Volunteering with rhinos

Minutes after its thick skin is punctured by the tranquiliser dart, the rhino grows unsteady and begins to stagger. But only when it collapses completely to the ground and falls unconscious can the translocation team cautiously approach. Then, while this huge, incredibly powerful animal is sedated – adults can weigh in at around 1,600kg, about as much as a car – a chainsaw roars into life, and the rhino’s horn is removed. It’s sad to see, but it’s a painless operation and one that may well save the rhino’s life, making it less of a target for poachers.

Not long afterwards, the effects of the tranquiliser start to wear off. The workers back away as the patient, now blindfolded, stumbles to its feet, then they rush forwards again as the tailgate of a heavy-duty trailer is dropped down. Gently, they push and guide the rhino into a cage so it can be transported to its new home, a place of safety.

When it is released into the sanctuary, the team shares an amazing sense of victory and relief. And you’ll be giving out the high-fives too, because as a volunteer on our rhino conservation tours, you’ll play an active role in an actual rhino rescue and translocation, even boarding a helicopter to observe proceedings from above.

“In South Africa we work in partnership with the SanWild Sanctuary, close to Kruger National Park,” says Georgia. “A nearby farm that was doing intensive rhino breeding has fallen into disrepair, and the animals need to be saved before they are poached.”

South Africa has around 2,000 black rhinos – half the total in Africa – and 13,000 white rhinos. Those numbers are going up, but only gradually. The International Rhino Foundation says at least one rhino is killed every day in South Africa. Kruger alone lost nearly 80 last year.

“The best thing about SanWild is how forward-thinking they are,” says Georgia. “They employ cutting-edge technology like state-of-the art tracking collars and fencing systems that are monitored around the clock. They have a well-equipped anti-poaching unit, and they even work with universities that are developing new tech. SanWild is right in the hub of it. They see how many of these depressing poaching attacks are taking place very close to them, and they really care about their animals, so that’s why they take this so seriously.”

Our volunteer holidays here are centred on SanWild’s ambitious rescue and translocation project. Away from the thrill of the rhino rescue, there are plenty of other vital conservation tasks. You can lend a hand at the sanctuary, a 50km² sparsely populated reserve. Daily tasks range from creating and serving food mixes for the rhinos, monitoring behaviours (especially how the new arrival is settling in), and tracking elephants and other wildlife out in the reserve.

In your free time, you’ll have the chance to enjoy a range of fun activities around the area with your fellow volunteers, from horseback riding to hot air balloon rides.

Do elephants like toast? You can find out in Zimbabwe, with a memorable breakfast out on the savanna, followed by a guided bushwalk.

When you join our rhino volunteer holidays on a family-run farm here in the Mashonaland region, you can enjoy some amazing up-close encounters – such as heading out on horseback to keep an eye on the wildlife, which as well as black and white rhinos includes elephants, giraffes and plains zebras.

Zimbabwe has around 600 black rhinos and 400 white rhinos. Poaching has historically been a major problem here – nearly a quarter of the rhino population was lost in just three years – but numbers are now on the increase thanks to close monitoring and protection, as well as successful breeding and release programmes such as the one that our holidays here support.

You’ll have a hands-on role as a volunteer on this 40km² reserve, with tasks ranging from maintaining enclosures to distributing food and supplements, and ‘cattle dipping’ to help control parasites.

While the three elephants here will spend the rest of their lives on the reserve, it’s hoped that many of the rhinos will eventually be released into the wild. To get them used to independence they are fitted with tracking devices so the anti-poaching team can locate them. You’ll assist with keeping an eye on the rhinos, monitoring their feeding and behavioural patterns, and collecting data which will help with management decisions.

“It’s a really lovely project in Zimbabwe with a lot of community outreach,” says Georgia. “Volunteers might spend time at a local Shona village, perhaps visiting a women’s support group, or learning traditional tasks such as ploughing a field or making peanut butter. And there are cultural evenings too, where Shona people visit the volunteer centre to talk about their ways of life, sing and dance. All of this goes on within the reserve grounds and is built into the itinerary.”

These projects are much more than simply relocating rhinos or preparing them for release into the wild. Their survival chances as a species are being improved, and their grazing behaviours help to improve the health of the ecosystems and biodiversity in their new homes. Large-scale projects like this are not cheap, and our volunteer holidays go towards the cost, while you get some fantastic hands-on conservation experience.

In South Africa, during the rhino rescue operation, you’ll have the opportunity to take to the skies with a brief helicopter flight. At this height you don’t just get an overview of the logistics involved in this kind of work. You also get a broader picture of the region, and the importance of rhinos and other wildlife to these landscapes, and why these projects are so vital. When the rhino emerges from the cage into its new, safe home, you can expect to feel some pretty big emotions.