Jukani Wildlife – home of the cats

Bengal Tiger

I can’t say I have ever seen lions, chee­tahs, leo­pard, cara­cal and tigers all ‘in one sit­ting’, and I have def­in­itely not ever seen Bengal tigers, jag­uar, pumas or ser­val cats, other than in pic­tures! Well at Jukani Wildlife Park you get to see them all, admit­tedly with a bit of coax­ing from the guide and her meat bucket!

Jukani lies just out­side Mossel Bay, with indic­at­ing signs off the N2 en route to Cape Town. On enter­ing the Park, hav­ing paid an admis­sion fee of R280 for two adults and two chil­dren, it is clear that the facil­ity is well main­tained and each enclos­ure appears to be of a suit­able size for the creatures it houses. All of Jukani’s anim­als are wild, though many have been bred in cap­tiv­ity. The park exists to pre­serve the dif­fer­ent spe­cies, and in some cases has taken in anim­als that have been abused and mistreated.

Leopard at Jukani

We joined up with a guide who was work­ing her way along the enclos­ures, dis­cuss­ing each animal in turn and try­ing to coax them to come out of their hides so that we could get a bet­ter view. Some, like the tigers were happy to oblige, but oth­ers, such as the black leo­pard, were a rare and fleet­ing sight.

Each cat has its own spe­cial his­tory and it appears that the two Bengal tigers, Juka and Shanti, were hand-reared by hosts, Karen and Jurg. (Apparently Juka had colic, an ail­ment I thought only affected the human race!) My only reser­va­tion is the bridging of the tenu­ous, and some­times dan­ger­ous divide, between a wild and a hand-reared animal, and am never con­vinced that man can enter enclos­ures with these cats, no mat­ter how much healthy respect exists. Clearly this couple is com­mit­ted to con­ser­va­tion and the pre­ser­va­tion of these spe­cies, but I can­not get used to white lions in enclos­ures, side by side with chee­tahs, and my wish was that these mag­ni­fi­cent beasts might have remained in the wild.

Leopard at Jukani

The staff are quick to cau­tion that none of the anim­als are tame and ask that chil­dren not run within the Park. I could see why, when both the chee­tah and the lion, whose giant paw eas­ily equalled the size of my son’s head, kept a beady eye on my three-year-old tod­dler as he passed. He was def­in­itely viewed as poten­tial prey!

We paid our visit dur­ing the morn­ing and tours take place between 09h00 and 16h00. We were encour­aged to return for the 16h00 feed­ing, but I was intent on main­tain­ing a safe dis­tance between my tod­dler and the rather obvi­ous asso­ci­ation with food!

Contact Details:
Jukani Predator Park, N2, Mossel Bay, Garden Route.
Telephone: +27 (0)44 698‑2004
Website: http://www.jukani.co.za/

Useful Links:
Garden Route Attractions
Things to Do in Garden Route
Mossel Bay Accommodation
Garden Route Accommodation