The latest adventures of Ombeli and Shakira - January 2011

Shakira and Ombeli, who both arrived at the farm as small cubs, have been living up at Marlice's house for most of their first year and have now finally been moved into their new large permanent enclosure! Thank you to everyone for fundraising and donating to help build this camp for them. The 3 hectare camp allows them all the space they need and they're loving exploring their new territory. The move took place in December and was a very exciting day for us all.

The cubs are now 15 months old and becoming extremely energetic and playful teenagers. They love to run, chase and play-fight with each other and, as they are now much bigger and stronger, their games can become quite rough and less easy to control and contain! For this reason, Wildlife Co-ordinator and Leopard Man, Shaun has decided that it is no longer safe to take both leopards out for walks together as he doesn't want to run the risk of any volunteers being placed in danger. So the two siblings are now being taken out for solo walks.

Ombeli was the first one to go out for a walk on his own and he seemed to love the extra freedom and attention! As soon as he was released from the truck to start his walk, he climbed straight on top of the truck to see if he could spot any wild animals/potential prey! Then once he was coaxed down from the truck and set off on his walk he promptly disappeared into the bushes chasing an oryx. For over an hour Ombeli happily hunted in bushes whilst Shaun and the volunteers looked for him, until he finally decided to give up the hunt and let Shaun find him! It is amazing how well the leopard's camouflage works when he doesn't want to be seen!

In comparison Shakira was a positive paragon on her first solo walk! She obediently stayed away from the bushes and spent most of her walk happily sitting up a tree trying to bat down a bird's nest onto the volunteers' heads!

August 2010

Ombili and Shakira, recently had their rabies injections by our vet Ian Baines, which was an interesting afternoon!

May 2010

The gorgeous cubs are growing so quickly and starting to be just a little bit of a handful at feeding time, especially the male, Ombeli.  He gobbles down his portion and then tries to take Shakira’s, too!

Both are becoming very proficient tree-climbers, though Ombeli is not always a good judge of whether or not a branch will hold his weight. As the bigger of the two cubs, he falls, shakes himself, and races up the tree again. It’s a treat to see them chasing each other from branch to branch, improving their skills each time.

Shakira is the more active and playful of the two and loves to jump after a rope swung for her to play with during their daily walks at the waterhole. Brother Ombeli, sits with his head on one side, thinking about what to do next, looking so sweet!

The walks home from the waterhole have become quite entertaining as it’s not always easy walking them back on the straight road home – they dive in and out of every bush along the way and like stopping off for a climb up the odd tree now and then too! To help keep them on the straight and narrow, canine friends Kandas and Ouboet join us. The dogs became firm friends as soon as the cubs arrived at N/a’an ku sê, although it won’t be long before Ombeli is larger than Kandas, our big black Labrador. At present she handles with ease the tracking and pouncing of both of them and it’s beautiful to watch to group of cats and dogs play together.

To keep these young cubs entertained and to encourage their development of climbing skills, we have built them two climbing frames and platforms in their camp which they seem to love – every day there are seen sitting on top of one of the platforms or using them to shade from the hot African sun.

We’re delighted that both cats have overcome the ailments they experienced when they first arrived here. Ombeli’s cloudy eye has cleared up and Shakira has responded well to the extra calcium we gave her to strengthen her hind leg which caused her to limp.

We’re currently fundraising to build them a permanent camp here at N/a’an ku sê, as it’s unlikely they’ll be able to be released back into the wild after their poor start in life. If you or anyone you know would like to donate towards the camp, please email donationsnaankuse@iway.na.

March 2010

Our two little Leopard cubs, Shakira and Ombeli, are growing rapidly and we probably won’t be able to call them “little” for much longer! Since they came to N/a’an ku sê just 11 weeks ago, their health and strength has been hugely restored. It’s an incredible transformation from small and malnourished cubs to playful, adventurous and healthy looking cubs.