Sponsor a Leopard
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Part of AfriCat’s mission is to protect and conserve the adaptable, skillful, intelligent and elusive Leopard – and now YOU can be part of this hugely important work!
Wherever you are, you can join us in trying to protect this incredible creature from extinction.
If, like us, you feel that wild animals are just as important to our world as us humans, and you feel that it is our responsibility to take action to ensure that we protect all of it, we invite you to MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
By sponsoring one of our beautiful Leopard, you will be helping fund our essential Leopard-density research in the Okonjima Nature Reserve, our oh-so-important environmental educational programmes, our stock and park-management initiatives with local farmers, and all the vital elements that go into helping these Leopard survive – EVERY PENNY COUNTS – and now YOU are on that front line too!
A SAAAAWING SUPERB Gift:
Sponsor one of our wild, free-roaming Leopard, and the certificates you receive, make wonderful gifts for Birthdays or Festivals, Graduation gifts, Mothers’ & Fathers’ Day!
When you Sponsor a Leopard you’ll become one of the AfriCat Family members and you will get:
- Regular AfriCat updates on our fb, Instagram or twitter page, reminding you of the cause you support
- Photos of your magnificent Leopard
- A personalized certificate of the Leopard you are supporting
You can choose to either adopt leopard that is living a wild life in the 200 km2Okonjima Nature Reserve or one of our three ambassador Leopard at AfriCat’s Carnivore Care Centre.
All Leopards that are occurring in the Okonjima Nature Reserve are wild. An ongoing research project is observing and monitoring the long-term dynamics in the composition of the resident leopard population by means of remote camera traps and the application of VHF collars. Based on camera trap data, Okonjima’s leopard-density ranges between 17 and 20 individuals/100km2.
All of our Leopard need YOUR help! Please help us to help them!
WHY?
Some interesting facts to help crystalize why their place in the world is so remarkable, and why their survival is imperative:
- Leopard are the most elusive and secretive of the large felids.
- The spots of a Leopard are called rosettes.
- They are able to adapt to a variety of different habitats which allows them to survive in various different geographic regions of the world.
- Leopard are opportunistic hunters. Their broad spectrum of diet includes numerous species of different sizes and ranges from large antelope like kudu and oryx to small mammals like hares and even birds.
- Well camouflaged, the leopard is master of disguise. Leopard are either stalking their prey or ambush it while its moving closer before it dashes forward to take down its victim with a bite to the throat or neck.
- Leopard are strong and powerful and are able to take prey twice their body weight vertically up into a tree to protect it from scavenging predators.
- Female Leopard give birth to one to three cubs at any time of the year and wean their offspring at the age of two years.
- Unless a female is accompanied by dependent offspring, Leopards are usually solitary and actively defend territories which are marked by scent marks.
- Like most felids, leopards are nocturnal and spend most time of the day resting and dozing in the shade.
- Leopards are classified as vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Large portions of their historic range have been extirpated.
- Continued persecution, habitat fragmentation, illegal wildlife trade and trophy hunting have led to the dramatic reduction of the leopard population.
The elusive, spotted cat needs your help!! Help us to tackle the problems they face…
Sponsorship/Adoption Fee
Adopt one fo our Leopards for 1 year: N$ 3,500 / U$ 350 / £ 219 / € 269
The adoption fee covers the cost of medical bills, fuel and car maintenance for regular monitoring, meat for those that are struggling in the beginning of the rehabilitation stage, maintaining the roads, bush-clearing and general maintenance of the Park which is partly sponsored by AfriCat.
Remember, when you Sponsor a Leopard you will receive:
- Photos of your Leopard
- A personalized certificate of the Leopard you are supporting
- Regular AfriCat updates via fb, Instagram and Twitter, reminding you of the important cause you support
The perfect SAAAWWING Gift, and the PURRRFECT reason!
Feel good that you have not only celebrated with someone, but you have also put your money where your Y is.
