Dad left on Wednesday, after which I immediately got to work at the Africat offices. As well as administrative work, updating the database and processing donations, I help to feed some of the cats in the Carnivore Care Centre (where all the cats who cannot, for various reasons, be released into the wild, live)
The group of cheetah we feed were hand raised, so are very friendly (behind the fence, that is). The leopard, Lewa, is very shy; I haven't seen her yet. The lions on the other hand are quite intimidating! Lions are my favourite animal, but I'm wary of these big hungry males, growling and posturing behind the fence. I'm sure I'll get less jumpy as I get to know them.
The lions have been moved down from Africat North, where a new location is in the process of being set up. These lions can hunt and fend for themselves a little, but are being kept in enclosures because were they to be released into the park, their impact would be sizeable, so this is still under consideration. The cheetah in the park have never encountered lions and would quickly fall prey, as they would be seen as competition.
The other cats in the Care Centre live here for one of these reasons:
- They have been hand reared, so would not be able to hunt or fend for themselves
- They are very used to humans so would be a danger to any people they came across, lacking the natural fear of humans found in wild animals
- They are injured or old, meaning they would be disadvantaged living in the wild
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