The Kariega Conservation Project is designed to offer volunteers the opportunity to be involved in all conservation related projects on the reserve. You may start seeing yourself as “assistant conservation managers” as all of the work done by you will improve the quality of the reserve. The data collected by you will be utilized by Kariega management in making important conservation decisions for the reserve. As a volunteer you therefore derive a good deal of satisfaction from your work, as your efforts directly contributes to improving the reserve.
“Best holiday of my life and at 42 I can say that! Glad my son and I were able to do this, made all my hard work back home worthwhile!”
- - Julie & James Bentley, August 4th – August 31st 2009
Interested in doing conservation work on a Big 5 Game Reserve?
Come and join Kariega Game Reserve as a conservation volunteer. Make a real difference, grow your skills in conservation and have the experience of a lifetime!
Kariega is an extraordinary and exciting conservation project, at the forefront of numerous species reintroductions and conservation drives. If you want more than just a safari … come and get your hands dirty and learn more about conservation management on a Big 5 game reserve.
Kariega’s Wildlife Management Volunteer Programme is the ultimate Big 5 experience, where volunteers from across the world, get the opportunity to get hands-on involved in conservation management on the reserve. During your stay with us, you may see yourselves as “Assistant Conservation Managers”, as all the work done and data collected by you will be utilized by Kariega for conservation on the reserve. A dedicated coordinator will endeavour to ensure that you have a wonderful learning experience and leave with a stronger understanding of conservation issues feeling like you made an important contribution.
Our volunteers also get the opportunity to explore South Africa’s amazing coastline as Kariega is a mere 16 km from the sea… the beautiful Indian Ocean is literally on your doorstep! This coastline has particularly rich marine fauna and flora as well as endless sand dunes and beautiful beaches. To top it all off, we have a brilliant community outreach programme. Our volunteers assist at a local rural farm school by teaching children basic subjects like English. Come and make a real difference and have fun doing so!
Please note that our activities are based on a minimum stay of 4 weeks. Although many of the activities listed below may take place in 2-3 week placements, not all are guaranteed. So the longer your stay, the more in depth your experience. Volunteers will be provided with stimulating practical experience in the following four areas: research, conservation management, education and community development.
Research Projects
Leopards in the Lower Albany Area: population status and the role of Kariega Game Reserve as a key habitat refuge
One of our main research focus areas on Kariega Game Reserve is our new and exciting leopard (Panthera pardus) project. The project is being undertaken in collaboration with the Centre for African Conservation Ecology of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
Leopards have been persecuted in the Eastern Cape for the last three hundred years, resulting in a decline in numbers and fragmentation of populations, placing the local population at risk of extinction. Virtually the entire landscape was hostile to them, and few leopards survived in only the most isolated areas. Recently attitudes towards large predators have shifted, and leopards are now legally protected. There has also been a recent shift in land use, with an increasing number of private nature reserves that complement the state-owned reserves in supporting conservation of biodiversity. Kariega Game Reserve is one of the oldest of these private nature reserves. These shifts suggest that the landscape is now more leopard-friendly, with decreased persecution and increased refuge areas. This project therefore aims to assess the status of leopards in the Lower Albany area and investigate the role of the Kariega Game Reserve as a refugee habitat for leopards, which may move across the Lower Albany area.
Specific questions to be addressed with this project include:
- How many leopards occur on Kariega Game Reserve and in the Lower Albany area?
o This will be addressed by collecting data on sightings, camera trap records and possibly genetic analysis.
- Is leopard activity in the Lower Albany area focused on conservation areas such as Kariega Game Reserve?
o This will be addressed by analysing the spatial distribution of leopard sighting records, and if resources are available, through the tracking of collared leopards
- Is there evidence for an increase in leopard numbers and wider distribution within the Lower Albany Area?
o This will be addressed by relating the above-mentioned information to historical records of leopards in the study area.
