We only realise how quickly time flies when we are given the opportunity to see the rate at which something grows and develops. In our case, it has been seeing the four youngest members of the K9 unit become the clumsy ‘pre-teenagers’ they are now. At five months old, these little fur balls are already […]
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 […]
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 […]
During 2017, a total of 502 alleged rhino poachers and 16 alleged traffickers were arrested nationally bringing the total figure to 518. This represents a decrease from 2016 when a total of 680 poachers and traffickers were arrested. Arrests within the Greater Kruger National Park itself did however increase in 2017. The number of arrests […]
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 […]
Climate predictability has become more difficult to assess over recent years due to continued climate change on a large scale. Rainfall data visualisations show that 2017 was one of the driest years recorded in the history of the Lowveld, as well as some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded in decades. The recent drought in […]
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 […]
Day 1: We were called to assist with a SANParks operation.  Field rangers had detected incoming spoor on their eastern Mozambique border. The SANParks helicopter picked up the section ranger, our dog master and our pack dogs. It was estimated that the track was nine hours old. The dogs picked up the tracks and followed […]
The last quarter has been incredibly busy for the Academic team. At this time of the year, we focus on the arrival of our higher education students and of course, staff development. In January, our Dog Master, Johan van Straaten, Altin Gysman and Ruan de Flamingh, our new Field Ranger training instructors successfully completed their […]
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 […]