Last month, a few members of the &Beyond Xudum team in Botswana noticed a lioness on the Xudum airstrip with a snare around her front leg. They notified the Xudum manager, who then got in touch with the concession’s lion researcher. Christiaan, in turn, spoke to Dr. Rob Jackson, the local veterinarian, and they both immediately flew out to Xudum to investigate. They managed to dart the injured lioness, remove the snare and treat her injuries.

The stiff wire cable had cut into her leg muscles, causing her a lot of pain, but did not cause any serious, long-term damage. She also had superficial damage on the gums of her upper jaw from attempting to chew on the snare, but luckily she had not damaged any teeth. The group observed the lioness carefully until she recovered and joined the other five lions in her pride. The next day, they found the pride once again and were happy to see that overnight, they fed on a baby giraffe, and the injured lioness was moving around with ease. A special thank you to everyone involved for pulling together to protect this lion. In Christiaan’s words, “We would like to thank Mark, the Xudum staff and &Beyond for their logistical support that made it possible to deal with the snare quickly and efficiently. Above '&Beyond' the call of duty!”