Wildlife Monitoring | Endangered Wildlife Trust

Hearing from our interns

In the Field

Hearing from our interns

Karen Chiro was a Conservation Intern with the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), having recently completed her MSc in Conservation Biology at the University of Cape Town.

As an avid conservationist, I have always admired the Endangered Wildlife Trust through its work on social media, so becoming part of the organisation was a dream come true.

During my internship with EWT’s Birds of Prey Unit, I developed a deep appreciation for vultures and the vital role they play in our ecosystems. I was involved in several activities, including vulture nest checks and monitoring. When I started my internship, I could identify vultures, but I had never really paid attention to their breeding ecology, where they nest, or the factors that influence their populations.

Taking part in nest checks gave me the opportunity to determine whether nests that had previously been detected and recorded were active during the current breeding season. I also gained a greater appreciation for the differences between White-backed and Hooded Vulture nests, particularly in terms of their size and location.

I also joined the Cape Vulture nest monitoring team, where I had the opportunity to use a telescope to observe and count nests on the cliffs. This experience helped me appreciate the scale and challenges involved in monitoring these species in the wild.

The highlight of my internship was undoubtedly vulture trapping. Having the opportunity to hold and release vultures was a truly surreal experience. Holding these magnificent birds made me realise just how large and powerful they are, while also giving me a deeper understanding of the conservation challenges contributing to their declining numbers.

I left the EWT with far more knowledge about vultures than I had when I arrived. More importantly, I left with a renewed appreciation for these remarkable birds and the work required to conserve them.

I am incredibly grateful to the EWT for welcoming me and providing such a wonderful learning experience, and to the Briandez Legacy Trust for making this internship opportunity possible.

“My technical and professional skills have been strengthened”

Conservation interns monitoring vulture nests with the EWT Birds of Prey Unit

Yasalde Massingue is a conservation officer for Limpilichi Wilderness, a company that has established a long-term management partnership of the protected areas in Niassa, northern Mozambique. He recently spent time with the EWT’s Birds of Prey Unit to enhance his skills.

My time with the EWT team in Hoedspruit provided me with an important opportunity to strengthen my technical and professional skills in wildlife monitoring, with a particular focus on vulture conservation. Vultures play an essential role in ecosystem health by removing carcasses and helping to reduce the risk of disease transmission.

During my time in South Africa, I developed skills in identifying and monitoring nests of different raptor species. The work included observing nest structure, their location within tree canopies, preferred tree species for nesting, and the precautions required to minimise disturbance while collecting field data.

We monitored more than 300 raptor nests during field expeditions. I also took part on the patrols aimed at identifying potential snaring areas, checking feeding events, and investigating sites at risk of poisoning, which is one of the main threats facing vultures and other carnivores.

One of the most significant outcomes of my experience was participating in fitting tracking collars to 22 vultures from four species, as well as assembling 29 rings. This work provided me with practical experience in taking biometric measurements, including the foot, head, beak, wing and tail; determining the age of individual birds; and assessing their reproductive condition. The data collected will contribute to a better understanding of vulture movements, behaviour and conservation needs.

The programme also included the release of 15 vultures that had been rehabilitated following a poisoning incident. More than 250 children from Hoedspruit attended the release, creating an important opportunity for environmental education and encouraging a new generation to value and protect these birds.

During my participation in a training course on vulture poisoning and rapid response, which was attended by conservation managers, veterinarians, researchers and wildlife-crime professionals, I learned about the importance of cooperation among sectors in responding effectively to threats to biodiversity.

The knowledge and experience I gained will be valuable for implementing a biodiversity conservation and monitoring program in Chipanje Chetu, the community where I work in the Limpilichi Wilderness area in Niassa, Mozambique. There, our goal is to help establish the area as a model for wildlife conservation, scientific research, environmental monitoring and community engagement.

Young conservationists gaining practical experience in vulture conservation and wildlife monitoring

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Every Spot Counts: The Greater Kruger Cheetah Census 2026/27

By Olivia Sievert, manager of the EWT’s Cheetah Conservation Project

Everyone loves seeing a Cheetah in the wild, but did you know that behind every sighting lies an important scientific opportunity? A simple photograph can help us identify an individual, track its movements, and, when combined with thousands of other records, build a picture of an entire population.

