Wildlife Conservation South Africa Project #62541

Protecting Endangered Species with Wildlife ACT

by Wildlife ACT

Protecting Endangered Species with Wildlife ACT

Project Report | Apr 17, 2025
Wildlife ACT: Recent Conservation Highlights

By Megan Whittington | Marketing, Media, and Impact Director

Thank You for Your Support

Thanks to your generous support, Wildlife ACT has continued to make important strides in endangered species conservation and community engagement across Southern Africa. Your contributions are part of a broader network of support that helps make this vital work possible. We are excited to share a few highlights of recent developments.

Cross-Border Collaboration for Vulture Conservation

Wildlife ACT’s Vulture Programme team recently travelled to Eswatini to participate in the Eswatini Game Rangers Association AGM. During the gathering, our team delivered a presentation on efforts to mitigate intentional poisonings, sparking meaningful discussions around vulture conservation. This marks the beginning of a promising cross-border collaboration that will strengthen research and monitoring efforts for these iconic birds across the landscape.

Empowering Communities Through Conservation Education

In support of our Community Conservation Programme, Wildlife ACT recently held a workshop to familiarise CCP leaders and interns with an exciting new learner workbook developed in partnership with Wildkidsbooksa. Designed with engaging, age-appropriate activities, this workbook will be incorporated into our in-school lessons, Kids Camps, and Ambassador Clubs, helping to nurture the next generation of conservationists.

Advancing Cheetah Monitoring and Conservation

Recent months also saw significant progress in our endangered species monitoring work. Our team successfully collared CF27, a female Cheetah in iMfolozi, after logistical challenges had delayed the effort. This collar will allow for more detailed tracking of her movements, her cubs, and her interactions with other individuals. In addition, our Senior Field Technician assisted UmPhafa Nature Reserve with the post-release monitoring of a newly introduced Cheetah, ensuring she is adapting well to her new environment. Another milestone included the successful collaring of a young male Cheetah, CM28, in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. Monitoring this coalition member will provide crucial data to support conservation management decisions and promote genetic diversity.

Rapid Response for Poisoned Birds of Prey

Emergency response efforts also played a critical role recently. Following a poisoning incident discovered on Somkhanda Game Reserve, Wildlife ACT’s Emergency Response Team was able to rescue and support the rehabilitation of two critically endangered African White-backed Vultures and an endangered juvenile Bateleur. Thanks to rapid action and expert care, these birds have since been released back into the wild.

Looking Ahead

Building on these successes, Wildlife ACT remains committed to strengthening cross-border conservation partnerships, advancing community education efforts, and deepening our monitoring of endangered species. Continued support from donors like you plays a vital role in helping us respond to challenges, seize new opportunities, and create a future where both wildlife and communities can thrive.

Our Thanks

We are deeply grateful for your belief in our work and for standing with us in our mission. Together, through collective action, we are making a difference for some of Africa’s most threatened species and the communities that share their landscapes. Thank you for being a part of this journey.

Permalink

Dec 20, 2024
A Year of Impactful Conservation

By Megan Whittington | Project Leader

As the year draws to a close, we’re taking a moment to look back and reflect on our impact this year. Whether in the field or behind a desk, we always strive to keep our purpose front of mind: to restore and protect natural ecosystems, ensuring that wildlife thrives for future generations.

None of this would be possible without our exceptional, hard-working team, the incredible partnerships we’ve formed over the years, and our valued network of supporters and volunteers. It goes without saying that this work would be impossible without such passionate and dedicated people in our corner.

Here are just a few of our accomplishments from 2024 - we hope they will inspire you as they have us.

Vulture Conservation Programme News

The key focus of Wildlife ACT’s Vulture Conservation Programme in 2024 was to raise awareness surrounding Vultures and their environmental importance, as well as, in our Zululand Project, forming a better understanding of the extent of lead exposure in KZN’s Vultures.

Also, a new project has been initiated in Zululand to deploy tracking units to Hooded Vultures for the first time in the province, to determine where they are breeding and inform conservation action.

Another great success was that in May, along with partners Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and FreeMe Wildlife, Wildlife ACT was able to assist in the release of four rehabilitated Cape Vultures into the southern Drakensberg region.

Mzimkulu Vulture Hide Launch a Success
This year marked the opening of the Mzimkulu Vulture Hide in the Southern Drakensberg, in collaboration with Riverlea Farm, providing the Southern Drakensberg with a sustainable safe feeding site for vultures.