Elephant Impact Monitoring - Volunteers will help monitor elephant movement patterns, range utilization and vegetation impact with the aid of telemetry (certain individuals are fitted with radio collars). A part of this research project that volunteers are very involved with, is recording the unique ear markings of each elephant for management purposes. Elephant identification sheets are given to each volunteer, who in turn will assist the conservation department in this regard.
Lion prey selection monitoring – One of the volunteer programme’s responsibilities is to record as many lion kills as possible. This data provides the conservation department at Kariega with valuable information regarding prey selection. Certain lions on the reserve are fitted with radio collars, so volunteers will learn how to use telemetry tracking.
Birds in Reserve Project (BIRP) - This project involves preparing a catalogue of the birds, bird numbers and their breeding status in the reserve as part of a project headed by the University of Cape Town’s Avian Demography Unit.
Hyena tracking and monitoring - Movement patterns and breeding rates of these interesting predators are monitored. None of the hyenas are fitted with radio collars, so it can be quite a challenge finding them on the reserve. Our recent volunteers found a den site … one of our females gave birth!
Conservation Management
Conservation management activities form a large part of the volunteer programme. Some of these activities involve physical work and therefore a certain level of determination from the volunteer’s side is required. Keep in mind that the “reserve needs” are always taken into account and you will help to fulfil those needs as a volunteer. Daily activities are interesting and varied, and could include assistance with some of the following:
- Game Counts
- Sex and age ratios recordings of specific species like eland and giraffe
- Alien Vegetation Control – Volunteers will assist in the eradication and control of alien (non-endemic) plant species. Bush encroachment control through selective clearing is also done in certain areas on the reserve. This aspect involves physical hard work!
- Soil Erosion Control – Previous land utilization practices like cattle ranching has caused erosion gulleys in certain areas on the reserve. These sites need to be rehabilitated.
- Reserve Clean-Up Operations – Volunteers assist in pulling out remaining old cattle fences and water pipes on the reserve.
- Road maintenance and repairing of river crossings
- Parasite control – This involves the making-up and administering of anti-parasite meds to specific species (when required by the reserve)
- And any other conservation management activity that might “pop-up” at the time and the reserve requires your assistance in
Education / Theory
Each volunteer will be given a field booklet, which can be taken home at the end of the placement. Before you start with each practical task, the relative theoretical background on the subject will be discussed in the form of informal lectures. The theory provides insight into the value of the practical activities in which you may participate. Mammal, plant and bird checklists are included in the booklet and will help you to identify different species at Kariega.
Practical education will be provided throughout your stay:
- Bush Walks, Game Drives and night drives – identification and discussion of various mammals, plants and birds
- Sleep Outs – Camping out in the bush around a campfire under the African sky (weather dependent)
- Field Skills & Survival – Learn to look after yourself in the wild
Community development
We have identified an under-funded farm school near the reserve where our volunteer programme can make a real difference. The school is small, yet very under-staffed and local kids aged 4 to 15 years attend the school. Kariega volunteers visit the school one day a week (not during school holidays or rainy days (most of the children walk about 10 km to attend school so if it rains, no one goes to school!), and make valuable contributions to the children’s education. Our volunteers take many of the classes themselves and teach 6-12 year olds subjects like English, Maths and Science. You might also help with the maintenance of the school’s facilities or by giving sport lessons to the kids. A recent group of volunteers renovated a classroom (with a completely collapsed ceiling and floorboards!) for the pre-primary school kids. Your contribution here is real, and both the children and the headmistress are very appreciative. Guaranteed to leave you with a feeling of satisfaction!
The Eastern Cape is a malaria free area home to many “Big 5″ private game reserves in South Africa
The Eastern Cape, lying on the southeastern South African coast, is a region of great natural beauty, particularly the rugged cliffs, rough seas and dense green bush of the stretch known as the Wild Coast.
The province’s diverse climates and landscapes range from the dry and desolate Great Karoo to the lush forests of the Wild Coast and the Keiskamma Valley, the fertile Langkloof, renowned for its rich apple harvests, and the mountainous southern Drakensberg region around the town of Elliot.
