Daktari Bush School and Wildlife Orphana

BECOME A VOLUNTEER

Misson

DAKTARI's mission is to ignite a passion for nature and community progress among local children. By merging the wilderness school with a wildlife refuge, DAKTARI crafts an engaging learning journey for youngsters to delve into their surroundings, understand wildlife, grasp environmental concerns, and combat poaching. Nestled amidst the wilderness, our programs offer an immersive experience. Beyond the classroom, we extend our impact through ECO Club initiatives in secondary schools, outreach campaigns across multiple educational institutions, and various community upliftment endeavors.

Activities

TEACHING THE CHILDREN

Monday through Friday you will be teaching a group of 8 children, aged 13-15, about ways to protect the environment and its wildlife. Lessons topics are about the ecosystem, wildlife crime and anti-poaching, animal tracks and knowledge, as well as making South Africa a better place!

The lessons begin at 9:00am until 4:30pm, and then we have group talks with the kids about social issues such as safe sex or substance abuse. Some lessons are done in our classroom, others are delivered out in the bush, and all of them are very interactive with a lot of educational activities.

We also make time for fun! You will play games with the children, join them in the pool and dance around the bonfire to their favourite songs!

CARING FOR THE ANIMALS

The animals at DAKTARI are a big part of our education program. Many of the animals we have here cannot be released in the wild as they are injured or require special care. We are able to give them a second life at DAKTARI where they make a big impact.

Many of the children who visit DAKTARI have never seen the local wildlife, but here they get to see these animals for themselves and find their love for the South African wildlife.

As a volunteer you will learn a lot about the different species and help keeping our animals happy and healthy. The activities include cleaning and renovating the enclosures, feeding the animals or providing enrichment.

ENGAGING WITH LOCAL COMMUNITIES

As a volunteer, you will many opportunities to get involved with the local communities around DAKTARI. Twice a week, DAKTARI hosts ECO Club’s at a local school. The ECO CLUB is a voluntary after-school club that the children attend to learn more about the environment. Our volunteers can join DAKTARI’s outreach manager each week to help host the ECO CLUB.

We also work with primary school students during our outreach campaigns about Wildlife Crime. You can join the outreach team every 2 months for 3 days of engaging and fun teaching about the importance of animals for South Africa!