|
For a few cents and a piece of bread, Marieta van der Merwe persuaded a man on a dusty Namibian road to give her the thin vervet monkey he held by a rope around its neck.
That was 28 years ago and the start of one of the largest animal rehabilitation farms in southern Africa.
The Harnas Wildlife Foundation, 300kms east of the capital Windhoek, is home to 310 orphaned animals and offers visitors a unique chance to get close enough to touch, brush or even walk cheetah, leopards and lions.
Namibia, a largely desert country with a population of 2 million, has such an abundance of game and wildlife that often cheetahs and baboons are regarded as nuisances by farmers and shot.
Most of the animals at the Harnas farm, which boasts Angelina Jolie as its patron, were rescued as youngsters and hand-reared. They all have names and are treated by the van der Merwes as family.
Over the years van der Merwe and her husband Nick gained a reputation for rescuing animals.
"I was so in love with animals. Before I knew it we had a lot. I can't say no," said van der Merwe.
Soon the couple were spending more time looking after the rescued animals than their cattle farm. They began selling off some of their 45,000 hectares of land to fund their growing cause. A trust was started and they also opened up the farm to guests.
Nick van der Merwe died in 2001 of Congo fever, a haemorrhagic fever that can infect people who work closely with animals. His death left the family - and the animals - facing an uncertain future.
"He did everything. I had to learn a lot. We decided to stop the cattle farm and concentrate on the animals. Everyone helped. Guests helped and we survived," van der Merwe said.
Now van der Merwe heads a thriving family business which has turned the bushveld into a sanctuary for people and animals.
The main lodge sits on a green lawn surrounded by 10,000 hectares of thick grassland. Warthogs rub against the wall of the open bar, tortoises take refuge in the shade of the Koi pond while a miniature dachshund, one of the van der Merwe's many dogs, barks at the lone mountain zebra, Zibi, seeking out company.
Guests can watch baboons cavorting on swings in their large enclosure while at the opposite end of the garden a cheetah, silhouetted in the sunset, hunkers down over a chunk of meat.
An army of volunteers, mostly young foreign women keep the place abuzz. "It can be a bit crazy here. Everyday something happens. Once the crocodile got out and was in the swimming pool," said van der Merwe.
Returning home from a weeklong trip, van der Merwe's daughter Marlice van Vuuren stops to say a special hello to Goeters, the cheetah that was her childhood companion.
Striding among the poppies in the back garden, the 27-year-old male has been the star of many films and commercials and has now been "adopted" by Jolie.
The farm reintroduces what animals it can back into the wild. But 75 per cent of those it takes in are too badly injured or have grown too used to human contact to make it on their own. These animals are kept in large semi wild enclosures where they are fed.
Plans are now under way to transform the farm into a nature reserve in which as many animals as possible would be able to roam free. "I want the animals to be free. That is my dream," said van der Merwe.
|
