Carnivore Conservation Kanaan Desert, Namibia

The Carnivore Conservation Project in the Kanaan Desert aims to establish an unfenced wildlife reserve, creating a refuge for endangered species. The area covers 33,000 hectares of stunning desert scenery.

During your stay, you will get hands-on experience with a variety of skills such as mapping using a GPS, capture mark release (using GPS tracking collars), radio telemetry tracking, game counts, camera trapping and maintenance and security. Volunteers will also have the chance to experience some of the must-do activities in the Namib Desert such as night drives, sleep outs and waterhole observations. Volunteers conduct research on the carnivores on the area, which include leopard, cheetah, brown and spotted hyena as well as other desert-adapted animals.

Location

Namibia is located in South West Africa, bordering on South Africa, Botswana, Angola and Zambia. Home to many contrasting environments the country is known for both desert and long stretches of coastline. Conservation is a national priority and Namibia has some of the largest and most well known national parks in the region.

Located only thirty minutes from Hosea Kutako International Airport amongst camel thorn trees, riverbeds, and a stone canyon, the Wildlife Sanctuary is perfectly situated to start or finish your trip to Namibia. This is where the head office is and the main volunteer activities take place. If you choose to combine with the other sites, Neuras is 2 hours away and Kanaan a further 2 hours drive. Below you can watch a video clip of volunteers at the Wildlife Sanctuary speaking about their volunteering experiences there:

Accommodation

Volunteers will be staying in a renovated farmhouse with shared bedrooms and bathrooms, accommodating up to 8 participants at a time. The house has electricity, but volunteers will need to bring their own South African adapters to charge electric appliances. Volunteers should also be aware there is no cell phone reception in the area.

Volunteers will be provided with 3 meals a day. Meals include a standard breakfast, lunch (provided either out in the field or back at the farmhouse depending on the days’ activities) and dinner (typically a warm meal). Once a week dinner will be in the form of a traditional Namibian braai (barbecue). Vegetarian options are available on request and volunteers can purchase their own snacks and drinks before arriving.

Project Dates

You may stay from 2 weeks to 3 months at any start or end date, however, we have set induction days on Tuesdays and Fridays and thus recommend that volunteers arrive on either a Monday or Thursday.

For more details on how the programme works, dates, costs and how to apply, please visit our detailed project page here.