Posted on by Biosphere Expeditions

Update from our working holiday volunteering with leopards, elephants and cheetahs in Namibia, Africa (http://www.biosphere-expeditions.org/namibia).

Hello everyone. My name is Vera Menges and I am the brand new Namibia field scientist who will work with lead scientist Joerg Melzheimer and all of you expedition participants on our Namibia expedition – “A game of cats & elephants: safeguarding big cats, elephants and other species of the African savannah, Namibia.”

Vera Menges was born and educated in Germany. After spending a couple of years abroad (UK & New Zealand), she graduated from the Westphalian Wilhelms-University Münster in Germany with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and from Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland with a Master’s Degree in Conservation and Management of Protected Areas. The latter was based on brown bear research in Sweden in collaboration with the Scandinavian Brown Bear Research Project. Since then, she has worked for the bear project as well as for a lynx/roe deer research project in the Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany. She is putting her skills and her passion for wildlife research and conservation towards pursuing a PhD in carnivore research as well as mitigating human-wildlife conflict by working at the big cat and elephant project in Namibia.
Vera Menges was born and educated in Germany. After spending a couple of years abroad (UK & New Zealand), she graduated from the Westphalian Wilhelms-University Münster in Germany with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and from Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland with a Master’s Degree in Conservation and Management of Protected Areas. The latter was based on brown bear research in Sweden in collaboration with the Scandinavian Brown Bear Research Project. Since then, she has worked for the bear project as well as for a lynx/roe deer research project in the Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany. She is putting her skills and her passion for wildlife research and conservation towards pursuing a PhD in carnivore research as well as mitigating human-wildlife conflict by working at the big cat and elephant project in Namibia.

I have just hit the ground running in Namibia, arriving a few days ago and learning the ropes with people here on our Okambara study site. My flight with SAA to Windhoek was great, but their broccoli and beans vegetarian meal takes some getting used to. But brocolli and beans was followed by a leopard and two cheetahs within a couple of days. The leopard needed some attention from a vet and my colleagues here captured and collared two cheetahs just in time for my arrival – what a welcome to Africa and incredible piece of luck!

Cheetah in a box trap
Cheetah in a box trap

Anyway, over the next three months, I will be sending you some irregular updates of my work here and the preparations for the expedition, starting in August. Watch this space and the links below.

Best wishes

Vera Menges
Field scientist Namibia

Update from our working holiday volunteering with leopards, elephants and cheetahs in Namibia, Africa

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