I had heard of the work of the AfriCat Foundation in Namibia with leopards,
lions and, in particular, with cheetahs - and wanted to see it for myself. After all,
it is not every day that you can look straight into the eyes of one of Africa's large
carnivores in its natural habitat on a warm, balmy evening. This was pure animal magic.

Namibia has the largest concentration of cheetahs in Africa, with 90% living on
livestock farmland. Not surprisingly, this generates conflict with human who are the
greatest threat to the species. Many farmers do not want to kill the predators once they have
caught them, and contact AfriCat, who will collect them, give them a health check and keep them
in their holding facilities for veterinary treatment or relocation to a private game reserve.
Old and sick predators that are unfit to be returned to the wild are either put down or looked after
in large enclosures at the AfriCat Foundation.

It was back in 1970, when the Hanssen family (Val, Rose, Tammy, Wayne, Donna & Rosalea) purchased Okonjima farm, 65km south of Otjiwarongo, in the North of Namibia, to breed Brahman cattle.
Life became a struggle, though, when carnivores, particularly leopards, caused extensive losses
among their herd. After having little or no success with common forms of predator removal, they
developed techniques to protect their livestock and dramatically reduced the problem.