The people behind CLAWS
Our Team
Meet the people who make all this possible
LEADERSHIP
Dr. Andrew Stein
Andrew has over two decades of experience studying human- carnivore conflict—from African wild dogs and lions in Kenya and Botswana to leopards and hyenas in Namibia.
Catja Orford
Catja Orford has a unique experience in conservation and environmental sustainability. She spent time in Gabon helping to develop tourism for lowland gorillas.
OPERATIONS
Patricia Muzeu
Patricia is a strong, organized accounting student who manages to keep our field operations in order.
Khumo Mbambagandu
Khumo sought to return to his home region of the Eastern Panhandle of the Okavango Delta after spending time training in Human Resources in town. His expertise in legal procedures and interest in helping communicate worker rights makes him an essential member of our growing team
Godfrey Zambezi
Godfrey hails from Zimbabwe, but he has been living and working in the Okavango for over 10 years. He keeps our vehicles on the road which is not an easy task with the challenging terrain we drive.
LION CONSERVATION
MATHATA "PRO" TOMELETSO
Pro is a resident of Eretsha, one of our focal villages. He is the oldest of 7 children and has 4 children of his own.
Virginia Pelayo
Virginia has a passion for animal behavior having worked for years in Costa Rica on a variety of species. Now, she coordinates study of lion population demographics and stakeholder outreach.
Pitso Modimbura
Pitso grew up in a village along the eastern panhandle of the Okavango before being recruited for military service in the Angola war. He shifted his skills to anti-poaching before joining Wilderness as a rhino tracker. Now, he assists CLAWS through our Wilderness partnership to monitor lions.
Kanololang "MD" Modise Vumbra
MD grew up in Shorobe Village near Moremi Game Reserve with an interest in nature. When conflicts with lions came to his village, his father calmed those who wanted to hunt it. MD has since worked for Wilderness Safaris as a rhino tracker and now helps our team monitor lions.
CHRISTOPHER DIMBINDO
Christopher is a resident of Beetsha village. He has spent years as a tracker for hunting companies and filming operations. He can track a lion in grass, sand and anything in between. He provides expert forensic analysis to determine the culprit when livestock are killed by predators.
Gobopaone Senatla
M.Sc. Conflict Mitigation Manager. Gobopaone is a Global Information Systems expert assisting us with mapping, analyzing and implementing our Lion Alert System and Conflict Response.
George Nunja James
George has been tracking wildlife for a decade, first assisting in rhino tracker during the recent release into the Delta. He has shifted from Mombo Island to Vumbra as part of our partnership with Wilderness.
Communal Herding
Warona Emmanuel
Warona is interested in rangelands and how they influence ecosystem health. She is coordinating grazing planning in our partner communities and plans to study the influence of grazing systems on wildlife habitats.
Kutlwano Tsheko
Kutlwano was raised in Eretsha. After showing promise, Kutlwano attended a course at the Herding Academy in South Africa and became lead ecoranger for our second herd in Eretsha.
Kelebogile Motshoi
Kelly grew up within our partner village of Gunotsoga. After a year of training at the Herding Academy in South Africa and being officially qualified as eco-ranger for regenerative land management, she has returned with skills and knowledge to share with our herding team.
Gabriel Kanyetu
Gabriel joined the team in 2023 as a new ecoranger in Guntosoga Village.
Lengoloi Ketlhoegile
Lengoloi is a member of our initial communal herd in Eretsha and has helped manager its success in the village
Kgalalelo Kekgoa
Kgalalelo is a strong woman who is helping to lead the team in Gunotsoga’s herd.
Ketlhophamang
Ketlhophamang has a strong character and joined the herding program to help protect the cattle of his family and neighbors
Golekwang Karundu
Golekwang is one of our youngest ecorangers, but he has been a quick study and is contributing to his community.
Jack Ramsden
Jack is a farmer- raised in the rangelands of Botswana. He has a deep understanding of Herding 4 Health practices and shares his knowledge with our partner communities. His favorite place is in the field with the Ecorangers amongst the cattle.
Oskar Mbathera
Oskar rejoined the team after a short break. He has proven himself to be a valuable second in command at our second Eretsha boma.
Kehuparetse "Khupa" Monika
Khupa rose through the ranks as an trained Ecoranger. He became a specialist with our mobile quarantine, monitoring the equipment and keeping records. When the herd opened in Gunotsoga, we knew that he would be a reliable and strong leader of the new team.
Sekgoma Kahaa
Sekgoma is the oldest of our ecorangers, but brings his own experience to help train younger members of the team.
Orapeleng Katoima
Raps as been working for CLAWS since 206 when he was an assistant building sustainable bomas. He shifted focus to our herding program where he provides experience to the team.
Mosadi Watlala
Mosadi is one of a the proud women leading our herding program. She was one of the first women ecorangers to join our team.
Tumelo Elias
Tumelo is one of our younger ecorangers, but he has been a helpful member and has a strong interest to learn and work with the team.
Ipokeng "IP" Dimape
"IP" is one of the pioneering women who helped start our second boma in Eretsha. in the face of prejudice against female herders, she stepped up and has been an essential part of the team.
Board of Directors
