The people behind CLAWS

Our Team

Meet the people who make all this possible

LEADERSHIP

Dr. Andrew Stein
CLAWS Founder and Director

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
Program Director

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
Operations Manager

Patricia Muzeu

Patricia is a strong, organized accounting student who manages to keep our field operations in order.

Khumo Mbambagandu
Human Resources

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
Mechanic

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
Conflict Mitigation Officer

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
 M.Sc. Lion Program Coordinator. 

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
Vumbra Lion Tracker

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
Lion Tracker

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
Field Research Assistant

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 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
Vumbra Lion Tracker

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
Rangeland Ecologist, B.Sc

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
Lead Ecoranger

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
Herding Coordinator

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
Ecoranger

Gabriel Kanyetu

Gabriel joined the team in 2023 as a new ecoranger in Guntosoga Village.

Lengoloi Ketlhoegile
Ecoranger

Lengoloi Ketlhoegile

Lengoloi is a member of our initial communal herd in Eretsha and has helped manager its success in the village

Kgalalelo Kekgoa
Ecoranger

Kgalalelo Kekgoa

Kgalalelo is a strong woman who is helping to lead the team in Gunotsoga’s herd.

Ketlhophamang
Ecoranger

Ketlhophamang

Ketlhophamang has a strong character and joined the herding program to help protect the cattle of his family and neighbors

Golekwang Karundu
Ecoranger

Golekwang Karundu

Golekwang is one of our youngest ecorangers, but he has been a quick study and is contributing to his community.

Jack Ramsden
Herding Program Coordinator

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
Lead Ecoranger

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
Lead Ecoranger

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
Ecoranger

Sekgoma Kahaa

Sekgoma is the oldest of our ecorangers, but brings his own experience to help train younger members of the team.

Orapeleng Katoima
Ecoranger

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
Ecoranger

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
Ecoranger

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
Ecoranger

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.

CLAWS Founder and Director

DR. ANDREW STEIN

Our-team-P2_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.

Andrew grew up fascinated by nature documentaries of exotic wildlife in far off destinations. An American who grew up near Boston, the opportunities to explore and contribute to wildlife conservation seemed unlikely until his study abroad trip to Kenya through the School for Field Studies. There he saw a confluence of his greatest passions across culture, wildlife conservation and problem solving.

Motivated by a clear purpose, he was driven to return to Africa to make a contribution to the wildlife he was passionate about and the people that faced the challenges of living with their livestock among Africa’s great predators. Since his 2001 leopard study in South Africa, Andrew has become a leader in leopard conservation as he continued on for his PhD field study on leopard ecology and conservation on Namibian farmlands. In recent years he led an international team for the IUCN Red List to assess the global status of leopards. He has expanded his interests to explore non-lethal approaches to mitigate livestock conflict with lions in Northern Botswana.

Andrew has published a dozen scientific articles, organized a field training course with the Smithsonian Institution and been featured in wildlife documentaries on National Geographic Wild and BBC Wildlife. He is also a member of both the IUCN Cat Specialist Group and advisor to the Asian Leopard Specialist Society.

Program Director and Administrator

CATJA ORFORD  

Our-team-P4_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. In the late 2000s, she managed the Ladies No.1 Opera House in Gaborone.

She has also led programs on sustainable energy through her consulting company EnviroDesign. Now, she is the Program Administrator for CLAWS Botswana helping organize logistics, grant reporting, accounting and new programs.

Her diverse background and network are essential for our success and development.