In Loving Memory of Dr Nad (Conrad) Brain

We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Dr Nad (Conrad) Brain in late November last year, and share our deepest and sincerest condolences with his family, friends, colleagues, and all who walked with him through the wild heart of Namibia. Nad was many things to many people – a scientist, a storyteller, a conservationist with a pilot’s eye for perspective and a poet’s heart for the land beneath his wings. To us, he was a friend. A constant in our lives and on our pages, his voice thread through our publications for more than three decades.

He lived with a quiet, intentional love for nature. We shared many loves, Nad and I – for rhinos, for wide open space, for the hum of a Land Rover engine carrying dust and meaning in equal measure. My most cherished shared journey was during 2025 as we produced Leonard the Land Rover – the revival edition of a story that felt like Nad himself: rugged, tender, full of history and humour. Just a week before his passing, he read the final proof. He sent me a voicenote saying it brought a tear to his eye to hold it in his hands, that he was excited to launch it, and that his brother had carved little wooden Leonard figurines for the occasion. We hold that voice close now — the warmth in it, the pride, the joy of seeing Leonard come alive again.

What comforts us most is knowing that Nad’s stories will continue their journey. Leonard the Land Rover, and the follow-up manuscript he sent only two weeks before his passing – Leonard Goes to Etosha – will live on, inspiring nature lovers, young explorers, conservationists and dreamers for years to come. His words will still find their way into hands and hearts. His voice will still echo through pages and plains.

Nad’s conservation career was as expansive as the landscapes he served. After qualifying as a veterinarian at Onderstepoort (Pretoria University), he pursued a PhD through Wits Medical School while based at Gobabeb, studying the most western baboon troops in the Kuiseb River. It was here that he produced a film on baboon behaviour – a work that earned him a Best Newcomer nomination at the Green Oscars in Bristol. From there, he moved into one of the most pivotal chapters of his life: thirteen years as chief veterinarian in Etosha National Park, where he learned to fly – a skill that became central to the work he would dedicate his life to. Those early flights evolved into more than 10,000 hours in the sky, supporting antipoaching operations, disease control, carnivore monitoring, mass translocations and conservation research across Namibia’s wildest spaces.

For the past 20 years, Nad was a valued part of the Wilderness family – first as a commercial pilot tour guide and environmental officer, later as a key figure in countless conservation missions. More recently, he helped establish EcoWings Namibia, providing aerial support for environmental organisations, veterinary outreach to rural communities, rapid response and monitoring from the air. By 2025 he had already completed six such operations – always happiest when flying low over wilderness areas, doing work that mattered, engine and purpose aligned.

We will long remember this humble, kind, deeply passionate human being – a conservation scientist, wildlife vet, master bush pilot, filmmaker, researcher, writer and eternal student of the natural world. A man who planned the next adventure around the glow of a campfire, never running out of story or curiosity.

Go well, Nad. You will be greatly missed and always remembered.

To those who loved him, to his family most of all, we hold you in our hearts. We mourn the loss. But we celebrate the light he leaves behind.

– With love and gratitude, Elzanne McCulloch & the Venture Media Team