The Bateleur - Peace Parks Foundation

The Bateleur
Private Bag X3015, Hoedspruit 1380, South Africa
Telephone: +27 (0)15 793 7300
Fax: +27 (0)15 7937314
e-mail: [email protected]
www.wildlifecollege.org.za
June 20 1 5, Issue 3
SAWC CEO ATTENDS TUSK TRUST’S 25th ANNIVERSARY DINNER HOSTED BY HRH THE
DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE
Pictured meeting with HRH the Duke of Cambridge, who showed a keen interest in the ranger training being conducted at the College, is Theresa Sowry together with
Charlie Mayhew (right, next to HRH) and Mr and Mrs McNutt from Coaching for Conservation, based in Maun.
As one of the Tusk Trust’s long-standing beneficiaries, the Southern African Wildlife College
was recently invited to London to be a part of
the Trust’s 25th Anniversary celebrations. This
included a very special dinner hosted by HRH,
Prince William the Duke of Cambridge at Windsor Castle on Thursday 21 May. Theresa Sowry,
the College’s CEO, was privileged to attend the
event held in the stunning State Room of the
Castle and St George’s Hall where she was also
amongst a handful of people to be formally
introduced to the Prince.
Since its formation in 1990, the Tusk Trust has
been responsible for initiating and funding conservation, community development and environmental education programmes across Africa
and has invested more than £25-million into a
wide range of projects in 18 African countries.
It has over the years supported the College’s
Wildlife Guardian Programme and in so doing,
the training of field rangers across both the basic
and advanced anti-poaching field ranger training
programmes. The Trust has also, with further
funding generated, supported the Wildlife Area
Management Certificate programme.
Prince William became the charity’s Royal Patron
in 2005 and has been a proactive supporter of
Tusk’s work ever since. In a typically passionate
speech to guests, Prince William said, “The plunder and destruction of Africa’s natural endowment remains one of the greatest challenges
facing the world – and it is growing worse by the
week”.
In a follow up to the keynote speech he gave
during his recent tour of China, he told the
audience, “With the illegal trade on the rise, our
response to it must rapidly evolve. The time
for words has long gone – we must see action,
and we must do so with urgency. There is no
doubt that strong political leadership and real,
sustained commitment from the international
community is the key.”
He added that he was “encouraged” by the
steps being taken in consumer countries such as
China and Vietnam, who have both pledged to
do more. But he pointed out that the West was
not immune to criticism, since the illegal wildlife
trade continued here, too.
Prince William used the opportunity to congratulate Tusk on its remarkable achievements,
saying how proud he was to have been its Royal
Patron for the last ten years.
Charlie Mayhew, CEO and co-founder of Tusk,
said,” Once again The Duke has shown his commitment and passion for our cause. The conservation world owes him a huge debt of gratitude
for the work that he is doing to highlight the
issue of illegal wildlife crime and in calling for
Governments around the world to act now.”
The evening was generously underwritten
with support from one of Tusk’s longstanding
corporate donors and was attended by a host of
the charity’s patrons, celebrity supporters and
key donors, including a number of guests from
the USA. Also present were representatives from
twenty-three African conservation projects supported by Tusk.
SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS HELD IN THE UK,
AMSTERDAM AND ZÜRICH
At the end of May SAWC CEO, Theresa Sowry and Head: Marketing and
Fundraising, Jeanné Poultney conducted a successful trip to Europe to
meet with some of the College’s international donors .
During their trip they met with the Tusk Trust, PPF’s new fundraiser in the
UK, Jamie McCullum, the Dioraphte Foundation and Addessium to discuss funding applications and the wildlife area management training currently being conducted as part of African Parks’ leadership development
programme. They also attended a fundraising event in Zürich organized
by Friends of African Wildlife. A slideshow and video kindly produced by
Ossie Köchli (www.ossirobertson.ch) who visited the College at the time
of graduation last year, gave guests an insight into the College and into the
current rhino poaching crisis. Theresa Sowry was able to talk directly to
the slides, which gave guests a better understanding of the type of needsbased training being conducted by the College.
Christoph and Bettina Weber, initiators and founder members of Friends
of African Wildlife, together with members of the executive board, Bernhard Blum, Carmen Schiltknecht and Ossie Köchli hosted the event, which
was held at Restaurant Zürichberg, overlooking Lake Zürich. Attended by
members of Zurich’s business community and various other guests, the
successful event - which was beautifully put together by Bettina Weber was held to encourage people to “Be a Part of It” by sponsoring the work
being done by the College.
