Wildlife research with lions in South Africa
Wildlife research with lions in South Africa
Duration: from 2 Weeks to 6 Weeks
Countries: South Africa
Based in a large reserve of 30000 hectares you will be living the life on what seems like a permanent safari as you track lions using telemetry techniques and monitor their behaviour for research purposes giving some very invaluable information.Call: 0845 344 7592
If you love being out in the bush then this project is just for you! Research is being undertaken to see the effect that a re-introduced pride of lions has on the animals of a reserve by monitoring their behaviour and movement patterns. Information gathered will determine if the reserve is able to function naturally, if there are too many lions and not enough animals further down the food chain then the natural balance will not be sustainable. From the information gathered on the feeding patterns the managers of the reserve can make decisions to ensure that a natural balance is maintained and to determine the capacity of the reserve. In order to obtain the information that the project needs you will be trained on working with telemetry machines that track the collared lions, recognising the animals, working with GPS systems, recording the relevant data and inputting this data when you return back to camp. From this information detailed reports will be collated in order to make the necessary decisions. Your help will be invaluable in gathering this information and you will understand that you will be playing an important role in the research. Your tasks will be varied and you may be out on the game drives till late in the evening and during the heat of the midday you may be back at camp entering data collated so it is important that you are flexible!
You will be living in a simple farmhouse lodge on the reserve so you really will be in the middle of the bush – you will go to sleep to the sounds of the animals and more often than not you may just wake up to the sound of a lion roaring! We can`t think of anything better, can you?
What our project says;
• The financial support we get from the volunteers basically runs the programme, from staff wages, equipment, fuel etc. so without them we could not do anything. So they make more than just a difference they make the programme so all our achievements big and small are thanks to the volunteers
• Volunteers through their experiences on worthwhile programmes, can really grow to understand a country including its issues and raw realities. Through their experiences volunteers leave the country with a much more realistic and holistic understanding of a country and its people
Beverley Sandoy says ‘A lifetime and memorable experience.’
Inclusions
accommodation, food, airport pickup
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i-to-i
At i-to-i Volunteering we pride ourselves in a high level of service to ensure that all our gap year travellers get the most out of their travel. With Teaching, Community Development, Conservation, Sports placements in 21 countries, we can offer you the worthwhile gap year (or shorter gap stint) that you want.
