Animal Impact

12/12/2022

Rhinoceros dehorning procedures are necessary to safeguard the individual animal and the integrity of the species.

It’s truly sad and disgusting that we must intervene to take off a part of an animal’s body in order to save their life. Rhinos use their horns often, the main uses being for defense, digging up food, and posturing. They can live without their horn, but they may not WITH their horn.

Why? Poaching.

Poachers are known to hunt these beautiful creatures to near extinction. They will dart or simply shoot these rhinos and hack of their horn with a hatchet or chainsaw. Some of these rhino’s aren’t deceased during this process. Poachers take as much as they can and, if they’re not already dead, leave them to drown in their own blood.

It is a wide (and proven) misconception that Rhinoceros horn is an aphrodisiac and a cure for cancer in old forms of Eastern Medicine. This has caused the prices of these horns to skyrocket for THOUSANDS of dollars per ounce.

In truth, these horns are simply keratin. It is the same substance that makes up our own hair and fingernails.

In order to save this species, veterinary teams coordinate to trim their horns down to curb poaching. The thought is that, if there isn’t as much horn remaining, they are a lesser target. This year, some of our volunteers had the incredible opportunity to participate in this procedure.

The rhinos were darted with Etorphine and Azeperone and then the work began! The horns are cut to their quick and shaped around the edges to reduce any cracking and encourage normal growth. This process is non-invasive and not painful as long as proper protocol is followed. Their horns often grow back to full size after approximately two years.

The remaining horn is then microchipped, cataloged, and sent to the authorities to be disposed of via incineration. The microchip is placed to ensure that the horn does indeed make it to the intended destination.

08/12/2022

New project Alert 🚨

Join us in the African wilderness on our K9 Conservation Project and assist in the training of the next generation of wildlife conservation working dogs!

You do not need to have any training or K9 experience to take part in the project. The experienced instructors on the ground will share their knowledge and teach you how to train operational working dogs is real life simulations.

We cover all disciplines and you will get to work with multiple dogs at various training stages.

You will be surrounded by big game reserves on this incredible project, you will at times join operational K9 teams to assist with on-duty training in the field.

This project is great for people interested in a career in the dog training industry, or those looking for experience in working with highly trained dogs for conservation. If you have always wanted to work alongside African wildlife, get lots of hours in for training or learn new methods of training under sunny blue skies, then this is a great project choice.

As a volunteer you will be gaining hands-on experience within the kennels and learning about each K9 and their strengths. The dogs in training vary between Belgium Malinois, Dutch Shepherds and mainly a mix between the two breeds!

05/12/2022

Can you differentiate between male and female tortoises? 🐢

There are differences in these two photos, however the male has another distinct difference which is not pictured. Can you tell us what that difference is? 👇🏼🧡

03/12/2022

🦷 Elephant Molars 🦷

While people's teeth grow either up or down from the jawbone, an elephant's molars grow in from the back of the jaw. There is one tooth for each quadrant that moves towards the front and is replaced when worn down. An elephant will have six sets of four molars in its lifetime.

When you swipe though the photos you will see the phases of the molars throughout an elephants life time, starting at 5 months, developing through to 52 years of age!

A question for you 👉🏼 what are the tusks of an elephant, are they horns or are they teeth? Let us know down below 👇🏼

28/11/2022

Rhino and Wildlife Conservation Project in Zimbabwe 🇿🇼

This beautiful project focusses on the preservation of Africa’s most loved wildlife, and as a volunteer, you get to be invoked in the beautiful process of both working with these animals as well as assisting in the education of the surrounding communities! 🌍

23/11/2022

⚠️ These are wild animals, not pets ⚠️

The Wildlife Orphan Rescue project in Zimbabwe sees all types of wild animals seeking refuge.

Many animals come into the rescue to be rehabilitated from stressful situations, such as the illegal wildlife trade, injuries and orphaning. Many of the animals are cared for and slowly rewilded and released back into their natural environment.

Volunteers on the project are able to take part in the process of caring for the animals, creating enrichments for them as well as being able to take part in their release and monitoring of released animals.

04/04/2022

Our volunteers on the Safari Stables Project have arguably the best time when they visit!

Swimming with the horses is one of the many activities that take place on the project, alongside playing polocrosse, schooling horses, outrides and more!

Head to our website to find out more about this horse lover’s paradise!

01/04/2022

Monkey play!

These beautiful creatures are classed as problem animals in Zimbabwe, and are legal to be shot due to this issue. Our Wildlife Orphan Rescue project, the only project of its kind in Zimbabwe, has a large focus on primate rescue and rehabilitation along with many other animals on their journey to be release back into the wild.

Come out to Zim and give these animals their best chance in survival, volunteers making the biggest impact in the rehabilitation and release of all the animals that come through the sanctuary.

Join Animal Impact in our mission to make a difference, while getting to experience the best that ecotourism in Zimbabwe has to offer.

27/10/2021

01/10/2021

Want to volunteer with horses? Why not join our programmes in India, Africa and Asia.

Give back to conservation and the community whilst enjoying your passion.

To discover more, message us or email [email protected]

22/05/2021

Volunteers bringing wildlife medicine at the highest standards while working at the Monkey Rescue Center. Drop us an e mail [email protected]. To find out how you can take park in this awesome course.

14/03/2021

Catching a Buffalo is not for the faint of heart. Our game capture team have to have their wits about them as these are dangerous animals. Volunteers from around the world join in the experience of a lifetime at the African Vet Conservation Project.

13/03/2021

The local people of Zanzibar bring their animals to our clinic by any means possible. Our volunteers assist the resident vet with many of these cases brought to us.

17/01/2021