AfriCat Foundation in 2025: Advancing Long-Term Predator and Pangolin Research at Okonjima
In 2025, AfriCat Foundation expanded its long-term research programme at Okonjima Nature Reserve, strengthening monitoring systems and advancing species-focused research on leopard, brown hyena, and pangolin. Key developments included the expansion of the LoRaWAN tracking network, refinement of camera-trap infrastructure, and new collaborations with international research institutions. These efforts support AfriCat’s long-term objective of understanding predator persistence, landscape connectivity, and coexistence across Namibia’s shared farmlands.
AfriCat Foundation operates as an independent conservation research organisation based at Okonjima Nature Reserve in central Namibia. Our work at the Okonjima Nature Reserve focuses on understanding how large mammals persist within an enclosed reserve that remains ecologically connected to surrounding farmland. The research is explicitly long term and built on the premise that patterns of space use, survival, and interaction only become clear through sustained observation. In 2025, AfriCat consolidated and expanded the monitoring systems that underpin this approach, while continuing targeted research on Leopard, Brown hyena, Pangolin, and other species of conservation concern.
What was AfriCat Foundation’s main focus in 2025?
AfriCat Foundation focused on strengthening long-term wildlife monitoring at Okonjima Nature Reserve, with particular emphasis on leopard, brown hyena and pangolin research. This included expanding tracking infrastructure, refining camera trap systems and supporting species-specific research projects.
Why does AfriCat use LoRaWAN tracking instead of satellite collars?
LoRaWAN technology allows AfriCat to collect movement data using lighter, lower-power tracking devices that are better suited to species such as female leopard and pangolin. This approach reduces collar weight, extends battery life and enables fine-scale monitoring within and beyond the Reserve.
How many animals were monitored by AfriCat in 2025?
During 2025, AfriCat monitored approximately 75 individual animals, including leopard, brown hyena, white rhino and pangolin, using a combination of GPS LoRa and VHF tracking devices alongside camera trap data.
How do camera traps contribute to AfriCat’s research?
Camera traps provide behavioural and demographic data that complement tracking information. At Okonjima, nearly 180 cameras operate continuously, generating long-term datasets used to study population structure, activity patterns and species interactions.
Does AfriCat’s research extend beyond Okonjima Nature Reserve?
Yes. Several tracked animals move beyond the Reserve boundary, and AfriCat works closely with neighbouring landowners to monitor leopard and pangolin across shared landscapes, supporting coexistence-focused research beyond protected areas.
Why is long-term monitoring important for predator research?
Long-term monitoring allows patterns of space use, survival, dispersal and social interaction to be understood over multiple generations. Short-term studies often miss these dynamics, particularly for long-lived and wide-ranging species such as leopard and brown hyena.
Monitoring and data collection at Okonjima Nature Reserve
AfriCat’s research is geographically concentrated within Okonjima, allowing the use of a LoRaWAN system rather than satellite-based tracking. LoRa technology transmits small data packets over long distances using minimal power, enabling the use of lighter, longer lasting devices. This is particularly important for species such as female leopard and Temminck’s ground pangolin, where collar weight, bulk, and battery life are critical constraints.
The LoRaWAN network, first installed in 2024, was expanded in 2025 with three additional gateways, bringing the total to six across the Reserve and providing near complete coverage. Two further gateways were installed on neighbouring farms, extending monitoring beyond the Reserve boundary. AfriCat also began discussions with neighbouring landowners who operate independent LoRa systems to explore shared data servers, which would allow animal movements to be tracked across multiple properties and better reflect landscape level connectivity.
Tracking collars and tags
During 2025, AfriCat tracked approximately 75 individual animals, including leopard, brown hyena, white rhino, and pangolin, using a combination of VHF and GPS LoRa devices. VHF detections are logged by Okonjima guides during routine game drives, while GPS data are visualised using the EarthRanger platform and integrated into AfriCat’s databases for analysis.
Ongoing testing and refinement of tracking equipment remains central to the programme. In collaboration with Smart Parks, a Netherlands based not-for-profit technology organisation, AfriCat achieved significant progress on pangolin tag performance in 2025. This work was made possible through the donation of pangolin tags and carnivore collars by biologist and television presenter Freek Vonk, provided in collaboration with Smart Parks. An above ground detection algorithm was developed that uses temperature and movement data to trigger GPS fixes only when pangolin emerge from their burrows, substantially extending battery life. Trials of alternative antenna materials and attachment methods are continuing, alongside minor design changes such as tag colour to improve camouflage.
AfriCat also began testing a new collar design for leopard and brown hyena, with the satellite unit positioned on the underside of the collar to reduce visibility and bulk. After initial trials on a captive leopard, the design was deployed on three wild leopard and subsequently adapted for testing on a brown hyena.
We will soon be sharing a dedicated article on Freek Vonk’s visit to Okonjima and his contribution to this phase of AfriCat’s tracking work.
