For a more meaningful safari experience and genuine up close encounters, a wildlife research programme could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. The newly launched Ulwazi Research Programme at Thanda Safari offers 2 - 12 week research assistant positions.
Georgina Wilson-Powell
Thu 15 Jun 2017
Volunteers can participate in research like the ‘Nocturnal Mammal survey’ alongside worldwide leading conservation organisations, who partner with Thanda’s wildlife and ecology team. If you enjoy rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck in then this is a great opportunity to gain insightful research experience and, of course, work with incredible wildlife. Volunteer duties can also include monitoring endangered species and habitat management, involving practical field work, general data collection and analysis.
“Having reliable and engaged volunteers to help collect the data is a huge help to conservation and research.”
Above all, guest volunteering is of great value to the research programmes as it allows larger data sets to be collected, which narrows the standard error and reveals trends that would not normally be seen in small data sets. Niki Merrilees, Animal Scientist, Thanda Safari says, “The key to conservation is the sharing of knowledge and awareness, if we can get people to go back to their countries and talk about their experience, what they have learnt and what we are trying to achieve here this goes a long way to help conserve our focal species."
Photography: Christian Sperka