This is the idea behind the Greater Kruger Cheetah Photographic Census, a collaborative initiative between the Endangered Wildlife Trust and SANParks, to improve our understanding of Cheetahs across the Greater Kruger landscape.

Building on decades of photographic monitoring

Photographic censuses of large carnivores have a long history in the Kruger. Citizen-science photographic surveys for African Wild Dogs began in 1988/89, with Cheetahs being first included in 1990. Further Cheetah censuses followed in 2004/05 and 2009/10, before the most recent, in 2021/2022.

The principle is simple: Cheetahs have individually distinctive coat patterns, allowing researchers to recognise the same animal from photographs taken at different times and places. Tourists, guides, staff, and other members of the public can therefore become part of the monitoring effort simply by submitting photographs of the cheetahs they encounter.

The last census in 2021/2022 received 196 Cheetah submissions, of which 151 were suitable for individual identification. From these photographs researchers were able to identify 86 individuals, while statistical modelling estimated approximately 116 Cheetahs across the national park. These numbers, however, also highlight why the next census is so important. This population estimate was the lowest recorded to date, yet this apparent decline cannot simply be interpreted as a decline in the Cheetah population. The 2021/2022 census had fewer submissions, reduced tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic and introduced AI-assisted identification. Meaning a mixture of low reporting and a change in methods likely also contributed to our recorded population decline.

In other words, we have valuable information, but we still have important questions to answer.

Why Greater Kruger matters

The Greater Kruger landscape is one of the most important remaining strongholds for Cheetahs in southern Africa. As part of the wider Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA), which includes the Kruger National Park, the Associated Private Nature Reserves, and adjoining conservation areas in Mozambique and Zimbabwe, it forms part of a vast connected conservation landscape spanning nearly 100,000 km². Large, connected landscapes are essential for maintaining viable wildlife populations as they allow animals to move between suitable habitats and host large enough populations to maintain genetic diversity without intervention.

The GLTFCA represents roughly three percent of the Cheetah’s remaining global range and contains some of the largest protected areas available to the species in southern Africa. Within South Africa, the Greater Kruger landscape is particularly significant, encompassing approximately 47% of the country’s protected Cheetah habitat. Yet the most recent population estimate suggests that it supports only around 17% of South Africa’s remaining wild Cheetah population.

Large, connected protected areas are critical for the long-term conservation of Cheetahs. The species naturally occurs at low densities, requires extensive areas over which to hunt, disperse, establish territories and avoid competing predators. Additionally, Cheetah are vulnerable to increasing human pressures beyond protected areas where we have seen some of the most drastic population declines in the last 15 years. Therefore, ensuring that protected landscapes such as the Greater Kruger continue to support healthy Cheetah populations will require informed and targeted conservation action.

But, effective management depends on reliable information. We need to understand how many Cheetahs occur across the landscape, where they are found, how they move between areas, and which threats may be limiting their population growth. The Greater Kruger Cheetah Census aims to provide this knowledge, creating the foundation for evidence-based conservation and helping to guide management decisions for one of South Africa’s most important wild Cheetah populations.

Wild cheetah in Greater Kruger identified through its unique coat pattern.

What do we know, and what don’t we know?

We know that Cheetahs generally occur at low densities, have large ranges and can move considerable distances. During the 2021/2022 census, one individual was recorded as having a potential range of more than 810 km² and moving more than 90 km between sightings.

We also know that photographic monitoring works. But we do not yet have a sufficiently consistent, landscape-scale baseline to answer some of the most fundamental conservation questions confidently. How many Cheetahs are there? Is the population stable, increasing or declining? How many cubs are surviving? How long do individuals live? Are Cheetahs making use of the wider landscape? And what threats are impacting the population? All these questions are imperative to answer if we want to properly conserve the Cheetah across the Greater Kruger.

Turning photographs into conservation action

The 2026/27 census aims to build on this history by bringing together new photographic submissions with historical photographs, camera-trap images, ranger records, existing monitoring data, and other available information. Individual Cheetahs will be identified using AI-assisted coat-pattern recognition, with manual verification where necessary.

The goal is not simply to produce another population estimate. We want to establish a reliable baseline for the Greater Kruger Cheetah population, understand how individuals move and survive across the landscape, identify important core population areas and potential connectivity routes, and improve our understanding of threats. This information can ultimately support more targeted threat reduction, better coordination between conservation areas, and adaptive management.

