Carnivore feeding

In addition to the vegetarians, there are a number of big, hungry carnivores that need to be fed each day. The sanctuary generally sources horse and donkey meat for this purpose, which arrives in large, recognisable body parts that need to be cut smaller by some lethal-looking electric saw device. As volunteers, we are not allowed to use this in case we chop one of our arms off.

The cut meat is then loaded up into a crate and taken on the rounds to the lions, cheetahs, leopards and caracals. The meat-eaters are fed every day except Sunday, when they are left to fast. In the wild, they would have different eating patterns. Lions generally kill every 2-3 days, while cheetahs need to kill every day.

Most of the cats have come into the sanctuary because they were becoming a nuisance on farm land. In the past, farmers would simply have shot them to save their livestock, but the Namibian government has taken innovative measures to encourage conservation. If a farmer reports that a cheetah or leopard has killed some of their stock, they will receive compensation - but only if they don't kill the predator. The government then takes steps to organise the capture and relocation of the animal. Naankuse has been on the receiving end of some of these relocations and, where possible, will try to reintroduce the animals back into the wild - in new locations where they're not likely to become a nuisance to livestock again.

Our first stop on the carnivore feeding was the cheetahs. Whilst they're not supposedly a threat to humans, they didn't look too friendly when we arrived with their food. They hunch down and have this haunted look on their face, hissing and spitting at us with hungry impatience. Once the meat was thrown over the fence, they ran off with it for fear of losing it to someone else. Cheetahs are the fastest animals on land - capable of running up to 75mph and going from 0-60mph in just 3 seconds. But they can only maintain high speeds for short distances - for as long as it takes to chase and capture their prey - and they're are not strong enough to fend off other predators who might opportunistically muscle in on their kill. So they are used to losing their kills on many occasions, hence the motivation to disappear with the meat as soon as they've got it - even in captivity.

The leopard, on the other hand, is pretty nonchalant after getting his food. He has no need to run anywhere and can take his time to savour it.

Then it's on to the lions. In the wild, it's usually the lionness that does all the work. She hunts, chases and kills the prey, while the male struts around looking tough and making sure he doesn't mess his mane up. In the sanctuary, one of the males is called Meatball and he does actually look like he puts straighteners on his mane and have it regularly trimmed. We have to throw the piece of meat to him first to make sure he's preoccupied and doesn't take the meat intended for the lionness, who is disproportionately larger than him, a bit of a bruiser and looks like she could take him on any day. In a pride in the wild, the male seems to have god-like status and all his energies (such that they are) appear to be focused on procreation and continuing the blood line. Yeah..

Looking good, Meatball

Hey, don't mess my mane up

Okay, I'll stand behind you and you do the roaring

I caught it all by myself!