The horn of a rhino is made out of keratin and continuously grows. In the natural environment, the animal’s horn can get shorter as it gets rubbed against trees and stumps or sometimes it is knocked off during a fight with another rhino, still leaving the growth platelet. In converse, and in support of the...Read More
Peter Hamming – Researcher – Research and Development DepartmentThe management of a reserve’s biodiversity has always been a challenge. Drought, snare poaching, game counts, biodiversity, alien species control, controlled burns etc. all form part of these challenges. Unfortunately, some poaching has become commercial as a lot of money is to be made from the illegal...Read More
Dear friends of the College, We are grateful for another year, and another opportunity to do the work we’re so passionate about thanks to the ongoing support from our partners and donors. Despite the ongoing challenges facing the College, and indeed the conservations sector as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, our staff and students...Read More
The December/January/February period was an extremely busy period for the SAWC airwing, logging 103 flying hours for the December period and 100 hours for January. February although busy, was hampered with inclement weather conditions.As predicted and which seems to be the trend nowadays, rhino poaching incidents spiked over the December-January period with a number of...Read More
The year 2021 started with the return of 73 students sponsored by the Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and 25 students sponsored by the National Skills Fund (NSF) respectively. The two groups are training off site and continued with contact sessions at Welverdiend Community Venue and Manyeleti Nature Reserve. The groups...Read More
In August 2020, the Southern African Wildlife College entered into an agreement with Peace Parks Foundation to partner in implementing the Global Environment Facility 6th Replenishment (GEF6) called ‘’Strengthening Institutions, Information Management and Monitoring to Reduce the Rate of Illegal Wildlife Trade in South Africa’’. The project focal areas include the broader Makuya area, Sabie...Read More
The SAWC recognises that the SADC-Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) programme, specifically the component on skills capacity development and networking, cooperation, and information exchange, are fundamentally crucial to the development of TFCAs and marine protected areas in SADC-region. The SAWC has provided skills and capacity building training for TFCA needs over a sustained period within the SADC...Read More
Unsurprisingly the year started with the impact of the second wave of Covid-19 in South Africa. Managing the ever-increasing complexity in supporting student returns and movement across South Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region has been one of the most arduous activities to date this year.The closure of most land ports on...Read More
Covid-19 taught the entire world so much: how to make the necessary adjustments, how to keep healthy and busy at home, how to home school children, and of course how to use media like Zoom, Teams, and Skype to ensure that business is able to continue. It taught us all a great deal about how...Read More
Exciting ChangesThe College is always looking at best practice and streamlining processes. In line with this the Academic department, which comprised the Applied Learning, Academic Policy and Sector Advancement as well as Academic Support and Quality Assurance units, has been working through a restructuring exercise which will see some exciting new changes in how things...Read More
