We only partner with wildlife research projects where animal populations are either completely self-sustaining or essentially sustainable with minimal human intervention (what we call 'assisted sustainable'). This means animals can live as naturally as possible - which is essential to ensure high levels of animal welfare and that real conservation work can take place.
Why sustainable wildlife populations matter
Many people assume all African wildlife is just that… wild. In reality, large numbers of rhinos, lions, cheetahs and other iconic species live in privately owned fenced reserves.
This isn’t a problem in itself. The real issue is that many of these reserves are too small for Africa’s famous species to live together sustainably, so the owners resort to intensive population control and supplementary feeding. This can involve only housing animals of the same sex, introducing prey species with no chance of survival, or regularly pursuing animals to administer contraception or capture them for relocations and removals.
Due to these practices and the unnatural population dynamics they create, animals can’t form normal social structures and often exhibit unnatural behaviours such as increased aggression towards other animals. These populations can also lack genetic diversity, which reduces their ability to adapt to environmental changes, and increases the risk of inbreeding and disease.
Despite their unethical practices, some of these reserves still advertise themselves as wildlife conservation or research projects, and offer 'learning' opportunities to biology or conservation students.
This is deeply misleading to travellers, volunteers and students. Heavily managed wildlife populations serve no real conservation value and the animals are so heavily managed they cannot function naturally as part of a balanced ecosystem - which raises serious questions about animal welfare and means any data collected often has little relevance for broader conservation science.
Three categories of wildlife populations
These are the definitions our conservation experts developed to help us better evaluate wildlife research projects. They can also help you understand the practices wildlife reserves use to manage populations of key African predators and mega-herbivores.
| Self-sustaining | Assisted sustainable | Heavily managed | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservation value | High | Moderate to high | Low |
| Education value | High | Moderate to high | Low |
| Independence from human intervention | High | Partial | Low |
| Behaviour | Fully natural | Predominantly natural | Unnatural |
| Animal welfare concerns | Minimal | Low | High |
Definition
Self-sustaining wildlife populations demonstrate natural behaviours and maintain their numbers and genetic diversity through natural interactions with the ecosystem. They do not require ongoing human support or intervention, although some modification to the wider landscape is acceptable - such as the addition of waterholes, fences, or past habitat restoration efforts.
Self-sustaining characteristics
Conservation value: High
Populations regulate themselves through natural ecological processes. They maintain genetic diversity, natural behaviours, and ecosystem balance - providing an authentic model of wild ecological functioning.
Education value: High
Ideal conditions for meaningful research and learning. Findings are ecologically relevant and can inform broader conservation policies and field-based strategies. Internships here offer valuable real-world conservation experience.
Independence from human intervention: High
Self-sustaining populations are adequately supported by the available resources and have stable birth and death rates. Human intervention is only required in response to extreme natural events, such as providing additional water during droughts.
Behaviour: Fully natural
All animals display behaviours typical of their species. This is a result of freely interacting with their environment and each other in an ecologically balanced ecosystem.
Animal welfare concerns: Minimal
There are no intrusive species-specific management practices (other than where necessary for poaching prevention, such as rhino horn trimming) and natural dynamics between and within species avoids stress-inducing levels of competition.
Examples per species
Wild dog
Self-sustaining populations of wild dogs are made up of multiple packs of between 2 and 40 individuals. Each pack consists of a breeding pair of alpha dogs who provide alloparental care for younger dogs of various ages.
Their territories are distributed over hundreds of kilometres in large open ecosystems. These habitats are home to enough prey to support the large pack sizes needed for wild dogs to successfully hunt cooperatively - which is critical for their survival. Having greater numbers also allows wild dogs to better defend themselves against attacks from lion and hyena.
Population stability is maintained through natural birth and death rates. Genetic diversity is preserved by subordinate females dispersing from their natal packs and joining other packs who, in turn, evict their females to find new packs of their own. A process which successfully prevents inbreeding.
In areas where self-sustaining wild dog populations are found there is enough habitat for them to avoid conflict with lions. Interactions between wild dogs and lions, and instances of prey stealing by lions, are minimised, along with the stress they cause (although they do still occur as wild dogs cannot avoid lions entirely).
Cheetah
Male and female cheetahs within self-sustaining populations are able to successfully reproduce and raise cubs while maintaining their own individual or coalesced territories in large open ecosystems.
Population stability is maintained through natural birth and death rates. Meanwhile, genetic diversity is maintained by cheetahs having freedom of movement and mate choice. This is vital as it enables cheetahs to adapt to changing environments and withstand variable environmental conditions, making them more naturally resistant to extinction.
Prey populations are large enough to support all predator species and are also self-sustaining, so artificially adding prey animals is not necessary.
Cheetahs in self-sustaining populations face fierce competition from larger predators such as lions and hyena, however they are able to occupy edge territory to avoid these species and minimise interactions costly to their fitness.