Before leaving Zürich, Theresa and Jeanné also met with some of the College’s volunteers who were keen to find out how the College and students
they had sponsored were doing.
Pictured at the fundraising event held at Restaurant Zürichberg by Friends of African Wildlife are from left: Theresa Sowry, Bettina Weber and Jeanné Poultney
SOUTHERN AFRICAN WILDLIFE COLLEGE TRUST: SUCCESS STORIES FROM ALUMNI
We felt enormously encouraged to see this recent
feedback from some our graduates sponsored by
the Southern African Wildlife College Trust (SAWCT). To the valued donors and supporters of the
Trust, we hope that you enjoy reading these letters, knowing that your support has made these
scholarships possible!
Dzoro Kwashirai, Zimbabwe, 2007
After completing studies at SAWC at the end of
2007, I returned home to Zimbabwe and went
back to my work in Matobo National Park. I must
admit that a lot of things looked like they needed some improvements or a face-lift. I was full
of ideas. I was given an opportunity to show off
my skills on a campsite around a dam, a facility
that looked like it wasn’t in use. I worked on it
together with others and in less than a week, it
was turned into place where I knew that visitors
would now spend time resting.
In early 2008, I was promoted to a supervisory
role, the one I am in today. It entails planning and
executing anti-poaching and law enforcement
activities of the park, planning and grading roads
and fireguards, planning and executing early and
late burning programs, as well as game water
supply. I have executed these tasks to the best of
my effort and to the satisfaction of my superiors.
I can only say thanks to the SAWC for equipping
me with relevant and key skills. Poaching has
been reduced to insignificant levels, areas lost to
wild fires has not gone beyond 11% of the total
area annually, and natural deaths related to lack
of surface water is negligible.
ditional knowledge, whereas other components
require modern, advanced and scientific research
based application in order to better understand
the dynamics involved in conserving biological
diversity.
Having studied at the SAWC for two years (2011
and 2012), I acquired the necessary skills needed
to manage a National Park with its different components, (human resources, game, finances, and
different land-use practices). Upon completion
of my higher certificate in 2011, I was awarded
a scholarship from Southern African Wildlife
College Trust (SAWCT) to continue with the Advanced Certificate in Nature Conservation. The
Advanced Certificate primarily focuses on transfrontier conservation where national parks and
other land uses overlap. Namibia is well known
for its success in the Community Based Natural
Resource Management sector (CBNRM), where
national parks are not managed as islands, but
are holistically managed with communal forestry
and conservancies.
Through the skills I acquired from the SAWC, I
am able to innovatively manage an integrated
management plan where different land-use activities are being practiced on the same piece of
land (wildlife management, settlement and agriculture). National parks and communal conservancies are linked through biological wildlife corridors and these are also holistically managed.
All the scientific knowledge I acquired in my final
year at SAWC was made possible through the financial support provided by SAWCT.
I am currently a Nature Conservation student
at the University of Science and Technology
in Windhoek, Namibia. I can enthusiastically
plough back the skills I got and ensure that wildlife does co-exist with other land uses. I strongly
urge financial organizations to consider supporting ambitious and enthusiastic students who
have a passion for nature and want to sustainably manage Africa’s biological diversity for the
future generation.
I have a very healthy and happy family, with three
kids all going to school. Thanks to SAWCT I have
been given a life line!
Willem Ponahazo, Namibia, 2012
Wildlife management is a very broad discipline
that requires one to be interdisciplinary in one’s
approach due to diverse ecological components Pictured above are the 2012 recipients of the SAWCT scholarships who completed the Advanced Certificate for
that needs managed attention. A number of Protected Area Managers They are from left: James Mulomba, Zambian Wildlife Authority, Kefilwe Maimane,
these components can be managed through tra- North West Parks and Tourism Board and Willem Ponahazo, Wuparo Conservancy, Namibia.
Simba Sandram, Zimbabwe, 2013
Soon after graduating from SAWC in 2013 I was
promoted to a more senior post namely Area
Manager Chewore/Dande, bordering the world
famous Mana Pools National Park. This is a world
heritage site which straddles two TFCAs that is
the Lower Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation
Area and Zimbabwe Mozambique Transfrontier
Conservation Area.
