Overview

Kick-start your career in conservation by gaining invaluable work experience in the South African savannah AND get career training from Conservation Careers!

Call the South African savannah home for up to three months while gaining valuable wildlife conservation skills, work experience, and relevant qualifications that will set you up for your dream job in conservation. Based at our research station in Limpopo, on this internship you’ll directly contribute to a number of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including Goal 5: Life on Land.

Overview

Join our international team, on a private game reserve, one hour from Kruger National Park to work on conservation projects with leading local and international conservation organisations, like Rhino Revolution and EarthRanger.

This is not your conventional internship experience. You will live and work with international participants and staff in the heart of the savannah landscape. Wake to the sounds of endemic South African birdlife and spend your mornings tracking the movements of animals in the reserve. Spend your lunch hours recording and analysing valuable data and the rest of the afternoon conducting further wildlife research or reserve maintenance work. In the evenings learn more about local species and ecosystems or work on your own research project.

The main project our team works on is recording the number and species of animals in the reserve to assist management with maintaining a healthy balance of predators and prey. We also assist reserve management with the protection and restoration of the habitat such as the removal of alien invasive plant species in the reserve to protect local flora, large-scale soil rehabilitation projects and general upkeep of the ecosystem.

In addition, you will master radio telemetry techniques and learn how to track and record animal movements, to assist with monitoring cheetah feeding behaviour and their success in the reserve environment. We work in partnership with the Metapopulation Initiative, specifically the cheetah metapopulation project. In the local community, we also run environmental education programs and support the reserve with anti-poaching initiatives. As a wildlife conservation intern in South Africa, spending up to 3 months with us at our base, you will have a chance to get involved in just about all these projects.

Please note the hours in the field may be long, which can be tiring in the heat of the African sun.

As an intern, you’ll also get to participate in community development initiatives. Through partnerships with local schools and education centres, interns play a role in education-centred projects.

Highlights

  • Gain expert knowledge. Learn from Field Guide Association of South Africa qualified guides and master radio telemetry tracking skills to record animal movements.
  • Hear the call of the wild. Get the full safari experience in South Africa with this chance to work with and live among some of the world’s most beautiful and vulnerable species.
  • Get hands-on experience. Get broad exposure to a variety of conservation fieldwork projects and training opportunities to grow your skills.
  • Contribute to vital research. Support a team of scientists and academics with ongoing, cutting-edge research that gets published and makes an impact.
  • Work for real partners. Work on a real project for a conservation partner to address critical environmental issues in the area.
  • Stand out from the crowd. Participate in practical training sessions to develop your leadership skills and receive guidance from experienced mentors.
  • Advance your career. Gain international experience, receive four recognised qualifications and get a LinkedIn reference to boost your CV.
  • Live in remote habitats. Travel off the beaten track to live and work on a research station in the wild. Get exclusive access to protected species and unique ecosystems.

Lion carrying lion cub

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 26 locations, in 22 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!

Explore all our Conservation Careers Internship opportunities.

Giraffes

Life on base

Live in the heart of the South African savannah, sharing a renovated farmhouse with qualified guides from the Field Guides Association of Southern Africa, other staff, and participants from around the world. The base is incredibly remote, and tourists are unable to visit. Completely open to the bush and close to a dam, animals frequently visit the property, including elephants, buffalo, impala and leopards.

Boasting more than 20 thousand acres of open savannah, our research station in Limpopo features some of the best wildlife viewing of any private South African game reserve. It’s home to all of the Big Five, including the elusive leopard, as well as cheetahs and spotted hyenas.

Rise each morning to the sound of African birdsong at dawn, before heading out in an open-topped safari vehicle to conduct research vital for the conservation of key predator species, like cheetahs and lions. Heading back to camp when the sun is at its height, you’ll input data, study, assist with cooking or tidying, or relax with the team in our shared outdoor social space. In the early afternoon, when the sun starts to set over the Drakensberg mountain range, you’ll head out again to conduct further research. Returning when the stars are at their brightest, you’ll share a meal and the day’s stories with your team. In your free time, visit Kruger National Park, an hour’s drive from your accommodation, travel to the scenic Panorama Route, which takes you through the magnificent Blyde River Canyon, or spend some time in the local town called Hoedspruit.

With one of most biodiverse ecosystems in the world, and home to many of the most threatened African wildlife species, South Africa is a nature, wildlife, and adventure lover’s paradise.

Group of conservationists

Activities

Some of the example typical activities you could participate in on this program include:

  • Fieldwork training. Learn how to identify species, collect data and monitor animals. Get trained in health, safety, and ethical considerations for conservation work.
  • Co-lead conservation surveys. Collect data on various wildlife species. Assist with large herbivore monitoring. Track the behaviour of cheetahs using radio telemetry techniques.
  • Ongoing project work. Assist with invertebrate and bird surveys, practical conservation, citizen science databases, and community environmental education materials.
  • Leadership training. Learn how to plan and set team goals, create supportive team environments, and reflect on your own leadership style.
  • Leadership responsibilities. Take on additional tasks like updating species identification kits or analysing data collected on endemic birds and invertebrates on the reserve.
  • Personal project. Work on an individual project that aligns with your personal interests.
  • Mentorship. Meet weekly in a small group with other interns and an experienced mentor to receive project guidance and feedback on your leadership style.

conservationist tracking animals

Skills

  • Data collection
  • Data entry
  • Population ecology
  • Species identification
  • Survey research
  • Wildlife conservation
  • Leadership
  • Project management
  • Critical thinking
  • Creativity
  • Resiliency
  • Time management
  • Volunteering
  • Cultural awareness
  • Interpersonal skills
  • Communication
  • Teamwork
  • Easily adaptable 

BONUS! Conservation Career Kick-Starter online training programme (worth $495 / £375 / €450)

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 you hired quicker as a professional conservationist.

The Kick-Starter is trusted by over 2,500 people, and 40 universities, with 99% ratings. 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.

Duration, Dates & Costs

Register your interest below to learn about upcoming start dates, durations and costs.

What’s Included

General

  • Food
  • Safe and basic accommodation (usually shared)
  • Airport pick up (unless stated)
  • All project equipment
  • 24-hour in-country support from local staff
  • 24-hour emergency desk
  • Experiences

Activities

  • Sustainable project work
  • Data collection and research
  • Leadership responsibilities
  • Personal project

Mentorship

  • Weekly group sessions
  • Internship supervisor guidance

Pre-program training

  • Pre-departure webinar
  • Pre-departure training (online)
  • University of Richmond endorsed specialisation course
  • University of Richmond endorsed leadership course.

Welcome training

  • Welcome presentation
  • Health & safety
  • Local culture & environment
  • UN SDGs
  • Impact & ethics
  • Child protection

Register your interest below to learn about additional training included in this program.

conservationists sitting around camp light

What’s Excluded

  • Flights
  • International and domestic airport taxes
  • Medical and travel insurance
  • Visa costs
  • Police or background check
  • Personal items and toiletries
  • Additional drinks and gratuities

Register your interest

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 them as ‘life changing’. Their 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 their programs.