Animal Care and Conservation Field Trip

ACTIVITIES

The itinerary of this field trip is divided into two sections. Your students will spend time at a prominent wildlife care and rehabilitation centre. They will also spend time in the bush participating in and learning about practical conservation work. The details of both sections will be tailored to the needs of your group but here is an overview of the activities we offer:

Animal rehabilitation and care

• Hand rearing and care of young animals
• Preparing food for the animals and taking part in the hands-on feeding rounds
• Health checks, basic veterinary assistance and wound dressing
• Cleaning cages and bomas to maintain healthy living environments
• Monitoring the progress of individual animal’s rehabilitation
• Wildlife releases (if any animals are ready during your trip)
• Helping build enclosures, temporary bomas or enrichment material

Wildlife monitoring and practical conservation work

• Using transects and camera traps to survey the seasonal movements and population dynamics of various species
• Using GPS equipment to record wildlife sightings and movement
• Explore the Kruger National Park – one of the highest-density wildlife areas in Africa
• Tracking wildlife by identifying and interpreting their signs
• Identifying the plants, mammals, amphibians, birds, reptiles and insects that inhabit the African bush
• Identifying nocturnal wildlife and learning how to use a spotlight without startling them
• An introduction to astronomy
• Bush orientation including fire building, cooking and indigenous plant uses

LEARN

Through a combination of lectures, workshops and practical activities, your students will gain a variety of skills and knowledge. Intended for students at university, college or school level, the educational content of this expedition includes:

Wildlife care

• How to handle and care for a variety of African species including rhino, honey badgers and chameleons
• Animal diets and how to safely carry out feeding rounds
• Caring for orphaned animals including their dietary needs, enclosure cleanliness and enrichment
• Interpreting animal behaviour in a care environment
• Animal husbandry and hand-rearing wildlife
• Assisting with veterinary nursing, treating injuries and dressing wounds
• Observing and assisting with more intensive veterinary treatment

Conservation

• The issues of wildlife poaching and rhino poaching in particular, its history and current status, plus anti-poaching methods used in the field
• Conservation issues that impact wildlife populations such as hunting, wildlife poisoning, the bushmeat trade, habitat fragmentation and drought
• Eco-tourism and its role in bringing money into conservation

Ecology

• The natural environment of elephants, rhino, lions, leopards, antelope and other African species
• Mammal, bird and reptile ecology
• The relationship between predator, prey and plant species
• The impact of one species’ population growth or decline on the ecosystem as a whole
• The role of non-mammal species such as vultures, insects and plants in African ecosystems
• The geology of different regions and how it affects the biodiversity of each area
• Waterhole ecology

Biology

• Mammal, bird and reptile biology
• Natural diets of elephant, rhino, lion, leopard, antelope and other African species
• Physiology of elephant, rhino, lion, leopard, antelope and other African species
• Native African plants, reptiles, amphibians and birds

Behaviour

• Behaviour of animal groups (e.g. hierarchy systems in prides of lions, troops of primates, elephant herds etc.)
• Predator hunting behaviour and the difference between social carnivores such as lions and hyena compared to solitary predators such as leopards and cheetah
• Movement of herd species including elephant, buffalo and antelope
• Breeding behaviour of elephant, rhino, lion, leopard, antelope and other African species
• The behavioural differences between animals in a natural environment and those living in captivity