I have no doubt my qualifications from the SAWC
with their emphasis on Transfrontier Conservation Management gave me an edge over other
aspirants. I am the CITES MIKE site officer for
Chewore which is one of the 10 MIKE sites in the
southern African sub region and one of the only
two MIKE sites in Zimbabwe. The SAWCT scholarship enabled me to fully study Transfrontier
management during my second year at the College and without this kind of support I would not
have found the opportunity to further my studies
because of financial constraints.
Since I graduated have been contributing to conservation issues and helping fellow conservationists in their research and also contributing to
improving the local Chewore/Dande Area. I have
recently been giving presentations on law enforcement in the Zambezi Valley representing my
organisation on different platforms.
I still think of one of our lecturers driving us close
to a lone elephant bull. My adrenalin pumping as
it made several mock charges! His reassurance,
“Easy, it’s just a mind game, he will soon walk
away.” I chuckle alone when I replay the faces of
my classmates on that day and see how far we
have now come!
Alice, Taridzai Chatikobo, 2014, Zimbabwe
I am working for Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife
Management Authority, as a game ranger in
Manicaland Province in the eastern highlands of
Zimbabwe. I am doing duties of problem animal
control, problem bird control and some administration duties.
It is a pleasure to share how l appreciate the studies completed at the SAWC. These studies have
given me an opportunity to know more about
conservation, and practice better managerial and
leadership skills in conservation. I was one of the
SAWCT scholarship holders, which supported
Pictured amongst the 2013 graduation award winners who are from left: Khumoetsile Phala - North West Parks
and Tourism Board (summa cum laude), Mable Shibata - Zambian Wildlife Authority (summa cum laude), Caroline Katsande - Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management (summa cum laude) and Thomas Bwalya - Zambia
Wildlife Authority is Simba Sandram from Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management (summa cum laude)
together with Manei Bernard Penane - Ministry of Tourism Lesotho.
me in furthering my studies. Thanks to Theresa (Sowry) who inspired me with her words
when she first addressed us and asked the 2012
SAWCT bursary recipients to stand up. She then
congratulated them and l quote the words she
said to us as the new students, “Your destiny
is in your hands.” l was so moved by her words
and l believed her and worked hard till l got the
SAWCT scholarship. Thank you Theresa.
I remember when we went to a snake park on
one of our College trips. We were doing animal studies with Malcolm, and we were asked
to have photos wrapping a python around our
necks. l was so scared. I waited for others to go
first trying to gather courage and then l went for
my turn and you know what, l took more than
WWF INTERNATIONAL’S GARY MILLER PROVIDES VALUABLE
INSIGHT INTO CONSERVATION PROJECT AND PROGRAMME
MANAGEMENT
Gary Miller from WWF International recently took time
out from his busy schedule
to spend some time at the
College.
During his visit, and after
spending time with various
staff, he provided some valuable input to the College’s
executive management and
staff whilst sharing his experience in Conservation Project and Programme Management Training including
that of financial management.
This input allowed staff to
get an insight into the practices and standards used to
analyse projects, describe
long-term vision and key
assumptions whilst also
developing the necessary
activities to help projects
practice adaptive management in order to make them
more efficient and effective.
Programme delivery and impact were also discussed in
relation to monitoring and
evaluation systems together
with the College’s needs and
financial reporting systems
and requirements.
Fortunately it wasn’t “all
work and no play” and Gary
also has the opportunity
of spending time out in the
bush with the Protected
Area Integrity division during
“tactical operations”
and with the Sustainable
Use and Field Guiding department whilst out on their
walks. Bruce McDonald, the
College’s Protected Area Integrity Pilot, also took Gary
on a rhino patrol of the
Kempiana property in the
Bathawk, which not only allowed Gary to get a view of
the College and its natural
surrounds from the air but
also gave him some valuable insight into the current
rhino poaching crisis and the
work the College is doing in
terms of anti poaching training, ground to air patrols and
providing support in terms
of rhino monitoring and data
capture.
Before take off, Bruce McDonald
(right) gives Gary Miller the run
down on the Bathawk and the
work being done to help curb
the current rhino poaching crisis.
one photo with a snake and the fear was gone.
Now at my station l can be counted on, when
it comes to snake handling (Pythons) as part of
problem animal control. All thanks to Malcolm
for the experience and exposure!
