Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre

Work with and help save the lives of African wildlife

Participate in animal care work with a wide variety of animals - including charismatic and threatened species such as lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, hyenas, honey badgers, servals, caracals, bushbabies, vultures and antelope.

Support essential animal care in the Kruger area

Moholoholo addresses a genuine need for animal rehabilitation and sanctuary in the Kruger National Park region. With its huge wildlife populations and proximity to human settlements, this important protected habitat sees high numbers of injured, hurt and orphaned animals every year - who only survive because of this project.

Help support the Endangered Wildlife Trust

Moholoholo works in partnership with the EWT, a world-leading authority in wildlife conservation. By joining the project, you’ll learn about their critically important work, including the protection of endangered vultures.

Experience a range of care and rehabilitation work

As one of the biggest wildlife sanctuaries in South Africa with its own on-site clinic, Moholoholo gives you the chance to experience the realities of feeding, cleaning, vet nursing and enriching the lives of many incredible animals.

Explore the wild on game drives

Moholoholo is surrounded by a 1,000-acre wildlife reserve where some of the centre’s animals are given long-term sanctuary. During guided game drives you’ll see species in the wild and learn anti-poaching techniques, animal tracking skills and bushcraft. All in a spectacular natural environment.

Help maintain a safe haven for endangered vultures

Join a professional project team that works in partnership with the EWT to save endangered vultures and other raptors by looking after poisoned birds and providing them with a safe feeding area (called a vulture restaurant).

Strong local relationships to reduce human-wildlife conflict

Learn about and support the centre’s strong relationships with local farmers and landowners, which are essential for managing human-wildlife conflict and minimising threats to wildlife.

You’ll support the project team with a variety of hands-on animal care and conservation activities. Depending on the animals being cared for and the centre’s priorities at the time, this will include a range of the following responsibilities.

Rehabilitation, care and husbandry

Wherever possible, you’ll help to rehabilitate healthy animals back into the wild. Where an injury is too severe or an animal’s territorial nature and complex social structures make it impossible to release them, you’ll help provide life-long care in the sanctuary instead.

You will get to observe or assist:

• Enriching animals’ lives through physical exercise, mental stimulation, and creating a natural setting in captivity.
• Preparing animal feed and feeding the animals.
• Mucking-out enclosures, raking grass for bedding and creating clean living spaces for animals.

You could also observe or assist:

• Preparing and releasing animals onto the project’s wildlife reserve.

Research and practical conservation work

As well as working in a wildlife sanctuary, you’ll have the opportunity to be involved in research and practical conservation work.

You will get to observe or assist:

• Providing a safe area for the wild vultures of the Drakensberg Mountains to feed, free from the risks of poisoning.

You could also observe or assist:

• Rescuing, quarantining and releasing animals such as honey badgers, servals, caracals, mongooses, leopards and rock hyraxes, who are placing themselves at risk by troubling local farmers.

Veterinary nursing

Most animals arrive at wildlife rehabilitation centres with some level of injury or trauma. Depending on your skill level, you could work under the supervision of specialist project staff to observe or assist:

• Working in a well-equipped clinic located on-site.
• Providing ongoing care to injured animals.
• Dressing wounds, giving medical treatment and monitoring sick animals.
• Regular health checks.
• Preparing a nutritious diet.
• Carrying an immobilised animal and monitoring its vital signs.

Caring for young wildlife (seasonal - peak activity from November to March)

Looking after young animals can be particularly rewarding but they require lots of special attention - just like human infants, in fact! Depending on your skill level, you could work under the supervision of specialist project staff to observe or assist:

• Preparing food or formula.
• Bottle-feeding young animals or feeding by another method, depending on the species.
• Providing regular care and monitoring.
• Integrating juvenile animals into an enclosure with other animals.

Game drives

You could get to experience a selection of additional activities:

• Game drives in the surrounding Moholoholo reserve - home to a wide variety of animals released from the rehabilitation centre.
• An optional excursion to Kruger National Park (subject to availability and additional costs).

You’ll learn about the care and rehabilitation of many different species, as well as their behaviour, biology, ecology, and conservation issues. Depending on the animals being cared for and the centre’s work at the time, this will include a range of the following topics.

Animal husbandry

• Individual dietary requirements for different captive species, including food preparation, water provision, and feeding routines.
• Best hygiene practices, such as enclosure cleaning, disinfection of areas and waste removal.
• How to monitor the health and behaviour of different captive species.

Behaviour

• The behaviours of African animals, both in the wild and in captivity.
• The methods of enrichment used for different species and how this benefits the animal’s welfare.
• How animals communicate with each other.

Biology

• The physiology and biology of predators including lion, leopard and hyena as well as other African animals at the centre.
• Wildlife reproduction and how different species take care of their young.
• The optimum captive environments for different species.

Ecology

• The natural habitats of animals you’re working with and their role in the ecosystem.

Conservation

• The causes of, and potential solutions to, human-wildlife conflict.
• How to stabilise and integrate new arrivals into the population at the centre.
• Methods used by poachers such as snares - you may even see some animals arrive at the sanctuary with snare injuries.
• The important role animal care centres play in the broader wildlife conservation movement.

This project contributes to a variety of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. As part of the team, so will you. 

Quality Education Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Alongside animal work, Moholoholo doubles as an educational centre. Over 300,000 local primary and secondary school children have visited the project to learn about wildlife care and conservation from the project’s expert team.

In partnership with us, Moholoholo also provides financial support for a nearby creche and agricultural training centre. These initiatives provide vocational training and support for local people to find and keep good jobs.

Gender Equality Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Moholoholo provides equal employment opportunities for local women and men and equal volunteering opportunities for women and men outside the local community.

Clean Water and Sanitation Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Moholoholo conserves important inland freshwater ecosystems through the rehabilitation and release of keystone aquatic species.

Decent Work and Economic Growth Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Moholoholo routinely employs young people between 15 and 24 and provides equal employment opportunities for local men and women. Volunteers provide both economic and physical support, facilitating important conservation work and education within the local community.

Reduced Inequalities Reduce inequality within and among countries

Moholoholo requires participants to pay for volunteering, which supports their conservation and community activities. They offer a reduced rate for South African volunteers to promote inclusion among local people.

Sustainable Cities and Communities Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Moholoholo protects the world’s natural heritage through conservation, via the rehabilitation and safe release of African species.

Responsible Consumption and Production Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Moholoholo promotes responsible tourism in a variety of ways: through the creation of local jobs; via community work that sustains local cultures; by educating international and local visitors how to live in harmony with nature; and in its vital conservation work. 

The project also takes a responsible approach to the consumption and disposal of resources - from recycling waste to using carcasses of deceased animals in their ‘vulture restaurant’, an important breeding site for endangered vulture species.

Life on Land Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Moholoholo takes significant action to halt the loss of biodiversity and prevent the extinction of threatened species. By rehabilitating and releasing sick, injured and poisoned wildlife, they play a powerful role in preventing the degradation of South Africa’s forest, wetland, mountain and dryland ecosystems.

The project also takes urgent action to prevent poaching, by rescuing the animal victims of mass poisoning events before they pass into the hands of poachers. The centre also educates visitors on the poaching crisis and deters poachers from entering the surrounding reserve.

Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Through their work in treating the victims of mass poisonings, and the activity in the centre and surrounding reserve, Moholoholo are combating poachers and reducing the unethical practices associated with their activities.

Partnerships for the goals Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

Through Moholoholo’s partnership with us, they draw in financial resources that are used to fund conservation and provide support to their community partners in South Africa.