The North African Big Carnivore Foundation (NABCS) was founded at the end of 2012 by Koen De Smet, Dick Klees and Peter van der Leer. With the objective: Protecting large predators and their habitat in North Africa
Wherever possible and necessary NABCS wants to offer financial support too. Always for protection and participation of stakeholders. Leitmotif, species conservation.
In the recent past there have been two large carnivores in North Africa, extinct in the wild, namely the Atlas bear is extinct and the Barbary lion only exists in captivity. Of the presence of the remaining large predators in North Africa is little known. In particular on the situation of the leopard and wild dog is much confusion, we may be too late for these species in North Africa. NABCS wants to safeguard the currently most endangered species as; leopard, cheetah and striped hyena of the same fate! Obviously these species recieve our highest priority. In order to achieve an effective protection, a thorough assessment of the presence and densities of a number of species will be performed first. When presence in very low densities, gaining insight into the genetic variation using DNA techniques becomes of great importance for the effect of measures. To take protective measures - ecological knowledge about that particular species and situation must be collected.
To involve local people and encourage our projects, the necessary knowledge is always collected with - and even better- carried out by local people / researchers. The spearhead of the project are the most endangered species like the leopard. The core activities will relate in particular to the research required to protect these species. In the wake of this research, observations and knowledge will be taken on other large carnivores in the formulation and preparation of protective measures. Where organizations already operate with similar objectives within the same area, NABCS will be aimed at a far-reaching cooperation.