Ministry to investigate tourist claims of abuse

THE Ministry of Environment and Tourism says it will investigate a guest farm in the Kunene Region following allegations by two Italian tourists that it was abusing cheetahs.

The owners of Otjitotongwe Cheetah Guest farm in the Kamanjab area have denied the allegations, claiming they are “lies”. The Director of Parks and Wildlife Management, Ben Beytell, told The Namibian that the Ministry would send officials to the guest farm to investigate the claims and should they prove true, action would be taken.He said this could result in the Ministry withdrawing Otjitotongwe’s permit to keep the cheetahs and closing the facility in which the cats are kept.Two tourists, Elena Fieni and Mary Ferrajuolo, who recently visited the guest farm, alleged in a letter to this newspaper that the cheetah were being kept in captivity and were denied any chance of hunting.They claimed that although the farm has proclaimed itself on the internet as having a ‘Save the Cheetah Project’, what they saw there was contrary to this.The tourists maintained the cats were kept in enclosures with dimensions that looked like cages.They also said they saw a female cat which seemed to be pregnant and for this reason, workers had tried to catch and relocate her to the ‘nursery’.The latter place, they claimed, turned out to be a very small enclosure, right beside a noisy campsite.Approached for comment, Roeleen Nel of Otjitotongwe Cheetah Guest Farm said she was aware of the tourist’s claims and said that they were ‘full of lies’.She said she did not want to comment on the claims but said if the two had seen something wrong at the farm, they should have raised it with them during the visit.”When they left they told us they were happy with what they saw and we even hugged,”said Nel.She said it was not true that the cheetahs were in ‘cages’ but were held in a facility of 400 hectares.”Their (tourists) allegations have really hurt us,” she added.The farm has 19 cheetahs.Parks Director Beytell said maltreatment of animals was prohibited by law, and that there were guidelines for keeping cheetah.He said such guidelines provided for the re-release of such animals into the wild and if they were kept in a facility, such a facility should provide for half a hectare per animal.He said cheetahs should also be sterilised while kept in captivity, and be properly fed.Officials of the Ministry should check and monitor these conditions before permits were issued, he added.The Director of Parks and Wildlife Management, Ben Beytell, told The Namibian that the Ministry would send officials to the guest farm to investigate the claims and should they prove true, action would be taken.He said this could result in the Ministry withdrawing Otjitotongwe’s permit to keep the cheetahs and closing the facility in which the cats are kept.Two tourists, Elena Fieni and Mary Ferrajuolo, who recently visited the guest farm, alleged in a letter to this newspaper that the cheetah were being kept in captivity and were denied any chance of hunting.They claimed that although the farm has proclaimed itself on the internet as having a ‘Save the Cheetah Project’, what they saw there was contrary to this.The tourists maintained the cats were kept in enclosures with dimensions that looked like cages.They also said they saw a female cat which seemed to be pregnant and for this reason, workers had tried to catch and relocate her to the ‘nursery’.The latter place, they claimed, turned out to be a very small enclosure, right beside a noisy campsite.Approached for comment, Roeleen Nel of Otjitotongwe Cheetah Guest Farm said she was aware of the tourist’s claims and said that they were ‘full of lies’.She said she did not want to comment on the claims but said if the two had seen something wrong at the farm, they should have raised it with them during the visit.”When they left they told us they were happy with what they saw and we even hugged,”said Nel.She said it was not true that the cheetahs were in ‘cages’ but were held in a facility of 400 hectares.”Their (tourists) allegations have really hurt us,” she added.The farm has 19 cheetahs.Parks Director Beytell said maltreatment of animals was prohibited by law, and that there were guidelines for keeping cheetah.He said such guidelines provided for the re-release of such animals into the wild and if they were kept in a facility, such a facility should provide for half a hectare per animal.He said cheetahs should also be sterilised while kept in captivity, and be properly fed.Officials of the Ministry should check and monitor these conditions before permits were issued, he added.