Namibia’s conservation heroes
We travelled to Namibia to meet Rudie and Marlice van Vuuren on their game reserve N/a’an ku sê, where they told us about the latest season of their conservation series Groen.
If you like the outdoors, you’ve probably watched the popular conservation series Groen on kykNET (channel 144 on DStv). The third season will air in July and the sponsor, Namibia Breweries, invited us to meet the series presenters for lunch at their game reserve N/a’an ku sê, near Windhoek. The previous two seasons of Groen were filmed in Namibia. For the third season, Dr Rudie and Marlice van Vuuren got the opportunity to shoot some episodes in South Africa. The team visited Buffelsdrift near Oudtshoorn to release lions and they also visited the Drakenstein Lion Park near Paarl. The series is filmed in Afrikaans and English. Each scene is shot in one language first, then repeated in the other. It’s hard work, but it means a lot for Namibia. The English series is aired there by the public broadcaster. Rudie is a medical doctor and practises two days a week – one of his patients is Hage Geingob, president of the country. He spends the rest of his time indulging his other passion: conservation. The name N/a’an ku sê means “God will protect us” in the language of the San and refers both to the reserve itself and to an organisation run by the Van Vuurens that is involved with several conservation projects in other parts of Namibia. N/a’an ku sê aims to protect the endangered wild dog, combat desertification and rhino poaching, and help Namibian farmers live peacefully with leopards on their properties. They collar the big cats to monitor their movements and farmers receive a daily e-mail to tell them where
the leopards are. On top of all that, they also run a clinic at Epukiro in northern Namibia! Their revegetation project to prevent desertification was honoured by the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy initiative – aimed at protecting the world’s forests – and Rudie visited Buckingham Palace to meet Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. Acknowledging that he hails from Namibia, the queen apparently said to him: “Looks like a tough place to plant trees.”
Snakes and students are welcome
They even have a resident snake expert: Francois Theart is on hand should a snake show up at your house unexpectedly. He also runs the Facebook page “Snakes of Namibia” where people can upload photos of snakes if they need help with identification. The reserve plays host to volunteers who help out for a few months – mostly students taking a gap year. During my visit, I met one such volunteer: Etta Carmellini from Italy, who has fallen in love with the African bushveld. She’s studying conservation in South Africa and completing the practical part of her course at N/a’an ku sê. She said she’s here to stay. The organisation often gets calls from people who have picked up orphaned or injured animals. Rudie’s team then drives or flies to fetch the animal. (On the night before my visit, a cheetah cub was brought in.) All the animals in the reserve – tortoises, kudus, meerkats and dassies – will eventually be released into the wild again. Only the big cats won’t be set free. “It’s not that leopards, cheetahs and lions lose their ability to hunt and look after themselves,” Rudie says. “They retain their hunting instinct, but they lose their fear of humans, which makes them dangerous.” The big cats live in fenced camps within the reserve. At dusk we watched them being fed from a safe distance.
The baboons’ choice
The Van Vuurens met during Rudie’s rugby days, when Marlice’s brother was one of Rudie’s teammates. “I always joked that if I brought a man to meet my parents on the farm and the baboons liked him, I’d marry him,” Marlice says. “The baboons were all over Rudie!” They’ve been married for 17 years. When Rudie excused himself to answer his phone, Marlice told me that he’s the only sportsman to have represented his country in rugby and cricket world cups in the same year. He’s made small talk with the queen, checked the president’s blood pressure and he’s even hosted Angelina Jolie, who is involved with the N/a’an ku sê project. I asked him how it felt to be a celebrity and he seemed embarrassed. “Namibia doesn’t have celebrities,” he said. “Everyone knows everyone here.” It’s true. The Van Vuurens much prefer to keep the animals in the spotlight.