Inaugural Rhino Rewild (Kristi)

Rhino Rewilding – Inception Field Operations

south africa

Rooiberg, South Africa

August 16 - 23, 2026

$XXXX USD

Be part of the beginning of one of Africa’s most ambitious conservation efforts.

Protect one of the world's largest populations of horned rhinos.

Join Dr Kristi Crow and the Rooiberg–Waterberg Rhino Project team for a rare opportunity to step inside one of South Africa's most exciting rhino conservation initiatives at the very beginning of its journey.

This landscape recently received rhinos through African Parks' Rhino Rewild initiative, helping establish a growing founder population in the Rooiberg-Waterberg region. Now comes the critical next chapter: securing their future.

Unlike many rhino populations across southern Africa, these animals still carry their horns. Through advanced tracking technology, ranger support and landscape-scale conservation planning, this project is helping protect one of the world's largest populations of horned rhinos while creating the conditions for the population to grow.

As part of this inaugural mission, you'll become part of the team helping safeguard these rhinos, including the immobilisation and placement of critical monitoring collars and the expansion of a landscape-scale wildlife telemetry network through the establishment of LoRa towers and real-time monitoring systems.

Highlights include:

Participate in the immobilization and collaring of white rhinos and critically endangered black rhinos
Work alongside an experienced humanitarian field doctor to deliver practical wilderness first aid training for local rangers working on the conservation frontline
Learn how GPS collars, LoRa towers and real-time wildlife tracking are helping protect one of the world's largest populations of horned rhinos across a vast connected landscape
Work against the backdrop of the spectacular Marataba wilderness, one of South Africa's most iconic conservation landscapes, nestled in the heart of the Waterberg Mountains
Gain rare access to a leopard habituation and monitoring program
Work directly with the veterinarians, rangers and conservation leaders helping secure the future of this growing rhino population

This is a chance to contribute to conservation at a pivotal moment – not after success has been achieved, but while it is still being built.

$xxxxx USD

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* By booking a trip with The Global Protagonists, you confirm your acceptance of the terms and conditions outlined in this document .

A NEW RHINO STRONGHOLD, IN PROGRESS

Rooiberg–Waterberg is not a finished conservation site. It is a landscape where a new rhino stronghold is actively being established.

Just two years ago, this area was not equipped to protect rhinos at scale. Today, 54 rhinos live here – including 32 translocated in November 2025 through African Parks' Rhino Rewild initiative – because the infrastructure, partnerships and protection systems were put in place first.

Rooiberg–Waterberg has been identified as a long-term receiving landscape within African Parks' Rhino Rewild initiative, a continent-wide effort to establish new, secure populations of rhinos and reduce extinction risk by spreading animals across suitable protected landscapes.

The first rhinos have now arrived. The next phase is securing the population already on the ground.

Over the past two years, conservation teams have established monitoring systems, security networks and wildlife telemetry infrastructure across the landscape. The work now underway focuses on ensuring every rhino can be effectively monitored and protected as the population grows.

This includes the deployment of GPS collars, expansion of the LoRa telemetry network, ongoing veterinary oversight and continued investment in the people and systems responsible for protecting these animals.

Global Protagonists is bringing small field teams into Rooiberg during this exact phase – not once the work is complete, but while critical conservation actions are still being implemented.

This is conservation before the outcome is guaranteed.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

Participants are embedded directly into active conservation operations during a critical phase of the Rooiberg–Waterberg Rhino Project. Working alongside wildlife veterinarians, conservationists, rangers and monitoring teams, you'll contribute to the real-world work required to secure this growing rhino population.

In practice, this includes:

Assisting with the immobilization, collaring and monitoring of white rhinos and critically endangered black rhinos
Participating in veterinary procedures and field operations alongside experienced wildlife veterinarians
Learning how GPS collars, LoRa towers and wildlife telemetry systems are used to monitor rhinos across a vast connected landscape
Supporting the expansion of the monitoring infrastructure helping protect rhinos in real time
Working alongside an experienced humanitarian field doctor to deliver practical wilderness first aid training for frontline rangers
Accompanying conservation teams in the field to better understand wildlife monitoring, security operations and population management
Gaining rare access to a leopard habituation and monitoring program
Working directly with the people responsible for securing the future of this landscape, from veterinarians and ecologists to rangers and reserve managers

This is not conservation tourism. This is an active field operation.

No prior wildlife experience is required – only curiosity, humility, adaptability and a willingness to contribute wherever needed.

WHO IS THIS FOR

This field operation is designed for people who want real access and meaningful involvement in conservation as it’s happening.

It’s for those who are comfortable stepping into complex, real-world work, asking thoughtful questions, and contributing where it genuinely matters. You don’t need a background in wildlife or conservation, but you do need curiosity, humility, and respect for the animals and people doing this work every day.

