At the time of our call, Nambiti Private Game Reserve conservationist Leanne Deetlefs had one eye on the interview and another on the clock. A vet was due shortly to check on a cheetah. Multitasking is fairly standard for Leanne. A typical day might involve tracking African wild dogs at first light, checking a cheetah […]
When African Parks stepped in to acquire the world’s largest captive rhino breeding operation in 2023, the headlines focused on the scale of it: 2,000 southern white rhinos, the largest rhino rewilding initiative ever attempted. Behind the numbers sits an even more complicated reality. “What makes Rhino Rewild complex is not just the scale,” explains […]
We caught up over a call with Liwonde National Park’s Funding and Reporting Manager, Charles Maruwasa, as he dialled in from Malawi to talk us through a place that, by his own admission, is difficult to summarise. After nearly four years at Liwonde National Park, Charles has become used to explaining just how much happens […]
There’s a constant shift between science, strategy, and frontline response that defines the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT). For over 50 years, they’ve worked across southern and East Africa to protect species and ecosystems, but also to tackle the deeper, more complex drivers of biodiversity loss. Their approach is deliberately broad because it has to be. […]
On South Africa’s Wild Coast, where grasslands roll into rocky shorelines and rivers cut through deep gorges on their way to the sea, a new conservation story is taking shape. It starts with nine women. The Green Griffons, an all-women ranger team, patrol the coastline, wetlands, grasslands, and forests of the Mkambati Nature Reserve, one […]
We caught up with the Savé Valley Conservancy team on a video call, with their trainers speaking to us from an office on-site in the lowveld of southeastern Zimbabwe. “We’re responsible for recruiting and training rangers,” says Chief Training Instructor Charles. “But beyond training, we’re also involved in operations like anti-poaching, reaction and working with […]
Growing up at Cape Point gives you a different relationship with the outdoors. For Steve Mecinski, better known online as The Flying Dutchman, nature wasn’t a place he visited. It was home. He was born and raised inside what is now the Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park, where his father […]
Badingilo National Park sits within one of the largest land mammal migrations on earth, but on the ground, that movement is rarely visible. From where the team is based, most wildlife sightings come not from patrols, but from the air. “We’re on the southwestern edge of the migration,” says African Parks’ Law Enforcement Mentor for […]
Roberto Serrini has a simple rule when arriving somewhere unfamiliar. “Grab a beer and talk to a local,” he says. “The more perspective you get,” he says, “the easier it is to be happy on earth.” He doesn’t believe in elaborate itineraries, spreadsheets, or endless restaurant lists saved on your phone before boarding the flight. […]
Some conservation work happens in stillness. Think tracking footprints, watching waterholes, and lots of waiting. And some of it moves fast, with helicopters overhead, teams on the ground, and, at the centre of it all, a two-ton animal waking up inside a crate. At Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, both are part of the job. Within the […]
