Set within a diverse South African landscape, the programme combines hands-on field experience with responsible conservation, giving interns the opportunity to develop practical skills while contributing to long-term wildlife and habitat protection.
Explore the Greater Kruger through a wildlife research internship rooted in fieldwork, data and conservation.
The Greater Kruger ecosystem is one of the most important wildlife conservation areas in Africa — a mosaic of national park, private game reserve, and community conservation land covering millions of hectares in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Within this ecosystem, near Hoedspruit, the Conservation camp provides a base for wildlife monitoring, research, and conservation education work across multiple field sites.
SAVE Foundation’s Endangered Species Research and Conservation Internship places you as part of the monitoring and research team operating within this ecosystem. You will contribute to real data collection programmes — tracking Big 5 species, recording behavioural observations, reviewing camera trap data, and building the long-term datasets that conservation management decisions are built on.
The Greater Kruger is home to lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo — the Big 5 — alongside wild dog, cheetah, hyena, giraffe, and an extraordinary diversity of bird and smaller species. Living and working in this environment for weeks at a time produces a depth of understanding that no classroom, documentary, or day safari can replicate.
Your Internship in South Africa is designed to give you practical exposure to wildlife conservation, field research and ecosystem management in a real reserve environment. Your exact activities will depend on current conservation priorities, wildlife movements, seasonal conditions and the needs of the project team.
Interns work alongside experienced conservation staff and gain insight into the day-to-day work involved in protecting wildlife, monitoring populations and managing natural habitats. Activities vary according to conservation priorities and conditions on the reserve.
Wildlife population monitoring across multiple species
Deployment, retrieval and data analysis to build individual animal databases
Reading the landscape for animal presence and behaviour
Species recording and biodiversity assessment across the project’s field sites
Learning ecology, botany and animal behaviour on foot with qualified field guides
Contributing to research projects assigned based on your background and interest
All work is carried out under the guidance of experienced conservation professionals and with the welfare of wildlife as the first priority.
About this internship
None are required for entry-level placements. Students in wildlife management, conservation biology, ecology, zoology, or related fields will find the placement directly applicable to their studies. Those with no formal background but a strong commitment to learning are equally welcome — you will be taught by qualified field staff.
Hoedspruit has its own regional airport (HDS) with connections from OR Tambo (Johannesburg) and Cape Town. Transfers from the airport to the project site are arranged as part of your placement logistics. It is also reachable by road from Johannesburg in approximately four hours.
Yes — combining the Botswana Wildlife Project with the Greater Kruger internship gives you experience across two of Southern Africa’s most important and ecologically distinct conservation landscapes. Contact us to discuss a combined itinerary and logistics.
Yes. Accommodation is provided at the project base near Hoedspruit for the duration of your placement. Full accommodation details are provided on confirmation.