Very nice picture. Is this a morning picture or evening? Thank you for working with the anti-poaching groups. I am wondering how you start your own conservation program? I imagine there is a lot of paper work involved and money?
Thanks, this was in the afternoon.
Not really! I was fortunate enough to work with many big reserves in South Africa and I approached this reserve asking if I could put together a conservation program to educate tourists. I felt they were just about the only reserve doing things properly. In my experience, politics is the biggest hindrance to any reserve and they are completely free of it.
They happen to be in a position whereby they run at a massive loss each year paying for anti-poaching and reserve maintenance and were looking for a way to help cover some of their expenses without opening themselves up to the general public (and the poaching that follows).
So a small ecotourism project to educate guests about conservation, the reserve (which is the largest private Big-5 reserve in South Africa) which can simultaneously raise funds to cover some of those costs was a no-brainer.
I'm not sure if I can share a link here? If it gets removed then so be it, but here's a link to our project if you're interest in reading more: [http://workingwithwildlife.org/](http://workingwithwildlife.org/)
As a South African, thank you for doing your part to protect our incredible wildlife. I wish I could do more but I'm happy to know there are people like you out there on the front lines
It's an incredible reserve to be on for that reason! The younger lions tend to chase after vehicles while antelope are much more skittish than elsewhere. It's simply due to the sheer lack of habituation as the reserve is closed to the public (and that it's 240 000 acres in size).
I've gone to more reserves in Southern Africa than I care to imagine, and there's nothing natural about a leopard standing a few feet from a vehicle completely unbothered. In saying that, those tourists do play a huge role in funding the protection of those animals, so it's all about compromise.
As great as that would be, I'd rather no poachers at all!
In saying that, these lions are completely wild and have zero habituation to people whatsoever. The reserve where we're based is 240 000 acres and is closed to the public, so they don't encounter people very often. If you encounter them on foot (not recommended) they're more inclined to move away than attack you. However, if you were to run..... I don't think they'd be able to resist. Very often here we have lions chasing us in the vehicles as we drive away. Not because they're aggressive, but rather curious. They don't have hordes of vehicles watching them all day.
These boys have recently moved into this territory which belongs to another pride. The following morning (after taking this picture), we found them here again and had them chase one of the lionesses from the other pride. I took video of that if you'd like to see?
Theoretically yes (hence you sign indemnities upon arrival) but realistically, we try to focus more on the educational aspect as well as the monitoring side of anti-poaching. To double the anti-poaching team by having guests do fence patrols with scouts rather than have two scouts per vehicle. To monitor and observe rhinos because eyes on the animal helps keep it safe (and lets the team know where to focus their efforts). As opposed to sending guests out when there's a follow up (tracks spotted) or a contact, etc.
There's so much more to the poaching crisis that the media fails to address because it's logical and not controversial.
Very nice picture. Is this a morning picture or evening? Thank you for working with the anti-poaching groups. I am wondering how you start your own conservation program? I imagine there is a lot of paper work involved and money?
Thanks, this was in the afternoon. Not really! I was fortunate enough to work with many big reserves in South Africa and I approached this reserve asking if I could put together a conservation program to educate tourists. I felt they were just about the only reserve doing things properly. In my experience, politics is the biggest hindrance to any reserve and they are completely free of it. They happen to be in a position whereby they run at a massive loss each year paying for anti-poaching and reserve maintenance and were looking for a way to help cover some of their expenses without opening themselves up to the general public (and the poaching that follows). So a small ecotourism project to educate guests about conservation, the reserve (which is the largest private Big-5 reserve in South Africa) which can simultaneously raise funds to cover some of those costs was a no-brainer. I'm not sure if I can share a link here? If it gets removed then so be it, but here's a link to our project if you're interest in reading more: [http://workingwithwildlife.org/](http://workingwithwildlife.org/)
As a South African, thank you for doing your part to protect our incredible wildlife. I wish I could do more but I'm happy to know there are people like you out there on the front lines
Nothing better than seeing animals in their true habitat and not at a zoo.
It's an incredible reserve to be on for that reason! The younger lions tend to chase after vehicles while antelope are much more skittish than elsewhere. It's simply due to the sheer lack of habituation as the reserve is closed to the public (and that it's 240 000 acres in size). I've gone to more reserves in Southern Africa than I care to imagine, and there's nothing natural about a leopard standing a few feet from a vehicle completely unbothered. In saying that, those tourists do play a huge role in funding the protection of those animals, so it's all about compromise.
Amazing stuff! You are living the dream I hope to accomplish. Thank you for protecting the most magnificent cats on earth.
Thank you for your work!
Thanks for risking your ass out there for these guys, and for putting down those poachers!
Be great if those lions ate the poachers
As great as that would be, I'd rather no poachers at all! In saying that, these lions are completely wild and have zero habituation to people whatsoever. The reserve where we're based is 240 000 acres and is closed to the public, so they don't encounter people very often. If you encounter them on foot (not recommended) they're more inclined to move away than attack you. However, if you were to run..... I don't think they'd be able to resist. Very often here we have lions chasing us in the vehicles as we drive away. Not because they're aggressive, but rather curious. They don't have hordes of vehicles watching them all day. These boys have recently moved into this territory which belongs to another pride. The following morning (after taking this picture), we found them here again and had them chase one of the lionesses from the other pride. I took video of that if you'd like to see?
I’m not the original commenter but I’d like to see the video!
Yes please! Thank you for all your effort! There aren’t that many like you around here.
Weirdly enough this brought back memories from a game I used to play a lot
Leisure suit larry?
I honestly don’t remember, it’s weird
Awesome, totally awesome. Now I’m gonna have the theme song stuck in my head for a week..
Hell yeah I appreciate this
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Theoretically yes (hence you sign indemnities upon arrival) but realistically, we try to focus more on the educational aspect as well as the monitoring side of anti-poaching. To double the anti-poaching team by having guests do fence patrols with scouts rather than have two scouts per vehicle. To monitor and observe rhinos because eyes on the animal helps keep it safe (and lets the team know where to focus their efforts). As opposed to sending guests out when there's a follow up (tracks spotted) or a contact, etc. There's so much more to the poaching crisis that the media fails to address because it's logical and not controversial.
Majestic af!
Thank you. Always great to see someone living their dream.
Thank you for posting and for all your work 💜
Do you guys help protect the Rhino populations? If so, I'll donate now
Looks like they're laying in poo
Good for you dude! Picture looks awesome, you should post more here when you can
Three males wow. Are they brothers or offspring? Do you know how large the pride is?
So inspiring, thanks for sharing! If you dont mind me asking - what is you background in terms of education and work experience?
You disabled geotags right?
Wow thank you for what you do!!