About Us
Dr Ulf Tubbesing
Wildlife veterinarian
I studied veterinary science and graduated from the Onderstepoort Veterinary Faculty, University of Pretoria, South Africa in 1983. After graduation I worked in a 24-Hour Emergency and Referral Clinic in Johannesburg. In 1985 I took up a lecturing post at Onderstepoort, where I specialised in Small Animal Internal Medicine.
In 1994 I went back to Namibia were I initially worked as an assistant-vet in the Windhoek Veterinary Clinic. In February 1999, I purchased Rhino Park Veterinary Clinic which predominantly handled small animal patients (dogs and cats) but also became known for its work on large carnivores and other wildlife species. I sold the clinic in 2009 to Dr Minty Soni, so I could concentrate on wildlife veterinary work which by then increased to a near full time job. My years of involvement with wildlife veterinary work has enabled me to gain a lot of experience in the various fields of wildlife veterinary medicine involving most of the southern African game species.
Besides the veterinary work I frequently lecture at farmers days and veterinary conferences on a broad variety of wildlife related topics. In addition, I am also working as an adjunct lecturer at UNAM's Veterinary Faculty. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Mariska Bijsterbosch
Wildlife para-professional
Hi there! I work since February 2017 for Wildlife Vets Namibia. I am from the Netherlands, where I studied to become a veterinary nurse. I started working as a zookeeper at the African department in Ouwehands Zoo, Rhenen. Besides my work I did a BSc in Wildlife Management, and got the opportunity to do my internship at the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia. This is where I fell in love with Namibia!
After completing my study, I worked as a research assistant for a PhD project about farmer-predator conflict, again in Namibia. I returned to the Netherlands to do a MSc in Forest and Nature Conservation at the Wageningen University. During my final internship at a game farm in Namibia I met Ulf, and got the chance to work as his assistant.
I hope you enjoy this website, and have a look at our social media pages, where I regularly post updates on our work. On our You-Tube channel we upload videos about our work. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!
Frederick
Foreman, game capture and translocation
Frederick is both our foreman and right-hand man. He was born in Otjiwarongo, and started working as a farm labourer for almost 10 years. In 2000 he started working for a game capture company, and in 2004 he entered Ulf’s employment in his game capture company. Frederick is not just highly experienced in the capture and care of all our game species - from small antelopes to rhinos and elephants - he is also a reliable truck driver, and a competent mechanic and welder. In short, Frederick is a jack and master of all trades!
Frederick started his travels through southern Africa as a truck driver and, in the process got to know South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Angola and the DRC. He was introduced to sea and air travel when we started exporting game to the DRC. Frederick enjoys working with any wildlife species, and is also a proud farmer with some farm animals of his own.
Manu
Game capture and translocation
Manu comes from the small village Onandjamba in the north of Namibia. He started working for Ulf´s former game capture company in 2004, where he was introduced to a wide spectrum of wildlife work. He is part of our game capture team and, when we are not doing game work, he works on the farm. From elephants to springbuck, from dart immobilization to boma capture, he has participated in it all.
Whenever we translocate game, Manu comes along to both monitor, care and feed the animals. Over the years Manu has developed from a shy village boy to a “globe trotter” with extensive travel experience by truck, ship and air to South Africa, Angola and the DRC. Even though Manu enjoys working with all the species, his favourite is the mighty elephant!
Romario
Game capture and translocation
Romario is the youngest member of the team, and started working for Wildlife Vets Namibia in January 2020. He was born in Windhoek, and even though young, he has already gained quite a lot of wildlife experience when he worked for Ulf´s former game capture company between 2015 to 2018.
Until now Romario mostly worked with antelope species, but his experience with bigger animals such as elephants is on the increase. He has travelled to and worked in Angola, the DRC and South Africa. He finds his work with wild animals very interesting and enjoys the steep learning curve. His favourite animal to work with is Namibia's iconic symbol; the oryx. Besides game capture, he does a lot of work on the farm as well.
Gabi
Admin and Finances
Gabi has started with us in 2022 and since then has become absolute indispensable! Admin, finances, taxes... She does it all! Gabi likes all animals, but there is one she likes in particular... The Red Wiggler Worm!
When Gabi is not busy tackling our financials, she likes to get her hands dirty and makes compost! Gabi is the owner of the company Green Planet Gardening, and together with her Red Wiggler Worms she makes vermicompost. Vermicompost is what you call the castings that worms leave behind when they digest organic matter. It works absolute wonders as a natural fertilizer and is often used because of its growth stimulating and soil improving effects. Have a look at the Green Planet Gardening website and their social media channels for more information.
