[Music]
we are very privileged to be able to
work together and we make a great team
these days that we want to kill one
another
malice is really passionate about
animals
[Music]
on the other hand i look at the
scientific side of things
do you have a head and a heart situation
and that's the most successful
combination that you can have
for conservation
[Music]
has two sort of legs that it stands on
firstly the sanctuary itself where the
animals that come here that can never go
back into the wild are looked after
and then making sure that we mitigate
human wildlife conflict in this
country
the rapid response unit started because
we had to
address the source of animals coming to
us
putting animals in captivity because
they are perceived as problem animals is
not a
solution to the conflict
cheetahs and leopards in namibia occur
mostly
outside of protected areas and that is
mostly commercial farmland
so the chances of conflict is very high
normally it's not the healthy individual
it's always the either very young one
they lost their mums
and they try and survive or fits and
injure them
or a very old animal
but the perception is very often that
every cheetah
every leopard every hyena is a habitual
livestock raider or killer and those
perceptions we
we knew we had to change cheetah numbers
especially in central namibia
are dwindling in terms of leopards
i think the challenge still remains
natural habitat
and unsustainable development and if we
lose these carnivores we will have
severe effects
to the ecosystem i don't think people
realize what the impact it is
if we lose a species everybody
is at the disadvantage not only the
people that live there
[Music]
hi a rapid response would normally
happen when we get a phone call in
and then the train reaction starts so
just give you some more information
about this method
[Music]
yes
um he's lost two calves um in a month
or because of the leopard and he's now
caught this leopard in the capture cage
and
he doesn't want us to collar and release
on the property he wants us to remove
this kit so
we have to find a spot now for this lab
to go before we even
start driving from here and we need to
get a permit to
pick up we don't have a plate that we
can take and accept national
products and then we have to try and
convince them yeah so that's going to be
a challenge
so i think if you can put that
application free
send an email
[Music]
i'm a cattle farmer and this property is
in the north northeast of namibia our
income is basically just coming from
cattle and in this case the leopard
actually came all the way to our
homestead
trying to get the calves out of the
enclosure and so that's why we took
measures to catch him
right i'm gonna give him 180 milligrams
of ketamine
and four comma eight milligrams of
melatonin
that should do the job
translocating an animal doesn't happen
very often it's a last resort for us
me and rudy walk up to the cage and now
i'm on the bike
call his attention so he turns his butt
and people do a good aim
how long will it take it about 15 to 20
minutes
if he's half awake and you start
stimulating him then
it's not good we wait
till he sleeps deep enough and then we
go closer
okay
and we're just going to do all the
measurements and
get his weight body temperature
that's a nice cool summertime
has an injury here just let's document
that
the blue spray is just an animatic spray
the collar that we're going to put on
and he's got a vhf and a gps satellite
unit
is equipped with a drop-off mechanism so
by that time
we would have established where this
animal has settled into a home range and
what has happened to the animal it's the
112th
animal that we've immobilized in the
last nine years
we've been very very lucky we have not
had one mortality
when we moved an animal we've done over
680 consultations with farmers
when we started 80 of animals would
be shot in the capture cage in the last
year only
0.3 percent got killed so i think we've
come a long way
in terms of changing perceptions and
and working with landowners and farmers
in
looking at alternatives
[Music]
we're going to stop in a short while
just to check up
on him just make sure he's not breathing
well his temperature is good
everything is still okay yeah he's a
little bit awake
so don't fiddle with a
with a half a white leg but temperature
especially if you have to take it
[Applause]
so we reached our release site it's a
protected area
we're looking for a tree that we can
throw the rope over to open the
catcher cage gate tie a rope to the gate
and throw that rope over a tree and then
from the inside of the car
pull it open everybody should be in the
cars now when we pull this open
please windows rolled up
lipids are not like cheaters or lions
but when you release them they
just run off leopards tend to come back
and attack you
sometimes they take it down
[Music]
if you release a animal into a release
site they must be fully awake because
there's other predators in the area
that's it very good
i mean that's what it's all about open
prey doesn't cause any trouble
and it's great to know this may be
infamous and
it's the heart to keep him alive it's
not ideal that you've moved him out of
his territory
but still we've saved his life and
still one lip but more on the planet
[Music]
you