Recently l went for interviews for promotions
which l am hoping to get the post for, being well
equipped with all the necessary skills l got from
the SAWC. I really appreciate the job well done
by the SAWC staff in grooming better conservationists for Africa. I am proud to be one of them.
May you keep on doing the good work in support of our environment.
Thank you SAWC and SAWCT for making me
who l am today.
Mpumalanga- Youth Environmental
Services Training / Skills Programme
The Youth Environmental Services project has completed the selection, recruitment and training of the final 104 candidates for this
three-year programme, funded by the Department of Environmental
Affairs. This programme was initiated in 2013 with the aim of recruiting 300 youth between the ages of 18 and 35 to participate in community services, training and personal development as well as ensuring placement into employment (including self-employment) and
further training opportunities.
Fifty one Waste Management and Recycling learners and 53 Environmental Awareness learners were chosen this year from Thaba Chweu
and Bushbuckridge district municipalities to participate in this training programme. Since completion of their on-site training between
February and March 2015, the Waste Management beneficiaries
have since been placed at 12 regional municipal offices in Bushbuckridge, and six regional municipalities in Thaba Chweu. Here they assist the host institutions with core functions such as collection, transportation and disposal of waste in landfill sites.
In addition to their current activities, which contribute to a reduction in the volume of waste reaching landfill sites and registration
of functional cooperatives, the aim is for the current beneficiaries to
become agents of change. This includes mobilising their local communities to view ‘waste’ differently and start separating waste at
source. Greater community involvement remains a challenge to the
project. As a change from 2014, we have placed and/or connected
the Environmental Awareness groups with schools in their municipal
regions where they assist the schools with creating trench gardens,
sorting community and school libraries, doing environmental presentations to raise awareness regarding environmental matters, assisting orphaned children at home-based care centres and starting small
recycling initiatives within those schools. Learners from both skills
programmes continue to be involved with calendar day events and
celebrations where they assist the municipalities and Bushbuckridge
based Department of Agriculture and Rural Land Affairs.
The Waste Management groups are currently organising themselves
to register cooperatives through the National Youth Development
Agency. The refurbishment of the Acornhoek buyback centre has
added extra motivation as they now have a local ‘market’ for their
recyclables. The process of connecting with the Acornhoek buyback
centre has largely been made possible though the relationship and
support of Hand in Hand South Africa.
Youth Access: Bridging programme
Twenty five youth hailing from five provinces across South Africa,
Zambia and as far as Qatar have started their training on the 2015
Youth Access: Conservation and Environmental Education bridging
programme. The learners have started with the field ranger training under the watchful eye of African field Ranger Training Services
Trainer, Mr Robbie Greene.
The learners have already had to face some of their fears, having
done a reptile orientation course, which taught them that the ‘cold
blooded are more cautious of us than we are of them!’ The learners
have also learnt what to do in the event of an emergency during their
first aid training. Following their seven-week unarmed field ranger
training, they will start with the environmental education training
followed by environmental leadership. Finally they will complete a
week’s bush-phase where they will put into practice what they have
learnt. This is prior to their two-month experiential work placement
in Limpopo state-owned nature reserves.
This promises to be an exciting six-month programme, which will also
see these learners conducting weekly environmental activities at the
local eco-schools which are supported by the College. The learners
will also be carrying out weekly tasks in the College’s cafeteria! This
training will allow many of these students, who previously had little
access to development opportunities, to pursue a career in the conservation sector or go on to further their studies having gained the
necessary credits.
The programme is currently in its fifth year of implementation having been initiated in 2010 through the funding and support of the
Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust. (Managed by Nedbank Private
Wealth). The programme has since attracted support from Swissbased Friends of African Wildlife, Rand Merchant Bank South Africa,
Timbavati Nature Reserve and Warthog Wallow Trust of Lion Sands.
This programme attracts youth from far and wide who want to gain
an entrance into the growing environmental sector. We look forward
to spending time with this group of young learners and seeing them
develop over the next six months.
Sboniso Ryan Phakathi, Community Liaison Coordinator: Community, Youth
Development and Access
Academic Compliance and Quality Management AND Wildlife AREA
Management Department - WORKPLACE VISIT TO MALAWI AND ZAMBIA
Last year in June, we were lucky enough to visit many of our
Zimbabwean students (and alumni) in their workplaces across
that beautiful country. And what a huge benefit it was to see
the environments in which they work and therefore to better
understand the challenges and opportunities they have there.