You can help

If you are visiting Greater Kruger landscape between 1 September 2026 and 31 August 2027, you can take part in the census.

If you see a Cheetah, take photographs from a safe and respectful distance. Where possible, photographs of both the left and right sides of the animal are especially valuable because they help us distinguish individuals accurately.

When submitting your sighting, please include:

The photographs of the Cheetah(s);
The date of the sighting;
The approximate location, GPS coordinates, road number, or nearest landmark;
The number of Cheetahs observed; and
Any additional observation.

Every photograph adds another piece to the puzzle. A single image may help identify an individual; repeated sightings can reveal movements and survival; and thousands of photographs collected over time can help us understand the population as a whole.

Your next cheetah sighting could help shape the future of Cheetah conservation in Greater Kruger: Every Spot Counts.

** This work is being done in partnership with SANParks. Funding is provided by DERTOUR Foundation and SANParks Honorary Rangers Fund with support from Ford Wildlife Foundation, SANParks Honorary Rangers and Tech4Conservation.

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Raptors in Decline: What One Researcher’s Roadside Observations Revealed

Raptors in Decline: What One Researcher’ s Roadside Observations Revealed

By Ronelle Visagie, Birds of Prey Unit

Left: Jackal Buzzards in Middelburg district. Right: Data tracking

A study of long-term road surveys undertaken by Ronelle Visagie, field officer in the Birds of Prey Unit, has been referenced in a new research report revealing widespread declines in South Africa’ s raptors and other large birds. Ronelle co-authored the report published by the University of Cape Town.

How did the survey come about? Here is Ronelle’ s story:

I was recently asked to share the story behind a study I co-authored that revealed widespread declines in raptor numbers across South Africa. The data behind the research came from an unexpected source: the many kilometres I’ ve driven while working for the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT).

My work involves a lot of time on the road. I regularly travel long distances to investigate power line incidents involving birds, and in 2019 I began monitoring 400 vulture nests in the Kalahari. From my home to Askam—where that fieldwork begins—is about 600 km. Much of the monitoring takes place along the Kuruman and Molopo Rivers and near Van Zylsrus. I’ ve also spent years travelling through the region for the Vulture Safe Zone project.

Because I often drove the same long routes, I started looking for something productive to do while travelling. I realised that I could record the raptors I saw along the roads. Using the CyberTracker app on my phone, I began logging every bird of prey I encountered. The system is simple and effective: it allows you to record the species, age class and behaviour of each bird, while automatically storing the GPS coordinates.

From that point on, every work trip became an opportunity to collect data. Whenever I drove anywhere, I recorded the raptors I saw along the way. I also noted roadkills, which can provide insight into wildlife populations and threats. Interestingly, I’ ve noticed that roadkills seem to have decreased over time, possibly because people increasingly collect them for food.

Over the years, the kilometres added up. Between 2009 and 2025, I drove over 500,000 km for my work with the EWT. Along the way, I built up a large dataset of roadside raptor observations.

A few years ago, I presented this dataset at the EWT’ s Birds of Prey Conference in Swadini, Limpopo. In the audience was Assistant Professor Arjun Amar from the University of Cape Town. After the talk, he approached me and asked whether one of his students, Santiago Zuluaga, could analyse the data and develop it into a scientific paper.

Red-necked Falcon in KNP and Secretary birds drinking water in the road

Left: Red-necked Falcon in KNP. Right: Secretary birds drinking water in the road

The results were sobering. The analysis showed that half of the raptor species I recorded had declined over the study period.

This matters because raptors play a critical role in ecosystems. They help regulate populations of animals such as rodents and dassies, preventing these species from becoming overly abundant. Vultures perform an equally essential service by removing carcasses from the landscape, helping to limit the spread of disease.

Some of the declines we observed are likely linked to human activities. In parts of the Northern Cape and Free State, certain raptors are persecuted because they occasionally catch chickens or lambs. Poisoning is also a growing threat, and unfortunately poisons are often easy to obtain. Owls appear to be particularly affected by this.

Addressing these challenges requires working with the people who share the landscape with these birds. When I travel through farming areas, I spend time talking with farmers to understand their concerns and look for ways to help reduce conflict. I also visit schools to talk to children about why raptors are important and the threats they face.

Studies like this help highlight the scale of the problem. Raptors are declining, and yet they provide vital services that keep ecosystems functioning. The more we understand these trends, the better we can work together to protect these remarkable birds.

