Lise Hanssen

 

 

Lise is a well respected specialist in the field of conservation, with experience in a number of areas.

Professional memberships

• Member of the  I.U.C.N. Cat Specialist group
• Member of the I.U.C.N Reintroduction Specialist group
• Founder member of the Large Carnivore Management Association of Namibia
• Member of the African Lion working group

Professional experience

Lise has over 12 years of experience in large carnivore conservation.  She was a co-founder of the Africat Foundation, and held the position of director of the foundation for ten years, as well as being on the board of trustees.  For a period of eight years she was a co-owner of a tourism lodge and developed eco-tourism ventures related to the carnivore conservation field.

Experience and Specialities

Carnivore ecology

• Three years studying leopard ecology on commercial farmlands of Namibia
• Four years studying lion behavioural ecology of desert-adapted lions in North-West Namibia.
• Two years studying leopard ecology on communal farmlands in North-West Namibia.
• Collected over 500 blood and tissue samples from large carnivores for disease and genetic studies.
• Collaborated with the Large Carnivore Management Association in a cheetah mark/recapture project for two years

Wildlife Management

• Over 350 immobilisations of cheetahs trapped as problem animals on farmland
• Over 200 immobilisations of leopards trapped as problem animals on farmland.
• Marked and released over 600 carnivores including cheetahs, leopards, brown hyenas, lions, caracals and African wild cats.
• Developed methods for livestock protection against predation on commercial farmland.

Reintroductions

• Housed in temporary captivity and translocated 42 cheetahs over four years from Namibia to Game Parks in South Africa.
• Wrote the management plan and collaborated with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and Kalahari Game Lodge on the first lion introduction in Namibia.
• Collaborated with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism on a monitored cheetah introduction at Hobatere Lodge and Kalahari Game Lodge

Animal Welfare

• Developed extensive facilities to house captive large carnivores that were unable to return to the wild, including 70 cheetahs, 6 leopards, 6 lions, 4 caracals and 3 spotted hyenas
• Developed feeding schedules and veterinary requirements including a contraception programme for the care of 80 captive carnivores.
• Developed guidelines for captive large carnivore husbandry that were incorporated into government policy.
• Developed guidelines for inspection of captive large carnivore facilities in Namibia.
• Hand reared over twenty orphaned cubs with 0% mortality.
• Developed a system for the rehabilitation of captive cheetahs and leopards to be released into the wild.

Field experience

• Radio collared over 50 large carnivores.
• Over 2000 hours aerial tracking of study animals.
• Extensive ground tracking of study animals.

Fundraising

Raised and managed funds for the following:

• A large carnivore veterinary clinic.
• Extensive temporary and permanent holding facilities for large carnivores.
• An environmental education centre.
• A 4000 hectare carnivore rehabilitation camp.
• The salary for a permanent teacher for environmental education.
• Various field conservation projects.
• Research vehicle.
• Raised and managed over N$5,000,000 for carnivore conservation.

Environmental education and training

Facilitated training for Ministry of Environment and Tourism resource management regional staff , Namibian Veterinary Association and Namibian Community Game Guards

Presented lectures for:

• Namibian School groups.
• University groups.
• Namibian Polytechnic students.
• Namibian Veterinary Association.
• Specialist tour groups.
• Farmers associations.
• Commercial and communal conservancy meetings.
• Zoological societies including Brookfield, San Diego, Marwell and Chester.
• Fauna and Flora International.
• Royal Geographical Society.
• Namibian Scientific Society.
• Namibian Wildlife Society.
• Namibian Association for Tourism and Hospitality.

Other experience

• Managed the Namibia Carnivore Atlas programme.
• Developed a quarterly newsletter and managed it for a period of seven years.
• Managed a team of four including an administrator, a teacher, a labourer and a volunteer for several years at the Africat Foundation.
• Assisted in the analysis of data and production of numerous research reports.
• Written numerous popular articles on large carnivores in various publications.
• Fluent in English and Afrikaans.

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