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Published: September 16th 2009
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Sunset with Samira
An amazing experience! N/a'an-ku-se
We've arrived at N/a'an-ku-se - a project with the principal aim of managing the conflict between humans and large carnivores, especially cheetahs (the most endangered of the big cats in Africa) and leopards. Additionally, the centre includes an animal sanctuary, has a school and a clinic for the local San (bushmen) community.
There's no rest - as soon as we arrive we meet Flo, the German biologist responsible for the research side of N/a'an-ku-se that deals with the leopards and cheetahs, and we're off looking for cat spoor. That puddy-paw-prints to the uninitiated. We learn the basics of paw anatomy. It's difficult, you're looking for some very soft imprints of paw prints on the sand, although we're assured it'll get easier with time. The breaking news on the compound is that some wild cheetahs and leopards have been facing off against the ones that are kept in enclosures in preparation for release. Flo fondly refers to the cats as 'those f*cking b*astards'. Lots of the work is about building up a profile of habits and behaviour of the cats, so we take GPS locations and bearings of the tracks that get amalgamated later.
The accommodation is a
In the interests of science
I bet Tesco never envisaged their freezer bags would be used this way. bit basic, but it's a volunteer project and it's comfortable enough, so after a night's sleep and bit of a cold start we're off out tracking on the Landrover again, this time with Ho-har (probably spelt incorrectly) who's our local bushman guide and has x-ray vision when it comes to wildlife, the San bushman are quite simply the best wildlife trackers in the world and Ho-Har has been responsible for singling out "problem"carnivores in the area so they can be trapped and re-located.
We learn a bit more about cat scat. This is important to collect as another group is performing DNA analysis on the cats. It stands to reason, but we learn that one of the distinguishing features of leopard poo is the fur inside it when it breaks, for hyena poo there will be bones, nice. It's a volunteer project and sample bags are a bit short - good job we packed some of our own!
The next day we have our induction which explains the ultimate goal, the release of the cheetahs and leopards into the NamibRand private reserve. We had driven through this on the way from Fish River Canyon to the dunes and
Duma's got her shade
But somehow doesn't look all that grateful to me! concluded that it was the most beautiful part of Namibia we had seen so when Flo said that we could go there the following week for 7 days to track the cats already released we jumped at the chance.
Following on from the induction, we had an afternoon of game counting which proves to be really enjoyable - 6 of us perched on top of the Land Rover trying to spot kudu, springbok etc. They need this info to establish whether the local area can adequately support the cat population. All useful stuff. The next day saw us hacking down grass and shrubs to provide extra shade for Duma, one of the leopards waiting to be released, as you can see from the photo we didn't venture too near the enclosure wire!
Some of the spoor tracking had us perched on the bonnet of the Landrover, deperately peering along the sand road trying to pick out those paw prints. It's hard work but once you get used to it some of the track do leap out at you. The best bit though was the zooming along the harder-packed tracks where the prints we're visible - it was like
Caged Brando
I know it's sad, but it's for his own good. flying down the road!
Our time at the sanctuary had now been shortened considerably due to the forthcoming trip to Namib Rand so we were allowed to spend a morning feeding the animals, which allowed us to meet the caracals, meerkats and Samira the tame cheetah (saved as a cub) - this was so special but you retained a level of respect and Sue had to make sure that she was never lower than her or Samira would have viewed her as easy prey! We also embarked upon a baby baboon walk. Us humans like to think of ourselves as closer to those gentle giants the orang-u-tans but believe me if you want to see our real primate behaviour observe a baboon troop for a few minutes - it's far more akin to our playground squabbles and pub fights! We set off on the baby baboon walk with some trepidation since they have a tendancy to bite but it ended up being a great experience observing and playing with them. They quickly worked out that Sue was the shortest and therefore easiest person to jump up on so at one point she had a baboon on each shoulder and
one clinging to her leg. Sadly we have no photos of the walk since we had to 'de-baboon beforehand otherwise watches, rings, hair grips ëtc disappear in a minute!
The next evening we got the call - a famer had trapped a brown hyena in one of this traps while trying to catch a cheetah and had asked for someone to come and take it away. A chance of a lifetime. Pretty lucky for us to be on the research team when this happened. So the next day, up early to furnish the transfer cage and a long drive onto the farmers' land.
The hyena had already been 'pre-named' Brando. We arrive to meet the farmer, who's really nice and helpful, which isn't always the case. Brando is deparately trying to chew his way out of the capture cage and looks a bit frantic - not suprising considering that he's been in there now for over 24 hours. Needless to say, we've very careful setting up the transfer cage next to the capture cage. He's quick to get across and we close him in for transfer onto the Landrover.
Grabbing the handle of the cage when there's
Yikes!
My, what big teeth you have. a 45kg brown hyena in it with one of the top-ten strongest bites in the world is un-nerving to say the least. We rehydrate him and wash him down in the back of the cage and he calms down, thankfully. It's all gone about as well as can be expected and Brando's pretty calm. When we get back to the reserve, we've the trickier task of moving him out of the transfer cage into the bigger transport trailer, which is the biggest container we've got that contain him with the power of those jaws. He gets a bit frisky as we all take a handle to lift him in. The handle give you only a couple of inches gap between your fingers and the cage itself and Brando starts to gnaw at the cage as I'm the last to take hold of the hand grip. Feeling the hot breath of a hyena on your fingers as you're trying to lift the cage containing him is an experience like no other!
Our time at N/a'an-ku-se concludes with us putting on a show which consists of a mock cookery programme, complete with adverts and newflashes. I get the role of Gordon
Hmm, maybe not so cute
Have a look at what he's done to those bars. Ramsey, so no pressure then. It's all good fun and I thought we did really well given the 90 minutes we had to get ready. The concluding song we put on I sing the solo of 'King of the Swingers' from the jungle book because I'm the only person who knows the words. I've sung this song in the shower many times, but never thought I'd re-enact it like this. It's been videoed and I'm threatened with a YouTube appearance. Thankfully, I've hat and dark glasses on and in the dim light you can't really tell it's me. Plausible deniability.
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Jan and alan
non-member comment
l6 Sept 2009
Looks as though you are having a wonderful time. Delighted to hear from you and to get all the up-to-date news. The photos are terrific and lovely to see you with Samera but must admit a little scary dealing with Brando! Looking forward to hearing as you "go on your way" and as you are now nearly half way through your travels wonder where you will end up on the final leg of your travels. Of course, we trust it will be in London! We are keeping well at this end and - but as usual it is cold and raining and definitely not the weather you are having. Make the most of it. All our love MUM and DAD xxxxxx