One brave lady versus half a tonne of lion!

Friday 3^rd June 2011 will go down in history as the day that Cila took on three very large lions, and won!


Cila had set herself the fundraising challenge of a sponsored overnight sleep out in the lion camp with our three lions, Clarence, Winnie and Nancy. 


Having raised €1029 in sponsorship, Cila was ready for the challenge. So after a day spent preparing her sleeping quarters (the back of a Toyota pickup truck!) with every bit of bedding she owns, Cila was ready for the off.

Final security briefing

Locking Cila into the car!

At 4.30pm on Friday afternoon, Becca was put on gate opening duty and Jo was sent to one side of the camp to distract the lions with meat whilst Flo drove Cila into the camp on the other side. Once Cila was safely parked inside the camp Flo made a hasty exit from the camp and we waited for the lions to come back over to see what was going on. It didn’t take long for the lions interest to be piqued and they were soon back on Cila’s side of the camp, observing the proceedings from the safety of the bushes.  

Entering the camp

Flo makes a speedy exit!

The lions were initially very wary of the car and wouldn’t come near it, not even when we threw some treats into the camp for them (a horse’s head each – yum!) But once the sun went down the lions grew far bolder and ventured out of the bushes to eat the horses’s heads and have a snoop around Cila’s car. Fortunately after a few circuits of the car the lions decided they were more interested in finishing the horses’ heads and snoozing.

Cila in the camp, the challenge begins!

Here come the lions keen to see what's going on!

Despite freezing temperatures Cila managed to make a video diary of the whole night and kept the commentary going even whilst Winnie was snoozing right next door to the car!

  Watch Cila's video diary here!

At 6.00am the next morning, Cila’s challenge was completed and it was time for her to exit the camp. Unfortunately the lions were also fully awake and were all keeping a firm eye on Cila and her support team outside the camp! Plus, after their feast of horses’ heads the night before, the lions weren’t very hungry and despite Jo’s, Becca’s and Lucy’s best efforts, distracting them proved a little harder than before. Finally, after a rather nerve-racking 60 minutes, Jo, Becca and Lucy (with the aid of some chicken) were able to draw the lions away from Cila’s car long enough for her to drive out of the camp. Mission Accomplished!


We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who sponsored Cila for this sleepout. Thanks to your amazing generosity we have raised €1,029 to put towards feeding all of the animals here at N/a’an ku sê.

Click here to watch Cila’s brilliant video diary….

New Baboon Camp

The 9th of April saw the unveiling of the new camp! Many of the volunteers and staff gathered to see the baby baboons try out their new home and helped take them from their old smaller camp and move them into their new camp. They were so excited, running round and exploring! Stretching out in their new camp they adventured into their new housing and enjoyed their new play area, running and jumping and climbing! They now have much more space to run around in and monkey bars and a tyre swing to play on. The baboons looked so happy and all the volunteers and staff, whose hard work had gone into building the camp, also looked delighted!

Lightning's Success Story

In December 2009, we released one of our young leopards, Lightning, on Wilderness Safari’s Little Kulala reserve.

On Saturday 23 April this year Rudie received a phone call from Johan Steyn of Tsauchab River Camp regarding a leopard with a radio collar which he and his guests have seen regularly at Tsauchab. Rudie knew immediately that it was Lightning. Her radio collar had stopped giving out signals in January this year so all of the N/a an ku sê team were very excited to hear that, after 15 months of freedom, Lightning had been seen and that she is in good health and there is no conflict with the farmers in that area.

It is fantastic to know that Lightning can add value to Johan Steyn’s tourism market. It is a very good example of how tourism and conservation can work together and we now send all information about Lightning to Johan so that he can share it with his guests.

Elvis has not left the building – he has just arrived!

Elvis was about 4 days old when he was found on the road side clinging to his mother who had sadly been shot. The family who found him had friends with a farm in the area so gave this tiny baboon bundle to them to look after. The family looked after Elvis very well for 3 months. As time went on they started to realise how big Elvis was growing and how boisterous he would become and that, unfortunately, baboons do not make good pets. They decided to bring Elvis to N/a’an ku se where he could be looked after at our sanctuary and bond with other baboons, learn baboon traits and become part of a troop.

Elvis came to us three months ago and has grown in size and personality ever since. When he first arrived at N/a'an ku se Elvis was very shy and wary of the other baboons. However over the last few months he has become far more confident and even stands up to Carola and Shauna, the alphas in the baby baboon camp! During the day Elvis spends his time with the four other baby baboons who have all just moved into a new camp. As he is only 6 months old and at the age where he would naturally still be with his mother, our volunteers still look after him over night, giving him his evening bottle feed and taking him to sleep with them so that he feels safe. Elvis is definitely the most tactile of the baboons and loves sleeping with the volunteers; however he has recently be given a new nickname – Smelvis – as he tends to have an extremely smelly nappy in the morning!

To adopt Elvis, or any of our other baboons please email donations@naankuse.com

A New Year on the farm

It's a new and exciting year and we can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for us! But for now, here's an update on the last few months of 2010... 


Flo the machine!

July saw the arrival of 14 Wild Dog pups and with only around 250 African Wild Dogs remaining in Namibia, we have a big responsibility to look after these precious animals. We needed funds to build them a safe camp here and so brave Flo took on the challenge of a sponsored "Wild Dog Walk". 

