Vegans Love Carnivores

Finally, after over three months of waiting, I am on my way back to my heartland:  Africa.  Through my many travels across the globe, there is no other place I have felt so much at home as in the savannah of the African plains.  To me, this epitomises everything I love about nature where you can witness first-hand the circle of life.  It is truly reminiscent of all the nature programmes I watched continuously as a kid, where I wished and hoped that I could be there to witness the lion catch the zebra.  

And now that dream has finally come true!



First stop:  Cheetah Conservation Fund in Otjiwarongo, Namibia - the epicentre of global cheetah conservation and a place I have been yearning to visit ever since I heard about the programme.  They are doing magnificent work on all aspects of cheetah biology, ecology and conservation, such as reproduction, genetics, habitat and prey studies, research into conflict mitigation with livestock farmers and the ever-essential education and outreach t…

Good day everyone!

On 31 August I leave my native lands of the UK to embark upon an African adventure in the wilds of Namibia and Zimbabwe.  I will spend the first few days meeting the staff at Cheetah Conservation Fund, and then head to Zimbabwe to start a 6-month placement near Gweru working as a lion researcher.

I will be updating this blog during my placement at the African Lion & Environmental Research Trust (ALERT) in Antelope Park.  Whilst here, I will be studying the behavioural ecology of a pride of captive-born lions, called the Ngamo Pride.  These are a very special group of lions that are part of an on-going rehabilitation and release programme run by ALERT to enable replenishment of wild lion populations throughout Africa.

African lions have exhibited shocking rates of habitat and population decline within the last 100 years, predominantly caused by habitat loss and overkill of lions and their prey.  ALERT aims to increase the viability of certain threatened smaller A…