As a result of that trip, Malcolm Douglas who now manages the
Wildlife Area Management Qualification Programmes, adopted
a different, and more insightful approach to lecturing the students back at the College. What a dream it would be to allow
all our lecturers to interact with the students in the same way!
Knowing this is impossible, we can only try and encourage all
the SAWC lecturers to adopt as practical an approach to training
as possible. We are not training researchers, scientists and other
academically oriented people through our courses. Rather, our
mandate is to provide students with as many tools, techniques
and principles as is feasible in a year of study to assist them to
better manage a park, its resources and its personnel. Judging
by the feedback, we think we have done very well in equipping
our students with the necessary skills to do so.
This year we are visiting the SAWC Wildlife Area Management
students in Malawi and Zambia for the same purpose. We are
actually writing this article at Cape Maclear on the southern
end of Lake Malawi and most of our trip still lies ahead of us.
During the trip we will visit over 60% of our current students,
more than 30 SAWC alumni, Park Managers across the region
as well as senior academic staff from the Lilongwe University of
Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR).
We will be visiting Malawian National Parks at Lengwe, Majete,
Liwonde, Lake Malawi, Vwaza, Nkhotakota, Kasungu and Nyika.
In Zambia we have students at South Luangwa, Bangweulu,
Lower Zambezi, Lusaka, Lochinvar and Blue Lagoon National
Parks where we will take time to assess the many aspects we
are looking at during our interviews.
There are many purposes to our meetings and travels. One of
Malcolm’s main priorities is to assist current students with problems they may be encountering in compiling their workplace
integrated learning assessments. From the issues discussed,
he is able to compile a list of aspects that need addressing in
future versions of the assignment. At the same time, students
give us feedback on the problems they encounter when trying
to implement what we have taught them in classes. If what we
teach them is at odds with what they are actually able to do in
their workplaces, then our learning materials possibly need review or adaptation for specific countries. As such, we flag those
aspects for investigation back at the SAWC. For me (Annelize
Steyn: Head - Academic Compliance and Quality Management)
this is an important component of ensuring the quality and relevance of our College offerings.
Furthermore, we also use this opportunity to update our learner database with new contact details and work locations and reestablish contact with our alumni. We are trying to encourage
past students to make contact with one another across Africa
to widen their scope and understanding of the different ways
in which conservation areas may be managed. We also encourage them to make contact with the College with requests for information, updated techniques and for upcoming short course
dates.
What we have seen so far has been very enlightening and contrasts in many ways with what we encountered in Zimbabwe
last year. We don’t want to give away too much at this stage, but
will write up an article on the findings and results of the trip in
the next edition of Bateleur.
Malcolm Douglas, Manager: Wildlife Area Management Qualifications and
Annelize Steyn, Head: Academic Compliance and Quality Management
UNIVERSITY GROUP VISITS
The month of May has been very busy with
University groups visiting the College from
abroad. Kicking off with the arrival of Grand
Valley State University from Allendale, Michigan, the College welcomed 17 visitors on
29 April. This group’s programme focussed
mainly on Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) and they had
the privilege of visiting the very well known
Makuleke Community for three days before
doing oral history with the community elders
and returning to the College for lectures inbetween off-site trips. The group departed
again on 13 May to the Kruger National Park
visiting Scientific Services and the Skukuza
Bomas to learn a bit about how the veterinary
and game capture side of conservation works.
They then went to Mozambique where they
camped very primitively in Sabie Game Park
for three days in the Hilltop Camp with no
electricity and very basic ablutions and water
facilities. This is what one would call a local
unforgettable experience for anyone visiting
an African country. During their time in Sabie
Game Park they also visited the local communities and met with the village elders and
various community members to build on the
knowledge they already gained at Makuleke.
The University of Jacksonville from Florida
and Marshall University from Huntington,
West Virginia joined forces this year in their
curriculum with 18 group members. They
arrived shortly after Grand Valley left just
missing each other by one day. This was interesting as Professor John Enz, leader of
the Jacksonville group and Professor Paul
Keenlance, leader of the Grand Valley group
know each other well and visited the College
together a couple of years back.
Jacksonville and Marshall University visited
many places together in our area and had a
very wide range of topics in their itinerary.
It included talks on reserve management in
both private and government protected areas with specialist from both these sectors.
