This article was written by Heather UJ Nependa of Okonjima and the AfriCat Foundation, with first-hand contributions from Tammy Hoth-Hanssen of the Namibian Lion Trust and Andries Garab of the AfriCat Carnivore Care Centre, both closely involved in Shenzi and Shavula’s care. It traces the lives of two orphaned lions, from their early years in care to their final years at Okonjima, exploring their individual personalities, companionship and the people who shaped their lives, while reflecting on the wider challenges of human-wildlife conflict and lion conservation in Namibia.
For almost two decades, the presence of two lions was woven into daily life at Okonjima. Shenzi and Shavula were known not only to the people responsible for their care, but to residents, staff and generations of guests who came to know their story. Their roars and calls became part of Okonjima’s familiar soundtrack, carrying across the Reserve and, for some residents, becoming an informal morning alarm that would wake them as the lions called out.
On 29 July 2026, that familiar sound fell silent. At 18 and 19 years old, Shenzi and Shavula died following a period of declining health associated with old age and advanced renal failure. Their passing ends almost two decades of history that began with two orphaned cubs, long before either lion came to live at Okonjima. To understand the lives they shared, it is necessary to go back to where their stories began.
Two Orphaned Lion Cubs from the Etosha Border (2007 to 2008)
The story of Shenzi and Shavula is closely intertwined with the early history of Namibia’s lion conservation efforts. Both lions came into human care through what was then AfriLeo later AfriCat North. AfriCat’s sister organisation that was established in response to the challenges of human-wildlife conflict. AfriCat North later became the Namibian Lion Trust (NLT). Tammy Hoth-Hanssen, the eldest daughter of the Hanssen family, who founded Okonjima and AfriCat, who has been involved with NLT since its inception, was among the people who worked with the young lions from their earliest days. Her recollections provide a first-hand connection to the beginning of Shavula’s story and, a year later, to the arrival of another orphaned cub, Shenzi, who would eventually become his long-term companion.
Shavula was one of four cubs found on farmland along the southern boundary of Etosha National Park in December 2007. Approximately six months old at the time, he was found with his brother Thimba and sisters Shani and Sarana after they were separated from their mother.
Human-wildlife conflict was considered the most likely cause of their mothers death, as encounters between livestock owners and free-ranging lions were common in the farming areas bordering Etosha. All four cubs subsequently remained in care, growing up together and became part of AfriCat North’s early lion rescue work.
The following year, another orphaned lion arrived. Shenzi’s arrival in June 2008 was particularly precarious. He was approximately two months old, with his mother presumed already dead possibly as a result of human-wildlife conflict. His sibling was found dead at a waterhole. He was severely compromised, covered in burrs and grass seeds and in such poor condition that his survival was uncertain. Tammy remembers him as little more than “skin and bone”. He was also remarkably wary of people. For his first days in care, Shenzi remained inside his catch crate while he was fed. Food had to be offered on the end of a long stick, and Tammy remembers seeing little more than a paw reach out, grab the food and disappear again.
Yet Shenzi recovered quickly once he began receiving adequate food and treatment. Within approximately a month, he had become so strong that Tammy could no longer physically hold him. Looking back, she remembers him as:
“A real fighter. He was a real survivor.” – Tammy Hoth-Hanssen
Raising Orphaned Lions Together at AfriCat North
Survival was only the first challenge. Shenzi was an orphaned lion cub, and Tammy wanted to give him the opportunity to grow up alongside other lions rather than alone. Tammy says she wanted to try and build a sort of “pseudo pride” with them.
Shenzi was initially kept apart from Shavula, Thimba, Shani and Sarana, who, though still cubs, were several months older and considerably larger. His introductions to the group were therefore gradual. Shani, the dominant female cub, was introduced first, followed by Sarana, then Shavula and finally Thimba, the dominant male cub. According to Tammy, the two lionesses quickly accepted the much smaller cub and formed a bond with him. When the larger young males were introduced, the females appeared to take on a protective role. They would position themselves around Shenzi, creating a physical barrier between him and the larger cubs and prevented them from getting too close. This gave the tiny cub time to become accustomed to his new companions while the females effectively shielded him from interactions that could have been too rough.
“The females protected him (Shenzi)…. It was beautiful.” – Tammy Hoth-Hanssen
Once the introductions were complete, the five young lions lived together within an 80-hectare enclosure funded through the Swiss Lion Project. The project was supported by a Swiss family, the Aeschlimanns, who provided funding specifically for the construction of the enclosure.
