I’m sure you’ve heard about people quitting their well-paying jobs to pursue their passion. Well, that’s the case with 30-year-old Swiss-born and raised Dean Schneider. Dean had a lucrative career in Dubendorf, Switzerland as a financial planner, but he quit and relocated to South Africa in 2017 to become a wildlife conservationist.
A mission to protect what he loves
Inspired by his mission, “we protect what we love,” Dean sold his belongings and bought a 400-ha piece of land in South Africa. Here, he established an animal sanctuary named “Hakuna Mipaka Oasis,” a Swahili phrase for “No Limits”. The animal sanctuary is home to wild animals born in captivity and a rehabilitation center for different species, which are then released back into the wild.
“Besides the animals known from my Instagram channels, such as Dexter the lion, JayJay and Momo, Chuckie the hyena, and the Hakuna Mipaka pride, thousands of other wild animals inhabit the Hakuna Mipaka oasis! From giraffes and zebras to leopards, different reptiles, and birds, they are all part of the oasis’ incredibly diversified ecosystem,” Dean says in his blog.
Motivated by Steve Irwin
The Australian zookeeper, wildlife educator, conservationist, television personality, and environmentalist Steve Irwin motivated Dean to protect and educate people about conserving wildlife. He educates school-going children about the beauty of preserving wildlife and uses his YouTube channel and Instagram page to reach more people. In February 2023, Dean’s Instagram page had over 10 million followers.
Controversy
Not everybody believes Dean’s wild animal sanctuary is for the good of wild animals. Captive Wildlife Watchdog (CWW) calls him “a fresh-faced animal exploiter.” They believe he used his wealth to buy land and animals to “rescue” animals for his interests. CWW even provided video footage of Dean punching one of his lions and said it wasn’t the first time he had done so.
In May 2022, The Times reported that South Africa’s animal welfare agency was investigating Dean’s acts of animal abuse. This was after he was caught on camera kicking one of “his” cubs. In his defense, Dean came out on his YouTube channel and said he was teaching the animal about boundaries. This was after it had scratched his cheek; he is no animal abuser. However, no official document is available about investigations into the above occurrences.
Lions in captivity vs. the wild
Currently, it is estimated that about 8,000-10,000 lions live in captivity in South Africa. This pales in comparison with the 2,000 wild lions in the country. More than four times as many lions in captivity as in the wild, and the population is dwindling. There have been no hunting or legal trade reports in Dean’s sanctuary.
Unfortunately, other millionaires have been accused of exploiting wild animals on their farms. For example, they breed lions for canned hunting and their skin and bone – which is still legal. Worse still, they also take cubs from their mothers to speed up the reproduction cycle. This is because tourists often want to take pictures of themselves walking among the lions or feeding cubs from bottles.
There have also been reports of mange in lions in some animal ‘sanctuaries’ in South Africa. Among many other exploitative actions, these have shown people the dark side of some animal sanctuaries in SA and globally.
Educating people about wildlife
Despite the controversy, Dean spends ample time on the internet to educate people about animals. And many believe he is doing good for the wild animals on his farm. In addition, he says he manages his social media personally to interact with more people.
His mission is to share about wild animals and conservation by sharing his interactions with them. It’s also worth noting that Dean doesn’t offer safaris at Hakuna Mipaka. He believes the land is for wild animals that live freely.
The bigger picture
Some people have good intentions regarding wildlife conservation, but most don’t. So, it begs the question: should individuals be allowed to keep wild animals on their farms? And are these conservation efforts helping or hurting these wild animals?
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