Blog

The Bateleur – Quarter 1 (2018)

From the Editor “As we welcome our learners and trainers for 2018, we’re mindful of the critical shift in the approach to conservation to mitigate loss of habitat, over population, over consumption, and the burgeoning wildlife trade. We have been hard at work to align our courses and programmes to these needs. I particularly encourage you […]

Adopt-A-Student Learner Legacy Campaign

By supporting a student at the Southern African Wildlife College (SAWC) you will be helping to conserve Africa’s wildlife in perpetuity. The SAWC’s Adopt-A-Student Learner Legacy Campaign has been created in recognition of the fact that conservation education and training is not well funded in southern Africa. Despite the importance of providing training in skills […]

Elephant poaching a very real and growing threat in the Kruger Park

On 31 December 2017, the ban on legal ivory trade in China, which represents the world’s largest market for ivory, finally came into effect! This is the greatest single step toward reducing the brutal poaching which kills on average 100 elephants every day in Africa. Until recently South Africa had escaped ivory poachers trying to cash-in […]

The Southern African Wildlife College pack dogs, our unsung heroes of conservation

A powerful new weapon to our counter-poaching arsenal are the new formidable pack dogs, trained and housed at the Southern African Wildlife College K9 unit. These dogs are set to be the new game changer in the war against poaching and have already had a considerable impact in this role. Johan van Straaten, dog-master and […]

Poaching update and stats as at February 2018

In January 2018, Minister Edna Molewa from the South African Department of Environmental Affairs released the 2017 poaching numbers in South Africa: 1,028 rhino were poached in 2017, which indicated a slight decline (26) from the 1,054 animals killed in 2016. This is of course no reason to celebrate, it’s still horrifying on all levels […]