Gottfriedt Apollus, Namibia

I was born on the 26th of February 1987 in a small town in the heart of Karas region called Keetmanshoop. I was raised at a small communal area known as Vaalgras situated 125km east of keetmanshoop. From the time I was five. I looked after my parents livestock, mainly; cattle, sheep and goats until I started my academic career. During that time, I developed the enthusiasm for the care of animals.

I finished my primary school in Windhoek at Maarti Arthisaari Primary School and came back to the south to complete my high school at Suiderlig High in Keetmanshoop. As I approached grade 12, I searched for possible study courses outlined in the Polytechnic of Namibia prospectus for 2006 to further my academic career at tertiary level. As I was paging through, I came across Nature Conservation, so I tried to find out more about this course from my life skills teacher. She told me that it was about conserving biodiversity and because of my interest in animals; I decided to go for it

As a nature conservator, I want to be one of the individuals to form the backbone of wildlife management in Southern Africa. I would like to become a conventional ranger responsible for wildlife management in crucial areas including: veld, water, veldfire, game management and patrolling.

I am currently in my final year and performing my in-service training at Harnas Wildlife Foundation to fulfil the requirements for a diploma in Nature Conservation. My student project focuses plants species composition and animal numbers with in the Life line Area at Harnas Farm # 418 and aims to come up with recommendations based on the results, as to whether the release area is indeed suitable for all animals in captivity in terms of food availability and habitat preferences. A possible recommendation could be, to promote grass growth, by either burning or physically removing bushes and trees. It is also expected that the management will gain an insight into the density and composition of plants and animal numbers within the release area, which may be used to determine what animal species should be released or not and how many of them. This may then be used as a first step to enhance a successful release of animals back into nature. I am having a great time here so far under special guidance by staff.