A few years ago, I worked for a voluntourism organisation in South Africa. We had a big group of volunteers arrive from overseas and all of them had one request for their time in South Africa – to pet a lion cub. Apparently, they had seen pictures of people doing just this all-over social media, so naturally they wanted to have a go too. Unfortunately, at this point, I was only at the beginning of learning about the bush and hadn’t trained as a field guide yet or studied conservation biology so, in my naivety, I had no idea of the implications of what we did next. One Saturday morning we loaded the cars with the volunteers and drove an hour down the road to a ‘wildlife sanctuary’ where we got to spend time with two lion cubs. The sanctuary owner claimed that they were orphans.
THE BUCKET-LIST SERIES: A BLOW BY BLOW OF OUR TIME IN THE SNOW
At the end of last year Annie, our intrepid explorer, headed out to the snow-covered hinterlands to spend time in the company of some pretty incredible polar bears and the people who protect them. As far as bucket-list destinations are concerned, Annie reported back to us that this Snow Safari is hands-down one of the most epic bucket-list experiences you can have. Read her travel journal and you’ll see why…
What is the single biggest threat to polar bears?
Without a doubt, it’s global warming. The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet. This is having a profound impact on Arctic sea ice, which polar bears rely on for hunting their seal prey. Ringed seals, the polar bear’s main prey, rely on the sea ice, too, for giving birth to their pups and raising them.
Earth Day 2020 will forever be remembered as The Earth Day When the World was Still. Never before in the entire history of the Earth as we remember it, has the concept of nature as a global network been better underscored than at this moment in time. The ripple effect of one microscopic organism that originated in a far-flung corner of the globe, has given us chance to press pause and reflect.
LEARNING AND LOVING AFRICA - YOUTH4AFRICAN WILDLIFE
For 28 days over the African Winter, twelve young men and women from Jordan, the USA, Canada and India came together for a “total immersion” experience in the African bushveld. Under the leadership of Kate Oschman and Fortunate Phaka - who are both Y4AW alumni - the YNGer interns divided their time between Entabeni Safari Conservancy, the Makuleke Conservancy in the north of the Kruger National Park, and Balule Game Reserve which borders on the Kruger National Park.