Wesley is a Priority Species Monitor at Manyoni Private Game Reserve, having begun his Wildlife ACT journey at iMfolozi. He focuses on daily monitoring of Lions, Cheetahs, and Rhinos, with experience collaring Wild Dogs, Cheetahs, and Lions. With a diploma in Nature Management, he brings dedicated, hands-on monitoring to some of KwaZulu-Natal’s most threatened species.
Wesley fell in love with nature and the outdoors from a young age, with family trips to reserves across KwaZulu-Natal shaping his early sense that he could make a real difference for endangered and threatened species. He completed a diploma in Nature Management and joined Wildlife ACT in 2023, beginning his journey as a Priority Species Monitor at iMfolozi.
Wesley now works as a Priority Species Monitor at Manyoni Private Game Reserve, where his daily work involves monitoring Lions, Cheetahs, Spotted Hyaena, Rhinos, and Vultures, alongside camera trap processing, data entry, and report writing.
This data feeds into a wider network used by reserve management and species management groups to inform conservation decisions. He has played a hands-on role in collaring Wild Dogs, Cheetahs, and Lions, work that reinforced for him the wider impact this monitoring has on the ecosystem as a whole.
Outside of work, Wesley enjoys staying active through running and home workouts, follows football, cricket, and rugby, reads, watches documentaries, and makes time for family and friends.
“Each day is a different day. You never know what you can wake up to, and it keeps us motivated to know that the work we are doing makes a difference each and every day to the survival of different endangered species.”