Volunteers are accommodated in a renovated, fully furnished house on the reserve. You will be sharing bedrooms and there are communal bathrooms. There is a lecture room, a lounge with a T.V, dining room and a fully equip kitchen with a fridge, stove, microwave, cutlery, crockery and cooking utensils. If a safe for cash and valuables are required, volunteers can use the communal safe at Kariega’s reception. Please bear in mind that the house is in the middle of a “Big 5″ game reserve, so therefore one cannot walk outside the boundaries of the garden fence.
All the laundry is done by the volunteer programme’s domestic helper, Nomelia. She also assists in cleaning the house. Please note that the laundry is fairly basic, and expensive clothes go into the wash at your own risk. All the ingredients for three basic meals a day are provided. Volunteers are divided into cooking teams and all meals are made by the volunteers themselves at the house. Volunteers are also responsible for washing up and keeping the kitchen clean and tidy.
Please inform the Worldwide Experience team if you are vegetarian. Meals that volunteers choose to eat at restaurants on town-trip days, are at own expense. If possible, once every two weeks the volunteers are invited to eat dinner at the luxury Kariega lodge, giving them the chance to socialise with other staff and rangers.
Volunteers may also have the opportunity to experience the following additional conservation activities:
Capturing of Wild Animals – Our recent volunteers had the AMAZING once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to assist with the capture of the following species on the reserve: elephant, lion, rhino, hyena, giraffe, wildebeest, zebra and impala!! Please remember that captures only occur when required by the reserve and not for the sake of the volunteers.
Game Introduction - There is an ongoing programme for the introduction of additional game, especially as the reserve has just acquired more land that will need to be stocked with various different African mammal species.
Fire Management - An important driving force in savanna ecosystems (depending on the time of year and fire regimes)
A dedicated coordinator will endeavour to ensure that you have a wonderful learning experience and leave with a stronger understanding of conservation issues feeling like you made an important contribution. Please note that our activities are based on a minimum stay of 4 weeks. Although many of the activities listed below may take place in 2-3 week placements, not all are guaranteed. So the longer your stay, the more in depth your experience.
Weekends and evenings are spent at leisure.
Kenton-On-Sea is a beautiful small coastal town only 15 minutes drive from the reserve. The beaches are absolutely breath taking and pristine. Your local “hang-out” is a pub / restaurant overlooking this stunning beach! After their Saturday morning shopping in Kenton (volunteers can stock up on all everyday essentials), volunteers often laze around on the beach, swim in the waves or sit in the beach bar while sipping away on a cold drink and taking in the senery.
Grahamstown is a viby student town famous for Rhodes University and is 30 minutes drive from the reserve. Port Alfred is also a coastal town, a bit bigger than Kenton, and is also about 30 minutes drive from the reserve. Port Elizabeth is an hour and a half drive.
The working week at Kariega is from Monday to Friday. Working hours depend on the season and may vary from 7 – 9 hours per day. The evenings are at leisure. Saturdays are reserved for a town trip (either to Kenton-On-Sea, Port Alfred or Grahamstown) where volunteers can do their shopping, eat out, visit all the sites of the local towns. Sundays are off time.
There are also additional activities that can be organised for you on a Saturday (at your own cost and on condition that a few others in the group also want to partake in the activity), including:
- Horseback riding on the beach or in a game reserve
- Sky diving – tandem (that means you are strapped to an instructor!)
- Deep sea fishing
- Two day canoe trail on the Kowie river (this is a hit with many of our volunteer groups)
- Quad bike riding
- Addo Elephant National Park field trip
- And even a weekend trip away with bungee jumping!
2 WEEKS – £1,249
3 WEEKS – £1,749
4 WEEKS – £2,049
6 WEEKS – £2,549
8 WEEKS – £2,899
10 WEEKS – £3,399
12 WEEKS – £3,899
Comments or questions are welcome.
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