A Day in the life of a Wildlife ACT volunteer
Zululand is considered by many as the heartbeat of Africa, and makes a dramatic backdrop to the work we do. The African bush is such a dynamic and ever-changing environment to work in and our movements and activities are regulated by the animals we monitor.
We rise with sun and head out on our 4x4 vehicle with at most 3 other wildlife conservation volunteers to locate the animals the monitor has earmarked for the morning using radio telemetry equipment. You will be properly trained to use the telemetry equipment and after just a few days you will be doing the telemetry tracking yourself. Once you've located the animal you will map the sighting using a handheld PGS device, and update identity kits where need be, as well as take down behavioural notes used in our research. The species we monitor include critically endangered species like the African Wild Dog, Cheetah, Black Rhino and Vulture. We also do incidental monitoring of focal species like Elephant, White Rhino, Hyena and Leopard. We are usually back by late morning to fix lunch and some take a siesta. We head out again between 2-3pm to follow up on those animals we did not locate in the morning like elephant and rhino. We are usually back in camp shortly after sunset, and start preparing supper and sit around the fire listening to the sounds of the bush. Some nights the endangered species volunteer's go out to track species like the hyena who are active at night, but usually we are in bed early.
Depending on how long you join the team for and the time of year, you will also be part of darting or trapping and radio collaring of various animal species, the relocation and re-introduction of game, identity tagging of animal, setting and checking of camera traps, game counts, bird ringing and alien plant control. At least once a week we have an afternoon or day set aside to input the information we've gathered into the computer and make an analysis of the data. Volunteers prepare their own meals, and are responsible for camp cleaning and maintenance.
We have a saying here: This is Zululand, Not Disneyland. Monitoring can be exhilarating like when we do game captures, releases, notching or collaring. Some days can be a stretch and even laborious at times, like when we track one animal for a whole day and covering large distances without success. But it’s important. This is not a safari operation and we don’t want to romanticize the work we do. It’s not always pretty or easy, but what we can tell you is that this is real Africa and you will become a real natural resource conservation volunteer.
Training and skills
All training will be via practical tuition in the field. The skills you will gain are:
- The proper use of telemetry tracking equipment;
- The use of hand-held GPS devices;
- How to produce animal identification kits;
- How to set up and use camera traps to monitor certain endangered species;
- How to track animals using traditional methods like the identification and following of animal spoor;
- How to collect animal behavior data and how this data is extrapolated and used to inform and enhance management objectives on these reserves, as well as other reserves across Africa; and
- A firm understanding of conservation issues facing endangered species across Africa