Losing Shani and Sarana (2011)
The young pride did not remain unchanged. Unfortunately, Shani and Sarana died in 2011, removing the two females who had played such an important role in Shenzi’s early integration into the group. One sister was suspected to have died from anthrax, while the other developed severe facial swelling and subsequently died during immobilisation for a veterinary examination. Dr Axel Hartmann, the veterinarian involved at the time, believed her death was associated with heart failure, although the underlying cause was not established. Their deaths altered the social balance of the group. Without the females, Shenzi’s position became more difficult. Thimba and Shavula increasingly excluded Shenzi, particularly around food, and he was eventually separated from the group for his own protection.
Moving to the AfriCat Carnivore Care Centre at Okonjima (2013)
In 2012, the property where the northern sanctuary was based was sold, and the animals had to be relocated. In January 2013, Shenzi, Shavula and Thimba arrived at Okonjima, accompanied by an unrelated older male, Kilimanjaro, known as Kili. Leaving the three lions at Okonjima. Kili another male who came to AfriCat North as a result of Human Wildlife Conflict as an adult male. Kili later moved to N/a’an ku sê where he was paired with a female and lived in her company for the duration of his life.
At Okonjima, Shavula and Thimba lived together in one camp, with Thimba maintaining his position as the dominant male. Shenzi was housed separately in another camp. Although the three lions were no longer living together as a single group, their lives remained connected within the wider AfriCat Carnivore Care Centre. A significant change came in late 2015, when Thimba began to lose his dominance to Shavula as his health deteriorated. Following noticeable weight loss, Thimba underwent a veterinary examination in early 2016, which revealed a highly aggressive sweat gland carcinoma. With his condition causing increasing suffering, he was humanely euthanised on 17 April 2016.
Thimba’s death changed the social arrangement once again. With only Shavula and Shenzi remaining, the two lions were reintroduced. The old hierarchy quickly re-established itself, with Shavula taking the dominant position over Shenzi. Without Thimba between them, their relationship began to develop into something deeper than their earlier social dynamic. The two lions gradually formed a close companionship that would define the final years of their lives.
Shenzi and Shavula were housed within AfriCat’s Carnivore Care Centre in a 21.5-hectare camp, where a viewing hide gave guests the opportunity to see the lions while learning about their histories and the wider challenges associated with lion conservation and human-wildlife conflict in Namibia.
More than a decade with Andries
In late 2014, Andries Garab began caring for Shenzi and Shavula. It was his first experience working with wild animals, and over the following 12 years, the two lions became an important part of his life. Through their daily routines, he learned to recognise their individual behaviours, temperaments and habits, watching them grow from mature lions into animals of advanced age.
Their differences were difficult to miss. Shavula was the energetic one, coming running when Andries called, while Shenzi was considerably more relaxed and generally appeared to conserve his energy unless food was involved. Their main disagreements centred on feeding, when Shavula’s more assertive nature could see him overpowering Shenzi. With time, however, they settled into a familiar routine and their differences became another part of their relationship. When asked to describe the pair, Andries affectionately replied: “They were great chommies (friends).”
Their later lives were also supported by people beyond those who worked with them at AfriCat. Shenzi’s sponsor was Simone Eckhardt, founder of Stichting SPOTS, a Dutch foundation established in 2004 that supports wild cat conservation through public awareness, education and funding for field conservation projects. Her long-term sponsorship was part of the wider network of support that helped provide for Shenzi during his years at Okonjima.
Old Age and Kidney Disease: Shenzi and Shavula’s Final Months
In February 2026, routine veterinary examinations identified elevated kidney markers in both lions, consistent with early sub-clinical chronic renal failure. Chronic kidney disease and renal decline are relatively common in ageing cats, including domestic cats, and kidney function can naturally become less efficient with advancing age. At the time, both remained in good body condition. Their health continued to be monitored as they aged.
By late July, however, their condition had changed. Shenzi, who had always been particularly enthusiastic about food, began leaving his meat untouched. At the same time, Shavula could not be found during the usual routine. His caretakers searched for him and found him lying beneath a tree, unable to move himself into the shade. When he stood, he was unsteady on his feet.
The team urgently contacted Animal Hospital Windhoek, whose veterinarians responded to assess both lions. Their examination found signs consistent with advanced renal failure and significant deterioration in both animals. Shenzi was also experiencing increasingly poor dentition and muscle loss, which contributed to his difficulty eating. Given their advanced age, deteriorating condition and grave prognosis, the veterinarians advised that putting them to sleep was the most appropriate course of action from a welfare perspective. Shavula was 19 years old and Shenzi was 18.