African Wild Dogs are known to move up to 70km per day in search of food - whilst Flo does like his food, he's not usually known to go to those lengths in search of it. So taking on the challenge to walk as much of 70km in one day was a huge feat for our Head Researcher.

The walk took place on 22nd November around N/a'an ku se reserve and Flo achieved a staggering 62km in one day!!! Well done and thank you Flo for sacrificing your legs and feet for our beautiful Wild Dogs and raising over N$15,200!

If you're as impressed as we are and would still like to sponsor him, please email donations@naankuse.com

Home sweet Home

Our two special leopard cubs, Shakira and Ombeli, finally moved into their new home in December 2010. A huge thanks to everyone who donated and contributed to help us build their camp. 

After a very comfortable few months living up at Marlice’s house, a new purpose built camp was made for them near the rest of the carnivores. The 3 hectare camp gives them all the space they need (as well as giving Shakira room to eat her food in peace without Ombeli stealing it off her!) and they’re having a wonderful time exploring their new territory. 

Shaun and the volunteers still take them out for their daily walks, although now each leopard is taken on their own as they’re not so little anymore and starting to become very playful!

Baby babies...

Our baby baboon troop has grown again with two new arrivals.

Rafiki, named after the baboon in the Lion King, is 3 months old and was found clinging to his mother’s body after she had been shot.

Night time cuddles

Rafiki sleeping tight

Similarly Rudi, who is 8 weeks old, was orphaned when his mother was shot. He is the youngest baboon we have ever had on the farm.

Had these baby baboons not been brought to N/a'an ku se we dread to think what might have happened to them. 

Rudie loves bathtime!

The Senior baboons absolutely LOVE Rudie and they all scramble to get hold of him on the daily senior and baby walks. Luckily Bloomie is there to keep them in check and quickly steps in when Lala, Sarafina and Kayla fight to steal Rudie off one another. Poor Rudie is swung from one baboon to the other as everyone wants to play the mother role. 

Gizmo, our little Cape fox (silvervos) joined us late 2010 and was found on the road to Windhoek. He was only about 2 weeks old and has grown a lot since he arrived on the farm. He loves to explore everything around him. His favorite toy is empty plastic bottles and his own tale. In the morning he takes a bath and soon the sink will be too small for him.

If you would like to adopt Rudie, Rafiki, Gizmo or any of your favourite animals for just N$620 per year (approx £50/€60), email donations@naankuse.com.

 

New arrivals at Naankuse

We’re very excited as the past couple of months has seen the big game on the farm increase to now include Zebra, Kudu, Waterbuck and Giraffe! Watch the video clips to see their arrival, the giraffe one is particularly stunning as the giraffe head out across the magnificent African sunset.

Giraffe Release video 

Zebra & Waterbuck arrival video

We also have new baboon babies, Shauna and Carolla named after... well obviously baboon lovers Shaun and Carol!!

8 month old Shauna arrived in July. She was brought to us by a family who found her mum shot in the stomach in December 2009 in the North West of Namibia. They saw movement and discovered the baby inside so they took her out and raised her for the next 8 months. They knew they couldn't continue to look after her and give her the space and life she needed so they brought her to us.

Carolla’s story is just as sad as her mother was also shot on a farm. We were contacted and went and collected her in Okahandja.

We also have a new addition to the caracal group although she does not stay with the other caracals. She was captured on a farm about 20km away from the sanctuary as she was catching young springbok. During the capture the gate to the capture cage fell on her foot and removed two toes in the process. We’re not sure if we can release her back into the wild, because she will struggle to catch her prey with her missing toes.

Please email donations@naankuse.com if you would like to adopt one of our new arrivals or one of the old favourites and help us to continue to provide a safe sanctuary for the orphaned and injured animals of Africa.

Wild Dog Pups Arrive at Naankuse

Our 14 stunning wild dog pups arrived at N/a’an ku sê in June; there’s Purdy, Lilly, Lilah, Alice, Utopia, Nesha, Mogwai, Cali, Magic, Kevala, Boris, Robert, Rudie and Wiko. Watch the wild dog pup video

  

• Wild Dogs are Namibia's most endangered mammal species and continue to be widely persecuted
• Only an estimated 250 wild dogs remain in the wild in Namibia
• Only 5% of their range is within protected areas in Namibia

Thankfully Rudie was contacted when the pups were taken out of a den in the Mangetti strip of farmland in Namibia. Rudie and Marlice flew up the following to rescue the pups as they were in danger of human persecution.

The pups were just a few weeks old and are now in the safety of our sanctuary, where they are kept in isolation to minimize the chances of disease transmission. The pups were originally fed three times on minced chicken mixed with calcium powder but have since moved onto game and are growing quickly!

This is a very exciting time for N/a’an ku sê as we hope that the pups will grow up to be a strong and healthy part of the Wild dog population in Namibia as part of a new Wild dog breeding and release programme to save this incredible species.

In order to care for, feed and ensure the safety of the 14 pups in our charge, we need to secure the funds to build a large enclosure for them to live in as they grow as well as cover the costs of their ever growing food bill. If you would like to adopt one of the pups and help contribute to the conservation of this highly endangered species please email donations@naankuse.com