Zululand Conservation Project

The Zululand Wildlife Conservation Project provides an unparalleled wildlife volunteer experience! YOU will be directly involved with some of the most exciting endangered and priority species conservation work in the heartbeat of Africa. Working with a professional team (who are supported by WWF amongst others) on National reserves, you will monitor endangered animals, such as cheetah, African wild dog, black rhino, as well as priority species with a high ecological impact like elephant, lion, rhino, hyena, leopard and buffalo. The work will be carried out in one of four wildlife reserves.

This is the only wildlife volunteer programme in Africa supported by and working with high profile conservation organisations including Wildlands Conservation Trust, Endangered Wildlife Trust, and WWF. Volunteers working with this project are placed in small teams of no more than four per reserve. This develops intimate relationships and promotes a genuine conservation experience.

As one of only five team members, you will be part of an agile and efficient team. Work alongside our professional wildlife monitors, assisting them with all monitoring activities and actively help to save endangered wildlife species by contributing towards some of the most exciting monitoring projects in southern Africa. The reserves on which we work mainly focus on research into vultures, black rhino, wild dogs, and cheetahs. We also monitor buffalo, white rhino, spotted hyenas, leopards, lions, and elephants. You will work out in the bush each day with these responsibilities:

• Assisting with on-going large-scale game counts
• Recording behavioural and feeding patterns for research purposes
• Setting-up camera traps at watering holes and alongside game trails
• Photographing and creating identity kits of individuals where needed
• Observing animal behaviour (e.g. wild dog pack dynamics) for research purposes.
• Mapping sightings using GPS equipment. You will be taught how to use the equipment.
• Locating animals via radio or satellite telemetry - Tracking endangered and priority wildlife from an open top 4x4 vehicle.

You may also be able to participate in the following activities depending on how long you join our team for and the time of year you visit:

• Night tracking excursions – for example Hyenas and Leopards
• Bird ringing & alien plant control
• Vulture counts and nest surveys
• Notching (identity marking) animals, such as rhino
• Relocation and re-introduction of endangered species
• Radio collaring of animals

Volunteers are also responsible for helping with general camp cleanliness.

While we do plan and follow basic schedules, the nature of the work being done here dictates that the animals and their environment are our first priority and therefore our schedules do often have to be altered due to unforeseen circumstances or incidents as we have little control over the dynamics of wild animals and their environment.

The work we do is based on the needs of the animals at any given time, which means that activities such as tranquilisation for treatment, snare removal, identity marking, relocation/reintroduction, and collaring happen throughout the year, strictly when needed.

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