The article can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2026.111764.

Left: Gabar Goshawk in KNP. Right: Pygmy Falcon in KNP

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Challenged by Dunes, Gates and Antbear Holes in the Kalahari: August 2020

Snippets from staff

Challenged by Dunes, Gates and Antbear Holes in the Kalahari: August 2020

Danielle du Toit, field officer, Birds of Prey unit

Kalahari fieldwork with EWT team

“This is not going so well,” Ronelle laughed. We were in the since-retired EWT Mazda with over 400 000km on the odometer, held together by cable ties and no 4×4. This isn’ t a problem unless you are halfway up a steep dune surrounded by thorny vegetation with no idea what’ s over the crest. I looked over at Ronelle, my grip on the ‘Oh Hell!’ handle above the window tightening. My first experience of fieldwork, and my mentor was laughing maniacally as my mind imagined becoming a permanent feature of this dune. The back wheels spun, whipping us to the side. Through my window, the thorn bushes approached far faster than any plant has the right to move. No sooner had I made peace with my impending doom than Ronelle took control once more, and we crested the dune. She was self-professed and categorically proved to be “her mother’ s wildest child”.

The next day, we found a Dorper lamb on the roadside being sized up by a murder of crows. With no sign of its mother, it would be dead within the hour. Catching the wobbly-legged creature was anything but graceful—like chasing a ping-pong ball that bounces away every time you try to grab it. Ronelle said there was a farm gate up the road where we could turn in to go to the homestead. Upon arrival, the two–two-metre-high double gate was locked, and the house was over the hill, a fair distance away. I offered to climb over and take it there, and Ronelle would hold the lamb until I was over. No stranger to clambering over gates, I hooked my toe into the wire netting and pulled myself up.

What proceeded, however, was the most humiliating performance I have ever given. The two gates, similar to double doors, were held together by a loosely looped chain with a lock on it. What this led to was an act of physical comedy I couldn’ t script if I tried. Every move I made sent both gates flapping wildly. It was like riding a mechanical bull after a few beers. The harder I tried to climb, the more the gate fought back. My legs shook, which only seemed to fuel the demon-possessed thing even more. I landed on the other side with weak knees, exhausted. Ronelle slipped the lamb through the gap.

Feeling like Little Bo-Peep after a few rounds with Mike Tyson, I started up the hill. I don’ t doubt that the lamb looked at me, concerned with who was going to end up saving who. When I arrived at the house, I was panting, thirsty, sweaty and smelling like livestock. Following the noise coming from the shed, I found a group of workers. When they spotted me, terror flickered in their eyes. To be fair, I looked like something out of a fever dream: a sweaty white woman clutching a lamb, hair like I’ d run through a bush backwards, and black lamb excrement smeared up my arm. Between pants and questionable Afrikaans, I explained how I’ d ended up there. I held out the lamb, but the group stepped back in unison. Repulsed by the smell? Or, baffled by my mangled grammar, assumed witchcraft? One man elbowed a younger guy forward. He crept up, snatched the lamb from my arms, and hurried back to safety. I thanked them; they nodded, still looking bewildered, and left. Aware that Ronelle had been waiting, I began to run. By the time I reached the devil gate again, my lungs hated me, and the only thing that got me through the satirical repeat performance of climbing over the gate was pride.

vehicle stuck in Kalahari antbear hole

Later that week, we set out to monitor White-backed Vulture nests. Ronelle went off the beaten track, navigating her way through bushes and avoiding antbear holes. On our way back, she reversed carefully to avoid the thorny branches behind us, but only remembered the antbear holes when we found ourselves chassis deep in one. Attempting the normal way of getting unstuck: She reversed slightly, quickly changed into first gear, swung the steering, and gunned the gas but that only served to deepen the hole we were in. From the canopy, she pulled out a plank, a spade, textured plastic slats and a 4-ton jack.

More than an hour later, having tried everything short of lifting the vehicle out with our bare hands, we were no closer to getting out than when we started. We thought we had solved the issue when we saw that the undercarriage was resting on a sizable bush, assuming that was what was preventing movement. Leatherman in hand, I wiggled under the vehicle and cut away at the branches. When that failed, I attacked it with the spade. By the time I crawled out, I had sand in my sinuses, thorns in my hands, and the vague sense I’ d lost my dignity under there. Ronelle kept laying brush for traction, and we tried again with no luck. I suggested calling the farmer for help. Ronelle—strong-willed and allergic to asking for assistance—cracked on.

