Today we went hunting for cats. 

On our way back to Windhoek, we stopped for a night at the 55,000 acre Okonjima Game Reserve, home of The AfriCat Foundation. AfriCat rehabilitates cheetahs, wild dogs, hyaenas and leopards, who come here after being held captive.

For example: A local farmer notices a cheetah near his land. He becomes afraid it will harm his cows, so he kills it. The farmer then notices cute little baby cubs now abandoned and decides they would be fun pets. Baby cheetahs grow into giant cheetahs and the farmer now realizes this wasn’t such a good idea. He drops them at Okonjima.

Thus, most of the animals come here lacking any real experience due to being orphaned or removed from the wild at an early age. The reserve provides captive cheetahs and other carnivores the opportunity to hone their hunting skills and become self-sustaining, giving them a chance to return to the wild.

The captive cheetahs and leopards are fitted with radio-collars prior to their release into the reserve, so that their welfare and progress can be closely monitored.

Which means for us, they are fairly easy to find. We went on a morning drive, tracking device and all, and spotted three cheetah, two leopards and one leopard cub, which we were told was as rare as seeing a leprechaun. 

It was a successful cat-filled day.