Naankuse Wildlife Sanctuary
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The Naankuse Foundation Wildlife Sanctuary, also stylized ''Nǀaankusê'', is a wildlife sanctuary in central
Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
, situated outside
Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...
. Besides the sanctuary the establishment also runs a carnivore conservation research programme, the ''Clever Cubs'' pre-primary school, and a clinic for the
San people The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are members of various Khoe, Tuu, or Kxʼa-speaking indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures that are the first cultures of Southern Africa, and whose territories span Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, ...
. ''Nǀaankusê'' is a Juǀ'hoan word that means "God will protect us", or "God watches over us." The sanctuary opened in 2007. It is run by Namibian conservationist
Marlice van Vuuren Marlice Elretha Jansen van Vuuren (born 14 May 1976 as Marlice Elrethra van der Merwe) is a Namibian conservationist. Together with her husband Dr. Rudie van Vuuren, she runs the N/a’an ku sê Wildlife Sanctuary in central Namibia. Van Vu ...
and her husband
Rudie van Vuuren Rudolf "Rudie" Jansen van Vuuren (born 20 September 1972) is a Namibian physician, conservationist and former sportsman who specialised in both cricket and rugby union. He is also a qualified medical doctor as well as an obstetrician and he has ...
. Naankuse is funded by voluntary donations and relies on the time of volunteers to continue its projects. The Naankuse Foundation is based on a 10,000 hectare nature reserve. In January 2011,
Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...
and Angelina Jolie chose Naankuse to become a partner of the
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...
Foundation, in honour of their Namibian-born daughter. "We have known Rudie and Marlice for many years and continue to be impressed by their hard work and dedication to the people and conservation of the land and wildlife of Namibia. The new section of the project will be under Naankuse and in Shiloh's name. We want her to be very involved and grow up with the understanding of her country of birth," Jolie said.


Carnivore conservation tracking

Naankuse started a carnivore research project in early 2008 to help protect and conserve large wild carnivores and reduce human-wildlife conflict. Captured cats are fitted with a radio collar before being released back into the wild allowing Naankuse to track their movements, check on their condition and gain a better understanding of their ecology for future conservation. The project also works to relocate proven problem animals (those that prey on farmers' cattle) to safer conservation areas and reduce the number needlessly shot or killed. The project is the first of its kind to monitor translocated and released carnivores on a continuous and intensive basis. The project aims to: * Find a sustainable and successful solution for re-locating problem animals, i.e., proven livestock predators, so they are no longer shot and killed. * Re-establish a cheetah population in Namibrand Nature reserve and Namib Naukluft, which currently have very low cheetah populations. * Develop footprint identification software for cheetah, which will be free for use and enable cost effective, standardised population monitoring. Naankuse have worked with
Chester Zoo Chester Zoo is a zoo at Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos at . The zoo has a total land holding of approximately . Chester Zoo is operate ...
and WildTrack! on this initiative. * Enable farmers to manage and protect their livestock from predators by creating GIS (
Geographic Information System A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...
) maps of locations of collared carnivores. * Work closely with farmers to dispel the myth that all cheetahs and leopards are a danger to livestock, helping to protect these big cats from indiscriminate shooting and conserve the species.


Wildlife sanctuary

The wildlife sanctuary accommodates orphaned and injured animals that cannot be released safely back into the wild including
leopards The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...
,
lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...
, cheetah,
wild dogs Wild Dogs is an American heavy metal band from Portland, Oregon, formed loosely in 1981 by original members Jeff Mark, Danny Kurth, Matt McCourt, and Pete Holmes. The band has since released six albums, three live albums and one DVD. Wild Dogs ...
and
baboons Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma ba ...
all housed in purpose-built enclosures. N/'an ku sê has been repeatedly investigated by the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism for permit violations and illegal breeding and translocating of wild animals, particularly cheetahs and elephants. When confronted with the allegations, Rudie van Vuuren denied the claims and accused the ministry of incompetence.


Pre-school

The Clever Cubs School opened in November 2009 to provide free pre-primary education for the San children on the farm. The school currently has nearly 30 pupils ranging from under 1 to 15 years old. Naankuse also work to secure places at mainstream schools in Windhoek for the older children. Naankuse's work with the San community is voluntarily funded and relies on donations from supporters and uptake of their "sponsor-a-child" scheme to continue. File:Lientjie, Naankuse San chef.jpg, Award winning San chef, Lientjie File:Naankuse Clever Cubs School.jpg, Clever Cubs School File:Naankuse Lifeline Clinic Doctor.JPG, Doctor examining a patient at Naankuse Lifeline Clinic File:Naankuse 3 cheetah release (7-9) 094b.jpg, Cheetah release,
Sossusvlei Sossusvlei (sometimes written Sossus Vlei) is a salt and clay pan surrounded by high red dunes, located in the southern part of the Namib Desert, in the Namib-Naukluft National Park of Namibia. The name "Sossusvlei" is often used in an exten ...
File:Naankuse Lucky the cheetah.jpg, Lucky, the three legged cheetah File:NaankuseLodge.jpg, The lodge


Film and photography portfolio

Naankuse, its owner Marlice van Vuuren and the animals have featured in a number of documentaries, films and photographs. Naankuse and their three legged cheetah Lucky, featured in an advert for a
Volkswagen Golf The Volkswagen Golf () is a compact car/small family car (C-segment) produced by the German automotive manufacturer Volkswagen since 1974, marketed worldwide across eight generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates ...
, shown on South African TV in May 2009.VW Golf ad featuring Naankuse
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References


External links


Naankuse Namibia website
Wildlife Sanctuary & Lodge in Namibia run by Marlice and Rudie van Vuuren {{DEFAULTSORT:Naankuse Wildlife Sanctuary, Namibia 2007 establishments in Namibia Buildings and structures in Khomas Region Tourism in Namibia