Chester University’s Samantha Hollick talks about her time volunteering on the Predator Sanctuary Project in, South Africa
After a week volunteering at the Predator Sanctuary project I was offered the opportunity to go and volunteer at the local penguin rehabilitation centre as I had expressed an interest in the rehabilitation of wild animals which was quite a privilege. However this meant that twice a day, for an hour each time I would be away from The Predator Sanctuary project, when I had only really just started getting to know everyone and everything.
At first I didn’t want to miss out by doing other things. However when I looked back I saw it as an opportunity and another way to expand my knowledge and get the most from my time in South Africa. It has been great for me and really encouraged me to become involved in different things, driving me to work hard everywhere I am. From that experience I also made the commitment to volunteer at the penguins’ everyday and now volunteer once a week at the local vets and at all three placements I try to give 100%. I’m no longer afraid to leave for few hours a day, and know I’m gaining valuable experience with big cats such as lions and tigers to baby penguins and sick seabirds to normal cats and dogs.
I have been shown my efforts have been recognised as I have been asked to be UK ambassador for the penguin sanctuary in a thank you letter, and asked to come back and volunteer with them again. My effort at The Predator Sanctuary project was also recognised on several occasions, from one of the guides to Jurg and Karen’s overall comments about my stay with them. Part of the job at The Predator Sanctuary project for the guides is going to farms to collect meat for the animals at The Predator Sanctuary project, this means slaughtering calves and cows. At first I didn’t want anything to do with this and felt uncomfortable with the whole idea of being involved. I went with one of the guides, waiting in the truck while one of the farm workers slaughtered the calves and loaded them into the truck.
While waiting for the car to be loaded I took the opportunity to be positive and try to learn from the situation and talked to the guide to get more information on what we were doing, how she coped, why we did in this way, how much we needed, etc. I had only looking at it from the animal’s point of view being slaughtered, when there was a positive side, without this meat all the animals at The Predator Sanctuary project would die and when bearing this in mind the task became doable. So I used the task as a learning opportunity and if I had refused to go I wouldn’t have developed this understanding that is necessary when working at The Predator Sanctuary project or any zoo. It may have also affected my feelings in the future during the feedings tours when the meat is given out and made that a negative experience.
The situation made me more accepting and more aware of how to deal with new and sometimes difficult situations. Showing if I can keep the positive side of things in mind, hard tasks become possible. It has also been nice being surrounded by people who all look at the optimistic side of things and this has really influenced me too. In future I always want to be able to actively look for the positive side to tasks that at first seem difficult or challenging and I have been complimented for just that! As time went on I began to feel more comfortable and became more confident within the group, making more conversations, asking more questions and trying to get to know them more. I really made an effort to involve myself when the group went out for meals or had movie nights in the house we stayed in, not staying alone in my room unless I had work to do and explaining this to them so they could see I was trying with them . They now they call me family and treat me just like anyone of them.
At the penguins its normally a different worker every other day and at the veterinary surgery at first it was all new people for me but I now feel confident at socialising and fitting-in in a new group. My confidence in the animals I’m working with has really grown, I came in as a novice not really knowing a lot about the animals and now I am trusted to walk with the cheetah alone every day. I get given my own tasks with each animal that I am trusted to carry out alone and can now look after the baby jaguar by myself. I am confident enough to add to the frequent animal conversations and the meetings we have once a week at about animal management and any planned tasks.I have also become more confident in problem solving and challenges. At first when given tasks or challenges I felt under pressure and didn’t want to fail.
Every night the guides and I walk with the two white Bengal tigers, moving them from their outdoor enclosure to their smaller indoor enclosure. I was then given the privilege to give out the treats through the fence to them while the harnesses were being put on. I was doing this for the second time and walking very close to Angelo, the male Bengal tiger when moving him across the predator park to his night enclosure. However on this particular evening, after 3 weeks of both tigers being well behaved and walking easily with the guides and me, Angelo started to become difficult to handle. The owner Jurg walked with us and was close by to give assistance, instead of taking over he calmed everybody and kept the situation under control. Instead of panicking, running or even backing off I remained calm and gave Jurg the treat bucket and the lid when asked, immediately and smoothly.
Staying calm and having an experienced animal handler with us (Jurg) helped in keeping everybody focussed on the task at hand. I kept up with group, giving treats when needed, and Angelo walked to his night shelter without further incident. Afterwards a huge sigh of relief and a quick discussion of the events, why and how did it happen to ensure it does not happen again? This event will stay with me because firstly it shocked me into realising even after 3 weeks walking every morning and every night with this animals something could always go wrong and it is a very dangerous situation to be in.
Roger Wynne-Dyke spent his twenties traveling and working in 20 different countries before settling back down in his home country of South Africa. Originally from Cape Town, Roger wanted to experience the world before anything else and through a keenness for traveling, new cultures and people.
Roger is the co-founder of EDGE or AFRICA with Dayne Davey, a volunteer organization which combines visiting the breathtaking, malaria-free Garden Route with authentic African volunteering – offering safe, sustainable projects that are actually making a tangible difference in people’s lives.