Shenzi and Shavula’s Legacy at Okonjima
The history of Shenzi and Shavula is carried by the people who shared the different stages of their lives. Tammy Hoth-Hanssen knew Shenzi and Shavula from the beginning. She was there when Shavula and his siblings first came into care and when Shenzi arrived as a severely weakened cub the following year. She helped raise them through their formative years and played a central role in bringing the young lions together to form a ‘pseudo-pride’. She remembers Shenzi as a spirited cub who would reach one paw from inside his crate to take food, and Shavula’s story as one of growth and a changing place within the pride.
Andries knew them through their final 12 years. He watched two lions who had experienced considerable upheaval settle into old age together. His description of them as “great chommies” captures the companionship that ultimately defined their later years.
Their significance extended beyond the people who cared for them. Shenzi and Shavula played an important role in environmental education at the AfriCat Carnivore Care Centre, where over the years, more than 500 schoolchildren and youth groups had the opportunity to encounter lions at close range and learn about them as individual animals. For many young visitors, they may have been the first lions they had ever seen. These encounters created an opportunity to challenge negative perceptions of predators and to build a greater understanding of their role in Namibia’s ecosystems.
For those who lived and worked at Okonjima, memories of the lions will be less formal but no less significant. Shenzi and Shavula were familiar presences. They were part of Okonjima’s daily rhythm, recognised not only by sight but by sound. Their roars will no longer carry across Okonjima in the mornings, waking residents who had grown accustomed to hearing them. The viewing hide will no longer offer guests the opportunity to watch the two lions that became so familiar to generations of visitors.
What remains is the history they leave behind. Their lives spanned almost two decades and several chapters in the history of the organisations and people who cared for them. Shenzi and Shavula became ambassadors for the many lions beyond Okonjima whose lives remain shaped by the increasingly difficult relationship between people and wildlife. Their story is a reminder that behind the wider plight of Namibia’s lions are individual animals, each with their own lives, relationships and stories worth protecting.
Shenzi and Shavula’s lives also spanned a period of change for AfriCat. When they arrived at Okonjima in 2013, much of AfriCat’s work centred on rescuing large carnivores caught up in conflict on Namibian farmland and giving lifelong care to animals that could not return to the wild. Since then, the Foundation’s focus has gradually moved towards field research in the Okonjima Nature Reserve, where its current work concentrates on leopard, pangolin and brown hyena. Lion conservation continues through the Namibian Lion Trust, which works with communal farmers in Namibia’s Kunene Region to reduce conflict between people and lions. Shenzi and Shavula were the last lions in AfriCat’s care, and their passing closes that chapter of its history. You can read more about how AfriCat’s work has developed in From Rescue to Research: The Evolution of AfriCat.
Rest easy, old boys. May your story continue to speak for the lions that remain.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who were Shenzi and Shavula?
They were two male lions orphaned as cubs near Etosha National Park. Shavula was found in December 2007 with three siblings, and Shenzi was found alone in June 2008. They lived at the AfriCat Carnivore Care Centre at Okonjima from January 2013 until their deaths.
How did Shenzi and Shavula die?
In February 2026, routine check-ups found early signs of chronic kidney disease in both lions. By late July their condition had become much worse. Vets from Animal Hospital Windhoek advised humane euthanasia for welfare reasons, and both died on 29 July 2026.
How old were they?
Shavula was 19 and Shenzi was 18.
Why were the lions not released into the wild?
Both were orphaned as young cubs and grew up in at AfriCat North’s Carnivore Care Centre, so they never learned the hunting and survival skills that cubs pick up from their mothers. In such cases, lifelong care is generally the only viable option.
Why were Shenzi and Shavula orphaned?
The causes are not known for certain. Human-wildlife conflict is considered the most likely explanation, as lions in the farming areas around Etosha often come into conflict with livestock owners.
Are there still lions at Okonjima?
No Shenzi & Shavula were the last lions part of the AfriCat Carnivore Care Centre.
What is the Namibian Lion Trust?
Formerly Afri-Leo then AfriCat North, the Namibian Lion Trust is a Namibian organisation led by Tammy Hoth-Hanssen. It works to reduce conflict between communal farmers and lions in north-western Namibia, including through its Lion Guards programme.
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