YOU ARE NOW PART OF THE ‘CARNIVORE FAMILY’ WHO CARE ENOUGH TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT OUR WILDLIFE TODAY!
MAKE A DIFFERENCE, BE A PART OF LOOKING AFTER OUR WORLD!
NAME: Mawenzi
GENDER: Male
AGE: (2018) Estimated 8 – 9 years
BODY MEASUREMENTS: WEIGHT: (2017) 78 kg | BODY LENGTH: 119 cm | SHOULDER HEIGHT: 88 cm
FIRST COLLARED: May 2017
ORIGIN: Okonjima Nature Reserve
Mawenzi was first collared in April 2017 and is with 78 kilogram currently the largest collared male in the Okonjima Nature Reserve. He was named after one of the volcanic cones of Mount Kilimanjaro. Prior his collaring, Mawenzi was regularly observed on our remotely-triggered wildlife camera traps which enabled us to thoroughly follow his change of range from the western part of the reserve to the central-eastern part and ultimately establishing a territory in the south-east of the reserve. Mawenzi is often seen with Electra and her young cub suggesting that he is the sire of her cub.
NAME: Electra
GENDER: Female
AGE: (2018) Estimated 10 years
BODY MEASUREMENTS: WEIGHT: (2018) 38 kg | BODY LENGTH: 92 cm | SHOULDER HEIGHT: 63 cm
FIRST COLLARED: May 2010
ORIGIN: Okonjima Nature Reserve
Electra is one of our leopards in the Okonjima Nature Reserve.
Electra was first collared in May 2010 when she was approximately about 2 years old. She has grown into a beautiful leopard lady and has become one of Okonjima’s most famous leopards.
Due to the fact that she was initially very shy and cautious around cars and people, Electra was only seen rarely during the first two years.
Raising cubs in a high density leopard area, isn’t easy and so Electra lost multiple litters due to infanticide by males. In July 2017 Electra gave birth to single male cub which she managed to raise up until now. Electra and her cub are often seen together with Mawenzi, who is the sire of the young male leopard.
NAME: Ishara
GENDER: Female
AGE: (2018) 8 years
WEIGHT: (2012) 35Kg (2013) 32Kg
FATHER: Mafana
MOTHER: MJ
WEIGHT: (2013) 32Kg
SIBLING: Bwana
BORN: 2011 in the Okonjima Nature Reserve.
Ishara is one of our leopards in the Okonjima Nature Reserve.
ISHARA and her brother Bwana were born in 2011. Both are still alive and well and turned 3 yrs old in 2013. Ishara, always a shy cat and not very fond of loud noise and too much human activity around her, lives on top of the valley and has taken over her sister, Oshiwa’s territory who was sadly killed by an un-known leopard when she was 3 years old. MJ raised Ishara and her brother in this area and then moved away once she weaned them. Ishara was seen 55 times during July 2012 and November 2012, but she has moved into very thick, acacia woodlands and loves the mountainous areas which makes it hard to find her. She was only seen 25 times between May and July this year.
NAME: Isaskia
GENDER: Female
AGE: (2018) Estimated 10 years.
WEIGHT: (2013) 38Kg
ORIGIN: Okonjima Nature Reserve
Isaskia is one of our leopards in the Okonjima Nature Reserve.
Isaskia – Okonjima’s shy and elusive beauty, whose name means “beautiful” in the Damara language. ISASKIA was spotted for the first time in April 2011. Her territory mainly covers the area around Ombujongwe (northern section of the Okonjima Nature Reserve), where she was seen on occasion since 2011 while tracking other carnivores, when we were lucky or when we specifically went out looking for her.
We estimate that she is approximately 6 years old and mother of (at least) one litter. In 2012 she was sighted with two cubs by our Okonjima guides. In June 2013 we managed to eventually catch her in one of our remote-controlled, triggered box-traps south of Ombujongwe homestead and collared her. Despite her collar, she still is seen very rarely. When spotted however, she is always calm and relaxed. It seems as if she simply prefers to hide from most action and she definitely decides when she wants to be seen and when not. Every now and then we catch her on one of our wildlife camera traps or on one of the live cameras monitoring the box traps around the clock.
