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The aim of the volunteer program is to educate interested persons on what is required in knowledge and skills to manage a small reserve and breeding ranch whilst creating enthusiasm in the volunteers to want to continue with conservation related work when they return home.
Whilst at Sable Ranch volunteers will learn and work under the guidance of the Bush Camp Manager as well as various other staff on the reserve who specialise in different areas. By including training by staff that are currently working in certain areas of the game farm such as sable breeding, the volunteers will get a more thorough idea of what is required of a person working in those fields. Persons partaking in the program will also walk away with some basic field guiding knowledge. Volunteers can thus expect to gain knowledge and experience in the following areas whilst working at Sable Ranch:
- Grass and tree identification and tree tagging
- Mammal and bird identification
- Orientation
- Anti-poaching and tracking
- Conservation work including road maintenance and bush clearing
- Working with identity kits for spatial analysis
- Care of animals in game pens (bomas) during auction times
- Feeding animals in breeding camps
In addition volunteers will be taught how to cook typical South African food by either the lodge chef or by the Bush Camp staff. Other opportunities for work on the farm may arise depending on the time of year, chance occurrences and length of stay. These may include helping the vet and some staff with animal capture or animal care and assistance at our game auction.
Volunteers may join the program for two, four or six weeks. The program will run for six weeks at a time but volunteers arriving in weeks three and five will be given the same project-specific training and information as those arriving in week one. It is thus recommended that volunteers join the program for at least four weeks in order to grasp a thorough understanding of what is learnt and to gain opportunities to learn more. Volunteers that sign up for the full six week program will also get an opportunity to lecture new volunteers. Sable Ranch will encourage any students wanting to gain work experience for university courses too and will try to make is possible for you to leave with as much knowledge and experience as is possible.
Program dates for 2011:
Program dates for 2012:
6 January – 20 January
20 January – 3 February
3 February – 24 February
9 March – 23 March
23 March – 6 April
6 April – 20 April
4 May – 18 May
18 May – 1 June
1 June – 15 June
6 July – 20 July
20 July – 3 August
3 August – 17 August
7 September – 21 September
21 September – 5 October
5 October – 19 October
9 November – 23 November
23 November – 7 December
7 December – 21 December
Please contact us for more information and program costs.
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