We are incredibly proud to share our Impact Report celebrating 12 years of conservation work, highlighting all the milestones achieved by Wildlife ACT and partners since 2008. Thank you for being a part of our journey. Your kind donations and participation on our projects, has helped to make all of this possible!

View the Report

Within Wildlife ACT, we have always been proud of the consistency of work that we have provided in terms of endangered species and community conservation. Our priority species monitoring model has allowed us to build a reliable and stable platform over time, entrenching the work we do into everyday operations and conservation decision making. This consistency was nearly shattered earlier this year with the spread of Covid-19.

Thankfully, our call for support to our very dedicated and unique group of supporters – even at a time when economies across the world were reeling – was met with a level of energy and dedication that we never fully expected. We believe fully in the conservation impact of our work, and are heavily reliant on our professional staff who get up daily (and early), so our drive for the short term was to secure our staff, and secondly, enable the work to continue.

All of our staff – across the board – took a salary cut to reduce pressure on the organization. Not one person complained. This reiterated the passion and dedication of this team. The challenge has been considering how long to plan for, and how long to hold our collective breath for, for Wildlife ACT to arrive safely on the other side.

Thankfully, due to the significant generosity from our supporters, we have met our short-term funding goals, retained all our staff, and kept our conservation footprint! Your own contribution through GivenGain has provided a solid platform for us to build onto over the next 6 months, also providing encouragement to all of us that our work is of value. Thank you.

PHASE 2:

Conservation takes a collective, and sometimes disasters are required to showcase this collective. We have seen it over the past five months, and hope to continue to build on it, ensuring that our environment, and the species that call it home, are a significant part of our future.

In Phase 2 – Staying Wildlife ACTive – our aim is to therefore generate further resources to ensure our work can be carried out effectively (fuel for monitoring sessions, tyres for vehicles, collars for Painted Dogs) and to get our staff back onto a salary that is back in-line with their commitment and input. It is for this reason that we continue to push for support and donations over the coming months with a new fundraising target set for the next 6 months. In addition, we do not know what 2021 will hold and we need to be planning for a slow and unstable recovery.

For those of you that have signed up to our Whatsapp Project Groups, you will know that we have not just been idling in survival mode for the past five months. The Teams have continued the crucial monitoring work across the protected areas in KZN, with a few highlights:

Tembe Update:

At Tembe, Michael and Nico continue to support the dedicated Ezemvelo team with Painted Dog, Lion and Elephant monitoring, also assisting Dani with the camera trap setup for the Leopard Survey. The Painted Dog monitoring remains crucial to mitigate against potential breakouts. Nico has recently moved up to the Southern Drakensberg to assist with the Bearded Vulture nest survey (starting this month) and other important vulture support.

uMkhuze Update:

On uMkhuze, Anel and Wihan continue to work hard, pushing sessions with morning and evening sessions to maintain intensive monitoring as the risk of snaring increases. Both monitors dug deep for extra energy and resources to carry them through a 3 month stint during lockdown.

HiP Update:

The team on HiP remain committed and flexible, ready to tackle any challenge thrown at them. Jarryd and Angelique, and more recently Jamie Lee Carle, have spent long hours on boma duty, ensuring Cheetah and Painted Dogs, ready for release, remained safe. Megan and Marumo have been juggling training courses and ongoing monitoring needs on Hluhluwe to ensure the conservation work is done and the message and skills are spread.

Ranger Mike (his pseudonym from his off the cuff lock down edition Bush School), continues to provide endless support to the entire HiP team, and has recently moved across to uMkhuze to provide some relief for Wihan and Anel.

Manyoni Update:

On Manyoni, Kayleigh and Cait have moved into the main office complex and are working hard with reserve management on their conservation priorities, the top of which has been to gain a visual of the Painted Dog pups, as well as locate a young female Cheetah ready for relocation to HiP.

Further Updates:

• The provincial Leopard Survey is ongoing. We have participated in vulture tagging operations, as well as released birds rehabilitated after poisoning incidents last year.
• Our community conservation team have been working in partnership with Project Rhino to distribute food parcels to those most in need.
• We continue to expand our Smart Fence project on Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park – now into phase 3 - in partnership with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.
• In addition to this ground work, we have been engaging in formal dialogue with the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment and the conservation sector to plan for a Build Back Better initiative, ensuring conservation and the health of the environment is incorporated into a post-Covid recovery.

