Students & Researchers
Wildlife ACT was established by a group of ecologists who saw a need for self-funded endangered species monitoring projects across Zululand in South Africa. Wildlife ACT undertakes such monitoring measures as a private, self-funded service provider to those reserves which do not have the capacity to run such projects themselves. With the contribution made by students and researchers, Wildlife ACT ensures endangered and priority species monitoring is not neglected across these reserves. With your help, Wildlife ACT therefore fulfils an essential conservation enhancement role for wildlife managers across the Zululand region. But to do this we NEED YOU TO JOIN THE TEAM
Students and researchers make up an integral part of our projects. Students from all over the world have come to join us, and have made contributions on many levels. Some students chose to spend a gap year volunteering whereas some students join simply to gain field research experience or to complete dissertation papers, but some have joined us to collect data for Masters and PhD degrees.
From a researchers perspective the field of monitoring offers a bounty of opportunities for data collection, whether it be from as simple as recording a location and noting the surrounding habitat through to dung collection and DNA analyses. Wildlife ACT would be able to establish a data sharing environment whereby students and researchers would be given access to previous information collected before they arrived, so as to enhance their data set and projects. The depth of this can be discussed and formulated by the students and ourselves to ensure meaningful animal conservation projects< are developed.
Student Volunteers
Before you design a project it is best that you first understand the work which we do and within that the scope of data we have available for analysis and the environment within which you can collect additional data. Wildlife ACT is an endangered species monitoring organisation and as such we oversee the daily monitoring of relevant endangered animals on reserves in Zululand, South Africa. This requires us and student volunteers to go out into the reserve every day and find these animals using either VHF tracking equipment (which you will be given instruction on how to operate) or conventional spoor tracking techniques. We also develop photo and illustrated identikits of all the species we help monitor.
Practical Info
Find out how to join the Wildlife ACT team in Zululand for hands-on conservation research including details on arrival dates, the application process and how to travel and book as a group.
