, it is faring well. A feelings-based approach to ‘welfare research’, typically measures behavioral outcomes and behavioral signs of fear or frustration. Such research has led to the conclusion that animals have fundamental behavioral needs that they must be allowed to satisfy!”
