AFRICAT UK UPDATES
AfriCat UK Membership
We have decided to introduce a monthly subscription to allow us to communicate with our AfriCat & NLT supporters. Our high quality magazine is the first step in this journey, something that has not happened before.
The magazine will be sent out 4 times a year and we hope to build on this.
Getting a regular monthly donation on a subscription basis will allow us to actually know what money we are working with and will allow us to put a budget together, knowing what is coming in each month / year !
To sign up visit the AfriCat UK Membership page.
AfriCat UK 2021 Calendar
AfriCat UK is releasing a stunning 2021 calendar - Profits go to supporting two amazing charities in Namibia. The Namibian Lion Trust, and AfriCat.
Two key charities in the fight to keep predators and Namibia's wildlife secure for future generations.
OKONJIMA - DONATE NOW AND STAY LATER
Lion, Leopard, Cheetah or Hyaena - we invite you to visit the AfriCat Foundation in Namibia, to meet the trustees, to peer behind the scenes at the fascinating work of the Foundation to protect and preserve African wildlife, and to give you a clear sense of the vital importance of Namibia’s carnivores in their habitat. Okonjima will host you, guide you around the expansive Reserve to see its magnificent wildlife, and introduce you to the tireless campaigners for the AfriCat Foundation.
The way we see it, you are paying it forward – you are helping AfriCat now, when we need your support the most, and we undertake to bring the workings of the AfriCat Foundation to life for you at a time of your choosing.
For more information see: https://africat.org/donate-now-stay-later
*This offer ends Jan 2021
AfriCat Collar Damage Part 1 - Giving Tuesday 2020
AFRICAT RESEARCH IN THE OKONJIMA NATURE RESERVE:
The Leopard and Brown Hyaena -research project is investigating the inter- and intraspecific relationship between different carnivore species in the 200 km2 Okonjima Nature Reserve, an enclosed conservation area. Interactions between predators, both within and between species are studied with the aid of VHF-telemetry, GPS-collars and camera traps. During the start of the Covid pandemic, we were not sure of the future of any of our projects due to the fact that Okonjima Lodge is the biggest sponsor of every project, and with no international travel and a near-nil occupancy, Okonjima no longer could support AfriCat, until further notice.
AfriCat Collar Damage Part 2 - Giving Tuesday 2020
AFRICAT RESEARCH IN THE OKONJIMA NATURE RESERVE:
During the filming of the Covid Chronicles in June, some of the Brown-Hyaena were fitted with a tried, but not tested, ‘drop-off mechanism’, so that we could cut-back on expenses like fuel, meds and staff, but a few month on, we are discovering that this method of trying to use a 'cheaper drop-off system, does not work for Brown Hyaena.
The AfriCat Pangolin Research Project
All about the video clip: WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING . . . IT ALL STARTED WITH A TUMBLE . . . that grabbed our attention while scrolling through many images caught on the camera traps that are spread across the ONR. WHY the tumble? We all know the pangolin is not always the most graceful of species we study, but nonetheless, the tumble seemed unusual. So, we decided to keep scrolling and found more surprises; not only did the burrow house a pangolin, but porcupine and aardvark also made and appearance. And then we saw it our first pup of the season!
Pangolin are believed to be extremely solitary animals and mothers mostly raise their pups alone. However, here we have a very active burrow where the mom and pup have regularly been visited by ‘dad’. We have not caught “dad visits” on camera before in the ONR, and we are not sure if this has ever been caught on camera anywhere else. Hence the importance of this research, the camera-traps and the tags. Pangolin do not dig their own burrows, but make use of abandoned or ‘still-in-use’ aardvark, porcupine and warthog burrows as this video shows. This entrance probably leads to a large complex with multiple tunnels and chambers. There may also be other entrances. This particular ‘complex’ is potentially used by a variety of species, including porcupine, warthog, aardvark, honey-badger, mongoose, brown hyena, and many other small mammals.
Pangolin will utilize the same burrow at the same time as other species, as this footage proves. A whole community benefit from the holes mostly dug out by the aardvark and deepened by the warthogs. Pangolin may also shelter in holes in termite mounds, caves, in between rocks, shrubs or piles of debris. Pangolins are solitary and predominantly nocturnal, although they do become active earlier during cold weather. Young animals are also prone to be more active during the day. Note the time of all this action during the hot summer months – this is why the camera-traps are so important for all our research.
