Wildlife Conservation – 24 week Internship in South Africa
- Experiences | Vol and Intern
- Conservation Careers
- Limpopo, South Africa
- Posted
7 months ago - Conservation Careers
Wildlife Conservation – 24 week Internship in South Africa
- Experiences | Vol and Intern
- Conservation Careers
- Limpopo, South Africa
- Posted
7 months ago - Conservation Careers
Overview
Study wildlife conservation and then gain work experience on a game reserve or with a South African conservation organisation AND get career training from Conservation Careers!
Kick-start your conservation career when you join a wildlife conservation internship in South Africa’s iconic bushveld. Gain invaluable experience when you learn conservation techniques, animal tracking and how to use telemetry equipment. Use your knowledge when you join a project focussing on predator monitoring, habitat restoration or community outreach while getting up close and personal with the famous Big Five. Sign up here today and get 12 months of Lion membership with Conservation Careers included.
Overview
Interns will be based in the Limpopo Province, an area renowned for its abundance of wildlife and getting up close and personal with the ‘Big Five’ of South Africa (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo).
The first 12 weeks of the internship are based on our wildlife research expedition. Here you will assist us with research on big cats and other mega-fauna, learn about conservation techniques on enclosed private game reserves, help with hands on reserve management projects and community outreach initiatives. Gain internationally recognised qualifications, track animals using bush skills and telemetry equipment and watch the sunset over the African bush.
On successfully completing the expedition you will have the necessary skills to undertake your 12 week work placement. During this phase, depending on your skills and our partner’s requirements, you may stay on with the team taking on new responsibilities, or be based at a partner conservation organisation or an ecotourism lodge catering to tourists.
After a successful internship, qualifying candidates may be given the opportunity to work for our partner organisation in South Africa.
All internships are geared at developing your leadership and role model skills, allowing you to develop a variety of key soft and hard skills that will put you a step ahead the rest of the pack. Our partner have been running community development, education, and conservation projects since 1997 and our highly experienced field staff will help you gain and improve vital skill sets to improve your future job prospects.
Our Award-winning Partner
Conservation Careers has teamed up with an award-winning, mission-driven organisation with a team of passionate experts across the globe who will make your experience a truly unforgettable one.
Founded in 1998, they run programs in 21 locations, in 13 countries around the world, each aligned to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as well as the objectives of local partners. They welcome participants from all around the world and help facilitate their development into global citizens. This is how they achieve their mission of building a global network of people united by their passion to make a difference.
Their commitment to running high-quality sustainable development and experiential education programs has earned them recognition from numerous organizations such as Panthera, the Seychelles Parks & Gardens Authority, as well as Stanford, NYU, Duke, and Ohio State.
If you register your interest below, you’ll put you in touch with our partner to take the booking and to plan your trip!
To see all our Conservation Careers Internship opportunities, please click here.
Testimonial
“What an amazing experience this has been! Each day here at base is a gift, although the base is rustic and has no electricity or hot water. I found that didn’t matter. The game drives are the primary focus of each day, some days are more fruitful than others but in time the rewards are huge with animal sightings. So far I have over 1600 photos to sort through when I get home!” – Tess Hill (USA).
Location – Limpopo
Life on the Internship
Your First 12 Weeks
During your first 12 weeks, the majority of your time will be spent in game viewing vehicles out in the reserve carrying our various research activities. This usually happens between dawn and dusk when the weather is cooler and the wildlife is most active.
Your main research focus area will vary according to your location and could see you involved with the big cats (lions, leopards,cheetahs), hyena and elephants. You will also spend a lot of your time in the bush on reserve management and conservation projects, where you could be involved in erosion control, river clean-ups and invasive alien plant removal.
The work varies according to the schedule, but all interns will be involved with locating the wildlife, predator research, data entry, reserve management work, personal projects and camp duties.
Work Placements
Work placements will only be available to interns who have a successful 12 week expedition phase. Our interns typically receive work placements with local conservation organisations, game reserves and lodges in South Africa’s bushveld region. Examples of possible available positions include terrestrial and wildlife conservation, environmental education and wildlife research.
The work placement will offer you the opportunity to put into action the skills you learnt during the expedition phase, practise leadership scenarios and gain sought after career experience in a professional work environment.
Accommodation
During your 12 weeks on the expedition phase of your internship, you will be staying in a fairly rustic setting with shared sleeping arrangements in either an old farmhouse.
Accommodation at the work placements vary, but all offer basic to comfortable accommodation for their staff.
Project Details
Our partner gathers data on local animal species and populations to give an accurate picture of current challenges many of these species are facing. This vital information is used to maintain a healthy balance of natural resources and ultimately to help conserve some of Africa’s most precious wildlife.
Here are some examples of the initiatives that this project works on:
- Detailed monitoring of predators such as lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant and hyena
- Monitoring and tracking of significant food sources for main predators
- Habitat observation and restoration such as removal of old farm infrastructure, alien invasive plant control and many more
Local community outreach to teach local children about our efforts and the importance of conservation.
We also try to assist where required with off-site studies or mini-projects that may focus on different biota if we believe them to be relevant in the conservation context of the region. Such studies allow staff and volunteers to get a broader knowledge of conservation research across more than one ecosystem. Examples could include documenting bird of prey nesting sites; Celebrating environmental calendar days. Any such mini-projects are as required, would make up the minority of your time on this program, and only for duration of 4 weeks or more.
Additional Learning
Increasing Employability: Pre Departure Program Training:
Our programs are not only life-changing experiences but are also designed to help participants increase their employability. We have developed a curriculum to be completed prior to arrival in the country in order to ensure that more time is dedicated to program work once you commence your volunteer program.
