Mthimkulu
Wildlife Research
Center
Where classrooms meet the
wild.
4.7/5
4.9/5
Operated by
African Impact
Est. 2004 · 20+ years in field
conservation
Recognition
Be part of rewilding the Greater Kruger
We’re restoring a stretch of land within the Greater Kruger National Park and we’re actively recruiting university groups, school groups, and individuals to contribute to it. Participants join research projects and fieldwork, like wildlife counts and camera-trap surveys, habitat and vegetation assessments, and tracking data that feeds directly into how we manage the reserve day to day.
University research groups, school expeditions, and independent placements all contribute to the same program, and every placement leaves behind a data record that outlasts the trip.
A landscape in recovery
Mthimkulu Game Reserve, part of the Greater Kruger National Park, carries a documented history of poaching pressure, overgrazing, and years without any systematic management.
We’re running an ecological restoration and wildlife conservation program to help bring it back to where it once thrived, with healthy wildlife populations and a functioning ecosystem. Each season adds to the longitudinal record and ecological baseline that shapes how the land is managed going forward.
6,500
ha
Big 5
Species present — lions, leopards, elephants, rhino, buffalo
9
Rewilding landscape contiguous with Kruger National Park
From the field
Research
Why long-term monitoring matters
Explore the research verticals at Mthimkulu and the questions the team is working to answer through consistent field monitoring.
Life at the Reserve
The people and places behind the field station
A journal of camp life, reserve partnerships, and the practical work that supports conservation in the Greater Kruger.
Academically rigorous by design
Every program combines structured field learning with active conservation research. University cohorts, school groups, and individual volunteers follow robust field protocols, collect meaningful data, and learn from experienced conservation professionals.
Longitudinal datasets submitted to reserve management following each cohort.
Field methodologies designed and supervised by qualified ecologists.
Compliance with relevant South African environmental and conservation legislation, including NEMA, NEMBA and CARA.
Learning is reinforced through expert-led sessions, guided reflection, and practical application.
Programs are adapted for university cohorts, school groups, and individual participants.
