Dear All,
Volunteer research assistants are needed to participate in an elephant research
and conservation
education project, in Tanzania. Responsibilities will include helping to
develop a database of
individual elephants residing in Ruaha National Park, through monitoring and
ID. Additionally,
volunteers will spend time accompanying local villagers into the park and will
use various
techniques, including surveys, to help measure the effects of these visits on
local peoples
perceptions of wildlife. Ruaha is the largest National Park in Tanzania and
represents one of the
countrys most biologically rich and ecologically important regions. Visitors
can expect to closely
observe elephant, lion, hippo, giraffe, zebra, impala, and sometimes also
cheetah and leopard, as
well as a great variety of birds and other small mammals.
Volunteers working on the project will also be asked to commit some of their
time to volunteering in
local schools, to teach students about wildlife and conservation. There is
opportunity to teach
additional subjects as well, if it is of interest to the volunteer. Additional
responsibilities vary
according to shifting program needs, but may include helping to build fences
modified to deter
elephants from raiding local farms, helping to produce films in local villages
on elephant ecology
and conservation, and/or helping with the development of our newly constructed
village library.
This work represents a unique opportunity to gain invaluable experience living
and working in rural
East Africa on an elephant research and conservation project. To learn more
about this opportunity
and how to apply, please visit our website at
http://thewildlifeconnection.org/?page_id=394
Thank you,
Sarah Maisonneuve