Important partners include Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, Project Vulture, Drakensberg Conservation Initiative, Bearded Vulture Recovery Programme and the Endangered Wildlife Trust.

The creation of the hide was made possible by Invicta Wildlife, CHEP, the European Outdoor Conservation Association, and Laetitia Steynberg. The support of local Underberg farms was also crucial to making this important Vulture Safe Feeding Site possible.

Now, having been open to public bookings for nine months, the hide has had over 180 visitors and is also the site of important educational programmes.

Rhino Conservation News
Along with our vital partners in conservation, Wildlife ACT is dedicated to supporting the mitigation of the ever-present threat of poaching through adaptive monitoring as well as assisting in the provision of preventative measures such as dehorning operations.
Somkhanda Dehorning Success

In July this year, a three-day dehorning operation took place in July on Somkhanda Game Reserve, funded by Rhino Recovery Fund and others, with the aim of protecting this vulnerable Rhino population.

Big Cats Programme Update
This year, the decision was made to combine our Cheetah, Leopard, and Lion projects into the Big Cat Programme, aligning with the government’s development of a Biodiversity Management Plan (BMP) for big cats. This integrated approach supports informed management of Leopards, Cheetahs, and Lions, ultimately aiming to enhance their survival and sustainability.

We’d like to extend a huge thank you to the Forever Wild Foundation, who have partnered with us on Cheetah conservation work, and to Invicta Wildlife Fund and Aurex Constructors for their continued support of our Leopard conservation work.

Happy holidays!
Happy holidays from all of us at Wildlife ACT. As always, thank you for your support and encouragement throughout the year. Every initiative and project requires input from many groups and individuals, and we are so grateful to the many wonderful partnerships over the past year - both new and old. We wish you a peaceful holiday season, and can’t wait to see what lies in store for 2025.

- Team Wildlife ACT

Permalink

Aug 30, 2024
Rhino Conservation Wins and Vulture Releases

By Megan Whittington | Project Leader

We are now well into the second half of 2024 and things are busier than ever for the Wildlife ACT team. Here are just a few of our highlights:

An exciting team update!

We are very happy to share that Gareth Robinson has moved into the position of Senior Field Technician - all priority species. With Gareth’s extensive experience, he is perfectly positioned to assist with interventions that Wildlife ACT is increasingly assisting with, across the KwaZulu-Natal province.

Gareth will be assisting with key management interventions including collarings, dehornings, relocations, vital camera trapping surveys, and monitoring of species where most needed including African Wild Dogs, Cheetah, Rhino, and Vultures.

We would like to say a massive thank you to Jackie Scott and all members of the WildlifeAct Family for helping to make this position a possibility through their tireless fundraising that was driven through the GlobalGiving July Bonus Day matching campaign.

Gareth’s role is going to strengthen the work we do here at Wildlife ACT and we are incredibly excited for this journey!

Rehabilitated Cape Vultures Released into the Wild

We are pleased to share that Wildlife ACT together with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and FreeMe Wildlife, facilitated the release of four rehabilitated Cape Vultures into the Southern Drakensberg region.

Each of the four individuals had been found grounded and in poor condition in the Kamberg area, subsequently being admitted to FreeMe Wildlife for rehabilitation.

Prior to being transported to the release site, the vultures were fitted with tracking units and identification tags and rings.

Following processing, the four Vultures were then safely transported to the release site near the Mzimkulu Vulture Hide in the Southern Drakensberg. This location was chosen for the vulture safe feeding site managed by Wildlife ACT, as well as the proximity to our team for post-release monitoring.

We are pleased to share that several of the released individuals have been sighted at the vulture safe feeding sight at the Mzimkulu Vulture Hide. They have been identified by their wing tags or leg rings, thanks to both guest photographs and camera trap images.

Rhino Dehorning Operation on Somkhanda Game Reserve

We are very pleased to share that Somkhanda Game Reserve has recently carried out a successful three-day Rhino dehorning operation, which Wildlife ACT was privileged to facilitate with vital support from the Rhino Recovery Fund and others.

Due to the increased and unsustainable poaching that KwaZulu-Natal has suffered in recent years, dehorning our Rhino populations has become a necessary emergency operation to provide us with some time to implement longer-term strategies to protect and conserve these iconic animals.

We look forward to sharing more soon and thank you for your continued support!

Links:

https://www.citizen.co.za/zululand-observer/news-headlines/local-news/2024/08/26/community-reserve-dehorns-rhino-to-curb-poachin

Permalink

‹ 1 2 3 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.