It also included talks and practical activities
with Dr. Kevin Robertson (Business Unit Manager: Sustainable Use and Field Guiding) on
Disease Management where the group was
allowed to dissect an impala carcass to inspect the health of the specific animal and
then afterwards going out to hang it in a tree
in order to possibly attract a leopard for further viewing and discussion.
Two days later the leopard seized the carcass
in the tree and was seen a couple of times by
those involved with the activity. The camera
trap that Kevin had put up caught a lovely picture of the big male leopard that has his territory around the College. Identifiable by his
spots and the notch in his ear.
Jacksonville and Marshall University also visited the SAME projects (South African Medical Expeditions) in the nearby communities
that offer orphan and vulnerable child support that includes pediatric medical clinics
and a pediatric HIV rollout programme under
the loving leadership of Shirley-Anne Beretta
and her faithful team. The group had first
hand contact with the kids at three different
schools giving them a feel of what it is like to
live in an African village that faces real life
challenges.
Another University that briefly visited us for
two days for a second time with nine group
members was the University of Southern
Utah. The group’s focus is mainly wildlife photography and they travel from Johannesburg
to Swaziland then Kruger National Park and
pass by us. This group loves to mingle with
our College students and interview them informally in the dining hall.
A group from Sierra Nevada College, located
close to Lake Tahoe visited the College until 9
June and Texas A&M University checked in on
7 June for seven days. We will tell you more
about their activities in the next issue of the
Bateleur so stay tuned!
Marilize van der Walt, Senior Advisor / Coordinator: Wildlife Area Management
COMMUNITY SCOUTS TRAINING
The scouts during their passing out parade
CBNRM activities undertaken in Mangalana between 17 and 29 May
2015:
The CBNRM facilitation team commenced the training of 25 male and
female community scouts on basic discipline, patrolling, and communication skills. The purpose of these scouts is to establish teams in the
villages surrounding the Mangalana area that will help combat social
and wildlife crimes such as theft of domestic animals, theft of household furniture, and most importantly poaching.
These teams, with the help of village committees, will report to their
respective community members monthly on their challenges and
achievements, and seek assistance if necessary.
With the blessing of the Mangalana Chief and headmen, the training
took place and the scouts graduated on 29 May 2015.
The graduation ceremony was attended by Sabie Game Park management, community members, and the Chief of Mangalana.
We are positive that these scouts will spearhead the combating of
rhino poaching and create awareness in the Sabie Game Park, neighbouring Kruger National Park, and surrounding areas.
Bianca Theron, Projects Administrator / PA: Innovation, Development and
Environmental Best Practice
(Left) One of the trainees receiving his certificate as presented by Chief Zitha. (Right) The trainees with their certificates
PEACE PARKS FOUNDATION SPONSORS TRAINING OF PATROL
LEADERS
The training of Patrol Leaders for the Kruger National Park as sponsored by Peace Parks Foundation is currently taking place at the Southern
African Wildlife College. What sets this particular course apart is the fact that it has been developed and expanded to include several new
training interventions not covered in the past.
Buy in from the Kruger National Park, and the
operational requirement, has allowed College
staff, Riaan Booysen and Ruben de Kock, to do
a lot more hands-on training and development
of the current Patrol Leaders deployed in the
Kruger National Park.
raised the capabilities of the Field Rangers being
trained. Having the correct equipment makes
a vast difference from having to improvise an
aircraft to simulate training. The inclusion of
night vision equipment has also improved the
operational level of the participants in that regard. The level of confidence has risen for night
operations and the Patrol Leaders displayed a
lot of skill in the application of the equipment
supplied. The inclusion of Kruger National Park
specialists has also added value to the process
as they were able to relate the current operations directly to the training conditions.
The inclusion of Ground to Air training, using
actual helicopters and fixed wing aircraft, has
The Kruger National Park has further benefitted from Peace Parks Foundation funding and
Patrol leaders course
was able to conduct musketry training for more
than 200 Field Rangers so far this year. Trainers from the Southern African Wildlife College
travelled from section to section and conducted
the musketry training per Field Ranger group
stationed there. This programme proved to
be very valuable for Field Rangers and Section
Rangers alike. Once again the adaptability and
experience of the College’s African Field Ranger
Training Services’ trainers allowed for the best
possible training of Field Rangers on the front
line of poaching to take place.
