Conservation

African Game Lodge is in the process of being purchased by Len and Mandy Freeman as the next phase in their three-pronged approach to conservation, namely Rehabilitation, Awareness and Conservation.

   

Initially the Freemans set up Tenikwa Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in 2003 at The Crags, near Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape, to undertake the rehabilitation and emergency stabilisation and hospitalistion of abandoned and injured wildlife. The fully equipped rehabilitation centre is utilised by the community and wildlife authorities, and admits approximately 200 animals and birds per year to the centre from all over the Western Cape.  The centre is unusual in that it accepts both terrestrial as well as a limited number of marine species as well.  These creatures are treated and when ready, released back to nature to take up their rightful role in the environment.

   

Four years after the commencement of the rehabilitation centre, Tenikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre opened its doors to the public and the community.  Rehabilitation and Conservation Awareness goes hand in hand. Rehabilitation attends to individual cases, but has minimum impact to species as a whole, unless behaviour and a greater shift towards co-existence with wildlife is achieved.  It is for this reason, that Tenikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre was opened, to fund the growing rehabilitation needs, as well as raise awareness and to get humans to question accepted practices and behaviour which are harming our wildlife, destroying our biodiversity, and leading to the extinction of many species. Environmental Education and Awareness is the long-term tool for a shift in conciousness and respect for nature.

    

African Game Lodge outside Montagu is the third major project undertaken to complete the cycle of Rehabilitation, Awareness and Conservation.  African Game Lodge will provide a venue for professional post-rehabilitation preparation of animals prior to release and a safe release site for appropriate species in conjunction with Cape Nature.  African Game Lodge will be utilised for research purposes, biodiversity and vegetation restoration projects, research on environmentally-friendly methods of predator management, endangered species management and most importantly securing land so that wild animals have a future.