Why We Need Leopards

Marlice van Vuuren is a well known Namibian conservationist. She grew up surrounded by the orphaned and injured animals on her parents’ farm where her love for caring for these animals emerged. Marlice has been the subject of international documentaries for the work she does in conservation here in Namibia. It was a journey that included a stint where she trained animals for big budget Hollywood films to the get to the place she is today where she is known as the cheetah whisperer and the belle of the bush.

99FM’s MYD Earth sat down with Marlice to talk about her journey, the establishment of N/a’an ku sê Lodge and Wildlife Sanctuary and the exciting projects she’s involved in today.

N/a’an ku sê Lodge and Wildlife Sanctuary is a place where the conservation of animals and culture are interlinked, a first in Namibia. N/a’an ku sê is actively involved in the improvement of the lives of the marginalized San community through education, employment, healthcare and more. In addition the sanctuary is home to orphaned and injured animals that cannot be released back into the wild and their well-known – Carnivore Conservation Research Project.

In 99FM’s MYD Earth show, Marlice van Vuuren shared with us her journey, learning and vision for the future.
Here are some of the areas covered :

• How Marlice got into conservation
• What learning they have had especially with their leopard research and what critical role leopards play in an ecosystem
• What it’s like to train animals and even flies
• The projects Marlice is working on to support conservation in Namibia

Take a listen to the MYD Earth show with Marlice van Vuuren, here :

https://soundcloud.com/99fm/myd-erath-marlice-van-vuuren