Namibia is home to six large carnivore species: cheetah, leopard, lion, spotted hyaena, brown hyaena and wild dog. The majority of these species are often in conflict with people as Namibia is largely a livestock and game farming community.

The AfriCat Foundation was founded in 1992 to promote large carnivore conservation. The initial years concentrated mainly on animal welfare but today the organisation has developed in all aspects of carnivore conservation. These include:

• Research on free-ranging large carnivore populations.
• Research on the health of cheetahs in captivity.
• Training and capacity building of local Namibians.
• Environmental education and awareness.
• Rehabilitation of orphaned cheetahs.
• Assisting in large carnivore reintroduction projects.
• Providing sanctuary for orphaned large carnivores.

The on-going collaboration with the conservation authorities, scientists and research institutions and the farming community has enabled AfriCat to conduct and participate in a number of field projects which range from determining the density and demography of leopards on commercial farmland to studying thermoregulation in free-living cheetahs

The AfriCat Foundation cares for over a hundred large carnivores that currently cannot be released back into the wild. The animals are housed in their natural environment an spacious fenced enclosures.

Discover what you will see during your Namibian large carnivore visit.