Eight weeks prior to your start date, you will complete the following online courses in preparation for your in-country program:
PRE-DEPARTURE ORIENTATION (1 hour)
PROGRAM SPECIFIC TRAINING (1 – 5 hours)
OPTIONAL: WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COURSE (10 – 15 hours)
In order to obtain a certificate for the Wildlife Conservation course which is endorsed by the University of Richmond and UNC Charlotte, you will need to complete quizzes & assignments and will be given 4 weeks post program to submit your work.
If you are looking to travel in less than 8 weeks from now, you will still complete the course however this will be done in country and all content will need to be downloaded before arrival.
Health & Hygiene:
The work we contribute to across the globe remains important and new measures allow our participants to continue to join our programs and continue impacting positively on their world and the communities we work with. Changes to our existing protocols have been made by our health and hygiene team to strengthen our health and hygiene protocols and ensure that international standard safeguards are in place to protect our participants, staff and host communities. Please inquire for more information on the protocols.
How this project makes a difference
Our partner spends up to 12 hours a day collecting data on large predators such as lions, leopards and cheetah. The information gathered is used to give an accurate picture of the predators impact on prey populations, determine social structure, genetics, and spatial movement. This vital information helps maintain a healthy balance of these natural resources and ultimately conserve some of Africa’s most important ecosystems.
Work placements are typically with local conservation organisations, game reserves and lodges in South Africa’s Bushveld region. Specific positions range across many fields. Some examples include terrestrial and wildlife conservation and wildlife research.
Your work placement will offer you the opportunity to put into action the skills you learnt on the expedition, practise leadership scenarios and gain one of a kind experience in a professional work environment.
Experiences
- Learn to make a potjiekos
- Develop your wildlife photography skills
- Discover the medicinal uses of indigenous plants
- Master basic bush survival skills
- Watch a magical sunset at a watering hole
- Enjoy a night sky safari
- Walk through a prehistoric cycad forest
- Sleep in the open bushveld
Free Time
Volunteering with our partner not only allows you to participate on programs assisting disadvantaged communities or endangered ecosystems, but it also offers wonderful opportunities to travel in the local area in your down time or further afield either before or after your program. Many decide to travel after volunteering, solidifying the lifetime friendships established on the programme.
Our long term field staff are a great source of advice and are here to help you make the most of your time abroad. Remember to ask about discounts on local activities and side trips through your association with our partner. Our Limpopo field teams have helped us put together the following information on trips and travel options in South Africa!
Side Trips Included
At our Karongwe Base, volunteers will visit the renowned Khamai Reptile Park as part of the training. Later on during the phase, volunteers are also taken to a local curio market where a variety of quality carvings and other gifts are sold.
Optional Side Trips
Our research teams have one day off per week. For longer duration volunteers, at the end of each 4 week cycle, there may be the opportunity to take 3 or 4 consecutive days off. Independent travel from Karongwe is best done by renting a car, something volunteers usually do in groups to make more economical. Bear in mind there is an additional cost associated with pickups or drop-offs at the reserve gate. Hoedspruit, the nearest town is about 45 mins drive away. In the area around Karongwe Game Reserve you can visit the Kruger National Park, with entry gates no more than an hour drive away. There’s also the ‘panoramic route’ which takes you on various scenic drives along the edge of the Drakensberg escarpment, the Blyde River Canyon and to the historic towns of Pilgrims Rest, Graskop (where Harry’s Pancakes will serve you the best pancake on the planet!) and Sabie, where you can also book onto a variety of adventure activities such as bungee jumping, quad biking, canyoning and hiking, or just chill out with a picnic lunch at one of the many nearby waterfalls.
Further Travel Opportunities
South Africa has such a wealth of fantastic opportunities for further travel. Possibilities include the spectacular Drakensberg Mountains, the beauty of the Kalahari Desert, historic Zululand, the vibrancy of Cape Town, the fantastic Garden Route along the Southern Coast, the world-renowned National Parks of Kruger and Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, and many more highlights that will leave you wanting more of this amazing country.
BONUS! Conservation Career Kick-Starter online training programme (worth £295)
Do you want to spend your career helping wildlife to flourish, but are feeling a little lost, confused or disillusioned?
Start your career in wildlife conservation with a unique programme of training, support community & jobs from Conservation Careers!
The Conservation Career Kick-Starter is a proven step-by-step system to get clear, get ready, and get hired as a professional conservationist.
Whether you’re at university and planning your next steps, a graduate in the job hunt or working in an unrelated job but interested to switch into conservation, this course is designed to help you.
After going through the course, you’ll have created a personal career plan which will give you confidence in your job hunt and will make everything quicker, simpler and more fun!
All you need to do is register your interest in the project below, and if you choose to make a booking we’ll save a place for you on the Kick-Starter when you get back from your placement.
Included with the Kick-Starter is a year’s full-access to the world’s biggest conservation job board with over 15,000 jobs, plus access to our private online support community, CC Pro.
Costs
The programme lasts 24 weeks and costs £10, 995.
Start dates are as follows:
About Conservation Careers
Conservation Careers has teamed up a family-run organisation with an amazing culture and an awesome team of people across the world who are passionate experts in their chosen field and will make your experience a truly unforgettable one (in a good way).
Their award-winning projects receive over 2000 participants every year, and we’re proud to say that the vast majority of them describe their experience with us as ‘life changing’. Our approval rate from over 20 000 participants since 1997 is over 95%.
A key component of the success of their community development and conservation projects is the participants who join our programs. Opportunities include high impact volunteering from one week and up, internships for those looking for career development opportunities, Challenges that allow a one week adventure all for a good cause and a range of programs for school groups and younger volunteers.