Alongside other predators, self-sustaining cheetah populations regulate the health and size of prey species populations. Collectively, these species prevent disease outbreaks and overgrazing, which helps keep ecosystems diverse and intact, equipping them to adapt to disturbances such as climate change, invasive species, and natural disasters.
Giraffe
Self-sustaining giraffe populations are made up of multiple groups. Females form loose aggregations of up to 30+ animals that regularly move from one group to another. Within these female groups, creches are formed to protect calves from predators. Bachelors meanwhile form groups of adults and sub-adults, with strict hierarchies established via ‘necking’. Males that earn the right to breed move between female and bachelor groups.
Population stability is maintained through natural birth and death rates. Genetic diversity is continued by freedom of movement in large ecosystems, free-mate choice, and competition between males to establish breeding rights.
In self-sustaining populations there is enough food to support all browsing species, including giraffes. Indeed, self-sustaining giraffe populations promote plant growth and are key for seed dispersal and nutrient cycling. This is important for maintaining and generating habitats and food for other species, which fosters more biodiverse ecosystems that are better equipped to adapt to disturbances such as climate change, invasive species, and natural disasters.
Population dynamics are completely natural and unconstrained. The harassment of females due to limited mate choice seen in heavily managed populations is avoided, as is the stress caused. Breeding males also regulate the behaviour of sub-adult males, which limits conflict and maintains cohesion within all male groups, unlike in heavily managed populations when there is high levels of competition due to limited breeding opportunities.
Projects that meet the criteria: Self-sustaining
Definition
Assisted sustainable wildlife populations require periodic or limited intervention to address specific ecological challenges such as overpopulation. Humans may also be required to mitigate against other threats such as poaching. Despite this involvement, these animals retain largely natural behaviours and ecological dynamics.
Assisted sustainable characteristics
Conservation value: Moderate to high
While not fully natural, these systems still reflect key ecological processes, maintain genetic diversity, and enable research and data collection that are relevant to the broader field of conservation science. In most instances assisted sustainable populations can be far better protected from human threats (e.g. poaching) than their counterparts in self-sustaining populations. This means they are able to produce surplus individuals that can be used to supplement population recovery in other areas.
Educational value: Moderate to high
These populations are valuable for applied conservation research. Particularly in studying adaptive management, habitat support, or how reserves can successfully produce a surplus of animals for the repopulation of other areas. Internships can be educational and constructive if clearly conservation-focused.
Independence from human intervention: Partial
These populations can sustain themselves in many respects, but management is necessary to correct or support areas where natural processes are insufficient.
Behaviour: Predominantly natural
Animals display behaviours typical of their species, with limited impact from human interventions.
Animal welfare concerns: Low
Management practices are generally less intrusive than with heavily managed populations and are designed to minimise stress or disruption, focusing on maintaining ecological balance rather than intensive population control.
Examples per species
Black rhino
Assisted sustainable black rhino populations tend to be found within larger game reserves and are managed as part of WWF’s Black Rhino Range Expansion Program (BRREP). This program coordinates the translocation of groups of rhino to new areas to maintain genetic diversity among the whole global population.
To be part of this hugely important program, reserves have to meet stringent requirements around the availability of space and territory needed to house this solitary and hugely territorial species.
In reserves that meet all the required conditions, black rhino populations are made up of many solitary males and females, each with their own distinct territories, and a ratio of one male for every two females. The high availability of mates, combined with competition for the best territories, helps maintain genetic diversity.
Assisted sustainable black rhino populations can be better protected from poaching in large fenced and protected areas than those in open ecosystems. It is also easier to maintain the dense bush or thickets that make up black rhinos’ preferred habitats in a game reserve than an unprotected open ecosystem. For these reasons, black rhinos are more secure in areas that require moderate management and therefore do better than those in self-sustaining populations.
Cheetah
Males and females in assisted sustainable cheetah populations are able to successfully reproduce and raise cubs. Birth rates exceed death rates, and the population grows.
Periodic translocation of individuals occurs to maintain genetic diversity and support population recovery in other areas as part of the EWT Cheetah Metapopulation Programme and Peace Parks initiatives.
Cheetahs in assisted sustainable populations face fierce competition from larger predators such as lions, but through sufficient resource availability (including territory and prey) and lion population management, cheetahs are able to minimise interactions with lions. This reduces the frequency with which lions steal cheetahs’ prey, kill their cubs or attack adults. While cheetahs need to maintain natural levels of vigilance, they avoid the extreme and stressful levels of vigilance seen in heavily managed populations.
Prey species
Prey species in assisted sustainable populations form a crucial part of the ecosystem and have high survival rates.
Prey populations need to be periodically replenished to maintain predator-prey balance, but this happens with less regularity than in heavily managed populations.
Introductions are planned to maximise survival of the prey species. They are translocated from reserves where they have been exposed to predators, and have developed effective anti-predator behaviour. Prey species are also released in pre-established socially stable groups reflecting self-sustaining populations with natural age and gender ratios, which is less stressful and maximises the success of anti-predator behaviour.