Ruben de Kock, Business Unit Manager: Protected
Area Integrity
Top and bottom: Firearm training
COLLEGE TRAINS FEMALE TRAIL GUIDES FOR KRUGER
The Southern African Wildlife College’s Sustainable Use and Guiding department was approached by the Kruger National Park (KNP) to
train ten female trails guides from local communities. They have been trying to employ guides
from this sector for some time but were unable to
find suitably qualified women from local communities. Funding was secured through the National
Treasury’s Jobs Fund as part of a bigger project
to unlock community benefits through conservation via capacity building and job creation which
will in turn help address poaching and area integrity in wildlife areas. In turn a decision was
made to put ten female candidates through the
College’s Dangerous Game Site Guide NQF level 2
and 4 programmes. The training consists of three
parts. The first step is the Dangerous Game Site
Guide NQF level 2 course which is a three-month
programme at the College comprising both theoretical and practical components. On completion
these women will be going to the Kruger National
Park for six months on the job training. They will
be placed under the mentorship of various Head
Guides at selected camps. The last step in the
process is back at the College for another three
months completing the Dangerous Game Site
Guide NQF level 4 course after which they will be
fully qualified trails guides that will be competent
to take tourists out on foot in the wilderness of
Africa.
As part of the application process, advertisements were placed throughout all target communities and we received 158 applications that had
to be narrowed down to 10. We set up a scoring
system based on existing qualifications, relevant
experience and a motivation that each applicant
was required to write. From the 158 applications
we selected 58 candidates for the first part of the
physical selection that took place at the College.
A trails guide need to possess a number of qualities. He or she needs to be physically fit, have an
inherent interest or better yet a passion for the
natural environment and needs to enjoy interact-
ing with people. The physical selection was set up
to test all of these qualities. During the first stage
we tested the women’s fitness. Of the 58 candidates selected, 50 arrived at the College early on
the scheduled day to take part in a 2,4 km run
along the main tar road at the main gate. The first
35 women to cross the finishing line were invited
to the campus where they were required to write
a general knowledge test and another motivation including reasons for their selection. After
the test they were individually interviewed by a
panel comprising the Head of Department, two
trainers and two representatives from KNP; the
Activities Coordinators for the North and South
regions for the park. This process tested not only
the candidate’s general knowledge but also their
people skills.
After deliberation we selected 16 women who
were invited back to the College the following
week for a two night “trail”. The idea was to
simulate a back pack trail scenario where the two
trainers from the College and the two representatives from KNP took the candidates out into
the training area for a two night sleep out. Each
women was issued with a back pack, bivy, cooking and eating utensils and a water bottle. They
were required to carry all of this plus food and
personal items in the back pack to the selected
sleep out sight. Once there we set up camp and
conducted one-on-one interviews, asking questions related to the day’s activities. We tried to
gauge how the candidates would respond to
this kind of environment, how quickly they assimilate knowledge and how they present this
knowledge. After a nervous two nights out in the
bush it was once again time for deliberation on
the part of the selection panel. We selected ten
ladies and two candidates were selected as back
up should any one of the selected ten not accept
the offer. That is exactly what happened with one
of the selected women declining the offer. We
then called up number 11 who was all too happy
to accept.
The female trainees exercise with pipes to build muscle memory for firearm
training
Training started on Monday 25 May with the first
week spent on an “Introduction to Nature Guiding” to give them a little bit of background as to
the life of a nature guide. The tool of the trade
for any Dangerous Game Guide is his/her rifle.
For this reason we are putting a lot of emphasis on weapons handling throughout the course.
On the first day of training each women was issued with a metal pipe, the circumference and
weight being very similar to a rifle. The pipe is
green with one end painted red representing the
muzzle. The ladies are required to carry these “rifles” everywhere they go. Despite this only being
a “pipe”, the trainees have to treat their pipes as
real rifles. Any transgression in weapon safety or
handling is punitively dealt with as the safety of
the individual and group is paramount. The purpose of the pipe is to firstly build the necessary
upper body strength to carry a rifle the whole day
and still be able to handle it effectively. It also installs the fundamentals of weapons safety which
is vital.
In the second week we started with basic weapons handling. We gave the learners a few lectures on the different firearms and ballistics with
a strong emphasis on weapons safety. Every afternoon was spent on the shooting range with
air rifles teaching the fundamentals of acquiring
the correct sight picture, aiming, breathing and
squeezing the trigger. All this paid off when in
the third week they were sent to AIM Training
academy for firearm proficiency training. They all
passed on the first go and the trainer remarked
on how surprised he was with how well they
had done. They did better than most of the men
that were doing the training with them on the
same day. We will continue with firearm training
throughout the course as they need to pass the
KNP weapons assessment with a .458 caliber rifle
before they can start working.
