The AfriCat Foundation

The AfriCat Foundation was established by the Hanssen family to support their efforts to conserve the wildlife of Namibia, in particular the predators; cheetah and leopard.

Born into the tradition of cattle farming, the Hanssen family struggled to reconcile cattle farming, land conservation and generating a livelihood. It just didn’t seem right that wildlife should be killed and land degraded in order for a family to survive. Rather than continuing to fight nature, the younger generation decided to embrace living with it. Today the former family cattle farm is at the core of the thriving, protected Okonjima Nature Reserve. The acclaimed collection of Okonjima lodges and campsites in the Reserve enables visitors from far and wide to experience the Namibian wilderness. The AfriCat Foundation works within and beyond the Reserve to enhance the conservation of all of Namibia’s flora and fauna, but in particular the predators that were once the bane of the Hanssen family.

Over the years AfriCat’s work has included human-wildlife conflict mitigation; rescue, release and care of predators; cheetah rehabilitation; and environmental education, as the Foundation sought to make the most significant contribution in the changing context of conservation in Namibia.

Today, recognising the urgent need to protect habitat for wildlife and the unique contribution of the Okonjima Nature Reserve, AfriCat is focussing on conservation research on the ecology of predators and endangered species within the Reserve, in order to inform the role that protected areas can play as a long-term conservation strategy.