Jukani Wildlife Predator Park - Garden Route - South Africa

Our jackal family has won many hearts during the past year with their flamboyant personalities and never say die attitude. When realizing how brave these little critters are one usually changes your preconceived ideas quickly and admire them for the survivors they are. In two hundred years time they will still be roaming the earth, when a lot of the bigger predators have not survived and became extinct.

Chico is our resident serval cat and true to his nature very shy and prefers nocturnal activities. He is a beautiful cat and if patient he will reward you with a peek at his stunning spotted coat.

Picasso and Mona Lisa are the perfect pair and their love and admiration for each other obvious. Being very social animals they care for each other and share their meat etc. Mona Lisa got sick a while ago and Picasso made sure she got food by regurgitating his meat for her. He made his intentions very clear when we entered the enclosure to treat Mona Lisa and we had a couple of close encounters with his canines. Mona Lisa has recovered perfectly and her admiration for her “hunk” is visible to all, his pride at being admired also.

Rocky and Yukon are two American mountain lions also known as cougars and pumas. They are very shy and prefers to keep an eye on things from the safety of the back of their enclosure. If  privileged to see them beauty will take your breath away. They are stunning to watch and your effort and patience will be rewarded when they appear out of nowhere.

We are very privileged to share our lives with Spirit, a black leopard, and Angel his spotted female. Spirit is true to his name the spirit of Jukani Predator Park and his superiority clearly visible for all to experience. He loves to appear from nowhere on his big tree log and then to disappear just as suddenly. An amazing friend and cat brother to all of us, he has taught us the true meaning of forgiveness. Angel is his female and what a beauty, soft to the touch but ever ready for a fight. She may be small and enjoys attention but do not upset her, true to the leopards nature she will sort you out even before you have realized a confrontation is on hand. No hidden agendas, what you see is what you get, dynamite in a small package. What characters they are!!!

Onca and Amazon share an enclosure. They are still sub adults but do not under estimate their ambush techniques or unpredictability. True to their nature, they always seem very relaxed and almost asleep, but they will act in a flash and surprise even the weary. Their stunning coats and love for water have seen many a guest spending hours in front of their enclosure. They love to play and swim in their pool, dipping their heads completely under the water. They are truly stunning!!

Juka and Shanti are two Bengal Tigers. Juka grew up in our house and also shared everything, mostly our bed. He is quite a dominant young man and has made sure that the hospital bills were kept high. He had colic when he arrived at only a week and a half of age and only through prayer and Karen's determination did he survive. Today they share a very special bond and he even calls her late at night if he gets lonely in his enclosure. Irony is he prefers his big enclosure but want Karen to stay with him in the enclosure, competition for Jurg? Shanti is our young female with a personality rarely experienced, she loves walkies on the leash, greeting all the other animal brothers and sisters with a friendly “chuff” as she goes along. A sweetheart with a bad attitude at feeding time, believe me she does not share!!!

Tara and Lali our two Siberian Tigers, the largest cat of all the cat species - adult males can weigh up to 380kg! They are two sweethearts and love all the attention they are getting from the staff and guests. Their arrival at Jukani Predator Park was filmed by Bush Radar`s Michelle Garforth and her crew, and they have since developed a real celebrity attitude. Amazingly docile and always friendly, they have stolen many a heart at Jukani Predator Park already. We can't wait for them to grow up to experience their size and see if their temperament stays the same.

Tsau! and Thendile came to us as two very young cubs. From day one they stole our hearts and have since stolen many more. According to the African mythology a white lion are divine creatures send to earth to protect and warn humans to protect earth and nature. Tsau! and Thendile are very special and still sleeps in our house, albeit in a specially prepared room. They share their enclosure with two cheetahs, Shaka and Sheena, and the oddity of lions and cheetahs sharing an enclosure have lead to many a guest reaching for their camera in astonishment.  We realize that due to their power and size we will soon have to split them but dread the day as they really adore each other. To keep them “together” we will have their enclosures next to each other so that they still can socialize through the fence.

Dot and Spot are sisters and as is typical of hyenas they do not like each other. Dot currently shares an enclosure with Shanti, the Bengal tigress, and Spot has her own enclosure. To socialize Spot is taken on daily walkies on her leash to meet the other animal friends, and she loves the fact that everybody is envious of her walking outside with her handler. Receiving mostly bad media and branded as sly scavengers guests are surprised to learn that Hyenas are excellent hunters and very social animals. Dot and Spot will steal your heart, if you let them, and teach you how special and necessary they are for the survival of various other species in the wild.

Shaka and Sheena are the two resident cheetahs at Jukani Predator Park . Being very royal as their names suggest they demand royal treatment and also still sleeps in our house. Convincing Sheena to leave her room during winter is not a task for the faint hearted as she does not believe in getting cold and wet unless under very special circumstances, which we have not experienced yet. She runs a tight ship and even the white lions are scared of her short temper, although not physically but very verbal. Both Shaka and Sheena enjoys a cuddle and will climb onto your lap giving you the privilege to share their presence. Their purring will tell you they enjoy your company or walking away with a very arrogant step will tell you that they do not wish to interact with us humans. They are young, beautiful, extremely fast and very aware that everybody admires them.

What can be said about Buksie, except that he is afraid of nothing, refuses to back off for anything or anybody, breaks everything, has an enormous ego and believes that his toys are there to be destroyed as quick as possible. He redesigns his enclosure almost hourly and has a terrible affinity for honey sandwiches. Buks was dropped off at Jukani Predator Park by people who thought raising a wild animal is easy and found that the opposite is true. Being “adopted” did not have any effect on Buksie and he is a real character and favorite with guests. When he is out on a walkabout in his special red harness he is king of the farm and he makes very sure everybody knows it. Do not miss Buksie, he may just decide that you have hurt his feelings and go looking for you!

Zorro is our striped polecat and is strictly nocturnal. You may catch him snoring away in his pipe during day time and getting very alive at feeding time. He is one character that you do not want to get on the wrong end of, literally. He has a “deadly” defence mechanism by spraying attackers with an extremely smelly substance when cornered or afraid. This is one young man that even Buksie, the honey badger, has a healthy respect for. Buksie one day decided to pay Zorro a visit in his sleeping pipe and scared the daylights out of Zorro. Defending his territory Zorro gave Buksie a full blast of his “pepper spray” and believe me that was the last cross border raid by Buksie. Weighing almost nothing and standing 10-15 cm of the ground, Zorro is not be messed with by anybody!