Consultancy

Consultancy

Game management consultancy


Game farming is one of the fastest growing “agricultural” sectors, yet many game farmers have relatively little in-depth knowledge on game ranch management, suitability of species for a habitat, camp design etc. With many years of experience in this industry we are well qualified to assist with advice and education.


Irrespective of your concerns (optimal size of camps, which species and how many, what feed to give, how to build a boma, what permits to get, what to look out for when buying at an auction etc.), give us a call and we will do our best to provide you with good advice. We are willing to do farm visits (ideally in combination with other work done on the farm or alternatively outside the game capture season) to assist you with farm specific management issues. After a farm visit, we will write an extensive report with information and advice applicable to your situation.

Giraffe, Oryx, Warthog
Giraffe, Oryx, Warthog
Lecture about elephants in DRC
Lecture about elephants in DRC
Lecture for farmers
Lecture for farmers
Presentation Seeis Conservancy
Presentation Seeis Conservancy
Measuring shoulder height in African wild dogs
Measuring shoulder height in African wild dogs
Collaring a spotted hyena
Collaring a spotted hyena
Rhino rabies vaccination research
Rhino rabies vaccination research
Rhino with a solar-powered GPS ear tag
Rhino with a solar-powered GPS ear tag
Collecting blood from a kudu for disease monitoring
Collecting blood from a kudu for disease monitoring
Collaring a brown hyena
Collaring a brown hyena

Research projects


Since much of our work focuses on animal welfare and conservation, we are always willing to assist researchers doing field work, like immobilising animals for telemetry device placements, biological sample collections (disease surveillance, genetics etc.) etc. With years of experience in the veterinary field we are well able to recognize, diagnose and understand disease impact on both public health and on animals (as individuals, but also on populations and ecosystems).


We will not get involved with research projects where we are not convinced that the research design and/or the research focus adequately addresses animal welfare and ethics issues. Before committing our cooperation towards a research project, we would want to be well-briefed on the project goals and methods.

Training & Courses


To further empower game farms and people involved in wildlife work, we provide training and courses throughout the country and abroad. If you have any specific topic that you suggest we provide a course on, we would be more than happy to hear from you! At the bottom of this page you can find a table with course dates and venues. If you would like to join one or more courses, feel free to contact us!

Post-Mortem course

Due to a deficiency of experienced wildlife vets in Namibia, and the long distances to be travelled to most game farms (with the obvious time delays and financial implications), few farmers have regular post-mortems done on game or livestock mortalities. We feel that farmers will benefit greatly from being empowered to do a proper, systematic post-mortem examination, collect the appropriate diagnostic samples and then have these submitted to a competent laboratory for analysis. Over and above the obvious benefit to the farmer, who will soon have a much better understanding of the health status of his herd (game and domestic), and will thus be able to take appropriate management steps, we as members of the farming community will all benefit by getting a better understanding of disease processes affecting game in Namibia. With time, this knowledge will be of great value in overall herd and disease management.


We offer 1.5-day courses where we will teach you how to conduct a proper post-mortem examination, including appropriate sample collection and photography. This will be an intensive yet practical hands-on course! If you are interested in such a course, please contact us. 

Animal Crime Scene and Evidence Handling course

One of the biggest threats to both wildlife and livestock is poaching for the trade in ivory, horn and skins, but also for meat. Especially the latter one is not much highlighted by the media, but it impacts game- and livestock farmers economically, and undermines conservation efforts and tourism.


When an animal has been poached, it is important that the right steps are taken to investigate the case, and to find and handle the crime scene and it's evidence in such a way that it will lead to the arrest and conviction of the culprits.


This course is meant for farmers, managers, anti-poaching units, game rangers, police officers, and all others that might encounter wildlife crime/poaching situations. In this 2.5-day course we teach you about the proper handling of a crime scene and evidence in case of poaching, stock theft or another wildlife or livestock-related crime. 

Dart immobilization course

We started this 5-day course in 2016, aiming at people who are involved in wildlife research and/or working with wildlife vets. But if you are a game farmer, a vet student, or just somebody with an interest in wildlife work this course could be also very interesting for you!


In the course we teach you more about the Namibian legislation surrounding the use of drugs, we give an introduction to the various (remote) drug administration systems, darts, physiology, pharmacology and the drugs we use. We also teach and show you how to monitor an immobilized animal and what to do in emergencies and drug accidents. Practical work will involve practising shooting with a dart gun, and we will immobilize some animals and monitor their immobilization. 


