The Three Frontiers Wildlife 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

Experience conservation from every angle

Join three unique projects, from wildlife monitoring in a Big Five reserve, to anti-poaching in the Greater Kruger, to animal rescue and rehabilitation in one of South Africa’s largest wildlife sanctuaries. This is a rare chance to experience the full spectrum of conservation in action.

Get involved in real behind-the-scenes conservation

You’ll play an active role in the long-term protection of African wildlife, assisting with real tracking, monitoring, and animal rescues. These are experiences that most tourists never witness, let alone participate in.

Connect with local experts

You’ll be guided by highly qualified professionals, from expert field ecologists to an anti-poaching specialist and his K9 dog. Learn the intricacies of wildlife management and protection during bushwalks, monitoring and tracking, and game drives.

Support an ethical wildlife sanctuary in the Greater Kruger

Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre is located in a critical area for animal rehabilitation and sanctuary. Find yourself feet away from a leopard as you prepare its next meal, or readying a vulture for release back into the Kruger.

Join immersive bushwalks

Step off the vehicle and follow rhino tracks on foot, venturing into hidden corners of the bush that few people ever get to see. You’ll collect data on rhino movement whilst immersing yourself in the raw sounds and scents of nature, a once-in-a-lifetime conservation adventure that you’ll never forget.

Support lasting wildlife protection

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.

Protect 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 have a positive impact on the conservation of a wide range of at-risk species

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.

Wildlife tracking and monitoring

You’ll support conservation efforts by monitoring wildlife movements, populations, and behaviour, and collecting and recording vital data.

You will get to assist:

• Monitoring elephants, rhinos, cheetahs, lions, and other key species.
• Recording age, gender, herd or pride structure, and feeding, breeding and predatory behaviour.
• Photographing individual animals for identification, particularly rhinos.
• Mapping animal movements to help understand their territories.
• Game drives to count animals for general population tracking.
• Managing and maintaining camera traps to monitor elusive species.

You could also observe or assist:

• Tracking individual animals using wildlife tracking devices such as telemetry (e.g. elephants, pangolins).
• Setting up cameras for bi-annual surveys of species such as leopards, hyenas and servals.
• Analysing images 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 horn trimming and other anti-poaching strategies.
• The rescue, release and reintroduction of animals like pangolins and caracals.
• Vaccination programmes to reduce disease risk among carnivores.
• Habitat management to ensure wildlife has access to key resources like food and water.
• Removing invasive plant species, 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:

• Track and monitor rhinos during guided bush walks.
• Identify individual rhinos and share data with anti-poaching teams.
• Learn how to read animal tracks and spot signs of wildlife presence.

Rehabilitation and care for injured wildlife

You’ll get involved in the rehabilitation journey for 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 by providing opportunities for physical exercise, mental stimulation and naturalistic enclosures.
• Preparing and feeding a nutritious diet tailored to different species.
• Mucking out enclosures, cleaning food preparation stations, and maintaining clean living spaces.
• Providing care for long-term sanctuary animals.

You could also observe or assist:

• Preparing and releasing animals into 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.)
• Veterinarian professionals performing health checks or administering treatment to new arrivals and residents at the sanctuary.

Additional conservation experiences

You may also have the opportunity to:

• Join night drives to observe nocturnal species like leopards, hyenas and bushbabies.
• Take game drives on reserves where rehabilitated animals have been released.
• 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 a range of conservation opportunities and challenges. Depending on the projects’ work at the time, this will include a range of the following topics.

Animal care and rehabilitation

• Dietary requirements for different species, including food preparation, water provision and feeding routines.
• Best hygiene practices, including maintaining clean living spaces.
• 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.
• Predator hunting behaviour, including the differences between social predators (e.g. lions, hyenas) and solitary predators (e.g. leopards, cheetahs).
• Social structure and group dynamics, such as in lion prides and elephant herds.
• 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.
• Optimum habitats and 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 importance of species like lions and elephants, and their impact on the rest of the ecosystem.
• The importance of large protected areas compared to small, fragmented reserves.
• The seven distinct habitats in the Phinda reserve, including the unique sand forest.
• Current threats facing African ecosystems and wildlife.

Conservation

• Research and monitoring techniques and equipment such as telemetry, GPS tracking and camera traps.
• Anti-poaching strategies, including rhino horn trimming, field patrols, and the use of specialist trained dogs (K9 units).
• The roles that rehabilitation centres and sanctuaries play in broader wildlife conservation.
• How conservationists ensure sustainable populations of wildlife, for example, by reintroducing or relocating species like rhino, cheetah, and lion to new reserves.
• Initiatives to introduce wildlife to new areas, such as the WWF’s Black Rhino Range Expansion and EWT’s Cheetah Metapopulation Project.
• The significance of the Greater Kruger ecosystem and other biodiversity hotspots in African wildlife protection.

Community

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

Bush skills

• How to safely track animals on foot in the bush.
• How to read animal tracks and spot signs of wildlife presence.
• Identifying insects, reptiles, birds.
• How to properly use a spotlight on night drives to minimise disturbance to nocturnal species.
• The traditional medicinal uses of local plants and trees.

Educational talks

• The impact of climate change on African ecosystems.
• Threats to wildlife, such as wildlife poisonings.
• The causes of, and potential solutions to, human-wildlife conflict.
• How conservation is funded in Africa.