Camera trap system
Camera traps remain a core component of AfriCat’s monitoring framework, providing behavioural and demographic data that complement movement information from collars. In 2025, just under 180 cameras operated continuously across Okonjima. These included grid cameras covering the entire Reserve, baited tree cameras for leopard, cameras at pangolin burrows and brown hyena dens, fence line cameras oriented both inward and outward, and temporary deployments at waterholes, fence breaches, kills, and suspected dens.
Older units were replaced where image quality was poor, and solar panels were added to reduce battery consumption. AfriCat also introduced SIM enabled cameras donated by Wildlife Protection Solutions, which analyse images in near real time and send alerts when target species are detected. These have improved response times for locating untagged pangolin and monitoring specific leopard and brown hyena movements. The camera trap system was further strengthened with the addition of Adam Washinime, a graduate of the Namibian University of Science and Technology (NUST), who joined the AfriCat team to take responsibility for the maintenance and servicing of the camera network, improving system reliability and consistency.
The system generates approximately 180,000 images per month. Images are processed using TrapTagger, with AfriCat staff verifying all identifications and manually identifying individuals of focal species, including leopard, brown hyena, pangolin, rhino, serval, aardwolf, and aardvark. Identification protocols and verification procedures were further refined in 2025.
Two Master’s projects relied heavily on this infrastructure. Victoria Mulyuu from NUST, supported by the Ongava Research Centre (ORC) and the University of Georgia, assessed artificial scent lures over six months to test detection rates and individual identification. Yolanda Matsane from the University of Mpumalanga (UMP) used grid camera data to trial camera-based methods for estimating populations of kudu, mountain zebra, giraffe, and springbok, providing alternatives to aerial counts not conducted at Okonjima since 2021.
In an upcoming article series titled “While You Were Sleeping”, we will share camera trap images that reveal wildlife activity recorded beyond daylight hours.
Data integration and analysis
As monitoring intensity increased, so did data volume. In 2025, Paul Kasko, a PhD candidate at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), developed an integrated data analysis and visualisation platform that combines GPS tracking data, camera trap records, guide observations, and measurements collected during immobilisations. The system allows rapid extraction of datasets, mapping of movements, and exploration of both short-term events and long-term trends. Further development continued through 2025, with full implementation planned for 2026.
TUM also continued DNA analyses on wildlife samples collected at Okonjima since AfriCat’s inception. These analyses will inform parentage and relatedness across generations and strengthen long term population studies. Samples from carnivores captured during AfriCat’s earlier Rescue and Release programme will be submitted in 2026.
Species focused research
Leopard Research
In 2025, AfriCat monitored 28 leopard within Okonjima and on neighbouring farms, representing approximately 60 percent of known resident individuals. The dataset includes multiple generations from the same family lines, providing rare insight into long term population structure.
Current analyses indicate that leopard density within the Reserve is similar to levels recorded in 2015 and 2016. Female home ranges are approximately half the size of male ranges and smaller than those reported outside fenced reserves. Adult males and females show limited overlap, while subadults continue to overlap with parents during dispersal.
Despite relatively high densities, observed rates of intraspecific aggression are low, cub survival appears high relative to published studies elsewhere, and social interactions are recorded more frequently than expected for a typically solitary species. These patterns likely reflect a combination of density, stable prey availability, and intensive monitoring, although causal mechanisms remain under investigation. These findings contribute to broader debates around predator density, social behaviour, and long-term persistence within fenced yet permeable landscapes.
Leopard movements continue to demonstrate landscape permeability. Several individuals born at Okonjima dispersed beyond the Reserve in 2025, some returning after short exploratory movements and others establishing territories elsewhere. At the same time, successful dispersal and recruitment occurred entirely within the Reserve. Together, these outcomes highlight the value of fine scale, long term monitoring for understanding dispersal, connectivity, and population turnover in managed landscapes.
Brown hyena research
AfriCat collared or recollared nine brown hyena, bringing the study population to thirteen individuals representing at least seven clans and occupying approximately 80 percent of the Reserve. Home range overlap is extensive in both sexes, contrasting with leopard spatial behaviour. The sample remains female biased, with males comprising around 30 percent of collared individuals.
Capture methods were refined following concerns about injury risk in standard box traps. Modified traps lined with conveyor belt material reduced tooth damage and, with sufficient acclimatisation and live camera monitoring, allowed five hyenas to be captured over three nights without injury.
In 2026, efforts will focus on replacing nonfunctional collars, expanding coverage in the northeastern Reserve, and improving age and sex representation to support population level analyses.
Pangolin research
Pangolin research remained technically demanding. Tag failure due to battery depletion and physical wear continued to limit data continuity. Close collaboration with Smart Parks improved tag performance, particularly through the above ground GPS algorithm, but attachment design remains an active area of testing.
