leopard | Nikela: Helping People Saving Wildlife

What is Animal Poaching? Why is it so Devastating to Wildlife?

Jan 30, 2019 · by Wildlife Margrit · In: All Posts, Animal Poaching, Elephants, leopard, Lions, Rhino, rhino calf, rhino poaching Tagged: Africa, animal poaching, Lynn Clifford, Moses Arineitwe, Natalie Rogers, poaching, rhino, series

Part 3 in the Nikela Series on Animal Poaching, and what its doing to endangered species, rhino, pangolin, lions, leopards, and primates in Africa [Parts of this article first published November 5th, 2011] What is Animal Poaching? Although poaching is a worldwide issue impacting wildlife, this article’s focus is on the continent of Africa. Africa’s wildlife has seen tremendous decline over the past 50 years. Lions from 450,000 to less than 20,000. Giraffe populations down by 40%. One elephant being poached every fifteen minutes. And the sad statistics go on and on. Some of the decline is due to habitat…

Tracking African Wildlife – New Perspective

Mar 22, 2016 · by Russ · In: All Posts, leopard, Lions Tagged: endangered species, RUSS, Tracking African Wildlife, wildlife conservation, Wildlife Tracking

Unique encounters while tracking African Wildlife for 5 days on foot. Looking down there is a fresh track in the soft sand. I can’t keep the grin off my face, “This is the right front paw of a female Leopard!!” Feeling a bit smug the next thought hits me hard, “BUT WHERE IS SHE NOW?!?!” Walking in the bush for 5 days learning from two wonderful Shangan trackers and other protectors with guns, we have become pretty comfortable with the African Wildlife around us. But this track is less than a few hours old and the reality of the bush…

Animal Predators: “Top-Down” Control and How It Affects Us All

Jun 17, 2015 · by Nikela Volunteer/Guest blogger · In: Cheetah, conservation, endangered, leopard, Lions, Nikela Volunteer, poisoning, trophy hunting, wild animals, wildlife conservation Tagged: carnivores, cheetah, ecology, ecosystems, Elizabeth Howells, predator control, predators

In most parts of the world animal predators have all but been eliminated, this may be upsetting ecosystems more than we realized before. “Shooting, trapping, and poisoning… getting rid of them however we can!” As you may have already heard, several species on our planet have dropped in numbers drastically over the years. Approximately 50 years ago there were over 100,000 lions (some say 450,000) roaming the earth, and recent studies show that there are as few as 30,000 in the wild today. Lions are not the only predator where numbers have drastically dropped. A century ago tiger numbers consisted…

Saving Lions from the Petting and Canned Hunting Industry

May 14, 2015 · by Wildlife Margrit · In: #NikelaAfrica, Canned hunting, Cheetah, conservation, leopard, Lions, South African wildlife tour, wild animals, wildlife conservation, Wildlife Photography Tagged: canned lion hunting, Captured in Africa, cub petting, Drew Abrahamson, lion, photo safari

One woman with a great deal of tenacity about saving lions with her rescue efforts and photo safari business. It was at the ‘meet and greet’ organized by Sheila where I first met Drew. She seemed so young and well, hip to be involved in wildlife conservation. She unassumingly told me about her photo safari business and that her primary focus was to raise awareness for wildlife, in particular lions. It wasn’t until later that I realize what a powerhouse for African Lions Drew really is. She has literally become the go to person on Facebook when a wild lion is…

The Kruger Park Affair – Why I Want to Save Wildlife

Apr 15, 2015 · by Nikela Volunteer/Guest blogger · In: conservation, Elephants, leopard, Poaching, Rhino, Why I Want to Save Wildlife, wild animals, wildlife conservation, wildlife lovers Tagged: elephant, Kruger National Park, Leopard, rhino, Tamarin McCartin, Why I Want to Save Wildlife

Tamarin visits the Kruger Park in Africa, falls in love, has her heart broken, but is not defeated. “The bush is your mistress. She’ll pull you away, make you long for her. But she’ll never be your wife.” This was how our guide, Frank, tried to describe Kruger National Park. By the afternoon of our second day I understood. The connection was profound, and the heartbreak like nothing I’ve ever felt. Within minutes of entering the park Frank stopped the vehicle so we could visit a bull elephant only a few meters from the road. My heart was pounding, and…