All of this work takes time and resources, and we would like to thank you for the support that you have provided Wildlife ACT over this time.

Your partners in wildlife conservation,
Mark Gerrard and the Entire Wildlife ACT Team

A snapshot of what a monitoring session on the uMkhuze section of iSimangaliso Wetland Park entails. Every session is unique and often filled with special moments and sightings.

Our exclusive WhatsApp groups are providing our supporters with updates from our field monitors as they continue to go about their work. Access to these groups are being offered to those who donate USD $10 or more per month towards our #KeepWildlifeACTive campaign. $10 for 1 group, $20 for 2 groups, $30 for 3 groups etc. This is our way of saying thank you to our donors, and allowing our supporters to become virtual volunteers during lockdown.

We have 5 of our projects; uMkhuze Game Reserve, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (Hluhluwe and iMfolozi teams), Tembe Elephant Park and Manyoni Private Game Reserve. Once you have set up a recurring donation (and would like to be added to one or more of these special WhatsApp groups) email info@wildlifeact.com with your mobile number and project(s) of your choice.

Thanks again to everyone who is helping to Keep Wildlife ACTive during this difficult time! We depend on this support to conduct vitally important endangered and priority wildlife species conservation work, and anti-poaching initiatives. Due to the current global travel restrictions and local shutdown, a number of our conservation projects in Zululand are now under threat of closing.

However, with your continued support as virtual volunteers, we can keep these projects open and continue our vital work. We are HUGELY grateful for the kindness you have all have shown.

- The Wildlife ACT Team

A little snapshot of what a monitoring session on Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park with Jarryd Foster entails. Every session is unique and often filled with special moments and sightings.

We are offering access to these groups to those who donate USD $10 or more per month towards our #KeepWildlifeACTive campaign. $10 for 1 group, $20 for 2 groups, $30 for 3 groups etc. This is our way of saying thank you to our donors, and allowing our supporters to become virtual volunteers during lockdown.

There are WhatsApp groups on 5 of our projects; uMkhuze Game Reserve, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (Hluhluwe and iMfolozi teams), Tembe Elephant Park and Manyoni Private Game Reserve. Once you have set up a recurring donation (and would like to be added to one or more of these special WhatsApp groups) email info@wildlifeact.com with your mobile number and project(s) of your choice and we will gladly add you.

Thanks again to everyone who is helping to Keep Wildlife ACTive during this difficult time!

We depend on this support to conduct vitally important endangered and priority wildlife species conservation work and anti-poaching initiatives. Due to the current global travel restrictions and local shutdown, a number of our conservation projects in Zululand are now under threat of closing. However, with your continued support as virtual volunteers, we can keep these projects open and continue our vital work. We are hugely grateful for all the kindness people have shown.

To all our past and current donors - THANK YOU for the kindness you have shown towards our cause! You are ALL helping to keep our conservation projects running and our monitors in the field during this difficult time.

Our 6 Month Continuation Plan relies on a steady income stream, which we have lost due to no longer being able to accept volunteers during the Covid-19 crisis.

In return for the monthly recurring support you are giving us through GivenGain, we have created exclusive WhatsApp Project group(s) - either WhatsApp on uMkhuze, Tembe, Hluhluwe, iMfolozi or Manyoni.

For a minimum recurring donation of USD $10 (£8 or €9) per month, we would like to offer you, as a donor, access to one of these project groups of your choosing, where our monitors are providing a slice of African Bush Life as they go about their work, providing direct bush footage and insights into the everyday life of a Wildlife ACT monitor.

A recurring donation of $20 per month, will give you access to updates from two projects; a minimum of $30 for three projects, etc.

If you are already making a qualifying, monthly donation towards our Covid campaign, and are interested in being added to one or more of our project groups, please email info@wildlifeact.com with your WhatsApp mobile number and the group(s) you wish to join, and we will happily add you once your monthly donation reflects.

Or, please let us know if you create a new qualifying monthly donation, and wish to be added.

Once again, THANK YOU for all your support!
Together, we can get through this.

Warmest Regards,
The Wildlife ACT Team

We are pleased to report that through your kind donations, as well as many that have come to us directly, we are secured for the next month! Our monitors are all still out there, doing their critical conservation work. They have all very graciously accepted reduced salaries, to help us get though this initial period of downturn.

It really warms our hearts to know that there are so many of you out there, who are supporting our teams and our work. THANK YOU!