Examining lungs - PM course
Examining lungs - PM course
Blood smear - PM course
Blood smear - PM course
Examining an oryx carcass - PM course
Examining an oryx carcass - PM course
Examining carcass of a lamb in Lubango Angola
Examining carcass of a lamb in Lubango Angola
Cutting out samples - PM course
Cutting out samples - PM course
Examining organs - PM course
Examining organs - PM course
PM course lecture
PM course lecture
Photographing samples -PM course
Photographing samples -PM course
PM course lecture
PM course lecture
Examining a zebra carcass - PM course
Examining a zebra carcass - PM course
Practising making a blood smear - PM course
Practising making a blood smear - PM course
Taking samples - PM course
Taking samples - PM course
Post-Mortem examination on a warthog - PM course
Post-Mortem examination on a warthog - PM course
Measuring a car track - Animal Crime Scene course
Measuring a car track - Animal Crime Scene course
Photographing car track with light source - Animal Crime Scene course
Photographing car track with light source - Animal Crime Scene course
Photographing evidence - Animal Crime Scene course
Photographing evidence - Animal Crime Scene course
Photographng evidence - Animal Crime Scene course
Photographng evidence - Animal Crime Scene course
Securing a foot print - Animal Crime Scene course
Securing a foot print - Animal Crime Scene course
Casting a tyre track - Animal Crime Scene course
Casting a tyre track - Animal Crime Scene course
Making a car tyre track imprint - Animal Crime Scene course
Making a car tyre track imprint - Animal Crime Scene course
Mapping out the crime scene - Animal Crime Scene course
Mapping out the crime scene - Animal Crime Scene course
Mapping out the crime scene - Animal Crime Scene course
Mapping out the crime scene - Animal Crime Scene course
Photographing evidence - Animal Crime Scene course
Photographing evidence - Animal Crime Scene course
Collecting evidence - Animal Crime Scene course
Collecting evidence - Animal Crime Scene course
Target shooting with the dart gun - Dart immobilization course
Target shooting with the dart gun - Dart immobilization course
Monitoring an immobilized spotted hyena - Dart immobilization course
Monitoring an immobilized spotted hyena - Dart immobilization course
Handling an immobilized oryx - Dart immobilization course
Handling an immobilized oryx - Dart immobilization course
Making up a dart - Dart immobilization course
Making up a dart - Dart immobilization course
Monitoring an immobilized cheetah - Dart immobilization course
Monitoring an immobilized cheetah - Dart immobilization course
Target shooting with dart gun - Dart immobilization course
Target shooting with dart gun - Dart immobilization course
Reversing a lion - Dart immobilization course
Reversing a lion - Dart immobilization course
Practising blood collection from a donkey - Dart immobilization course
Practising blood collection from a donkey - Dart immobilization course
Practising the roping of a giraffe - Dart immobilization course
Practising the roping of a giraffe - Dart immobilization course


Training for e.g. vets, students, rangers and farmers

In addition to our routine activities we also provide training of wildlife veterinarians (aspiring) as well as farm/reserve personnel on a variety of wildlife related issues. These training sessions are adapted to client demand, level of existing expertise as well as local circumstances. Our aim is to improve animal care through mostly “hands on” on the job training. Depending on demand, time and facilities available, training usually involves a combination of lectures with strong visual PowerPoint support as well as practical application of lessons learnt.


Examples of courses and lectures we have presented both within Namibia and abroad:

  • Different game capture techniques
  • Translocation and transport of wildlife
  • Capture and handling of different species (e.g. giraffe, rhino, antelope, predator, elephant)
  • Elephant encounters (what to do (and not to!) when you encounter an elephant
  • Wildlife diseases
  • General wildlife management
  • Training to identify animals in poor health through the application of body condition score
  • Observing and identifying sick animals in a herd


To empower Namibia's para-professionals, animal health technicians, vet nurses etc. working with wildlife, we aim to organize yearly Wildlife Para-Professional Weekends. These weekends are aimed at gaining knowledge and experiences from people working in the field. These weekends are usually accredited by the Namibian Veterinary Council, and can be used to aquire CPD points. 

Course

Date

Venue

Dart immobilization course

01 - 06 July 2024

Erindi Private Game Reserve

Wildlife Para-Professional Weekend 2023

01 - 03 Sep 2023

Erindi Private Game Reserve

Post-Mortem course

09-10 July 2022

11-12 May 2022

SAROA Safari Lodge

Kifaru Bush Camp

Animal Crime Scene and Evidence Handling Course

13-15 May 2022

04-06 March 2022

Kifaru Bush Camp

Etango Ranch

Wildlife Para-Professional Weekend 2022

25-27 February 2022

Erindi Private Game Reserve

Post-Mortem course

07-08 April 2021

Kifaru Bush Camp

Animal Crime Scene and Evidence Handling Course

09-11 April 2021

19-21 March 2021

05-07 March 2021

Kifaru Bush Camp

Farm Kweekwal

ISAP facility

Animal Crime Scene and Evidence Handling Course

17-19 July 2020

ISAP facility

Post-Mortem course

14 March 2020

AfriCat Okonjima

Wildlife Para-Professional Weekend 2020

21-23 February 2020

Erindi Private Game Reserve

Post-Mortem course

12-13 November 2019

Lubango, Angola

Niger ranger course

26-27 October 2019

Cheetah Conservation Fund

Post-Mortem, game capture course

28 February - 05 March 2019

Kinshasa, DRC

Dart immobilization course

27 November - 01 December 2017

AfriCat Okonjima

Dart immobilization course

17-22 November 2017

Zambezi region

Dart immobilization course

14-17 November 2016

Erindi Private Game Reserve