Gawie Lindeque, Senior Field Guide / Trainer:
Sustainable Use and Field Guiding
Proficiency training with Aim Training Academy
Gawie’s Field News
As the days are getting shorter
and mornings crisper the bush is
preparing for the dry season again.
I say again because if you read my
previous article you would remember
that I said the bush was getting drier
as we hadn’t received a lot of rain.
Well no rain between January and
March to be exact. April fortunately
once again proved a little wet with a
couple of good showers that pushed
our annual rainfall to just about
three quarters the average rainfall
compared to the less than half we
received by end March. The bush has
made a remarkable recovery with the
rain received during April. The pans
got filled up, the grass turned green
again and we even noticed a couple
of flowers normally only seen during
Spring making an appearance. This
also heralded the influx of zebra and
wildebeest, with a marked increase in
zebra numbers compared to last year.
It has been a busy time out in the
field these last couple of weeks.
We had a number of visits from
universities from the USA which
always means a number of bushwalks
and game drives. General game
sightings in the area have been good
with giraffe, zebra, blue wildebeest,
impala and the smaller game species
like warthog being seen on almost all
the drives. Of special note were two
first-time sightings of two of the rare
antelope species. The first was the
sighting of a lone common reedbuck
female along the old Orpen road
in the north western corner of our
traversing area and the second was
of a beautiful sable bull seen near
the boom gate in the south eastern
corner of the traversing area. I have
worked at the College now for over
six years and this was the first time
that I have seen these two species at
the College, rather remarkable I must
say. I will be keeping my eyes open for
these two in the future and will keep
you updated. Another regular visitor
these days is a lone male ostrich that
we get to see rather often on the open
areas to the north east of the College.
I have worked in the Greater Kruger
National Park now for well over 15
years and have seen my fare share of
ostriches but can never stop thinking
how they somehow always look out
of place. Well to me anyway…
Elephants have also been a regular
sighting around the training area.
With the drying up of the waterholes,
Hippo Quarry (formally referred to as
the Borrow Pit by just about everyone
at the College) as the last large open
body of water can certainly account
for this. There seems to be two large
breeding herds of around 25 to 30
elephants and a number of bulls that
track past the College almost daily to
slake their thirst in the cool waters
of Hippo Quarry. We had a very nice
encounter with one of these big
bulls one morning while out with the
PH students. We were completing
their advanced tracking practical
assessments when we spotted
two big bulls in the distance. As we
were done with the assessments
we decided to do an approach on
the biggest bull of the two. One of
the students acted as the PH and
managed to get his “client” into a
very good position to assess the bull
and got out without being noticed.
One of the other students then asked
if he could guide the group back to
camp and we promptly bumped into
the second bull at close quarters.
The student did well in getting the
group into the shade of some Gwarri
bushes to hide our silhouette. The
bull however did become suspicious
and came forward to investigate. I
took one pace forward into the sun
showing the bull who and what we
were and he fortunately backed down
and walked away.
We are still doing well with buffalo
sightings along the Timbavati river
and the occasional small breeding
herd that moves through the training
area from time to time. Leopard
sightings have been very good with a
number of sightings reported by staff
and guides on game drives. Although
we hear their nightly serenades and
do get to see their huge pug marks
just about everywhere we walk, we
do not get to see lion very often.
We did however see a very big old
male on the open area in front of the
campus a few weeks ago just after
sunset.
Well that is about all from my side so
from a dry and dusty Lowveld until
next time.
With Compliments
Southern African Wildlife College
Private Bag X3015, Hoedspruit, 1380, South Africa.
Tel: +27 (15) 793-7300
Fax: +27 (15) 793-7314
e-mail: [email protected]
www.wildlifecollege.org.za
Directors: Dr. I.B. Mkhize (Chairman), Mr. P.K. Bewsher, Mr. I. Goodwin, Countess. S. Labia, Mrs. L.M. Lynch,
Mr. O.E. Mokganedi, Mr. W. Myburgh, Dr. G. Raven, Prof. B.K. Reilly, Dr. B. Soto (Mozambique), Mrs. T. Sowry.