Wildlife Conservation Internship in South Africa

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 GVI 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 GVI or selected partner organisations 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. GVI 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.

Program Details

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

GVI 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 durations of 4 weeks or more.

How this project makes a difference:

GVI 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 learned on the expedition, practise leadership scenarios and gain one of a kind experience in a professional work environment.

Limpopo's short, mid, and long-term objectives

What's Included

What's Not Included

Exploration

Volunteering with GVI 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 GVI. 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 (check out GVI’s Cape Town volunteer programs!), 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