About P.A.W.S
The AfriCat Foundation’s Unique and Exciting Volunteer Conservation Project based in the heart of the Namibian Bush
Welcome to P.A.W.S. part of AfriCat’s and Okonjima’s vision to restore the land back to its original state and once again witness the magnificent cheetah stalking and hunting its prey in it’s natural environment. Africa’s fragile ecosystem and wildlife are inseparably linked, co-existing successfully since time began.
Unfortunately due to man’s influence this delicate balance is rapidly changing and the need to reverse this damage and protect our environment has become paramount.
A Successful Fence Rolling Morning!
Combining the management and implementation of fundamental conservation principals we aim to restore this balance and in time recreate this sustainable eco-system once more. Through your involvement & commitment we are creating valuable employment and training opportunities for the local community to aid us with our vision.
Located in the heart of the Okonjima Game Reserve, this exciting eco- tourism project works alongside the AfriCat Foundation, the world’s largest animal welfare programme committed to the long term conservation and release of Namibia’s large carnivores, especially cheetahs and leopards.
Okonjima’s total reserve encompasses 55,000 acres (22,000 hectares) of which large sections still harbour the scars and remains of old commercial cattle farming land.
PAWS Volunteers Assisting at AfriCat's Annual Health Checks
It is this land that PAWS aims to restore and return back into a Game Reserve with the ultimate goal of introducing an amazing new variety of Namibian game into the area.
By choosing this project you will be undertaking essential reserve maintenance tasks which may include : dismantling old cattle farming fencelines, bush clearing tasks, road and dam maintenance due to soil erosion, a bi-weekly visit to R.E.S.T. (Rare And Endangered Species Trust) located on a bordering farm to assist them for a morning. You will also have the fantastic opportunity of working directly at the AfriCat Foundation itself and jobs may include : bone and poo collecting within the cheetah camps, erecting and repairing fences etc. There may also be the fantastic opportunity of assisting AfriCat with some of their exciting and varied Research Projects! During their stay, volunteers will take part in a multitude of exciting Game Drives including :
Flex those Muscles!!
Visiting and learning in much more detail about the AfriCat foundation and its goals, leopard tracking, cheetah tracking by foot, wild dog and hyena tracking by foot, bushman walks, birding & game drives, sleeping out under the stars etc. All very exciting and varied!
There is also a unique opportunity to go behind the scenes at the AfriCat Foundation to witness first hand the feeding of all the beautiful creatures at this sanctuary.
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PAWS Volunteers Assisting at the Perivoli Country School based on Okonjima's Reserve
HISTORY
Okonjima meaning ‘place of the baboon’ turned from cattle farming to tourism in 1993 and shortly after launched the animal welfare foundation, AfriCat. The AfriCat Foundation is a non-profit organisation committed to the long term conservation of Namibia’s large carnivores, especially cheetahs and leopards and is home to a 16,000 hectare (32,000 acre) Cheetah Rehabilitation Reserve giving previously non-releasable cats a second chance to be wild and free. Okonjima’s total expanse encompasses a 22,000 hectare (55,000 acre) operational private nature reserve.
Other game to be seen include : leopard, giraffe, hyena, wild dogs, oryx, kudu, zebra, impala, eland, wildebeest, red hartebeest, steenbok, dik-dik, and warthog.
Also nocturnal animals such as porcupine, honey badger, brown & spotted hyaena, spotted genet, duiker, aardvark and over 250 bird species may be seen.
