The Three Frontiers Conservation Experience

This is a suggested itinerary. Every experience can be customised to be just right for you.

Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre

Week 1

Volunteer at one of the biggest wildlife sanctuaries in South Africa - home to lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, hyenas, vultures, and many other threatened animals. From preparing enrichment activities to helping maintain enclosures, you’ll get involved with every aspect of animal care and rehabilitation. If you’re lucky, you may even get to experience the moment an animal is safely returned to the wild.

• Meals Provided

The Vikela Kruger Conservation Experience

Week 2

Explore the Greater Kruger Park in a way few others ever do… on foot. Alongside an expert guide, you’ll step into one of the few remaining ecosystems large enough to host a mega population of lions, growing numbers of elephants, plus wild dogs, black and white rhino and other threatened species. Together, you’ll carry out vital practical conservation, monitor iconic species and immerse yourself in the untamed beauty of this UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

• Meals Provided

Phinda Wildlife Research Project

Week 3 & 4

Go behind the scenes in a Big 5 wildlife conservancy where you’ll monitor lions, elephants, rhinos, pangolins and other species in their natural habitats. Part-owned by the local Zulu community, Phinda is a true conservation success story - and plays a vital role in the WWF’s efforts to reintroduce black rhinos across more parts of Africa.

• Food For Meal Preparation Provided

Work with iconic and endangered species

From the iconic Big 5 to elusive smaller animals such as pangolins and hyenas, these three projects give you the chance to directly work with and protect a wide range of at-risk species.

Support essential animal care in the Greater Kruger

Moholoholo takes in large numbers of injured and orphaned animals who only survive thanks to this project and volunteers like you. From feeding and cleaning to enrichment, you’ll play a vital role in caring for threatened species such as lions, leopards, wild dogs and vultures.

Experience wildlife management behind the scenes

You’ll experience life behind the scenes at Phinda, one of the largest and most successful wildlife conservancies in South Africa - assisting with real tracking, monitoring and game drives most tourists never see, let alone participate in.

Support vital rhino conservation and habitat management

Help protect this iconic endangered species through a combination of wildlife monitoring, sharing vital information in real time with anti-poaching teams and assisting with periodic conservation measures like rhino horn trimming, invasive plant removal and bush clearing.

Carry out practical conservation on foot

Walking through the African bush, exploring remote areas that can’t be accessed by vehicles and immersing yourself in the smells and sounds of nature is a life-changing experience. You’ll be one of the lucky people who can say "I did that" and know what it means.

Gain knowledge from local experts

Work alongside highly qualified wildlife professionals, from animal care specialists to field ecologists, who bring the bush environment to life, explaining the art and science of conservation during bushwalks, tracking and game drives.

Support global conservation organisations

By joining these projects, you’ll contribute to the goals of their partner organisations like WWF, Panthera, Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), and the African Pangolin Working Group.

You’ll support the project teams in real hands-on wildlife care and monitoring. Depending on the conservation priorities at the time, this will include a range of the following activities.

Rehabilitation, care and husbandry

You’ll work with a variety of animals, some who can be rehabilitated and released back into the wild and others who require life-long care in a sanctuary.

You will get to observe or assist:

• Enriching animals’ lives through physical exercise, mental stimulation and naturalistic enclosures.
• Preparing and feeding a nutritious diet tailored to different species.
• Mucking-out enclosures, raking grass for bedding, and maintaining clean living spaces.
• Providing care for long-term sanctuary animals.

You could also observe or assist:

• Preparing and releasing animals onto protected reserves.
• Caring for young animals - including preparing food or formula, bottle-feeding or hand-feeding depending on species, and integrating them into appropriate enclosures. (Seasonal: peak activity November to March.)

Veterinary nursing

Most animals arrive at centres with injury or trauma. Depending on your skills and the needs of the project, you could support a professional vet or veterinary nurse in treating these new arrivals.

You could observe or assist:

• Providing ongoing care in a well-equipped on-site clinic.
• Dressing wounds, administering treatment and monitoring health.
• Performing regular health checks and monitoring recovery.
• Carrying immobilised animals and monitoring their vital signs.

Wildlife research

Across the projects, you’ll support vital ecological research by collecting and recording data on wildlife movements, populations and behaviour.

You will get to observe or assist:

• Recording sightings and mapping animal movements to understand territories.
• Monitoring elephants, rhinos, cheetahs, lions and other key species to detect threats like poaching or disease.
• Recording age, gender, feeding, breeding and predatory behaviour.
• Maintaining species ID kits, particularly for rhinos.
• Game drive-based animal counts for general population tracking.
• Managing and maintaining camera traps to monitor elusive species.