While predator populations may grow larger than the habitat would support with no human intervention, the predator-prey balance closely resembles self-sustaining populations, and predator numbers are managed through translocation and contraception.
Projects that meet the criteria: Assisted sustainable
Definition
These populations rely on intensive and frequent human intervention to maintain their viability, population structure, or the role they play in the broader ecosystem. Such management often leads to altered natural behaviours, ecological imbalances, and may result in negative animal welfare outcomes.
Heavily managed characteristics
Conservation value: Low
Heavily managed wildlife populations depend on frequent human control (e.g. frequent supplementary feeding, contraception and translocations) and often lack ecological integrity or functional natural behaviours. Human dependency makes these animals poor candidates for rewilding and repopulation efforts, while their unnatural behaviours present challenges for research and data collection. These systems are often shaped for tourism or commercial use, not conservation.
Educational value: Low
Research often lacks ecological relevance and is not transferable to wild systems. Internships in these environments risk promoting poor practice and may offer little educational value in real conservation science or ethics.
Independence from human intervention: Low
The population cannot sustain itself without ongoing and direct human input (e.g. intensive supplementary feeding, regular translocations, breeding restrictions).
Behaviour: Unnatural
Management practices may lead to altered behaviours, such as reduced territoriality, over-tameness, or dependence on humans for resources.
Animal welfare concerns: High
Animals may be subjected to invasive management practices that induce stress or fear. Unnatural population dynamics may also lead to high levels of inter- and intra-species competition between animals resulting in elevated levels of stress.
Examples per species
Cheetah
These cheetah populations are often male and therefore cannot reproduce. This is because males are better able to defend themselves against lions, which is preferable for reserve owners as cheetahs are expensive to replace if killed. Even in populations with females they cannot reproduce as lions kill the cubs.
As they cannot reproduce and must be replenished from external sources, heavily managed cheetah populations reduce cheetah populations elsewhere. Given cheetahs are classified as vulnerable by IUCN and their populations are decreasing, this represents a genuine problem for the long-term conservation of this species.
Cheetahs suffer from intense competition for prey, losing a high percentage of their kills to lions. Lions will also kill cheetahs as they perceive them as competition. As there is no edge territory for heavily managed cheetahs to avoid lions, as they would in a large ecosystem, they display abnormally high levels of vigilance behaviour at all times, which is stressful.
Due to their drive to find habitat devoid of lions, cheetahs in heavily managed populations often dig out of reserves. These animals are either captured and returned (which is stressful) or shot / poisoned to remove the threat they pose to livestock.
Elephants
Reserves are managed to ensure vehicles can traverse all areas, giving guests guaranteed sightings of the same few elephants. There are no areas where elephants can escape to avoid close contact with humans. Due to the social complexity and awareness of elephants, the impact of vehicles and guests on their chronic stress levels is very high.
Due to the heavy impact elephants have on the ecosystem, reserve owners need complete reproductive control to prevent overpopulation. They contracept every female of breeding age, using a vaccine delivered by dart gun which requires herds to be pursued by helicopter or vehicles for it to be administered. The contraceptive program is normally rolled out once per year and can last for many weeks, as each elephant requires two doses, administered two weeks apart. This frequent process is hugely stressful for all the elephants in the group.
Due to the small number of females, any dominant male will attempt to breed with almost every female that comes into oestrus. This leads to sub-adult females that would normally not breed, being mounted by the dominant male. A dominant male will also likely bully sub-adult males who are unable to leave the female groups because they lack the space and resources to form bachelor herds. If no adult male is present, sub-adult males will harass females and repeatedly attempt to mate with them. All of these unnatural mating behaviours can cause injury and stress.
Collectively, these factors often lead separate female-led groups to form one herd which is highly unnatural behaviour for elephants in the wild.
Prey species
To attract tourists, predator numbers within heavily managed populations are larger than their habitat can naturally support. This means prey species are over-predated and need to be constantly replenished. Due to the rapid rate at which this is required, reserves do not have the time to plan introductions and prey animals are randomly selected from game farms.
These species usually come from farms with no predators so haven’t learned to successfully avoid them. Their pre-established social groups, which are key for maximising vigilance behaviour, are often broken up. Without these natural defences, prey animals are more vulnerable to predation which reduces their likelihood of survival and compounds the issues of over predation. Without the security of an established group, prey species can also become highly stressed.
Introduced prey populations often have skewed age or sex ratios which can negatively affect breeding success. For example, introducing too many males or sub-adults will limit the ability of the prey species to breed successfully. For solitary prey species, their ability to breed and establish territories is severely reduced as they spend all the time avoiding predators.
Projects that meet the criteria: Heavily managed
- None of our research and management projects work with or research heavily managed populations.
What makes us different?
Southern Africa’s original conservation travel company
We are qualified zoologists and conservationists
Customised experiences and care from start to finish
Our own support and operations team in Africa
Empower vital conservation initiatives