We are pleased to announce the addition of two new members to our Lion Rangers family. Ms. Dorien !Kharuxas and Ms. Joglinde Touros have joined the Lion Rangers Program to help strengthen our administrative and data-management capacities and smooth program operations from office to field.
Ms. Dorien !Kharuxas joins the Lion Rangers Program as a partnership with the Namibian Lion Trust (NLT). Having helped monitor lion movements in Kunene for more than three years, Dorien is well-versed in the challenges facing the desert-adapted lions and the communities they live alongside. While she will continue to assist NLT in facilitating their research and community education, Dorien joins the Lion Rangers as our new Field Administrator. The work of deploying more than 45 Lion Rangers into the remote areas of northwest Namibia requires ongoing complicated logistics, such as working with fuel and food suppliers, coordinating drop-off and pick-up times, and liaising with Rangers and Rapid Response teams to ensure everyone has the equipment they need to do demanding field-based work. Dorien has already proved an adept problem-solver and organizer of our programs’ round-the-clock logistics. We are so pleased to draw on her experience and determination to support our communities.
In partnership with the Cheetah Conservation Fund of Namibia (CCF) through the Darwin Initiative, Ms. Joglinde Touros is joining the Lion Rangers Program as our SMART Coordinator and Data Manager. A native of northwest Namibia and resident of Khorixas, Joglinde has a breadth of experience in wildlife conservation and tourism administration, including receiving professional overseas training in Program Management. Joglinde joins us as part of our new partnership with CCF, whereby the Lion Rangers Program is helping train and capacitate Cheetah Rangers in the Doro !Nawas, !Khoro !Goreb, Ohungu, Otjimboyo, Sorris-Sorris, and Uibasen-Twyfelfontein conservancies. Working with Dipanjan Naha of CCF, Joglinde is spearheading the roll-out of this new Cheetah Rangers project, to help limit human-wildlife conflict in these southern Kunene and Erongo conservancies. She will be overseeing SMART data collection, not only for the Cheetah Rangers, but for the whole Lion Rangers Program. More information to come!
