Student Programme

Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre (HESC) offers people between the ages of 18 and 35 years the opportunity to experience the Centre in an intensive and hands-on 21-day programme.
It is divided into three main sections: Participation, Conservation and Sight Seeing.

The main focus of the programme is on the cheetah, and throughout their stay participants are involved in the everyday care of these magnificent animals. This includes cleaning, feeding, and where required, assisting with or observing any veterinary activities that may occur during their stay. These same activities also apply to other species being cared for at the Centre. Click here to read more.

New Intake: 13th September – 3rd October 2011

A warm welcome to our new batch of students. All two of them! They’re only alone for this week though, as there’ll be another two joining us after the weekend. At least the weather is warming up nicely, so those early morning wake-up calls won’t seem that bad!

Hi, I’m Sarah Jenner. I’m 24 years old and I come from London, U.K. I’e worked as a veterinary nurse for four years and also spent time working in a small animal clinic. I’m keen to learn about larger animals and conservation.

Hi there, I’m Vicky Gale. I’m 25 years old and come from Bristol, also in the U.K. I’m a qualified history teacher, but have decided to take a break from this to pursue my interest in animal conservation.  My main goal is to get into environmental education.

New arrivals: 20th September – 3rd October 2011

Ingrid and Wilfried Schlegel joined us for the final two weeks of the current programme. These German ex-pats currently live in the USA, and have taken time out from their busy traveling schedule to at work at HESC. They say they’re really excited about being here as they are both very passionate about animals.

Greetings from Africa 😉