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Antelope Park News Newsletters » July / Aug 2005 » Antelope Park News Latest news from Antelope Park, Zimbabwe As the Antelope Park lion programme is a world first, we continue to learn as we progress. We now believe it is important to introduce a Stage 1B or a 2nd Stage, thus making a programme with 4 Stages. Stage 1B (or 2) will involve a smaller enclosure - say about 1,000 acres with an abundance of wildlife. (Stage 2 was originally envisaged as being about 10,000 acres). It is here that the young lions will enhance and fine-tune their hunting skills before entering the bigger Stage 2 area. This step has been taken as a result of very successful trials carried out at Antelope Park. We are now periodically releasing the 18-month-old lions into the Game Park. This exercise is carried out under the watchful eyes of our senior guides and lion attendants. Volunteers also get the opportunity to observe from a vehicle. The lions are only released for a few hours at a time. The main thing is that we are having an almost 100% stalk and kill rate with wild antelope. THIS IS FANTASTIC and we believe is a direct result of all those hours and days all the volunteers and staff have spent out there introducing the cubs to the wild. We are all ABSOLUTELY THRILLED and a big THANK YOU to all past and present volunteers who have contributed so much of their time to being with the cubs out in the bush and allowed the cubs the opportunity to experience their natural environment. Amy and Elsa have successfully hunted and killed numerous Duiker, Impala, Steenbok as well as a fully-grown Wildebeest. Luke, Mel and Mufasa have also had successful hunts with 2 Duiker’s and an Impala. We stopped feeding them 3 weeks ago to see if their hunting skills would come out and sure enough the proof is in their hunting instincts. These hunts have been conducted in what we call ‘Night Lion Orientation’ with a maximum of 10 people participating in this awesome game drive. At all times there are 3 experienced Antelope Park guides who lead the watch lasting for approx 3 hours. Most of the hunts are conducted during the evening, as it’s the best time for lions to perform at their peak. As you all know we encourage stalks and hunts during the day on lion walks but since taking out the older cubs in the evening they seem to be more successful and it is the best time for them to show their instincts as well as encourage what happens naturally in the wild. Sign-up to join the Antelope Park volunteer work program. Other news this month... Where can we help in Africa as volunteers? Hwange volunteer project - Jerry Matsika becomes our Project Leader at Miombo Safari Camp Volunteer Zambia - Getting closer and closer in starting great work for the community. Antelope Park - Stage 1B, successful hunts from Amy and Elsa and close encounters with Buffalo! Vic Falls volunteer project update Black Rhino - Africa volunteer project needs volunteers Lion news People news Subscribe to our free newsletter Africa volunteer opportunities         print this page | bookmark this page (CTRL-D) | send to a friend back to top