An old male lion, rescued from all certain death after he was ousted from his pride by two younger malesWild dogs at Grasslands have added to the gene pool, whilst others have been relocated in MoremiA lioness with cubs, captured for her own safety. Once the cubs are old enough to be fully mobile, they will all be safely relocatedSaved by Grassland, this cheetah would have been shot for taking livestock on a neighbouring farm.
 

Predator Protection Project

As Grassland Safari Lodge is situated on the western side of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, on the western, northern and southern sides of our game area, we are surrounded by cattle ranches.

Predators move from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve to these cattle areas on a very regular basis – it offers easy prey and a reliable source of water.

Sadly, farmers in Botswana are allowed to shoot predators at random, to protect their valuable livestock. We have therefore decided to work hand in hand with the Department of Wildlife and save these predators.

Problem predators are captured and kept in semi-captivity at Grassland Safari Lodge in 11 ha camps and we are currently working on a solution to save these predators.

The purpose of temporarily housing these predators, is not only to save them from certain death, but also to educate visitors about their dilemma and highlight that projects like this can help improve the gene pool of Botswana’s predators.

Guests at Grassland Safari Lodge are permitted to see these animals at no extra charge.

In this way we can save threatened species such as cheetah and wild dog from extinction. The predators are fed on donkey meat, bought from local people all over Botswana.This has the added advantage of supporting the local communities. Unfortunately, donkeys are hugely over-populated in Botswana and pose a serious threat to road safety.

At the moment Grassland Safaris has lions, wild dogs, leopard and cheetah. Our intention is to re-introduce these predators back into the wild, as well as to breed the wild dogs and cheetahs.

Particularly in the case of wild dogs, it is extremely important to maintain a healthy population by breeding in semi-captivity in order to re-introduce them to the wild. Wild dogs often come into contact with local dogs from the villages and are under constant threat of being exposed to canine diseases such as distemper.

Currently Grassland’s Predator Protection Project is not sponsored, so contributions to maintain this valuable program will be much appreciated.

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