You could also observe or assist:

• Tracking collared wildlife using telemetry (e.g. elephants, pangolins).
• Bi-annual camera trap surveys for species such as leopards, hyenas and servals.
• Analysing images and data from camera traps.
• Recording sightings of priority bird species like the southern banded-snake eagle.

Wildlife management

You’ll support the management and protection of wildlife and their habitat - an essential part of long-term conservation.

You could observe, assist or gain insights into:

• Rhino immobilisation, notching and horn trimming as part of monitoring and anti-poaching efforts.
• Identifying individual rhinos and sharing data with anti-poaching teams.
• The rescue, release and reintroduction of animals like pangolins and caracals.
• The use of contraceptives to manage elephant and predator populations.
• Vaccination programmes to reduce disease risk among carnivores.
• Habitat management to ensure access to key resources like food and water.
• Invasive species removal, bush clearing and fence repair.

Practical conservation and monitoring on foot

You’ll gain deep insights into conservation by working on the ground in the African bush.

You will get to observe or assist:

• Tracking and monitoring animals during guided bush walks.
• Monitoring the movement and behaviour of species like rhinos, lions and elephants.
• Recording vital field data and sharing insights with conservation teams.

Additional conservation experiences

You may also have the opportunity to:

• Take game drives on reserves where rehabilitated animals have been released.
• Join night drives to observe nocturnal species like leopards, hyenas and bushbabies.
• Visit a rehabilitation centre working in partnership with the Endangered Wildlife Trust.
• Boat along the Blyde River Canyon, observing wildlife from the water.
• Take part in an optional excursion to Kruger National Park (subject to availability and additional cost).

You’ll learn about wildlife behaviour, biology, ecology, and conservation issues. Depending on the projects’ 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 and waste removal.
• How to monitor the health and behaviour of captive species.
• How to stabilise and integrate new arrivals into the population at a care centre.

Behaviour

• The behaviours of African animals in the wild and in captivity.
• Social structure and group dynamics, such as lion prides and elephant herds.
• Predator hunting behaviour, including the differences between social predators (e.g. lions, hyenas) and solitary predators (e.g. leopards, cheetahs).
• Mating, breeding and parental care across African species.
• Communication methods used by different species.
• Movement patterns of herd animals such as elephants, buffalo and antelope.
• Use of habitats and the movements of elusive species like leopards.
• The relationship between predators and prey.

Biology

• The physiology and natural diets of the Big 5 and other African species.
• Differences between white and black rhinos.
• Reproduction and parental care behaviours in African wildlife.
• Optimum captive environments for different species.
• Native African plants, reptiles, amphibians and birds.

Ecology

• The natural environments of the Big 5 and other African species.
• The role of different species in their ecosystems.
• The ecological impact of population growth or decline, particularly of apex and keystone species like lions and elephants.
• The importance of large, continuous protected areas compared to fragmented reserves.
• Smaller ecosystems on the Phinda reserve, including the unique sand forest.
• Current threats facing African ecosystems.

Conservation

• The causes of, and potential solutions to, human-wildlife conflict.
• The roles that rehabilitation centres and sanctuaries play in broader wildlife conservation.
• Anti-poaching strategies, including rhino horn trimming, field patrols, and the use of specialist trained dogs (K9 units).
• Research and monitoring techniques such as telemetry, GPS tracking and camera traps.
• Building and using species identification kits for priority animals.
• Metapopulation management: translocations, introductions and reintroductions of species like rhino, cheetah and lion.
• Relocation initiatives such as the WWF’s Black Rhino Range Expansion and EWT’s Cheetah Metapopulation Project.
• Funding mechanisms for conservation in Africa.
• The significance of the Greater Kruger ecosystem in African wildlife protection.

Community

• How Phinda’s community part-ownership model benefits local people and conservation.

Bush skills

• How to track and safely approach animals on foot.
• Identifying insects, reptiles, birds and signs of wildlife activity.
• The use of a spotlight on night drives with minimal disturbance to nocturnal species.
• The traditional medicinal uses of local plants and trees.

Educational talks

• The basic astronomy of the southern sky.
• The role of hunting in African wildlife conservation.
• Wildlife poisoning and the impact of the 'muti' trade.
• Drought and environmental pressures in the Greater Kruger region.