Despite global lockdowns, critical elephant research is still taking place. For those of you who are missing the African bush and new adventures, you can get front row seats (from the comfort of your home) to a unique live conservation experience. Witness the Blue Sky Society team along with the professionals from Elephants Alive and wildlife vets in action as they track, immobilize and fit a collar on two of Elephants Alive’s iconic elephants in the Hoedspruit area.
Viewers will be able to see how things roll out on the ground, while being able to interact and ask the wildlife vets questions in real-time. This is a first for Blue Sky Society Trust, and a truly exciting opportunity to bring these conservation efforts to the world!
Watch a video from a collaring done pre-lock down here:
Elephant collaring has many purposes, including:
Scientific research: The collars track the elephants’ movement across borders, allowing scientists to monitor the animals’ migration routes and habits. This information it critical in determining the best way to protect these animals.
Preventing conflict: Human-wildlife conflict is an age-old dilemma. The collars provide critical data that helps both humans and elephants live in harmony, while also enabling rangers to intervene when the elephants head towards dangerous territories, or if they have been injured or stationary for too long.
Influencing policy: Three countries make up the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area. Data gathered from the elephant collars will be channelled to key policy- and decision-makers in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and will facilitate greater cross-border collaboration.
Date: Saturday, 8 August 2020
Time: 08h00 to 11h00 (first collaring), and 14h30 to 17h00 (second collaring) South African Time (UTC+2)
Tickets: Click here to buy a ticket. Each ticket is for one device (i.e. a whole family can watch the video) and allows you to watch both collarings.
Donate: If you would prefer to simply make a donation of your own amount, please use the ticket link and select the donation option on the ticketing page.
Share The Love: Spread the word about this event and its conservation efforts via Facebook & Instagram.
**PLEASE NOTE that this is a Blue Sky Society Trust fundraising initiative. To collar elephants is not an easy or cheap task, but is very necessary. Each collar costs approximately R 90 000, which includes 2 years data. Additional expenses include the wildlife vet, filming, marketing, helicopter expenses and administration. Blue Sky Society Trust aims to raise enough funds to collar three elephants and assist a few rural communities in the area with food parcels in this time of devastation in the world.
