Education And Rural Community Development Internship Livingstone, Zambia

Since 1950 the human population of Africa has increased from 221 million to nearly one billion. This increase is one of the leading factors contributing to the decline of the African lion. As the continent’s human population continues to grow the amount of suitable habitat for lions is decreasing at an alarming rate as more and more land is converted to other uses. 

The result for lions is isolation in fragmented and fragile ecosystems that are under constant pressure, with little motivation for government or rural communities to work towards long term solutions. This project works towards generating the motivation and means for all stakeholders towards responsible development where natural resources are seen as vital to both short and long term social and economic development.

To try and fulfill this remit projects are focused on empowerment and benefit sharing, human / wildlife conflict issues, education and health programmes for communities living alongside Africa’s wildlife. Only when the African people are able to accrue the benefits of sound wildlife management will the motivation for such be generated, producing the long term solutions that are so greatly needed.

Your involvement:

The involvement of volunteers on the project is paramount to achieving our aims on all fronts. You can expect days to be long, but you will also be able to end each day knowing that you have given something back to Africa; having made a difference to the people that you come into contact with.

More about the African Lion Rehabilitation & Release into the Wild Programme:

THE 4 STAGE RELEASE PROGRAMME:

The aim of the 4 stage Lion Rehabilitation programme is to release and therefore restore lion populations within Eastern and Southern Africa through a programme that will also provide social benefits to surrounding communities.  

In order to do this, all captive bred lions on our projects will go through a 4 stage rehabilitation programme:

STAGE 1:

Cubs born in our breeding sites are removed from their mothers after a period of initial care  - at this point we take the place of dominant members of their pride, and train them only to the point that they are safe for us to walk with.

The lions are given every opportunity to build their confidence in their natural environment both during the day and at night. As their experience grows they start to take an interest in the wildlife they encounter on the walks, and by the age of eighteen months are able to hunt many of the smaller antelope. By two years old the lions are already seasoned hunters, and we give them plenty of opportunity to practice their natural hunting skills.

STAGE 2:

In stage two the lions are given the opportunity to develop a natural pride social system in a minimum 500 acre enclosure. They have plenty of wildlife to hunt, and their progress is monitored closely, although all human contact is removed. The lions remain in stage two until the pride is stable, and self-sustaining semi-wild born cubs have been integrated into the pride.

STAGE 3:

In stage three the pride in stage two is relocated into a managed ecosystem of a minimum 10,000 acres, where:
• There are no resident human beings
• There are sufficient prey species to hunt
• There are competitive species such as hyena
The lions in Stage 3 will give birth to cubs, which will be raised by the pride in the managed ecosystem, which is very close to their natural environment.

STAGE 4:

In stage 4 lions born in stage 3 can be released into the wild in several natural social groups or ‘prides’

Through these 4 stages, we aim to preserve the African Lion by producing quality gene pools, rebuilding the diminishing numbers of lions and introducing the offspring back into wild environments.

2013 RATES

4 WEEKS:  £ 1 195 / € 1 555 / $ 2 095
6 WEEKS:  £ 1 595 / € 2 075 / $ 2 795
8 WEEKS:  £ 2025 / € 2 635 / $ 3 545