|
Wildlife Volunteer Projects
Whether you are on a gap year, looking for an exciting internship for your study, have taken a sabbatical from work or just want to have a holiday with a difference, Kameleon can sort you out!
We offer volunteer placements on hugely valuable conservation projects in South Africa where your support is vital for the survival of many habitats and animals in Africa. Each project has been handpicked by us for the quality of the educational program, the passion of the teams and their dedication to conservation and wildlife.
We proudly present to you six very interesting and varied projects in and around Hoedspruit and Nelspruit:
Short description of the projects:
|
Have you always dreamt of roaming the bush like a true ranger, with the sun kissing your skin as you’re following a herd of elephants, using what the bush tells you – footprints, fresh droppings, a broken twig – to track them down? Do you want to be able to distinguish the calls of the numerous birds around, or to tell by the behaviour of the impala that there is a predator around? The Field Guide Academy gives you the opportunity to learn all this and much more! And what is even better, by joining the academy and following the course of a lifetime, you enable some of the many unemployed black people from the surrounding areas of Kruger National Park to become a trained field guide too.
You have the option to follow several courses, all of which take place both in the classroom and out in the bush. The one month course trains you to become a basic fieldguide, but you can also go for the even more extensive one year programme which the local students follow.
And if you want, you can stay on for free as a volunteer after you completed your course to help the local students with their field guide training or help already qualified local field guides learn a foreign language whilst on their daily job in the Kruger Park! This way, you extend your helping hand to the project and the local community even further.
Click here for more detailed information on this project.
| 
|
Private Game Farm in Big Five area | back to top
The Game Farm is part of the Balule Nature Reserve, a 65,000 hectare Big 5 reserve with open borders to Kruger National Park making it part of the Greater Kruger National Park. It is an open system where game is allowed to wander freely. You just cannot explain how amazing is to see your first wild giraffe, zebra, impala and even elephant or lion and believe us, the fact that you are usually on foot when encountering these animals in their natural habitat does greatly contribute to this mindblowing experience...
The aim of this project is to give you an introduction to all aspects of game farm management. Not for nothing their motto is 'Conservation Through Education'! You will be studying ecology, conservation and wildlife specific to the owning and running of a game farm through a structured lecture program combined with a practical approach.
This project also offers you the opportunity to visit as many of the stunning excursions in the are as you can fit in. Really, they are not to be missed!
Click here for more detailed information on this project.
| 
|
Equine Rehabilitation Centre | back to top
The emphasis at the Equine Rehabilitaion Centre is on horses who have been abused or neglected at some stage in their lives, or who may have been running wild in the bush. They arrive at the project in poor condition and are often very nervous, wary of people and unfamiliar situations. However, with careful handling using Natural Horsemanship methods these horses gain confidence daily, which is fantastic and so rewarding to see and experience!
Apart from the daily grooming, care of the horses and the schooling of both horse and handler, you will gain an insight into veterinary practices in a bush situation and the aftercare that these practices require. To top it all up, you will frequently be able to go on outrides into a nearby game reserve at the foot of a mountain with stunning views and abundant wildlife.
Riders of all levels will be allocated their own horse and benefit from the work that they put in and the bonds that are formed. Whether you have had a lifelong passion for horses or have a budding interest, we can guarantee that you will learn a lot and that by the time you leave, you will have lost your heart to each and every animal!
Click here for more detailed information on this project.
| 
|
The thought of spending any time with reptiles and snakes isn't everyone's cup of tea. It certainly wasn't ours, but spend the smallest amount of time with the curators at this world-renowned park and you can't help but be swept away with their enthusiasm and passion for all things scaly!
Over the last twenty years, the reptile park has made a very valuable contribution to conservation by saving and rehabilitating snakes, but most of all by educating local and international visitors and inhabitants of the area in the important role of snakes in the delicate ecosystem.
Volunteers enjoy a very active participation in the daily events at the park with no two days ever being the same. There is a daily routine that has to be followed with the feeding of certain animals and there is usually a plan and a list of jobs that need doing, but reptiles don't have any idea of these plans and you may have to drop everything (drop possibly isn't the right word to use here!) and rush out in response to a 'Snake Call' or to help spot baby Puff Adders in the grass of the demonstration pit!
Click here for more detailed information on this project.
| 
|
Being able to see the awe-inspiring king of the bush up close must be everybody's wish, and for plenty of people the main reason for a visit to Africa. To monitor a pride of lions in the wild on a daily basis however, is something that will go beyond the wildest dreams of many. Our Lion Research Project will make your dream come true, with memories to last forever!
The project is situated in the Selati Game Reserve, a 30,000 hectare reserve boasting the presence of elephant, rhino, leopard and sable antelope as well as the other - more common but still amazing - antelope species, zebra and giraffe. Formerly a farming area, the landowners have taken it upon themselves to return Selati to nature. To take this conservation project seriously, a fierce predator had to be reintroduced: the lion. In June 2004 a pride of six lions was set free. The landowners now want to know what happens with the lions and all the other animals, to aid conservation even further and that is where you come in! Among other things, you will atively assist the highly experienced staff in the tracking and monitoring of the lions to determine movements, behaviour and the impact they are having on populations within the reserve.
Click here for more detailed information on this project.
| 
|
Wildlife Orphanage / Community Project | back to top
Would you like to get hands-on experience with injured and orphaned wild animals whilst educating local underprivileged young people, perhaps giving both them and all domestic and wild animals a brighter future? At the Wildlife Orphanage, this is exactly what you can do!
The Wildlife Orphanage started two years ago, fulfilling a lifelong dream of the project leaders. They wanted to provide a safe haven for orphaned and injured wild animals, and at the same time create a place where local underprivileged children could be taught and where disabled people could also be welcomed. The project is continuously growing and a lot has already been achieved. The first animals have found their home and some guests with a handicap have stayed at the project, enjoying the bush and the animals. The volunteers have already helped tremendously, building animal camps, painting, fundraising, looking after the animals…. And now the project has started to educate local underprivileged children as well, to help them along the way a bit and hopefully install some respect and love for wild and domestic animals and the bush.
As a volunteer your main tasks will be looking after the animals, working with and teaching the children and helping with general maintenance. You don’t need any previous experience, just enthusiasm to help this worthy project achieve its goals!
Click here for more detailed information on the Wildlife Orphanage / Community Project.
| 
|
Of course you shouldn't miss out on any of these fantastic projects - but to suit your interests in the best way possible we invite you to design your own program instead of forcing you to choose between existing ones. Naturally we will always be more than willing to help you create the best program for you!
|
|
|
|
|
