WILDLIFE VOLUNTEERING: THE RED FLAGS MOST PEOPLE MISS
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When I first arrived at Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, there were impala, nyala and duikers running around, and because I come from Germany, I couldn’t believe it!
My favourite moments at Moholoholo were either when a vet came in, and we got to hear the heartbeat of a cheetah or when I got to see a duiker being released after it had been rehabilitated! When that duiker was brought in, he had severe swelling, and it was amazing to see him become fully healed before releasing him!
Before speaking with an African Conservation Experience (ACE) consultant, I thought I would be working with lots of sick and injured animals. After speaking with ACE, I learned that my responsibilities would be with animals at different stages of their rehabilitation. I’m glad I wasn’t only working with severely injured animals, because despite learning lots through my time at Moholoholo, that job should definitely be left to the qualified staff or interns. Instead, a lot of my responsibilities were with the animals that cannot be released, either due to severe injuries or because they had been rescued from being raised in captivity and wouldn’t have the skills to survive in the wild. They were residents there, and I really loved everything I did for them.
The manager of Moholoholo gave us a talk when we first arrived about the rehabilitation they do there, and it was really powerful. He talked about what they’re doing with the animals, how they’re going to release them and the importance of minimising human contact. I learned that if the animals bond with humans, they cannot be released for their own safety and for the safety of the people around them. That’s the reason some of the resident animals are at Moholoholo, because they were rescued from people who tried to raise them like pets in captivity, and now they can never be released into the wild. It’s terrible that people do that, but it’s why Moholoholo are so careful with minimising human contact.
An example where I saw this in action was when a baby giraffe needed to be fed. In order to feed her, there was a wall between the giraffe and me so she wouldn't see I was a human. Instead, all she saw was a wall that had a print of a giraffe.
Moholoholo are doing a really good job and they really try to be as ethical as possible.
Before I volunteered with ACE, if I ever saw an injured animal, I would think I needed to take it to the vet immediately and try to help it. But I’ve learned that sometimes the best thing you can do is leave the animal for a while to see if its mother returns, and only if no other animal comes back for it should you get help from a professional rehabilitation centre or veterinary clinic.
Moholoholo are really trying to do the best job they can. They are always trying to find new ways to improve in every aspect of what they do.
My favourite activities were definitely the enrichment. For the African wild dogs, we used a plastic ball with holes in it and stuffed meat inside, then threw it into their enclosure so they could play with it and figure out how to get to the food. For the honey badgers, we gave them a box filled with leaves for them to dig through. Later on, we gave them their dinner in a similar way but smothered in honey, and they went crazy because they love honey!
During my time at Moholoholo, I really bonded with two of the girls in the same room as me. We are all into photography, and they taught me more about their skills and techniques. I learned a lot from them and left my experience with around 3,000 photos! That’s what was so great about Moholoholo, I loved all the people that were there because I learned so much from them. They even taught me how to braid my hair and how to sew, too! My trousers were really long, and they taught me how to sew them shorter. The girls were really crafty!
The staff were really nice too. You could always go to them with questions or jokes, and they were always lovely, even when you could see how much work they had to do.
During the excursion to Kruger National Park on my day off, we stopped for 20 minutes by the first elephant we saw. We thought it was amazing, but the guide told us there would be loads more. By the time we finished the safari, it felt like we had seen millions of elephants and giraffes! We saw so many baby elephants too, and they were so sweet!
Even on the Kruger excursion, we learned so much from the guide. Because we had stopped so frequently to see the elephants and giraffes on the first excursion, when the opportunity to go again came the next week, I had to go for it! During the second safari to the Kruger, I got to see a jackal, hyena, leopard and lions too! The lionesses are beautiful, and throughout this trip, I felt like I was falling in love with them!
I’ve never been on a trip alone before because I’m 16, so it really helped meeting the ACE team at the airport. I really like being independent, and I knew I wanted to do this alone. I did my own research, and when I had a call with one of the ACE consultants, she told me about Moholoholo, and I knew that’s where I wanted to go.
My parents were a bit nervous and wanted to know the contact information of a staff member who they could call if they needed to, but when they realised ACE had already passed on that information, they relaxed a lot more.
Even though I am someone who likes doing stuff on my own, one of the other volunteers on my travel buddies list texted me before I left Germany, so I had a friend before even arriving! It really helped to know that there was a person waiting for me when I landed and that someone I was meeting at the airport was going on the same project as me too.
If my friends wanted to go to South Africa, I would definitely tell them to volunteer at Moholoholo. They would have the best time of their lives!
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