Individual identification presents an additional challenge. Rather than adopting invasive marking techniques, AfriCat introduced complementary methods in 2025, including temporary externally attached microchips, updated photographic identification every six months, and non-invasive DNA sampling from naturally shed skin beneath the scales.
Research capacity was strengthened by the addition of Heather U.J. Nependa, a PhD candidate at the University of Stellenbosch, who completed dry season surveys of prey availability using pitfall trapping and behavioural observations. Wet season surveys are planned for early 2026. A new collaboration with the University of Queensland (UQ) led by Rebecca Dancock under the supervision of Martine Maron, began assessing how bush control influences pangolin habitat use by combining satellite derived vegetation data with movement data.
GPS tracking confirmed that some pangolin move beyond the Reserve boundary. Individuals entering high risk areas were returned to Okonjima, while others continued to be monitored on neighbouring farms. These movements have expanded pangolin research beyond the Reserve and strengthened cooperation with surrounding landowners.
Collaborations and capacity building
AfriCat expanded its collaborative research network in 2025, initiating or advancing partnerships that are central to both data generation and interpretation. New and ongoing collaborations included Rebecca Dancock and Martine Maron (UQ), examining the influence of bush control on pangolin habitat use; Yolanda Matsane and Dan Parker (UMP), testing camera trap-based approaches for estimating large herbivore populations; and Miha Krofel and Teresa Olivereira (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia), investigating predation trade-offs and leopard communication.
Long standing collaborations remained integral to AfriCat’s work. Professor Ralph Kuhn and Paul Kasko (TUM) provided sustained analytical and field support throughout 2025, with Paul Kasko developing AfriCat’s integrated data analysis and visualisation platform and contributing to genetic and pangolin microhabitat projects. The ORC continued to function as a key hub for collaboration, facilitating links with multiple researchers and student projects. Through the ORC, AfriCat worked closely with Dr Stéphanie Périquet-Pearce (formerly ORC, now Panthera), who supported the Master’s research of Victoria Mulyuu on camera trap detection methods, and with Yolanda Matsane and Dan Parker. Collaboration with Abigail Guerier, Rhino Conservation Manager at Ongava Game Reserve, continued to support rhinoceros monitoring and management.
Training and applied research partnerships with the University of Namibia School of Veterinary Medicine (UNAM) continued in 2025, with fifth year veterinary students completing their ungulate immobilisation module at Okonjima and assisting during leopard collaring. UNAM also hosted the University of Glasgow veterinary school who visited AfriCat for a second consecutive year.
AfriCat was accepted to present at the annual conference of the Southern African Wildlife Management Association (SAWMA) in September 2025. Although injury prevented Karen Codling from attending in person, she was able to pre-record presentations on AfriCat’s leopard and pangolin research that were played during the conference in her stead.
Targeted visitor engagement and external documentation of AfriCat’s work also took place in 2025 with several wildlife photographers who visited. Will Burrard-Lucas deployed several of his DSLR camera traps here to try to capture some lesser-known species. A photograph of a pangolin by Nikon ambassador Tom Mason was one of three pangolin photos from Okonjima to make it into 2025’s edition of Remembering Wildlife. The other two photographs were by Naun Amable, husband of AfriCat’s data manager Susanna Lewis de Amable and Todd Gustafson. The most-liked post on AfriCat’s Instagram account was filmed by Martin Gregus. He also filmed AfriCat’s third most liked post, this time of female pangolin OST085, Cassiopeia.
Organisational transition
2025 marked the closure of the AfriCat Carnivore Care Centre, which had not admitted new animals since the end of the Rescue and Release programme in 2010. Eight remaining carnivores will continue to live out their lives in the secure environment they have long known. Staff formerly dedicated to animal care transitioned into research and monitoring roles, retaining valuable institutional knowledge.
Rather than contracting, AfriCat’s team expanded to meet growing research demands. New appointments included Adam Washinime, who took responsibility for camera trap maintenance and servicing; Heather U.J. Nependa, who strengthened pangolin research capacity through prey availability and foraging studies; and Anina Kruger, who joined full time to support administration, human resources, and vegetation assessments essential to coordinated field research. The launch of a new logo and website at the end of 2025 reflected AfriCat’s evolution into an applied conservation research organisation grounded in long term data, collaboration, and landscape level understanding.
Looking ahead
Work initiated or refined in 2025 sets the foundation for deeper analyses in coming years. Key priorities include full implementation of integrated data systems, improved tracking technology for pangolin and hyena, continued genetic analyses, and expansion of research beyond Okonjima through farmer partnerships. Many findings reported here remain provisional, reflecting AfriCat’s commitment to careful interpretation and long-term evidence building within Namibia’s shared landscapes.
This update was compiled by the AfriCat Foundation research team, drawing on long-term monitoring data collected at Okonjima Nature Reserve in collaboration with national and international research partners.
