Lise Hanssen

Lise fitting a cheetah with a radio collar

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 many 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. After leaving Africat, Lise worked for several years with Dr Flip Stander studying the Desert Lions in the Kunene area of Namibia.

Lise is currently studying Spotted Hyenas in the Caprivi region of Namibia.

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.