She was recently seen mating with Nkosi, but was also spotted with our newly collared male, Mkongwe. The reason ISASKIA has been collared, is because she is part of the new The AfriCat Predator and Prey Population Density Study in the Okonjima Nature Reserve.
NAME: Shakira
GENDER: Female
AGE: (2018) 14 years
WEIGHT: (2013) 30.2Kg (2014) 39.6Kg (2016) 31.2Kg
ORIGIN: Windhoek
SIBLINGS: None
ARRIVED AT AFRICAT: 25 October 2004
REASON FOR CAPTIVITY: Cannot be set free for she was hand-raised and has now become too habituated. Tame leopards that are released back into the wild can be very dangerous, for they lose their natural fear of man.
Shakira is one of our leopards at AfriCat’s Carnivore Care Centre.
Shakira has been at AfriCat since she was nine months old. She was hand-reared from the age of three weeks by a couple who placed her at AfriCat when they no longer had the appropriate facilities to keep her. She is tame but extremely shy. She lives on her own in her enclosure as leopards are solitary animals. “We have supported AfriCat since we sought refuge for a young leopard we had rescued as a cub in 2003. We contacted AfriCat to arrange a visit. We could sense the love for animals that we shared with everyone at AfriCat and were astounded by their knowledge of animal care. We brought Shakira to AfriCat and we continue to help AfriCat with her upkeep. We are confident with the passion show by everyone at AfriCat. We still enjoy visiting Shakira and we vowed to do everything we can to help AfriCat’s fundraising initiatives to further its mission.” Anel & Peet.
NAME: Mick
GENDER: Male
AGE: (2018) 16 years
WEIGHT: (2013) 46.5Kg (2014) 46.5Kg
ORIGIN: Mariental
SIBLINGS: None
ARRIVED AT AFRICAT: 12 December 2002
REASON FOR CAPTIVITY: Cannot be set free for he was hand-raised and has now become too habituated. Tame leopards that are released back into the wild can be very dangerous, for they lose their natural fear of man.
Mick is one of our leopards at AfriCat’s Carnivore Care Centre.
MICK has been at AfriCat since he was a three-month-old cub. He was confiscated from his previous owners together with an adult female leopard and a young male lion. He was tame when he came into our care and has never lost that habituation. As a result Mick cannot be released back into the wild. Mick is the smallest male leopard at AfriCat or in the Okonjima Reserve.
NAME: Lewa
GENDER: Female
AGE: (2018) 10 years
WEIGHT: (2012) 46Kg (2013) 42Kg (2014) 46.9Kg
ORIGIN: Kamanjab
REASON FOR CAPTIVITY: Cannot be set free for she was hand-raised and has now become too habituated. Tame leopards that are released back into the wild can be very dangerous, for they lose their natural fear of man.
Lewa is one of our leopards at AfriCat’s Carnivore Care Centre.
LEWA – MEANS BEAUTIFUL IN SWAHILI. LEWA, was 19 months old when she arrived at the AFRICAT North’s Carnivore Care Centre. Lewa was born by emergency ‘Caesarean section’, when her mother was shot by trophy hunters on a farm in north-western Namibia. The hunters were admiring their trophy when they noticed her belly moving; this female leopard was close to giving birth when she was killed. The farmer slit open her belly and saved the lives of 2 tiny cubs, one male and one female. The male was raised on another farm, approximately 60 km away. Lewa was taken good care of by the farmer and his wife. She bonded with the family, living in their home and romping in the garden with the other pets. Lewa grew fast and soon, instinctively, she began testing her nocturnal hunting skills. A variety of rodents as well as the farmer’s goats became her prey. As she gained more confidence, Lewa would leave the safety of her home and spend more time in the bush, returning when food was scarce.
