Kelcey
Grimm’s wildlife experience started at an early age when she had the
unique experience of raising a mountain lion cub in the United States.
After graduating from an Ivy League university (Dartmouth) and
working for several years in private equity and investment banking in the San
Francisco Bay area (Deutsche Bank and Summit Partners), Kelcey moved
to South Africa in 2000 to commit her life to conservation.
Having
grown up in South Africa, Greg “Mitch” Mitchell has a deep understanding
of Africa, its people and wildlife. After three years’ military service
during which he led South African troops against insurgents in Angola,
Mitch sought a gentler path leading wildlife tours. A seasoned wildlife
guide and avid environmentalist, Mitch began working in conservation in
1984 in various South African game reserves.
From March
2000 – September 2001, Mitch and Kelcey managed a game lodge and lion
breeding project in the Free State Province of South Africa, the Camorhi
Game Lodge, where they first saw the horrors of the captive lion breeding
industry - tame lions sold for canned hunts, cubs ripped away at birth
from their mothers, lionesses forced into estrus for "speed breeding.'
In reaction to these horrors and in an attempt to save some of the lions
they had personally raised, Mitch and Kelcey founded the Enkosini Wildlife
Sanctuary in 2001. They have since rescued a variety of wildlife,
including lion, serval, caracal, jackal, vervet monkey, bushbaby, genet, meerkat,
porcupine, tortoise, black eagle and various antelope species, and now
dedicate all their time to the education, management and social change
needed to protect wildlife in captivity and the wild.
The
Enkosini Wildlife Sanctuary was formed to protect and preserve Africa’s
wildlife and habitat. Enkosini provides a solution to mankind’s relentless
push into the last remaining wild places of Africa and supplements the
increasingly under-funded, and often inadequate, efforts of African
governments to ensure the health, safety and survival of the animals in
their charge. Our goal is to create a self-sustaining model of responsible
conservation that preserves Africa's natural heritage (habitat and
wildlife); enhances the South African economy through overseas capital
infusion, local and international eco-tourism, and job creation; and
promotes education and awareness of conservation issues.
Enkosini (derived from the Zulu word meaning “place of kings”) is a
private, non-profit sanctuary dedicated to researching and implementing
strategies for wildlife conservation, with a focus on predators and, more
specifically, African lions. Currently extending over 15,000 acres in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa, Enkosini was established as a
conservancy, by purchasing and joining together large South African farms
with the aim of establishing a larger reserve for the benefit of African
wildlife. The sanctuary was, until recently, used for cattle and
agricultural farming. Enkosini is a unique conservation initiative that
will re-introduce indigenous wildlife onto land they once naturally
roamed, ultimately re-establishing all the original flora and fauna to the
area. We will also provide sanctuary and protection for orphaned, injured
and displaced wildlife, and work to rehabilitate and reintroduce these
animals back into the wild. Enkosini will continue to acquire habitat for
the long-term survival of these animals and the preservation of their
eco-systems.
Enkosini believes that education and collaboration with the local
community are keys to conservation. We work locally and internationally to
encourage and promote a positive attitude towards predators, to emphasize
awareness of the issues involved in their endangerment, and to institute
conservation-based employment. Enkosini also opposes "canned" hunting of
predators and supports legislation to establish a moratorium on these
hunts.
Enkosini
is a registered South African trust and a
non-profit conservation project of The Lion Foundation, contributions
to which may be tax-deductible under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code for United States federal income tax purposes, ID Number:
91-2164693.