I gave up on trying to impress her, leaned against the car, and picked thorns out of my hands. It took another hour before she relented. She made the call, and our cavalry arrived in the form of three farm workers and a Datsun bakkie that had survived the 1980s by sheer spite. They had us out in minutes, moving with the ease of people who’ d done this many times before. Our earlier efforts looked embarrassingly futile.

Through the dune bashing, tangoing with farm gates and attempting the dig to China, the Kalahari blessed us with the opportunity to experience it most truly and live to tell the tale. When I remember the Kalahari, I remember seemingly impossible challenges that we overcame with laughter and blind determination and it is a lesson that I have taken with me five years down the line.

EWT field officer navigating Kalahari dunes

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Counting Lions: EWT Surveys Decline in Kruger’ s Northern Pride

By Marnus Roodbol

Juvenile Lion – KNP. Image by M Roodbol

The Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTFCA), which includes Kruger National Park, in South Africa, and Limpopo National Park, in Mozambique, is one of the last ten Lion strongholds in Africa. While these strongholds occur in formally protected areas and contain a stable or increasing population, indications are that the lion population in the northern reaches of the Kruger National Park are declining because of targeted poisonings and poaching.

In partnership with SANParks and the Lion Recovery Fund, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) has been monitoring lions across the landscape to understand their movements, habitat use and what measures are needed to alleviate threats to the iconic species.

From 17 September to 1 December 2023, a team from the EWT conducted a lion population survey in the Nxanatseni north region of the Kruger National Park. Spanning 5162 square kilometres, the area spanned the Pafuri, Vlakteplaas, Punda Maria, Shangoni, Woodlands and Shingwedzi sections of the Park.

Two field protocols – search encounter and camera traps – were used to collect data. These were designed to obtain high quality photographs that the team could zoom into and be able to individually identify lions through their unique whisker spots. All photographs taken of lions were inspected to try and identify individuals roaming the area.

Because it is not feasible to find every lion in the landscape, methods were used enabling the team to estimate the number of lions based on a sample of that population. To do this, advanced spatial capture-recapture models that are widely used for large carnivores globally were used. Due to the fact that lions less than one year old tend to suffer high mortality, they were excluded from the analysis.

Results

The EWT team drove 10,006 km and deployed camera traps for 2,684 trap nights over the survey period. Using the combined dataset, it was estimated that there were 105 lions in Nxanatseni North.

Our survey represents the fifth estimate of lions in the Nxanatseni North region of Kruger: In 2005, a call-up survey estimated 283 lions; a 2008 call-up survey with reduced sampling estimated 75 lions; the 2005 survey was replicated in 2015 and estimated a population of 119 lions and in 2023, the estimate was 122 lions. The EWT’ s estimate of 105 lions is similar to the latter two surveys.

All were conducted in the same region and are estimates of lions over the age of one year. This represents a possible 63% decline over the 18 years separating the surveys. The precise reasons for this have not been investigated, but anecdotal evidence suggests that there has been an increase in targeted poaching of lions, coupled with increased levels of general bushmeat poaching.

Our results show that lion density is lowest in the Pafuri and Punda Maria sections, areas that are thought to suffer from relatively high levels of snaring, poisoning, and general poaching.

The results also provide a clear signal that distance to water is an important factor explaining the variation in lion density across the landscape. Lion density was highest close to water. In recent times, artificial waterholes have been switched off in Kruger National Park, and this will likely have had an impact on lion numbers in the Nxanatseni North region, which has a semi-arid climate. Worth noting is that while lions are not dependent on water, their primary prey species typically are.

Conservation approaches typically encompass a range of approaches aimed at safeguarding their habitats, mitigating human-lion conflicts, combating poaching and illicit wildlife trade, and fostering harmonious coexistence between lions and local communities.

Identifying trends in lion numbers and demographics remains crucial for their conservation, as is investigating the factors that drive those trends.

We recommend that future conservation efforts are coupled with regular population monitoring in this region to inform conservation actions and assess their effectiveness, taking an adaptive management approach.

** The EWT would like to thank SA National Parks for permission of carry out the survey, AHA Hotels and Lodges for their logistical support and the Lion Recovery Fund for their generous support.

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