When Lewa was approximately 12 months old, she would disappear for extended periods. The farmer and his family feared that she may be shot by the neighbours as she had become a clever hunter and could kill larger mammals such as calves, adult sheep and goats. AfriCat was called for advice: the farmer did not wish her removed, but realised that her life may be threatened if she remained on livestock farms.
AfriCat encourages farmers to tolerate the resident carnivores on their farms as removing them creates a vacuum, inviting newcomers to fill the vacant territories. Lewa was, however, an exception as she had become habituated, i.e. had gotten so used to humans that she had lost the natural fear of and respect for humans. Had we not intervened, Lewa would have been shot, trapped or poisoned for her stock raiding habits.
NAME: Lila
GENDER: Female
AGE: (2018) Estimated 6 – 7 years
BODY MEASUREMENTS: WEIGHT: (2017) 40 kg | BODY LENGTH: 90 cm | SHOULDER HEIGHT: 59 cm
FIRST COLLARED: July 2014
ORIGIN: Okonjima Nature Reserve
Lila was first collared in July 2014 within the frame of AfriCat’s annual health checks. Ever since Lila is regularly seen and monitored. Lila gave birth to her first litter in 2017. Sadly, she lost all three cubs within less than a year. In the beginning of 2018, Lila had another litter of three cubs of which one disappeared only two months after birth.
Lila’s range is situated in the western part of the reserve. After the death of JoJo – a female which died in January 2018 after a warthog attack – Lila took over a major part of her territory making her the only mature female in the area.
NAME: Sefu
GENDER: Male
AGE: (2018) Estimated 9 years
BODY MEASUREMENTS: WEIGHT: (2017) 73 kg | BODY LENGTH: 104 cm | SHOULDER HEIGHT: 75 cm
FIRST COLLARED: August 2017
ORIGIN: Okonjima Nature Reserve
Sefu is inhabiting a huge range extending from the far north-western corner up to the central eastern part of the reserve, which often makes it difficult to locate him despite his collar. Sefu is approximately nine years of age and has been monitored by our research team for the last four years. Being the sole mature male in the north of the reserve, he has sired multiple offspring during his reign.
NAME: Jagu
GENDER: Male
AGE: (2018) Estimated 7 years
BODY MEASUREMENTS: WEIGHT: (2017) 67 kg | BODY LENGTH: 99 cm | SHOULDER HEIGHT: 72 cm
FIRST COLLARED: September 2015
ORIGIN: Okonjima Nature Reserve
Jagu is one of Okonjima’s resident male leopards. He is holding his territory in the central part of the reserve. Jagu is one of the more elusive cats and often disappears into the safety of dense vegetation which makes a sighting even more exceptional. Jagu received his name due to his large and impressive dark rosettes that are almost resembling those of a Jaguar.
NAME: AKILI
GENDER: Male
AGE: (2018) Estimated 3 years
BODY MEASUREMENTS: WEIGHT: (2018) 50 kg
FIRST COLLARED: March 2018
MOTHER: Shira
ORIGIN: Okonjima Nature Reserve
Akili is currently our youngest collared male leopard. Akili is offspring of Shira and together with his brother his range is located in the north – eastern part of the reserve. AfriCat’s research team is monitoring him closely as he is an ideal to study the ranging behavior of a young male leopard in an enclosed, high leopard density environment.
NAME: NEO
GENDER: Male
AGE: (2018) Estimated 5 years
BODY MEASUREMENTS: WEIGHT: (2017) 64 kg | BODY LENGTH: 111 cm | SHOULDER HEIGHT: 86 cm
FIRST COLLARED: August 2017
ORIGIN: Okonjima Nature Reserve
Prior his collaring in August 2017, Neo was regularly witnessed on camera traps that are distributed throughout the reserve. His range is situated in the north eastern part of the reserve from which he occasionally extends his range into the south and west.
Neo was collared in August 2017. He is still a young male of approximately 3 – 4 years of age. His origin is unknown.
- Latest News
- Research Reports
- Annual Reports
Stay in Touch
Subscribe to our newsletter and receive all the lastest updates on our projects…