Elephant conservation in South Africa
| country: | South Africa |
| location: | KwaZulu Natal |
| departures: | Departures can be arranged at any time to suit you throughout the year |
| price: | From £1095 - £3795 (2-12 weeks) excluding flights. Additional weeks available from £225 per week up to 12 weeks. Prices include accommodation and food and transfers from the nearest airport. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
check out similar holiday ideas...
introduction to Elephant conservation in South Africa
Situated in Maputaland, the north-eastern region of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and adjoining the Mozambique border, Tembe Elephant National Park is home to over 220 African elephants and a rich diversity of wildlife - including the black rhino, white rhino, buffalo, hippo, leopard, lion and various antelope species.
This project involves working with elephants (for which the Park is famous) and lions - an excellent project. If you want exciting and rewarding conservation work, you’ll love this placement. Your work will be varied and fascinating and a large part of it is devoted to collecting data.
You’ll probably return to camp mid or late afternoon. After a siesta (or exercise) and afternoon tea/coffee, you’ll input data onto the computers or generally update notes and pictures on what you’ve been doing and the information collected during the morning. Later, you may go out again to do additional monitoring; however, this depends on the movements of animals or other factors. Dinner is usually a social affair where ideas are shared and plans are made.
A typical day, during the month of your stay at Tembe, may not be exactly as described above. Your work will be dictated by what is required at the time and work schedules and content can change from one day to the next. You should therefore be prepared to be adaptable and patient because conservation projects do not always work to time or a date calendar and interesting opportunities often arise which are unique and will add to your lifetime experiences!
This project involves working with elephants (for which the Park is famous) and lions - an excellent project. If you want exciting and rewarding conservation work, you’ll love this placement. Your work will be varied and fascinating and a large part of it is devoted to collecting data.
a day in a life of a volunteer
A typical day would be getting up fairly early in the morning (around 5.00 a.m. to start about 6.00 a.m.) to go out into the field to do Lion monitoring. You will usually return from Lion monitoring at around 10h30 and refresh, pack lunch and head out elephant monitoring. The best times to see elephants are during the hot midday times, especially at pans and hides.You’ll probably return to camp mid or late afternoon. After a siesta (or exercise) and afternoon tea/coffee, you’ll input data onto the computers or generally update notes and pictures on what you’ve been doing and the information collected during the morning. Later, you may go out again to do additional monitoring; however, this depends on the movements of animals or other factors. Dinner is usually a social affair where ideas are shared and plans are made.
A typical day, during the month of your stay at Tembe, may not be exactly as described above. Your work will be dictated by what is required at the time and work schedules and content can change from one day to the next. You should therefore be prepared to be adaptable and patient because conservation projects do not always work to time or a date calendar and interesting opportunities often arise which are unique and will add to your lifetime experiences!
volunteer travel - what's it all about?
Are you looking for an adventurous trip with a purpose, or on a gap year or career break? If you want to make a difference in some of the world’s most important conservation areas - and in community projects - then volunteer trips are for you! Volunteers tend to have a sense of adventure, and come from a range of different backgrounds and from all over the world. Edward Abbey said 'sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'.
how this holiday makes a difference
|
As with all conservation projects, your work will depend on what is required at the time your project takes place. The primary objectives of the park and your long term project assistance are:
Tembe is surrounded by communities, and a primary concern is to ensure that the lions do not leave Tembe. In addition, there are a number of potential ecological consequences to this proposed introduction. Lion are a part of the savanna ecosystems, and will have an impact on the ecosystem in Tembe. The habitat and prey composition is different to that found in other reserves with lions. The amount of prey available needs to be assessed and monitored. More importantly, we are continually assessing the impact that the lion have on key potential prey species such as suni. Conservation of the threatened suni antelope is one of the primary objectives of the Tembe Management Plan. Throughout their stay, the volunteers are continuously learning about the animals they track and see and the environment in which they live, and how everything interacts to maintain an ecological balance. They leave armed with an immense knowledge of African ecology, an appreciation and respect for conservation. Volunteers are given cultural advice before and on your arrival, affording you an understanding of South African culture which will guide your interactions with local people and improve cultural awareness. You taking part in this project enables us to continue to donate financial assistance as well as necessary goods, where it is needed around the world. Examples of donations include building new classrooms, providing school uniforms for poorer students, buying computers, sports equipment, playgrounds, toys, mattresses, classroom equipment and funding school trips and the building of libraries, and more. We also donate significantly to conservation research efforts and the purchasing of necessary conservation equipment. In the past, these donations have been made in all continents and in projects where we work, and some where we do not work. We are committed to upholding strict ethical standards that ensure a positive and lasting impact upon the environments, communities, institutions, volunteers, animals, children and people that we work with. For example, we encourage our volunteers to make the most of local opportunities available to them, such as shopping at local markets, eating in local restaurants and using local services and transport. We encourage volunteers to pay fairly for goods and services. We believe that over payment for goods and services or payment to beggars can have negative consequences and result in the over-reliance of tourism within the local community. We strongly advise against purchasing wildlife souvenirs or anything which may perpetuate the death or cruel treatment of animals for the purpose of profit. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
check out similar holiday ideas...