My time with Wildlife Act is over. 4 weeks in North Island, Seychelles, which feels so long ago. 2 weeks in iMfolozi, 2 in Tembe, 2 in Mkhuze and now the last 2 in ZRR. Each reserve and monitor is different, each with a different focus, each relentlessly dedicated to the conservation and protection of endangered species.
It’s been a truly life changing experience; rewarding, exciting, thrilling, tiring, joyful and painful. I made so many friends and laughed so many times. I worked hard, I learnt the smell of death, I discovered the incredibly tough problems conservation deals with every day; poaching, climate change, habitat destruction, lack of space, lack of corridors, genetic diversity and disease. At times they feel insurmountable, but every life saved, every life protected, is a victory.
Wildlife Act, along with the wild dog advisory group, are changing the fortunes of the wild dogs; they work tirelessly to protect them, to manage the gene pool, to find them safe and suitable homes, to convince reserves to house them, to raise awareness of them; they do the hard work to keep their numbers growing. I am so thankful to have been part of that, to have contributed my time and money. May the work continue, and may the dogs thrive.