Our Projects
Wayne Hanssen started monitoring the leopards on Okonjima from as early as the late 1990s, and Okonijima was a study site of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism’s Predator Research Programme between 1998 and 2000, AfriCat’s wildlife research in the ONR started officially in 2013. The research started in earnest following the creation of the greater ONR in 2011, during the cheetah rehabilitation programme which included monitoring the rehabilitated cheetahs in the Reserve. A leopard density study started in 2015 and brown hyena density and spatial ecology studies started in 2018. 2018 was also the year that intensive pangolin research started. Today, conservation research of the ONR ecosystem is AfriCat’s main focus.
Leopard Research
Leopard research on Okonjima began in the 1990s and now combines collars, camera traps and long-term monitoring to track movements, density and behaviour in and around the Okonjima Nature Reserve.
Brown Hyena Research
Brown hyena research in the ONR began in 2018, revealing the species’ highest recorded density and six clans. After a Covid pause, monitoring resumed in 2023, with six brown hyena collared by 2025.
Pangolin Research
AfriCat began pangolin research in 2017, confirming a wild population and improving fence safety. The APRP launched in 2018, tracks pangolin across all life stages, and now collaborates with Smart Parks on improved GPS tags.
Habitat Restoration
About 75% of the ONR was bush encroached at creation. AfriCat and UNAM began testing bush-clearing methods in 2023, with students assessing soil, vegetation and wildlife to measure long-term ecosystem impacts.