This experience is a good fit if you’re drawn to:

Real access
Transparency in how conservation decisions are made and funded
Hands-on involvement in outcomes that matter
Understanding how wildlife protection actually works on the ground

It’s not designed for spectators, bucket-list travel, or people looking for a polished wildlife experience.

This is participation at the point of consequence.

PROGRESS TO DATE - AND WHAT REMAINS

So far, the project has delivered:

3 LoRa monitoring towers installed across the landscape
5 rhinos collared and actively monitored
32 rhinos successfully translocated
22 resident rhinos integrated into the system
54 rhinos now forming a viable nucleus population

The site is now formally recognised as a rewilding landscape under African Parks’ standards.

The next phase is clear: collaring every rhino and completing the monitoring network. This is the final step required to secure long-term protection and enable the population to scale safely.

WHY EARLY INVOLVEMENT MATTERS

Most people encounter conservation once systems are complete and outcomes are secure.

This is earlier than that.

Participants are stepping into a newly established rhino population, a monitoring network still being completed, and a phase where long-term outcomes are either locked in or left vulnerable.

At this stage, involvement has disproportionate impact, and the work done here will inform how rhino rewilding is approached elsewhere across Africa.

OWNERSHIP & LEGACY

Those involved at this stage are not simply participants.

They are:

Foundational supporters of a new rhino population
Part of the group that helped move the project from approval to permanence
Directly linked to animals, systems, and outcomes that will persist for decades

As the population grows, this group represents the people who were there at the beginning – when it still mattered most.

INCLUSIONS & EXCLUSIONS

Includes: All accommodation, meals, in-country transport, field activities, safari, dedicated group leader, and end-of-mission Impact Report.

Excludes: International flights and personal travel insurance

TRAVEL, ACCOMODATION AND LOGISTICS

Rooiberg–Waterberg is located in South Africa’s Limpopo province, within the broader Waterberg region — a vast, rugged conservation landscape north of Johannesburg that remains largely untouched and quietly spectacular.

This is not a well-trodden safari circuit. It’s an off-the-beaten-track part of South Africa, defined by wide open space, ancient mountains, big skies, and a sense of scale that’s hard to describe until you’re in it.

Most participants will fly into O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. You’ll be met on arrival by the Global Protagonists team, and the group will travel together by road to Rooiberg–Waterberg.

The drive typically takes around 3.5–4.5 hours, depending on conditions, and forms part of the transition from city to field. Travelling together allows time to brief the group, align expectations, and gradually shift gears into the work ahead.

Accommodation during the field phase is on an active reserve, surrounded by wildlife and close to where the work is happening. It is simple, comfortable, and purposeful — prioritising access, proximity, and immersion over luxury. You should expect to be staying in a living, breathing conservation landscape, where animals move freely around you and nights are quiet, dark, and expansive.

All dietary requirements can be accommodated, and full details on accommodation, meeting points, packing guidance, and pre-departure logistics will be provided upon sign-up.

This is a working environment, and flexibility is essential. Plans may shift in response to weather, animal movements, or operational needs — which is exactly what real conservation looks like.

MISSION LEADERS

This mission is led by an experienced international team of veterinarians and conservation practitioners who work directly on the frontlines of wildlife protection. Together, they bring expertise in wildlife medicine, field operations, conservation strategy, and capacity building – ensuring participants are embedded in real conservation work alongside the professionals protecting these animals every day.

Dr Andy Fraser

Dr Andy Fraser is a South African wildlife veterinarian, founder of Rooiberg Veterinary Services, a member of the South African Veterinary Council, and Director of the Cheetah Metapopulation Initiative.

His work spans wildlife medicine, conservation management, rhino collaring, dehorning and translocations, wildlife monitoring, anti-poaching initiatives, and the development of conservation landscapes across southern Africa. Through the Rooiberg–Waterberg Rhino Conservation Initiative, Andy helps coordinate efforts to strengthen and expand rhino populations across the region, supporting one of the continent's most important conservation success stories.

Andy has played a central role in preparing the Rooiberg–Waterberg landscape alongside Global Protagonists to receive rhinos through African Parks' Rhino Rewild initiative and continues to lead the effort to secure and grow this population through veterinary oversight, wildlife telemetry, and landscape-scale conservation planning.

Dr. Kristi Crow

A vet with a vision — Dr. Kristi Crow is dedicated to bridging the gap between clinical care and the wild. She’s traveled across Africa and Asia, from collaring elephants to rhino conservation, and now leads expeditions that let people experience real-world conservation impact firsthand. Through her fieldwork and storytelling, Dr. Crow inspires others to get involved and take action, whether it's for the animals, the people, or the planet.

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This is how rewilding begins

Across Africa, the Rhino Rewild initiative is quietly changing what rhino conservation looks like – shifting the focus from rescue to rebuilding, and from crisis response to long-term protection.

Rooiberg is one of the landscapes where that shift is happening now, with the foundations of a new population being laid in real time.

If you want to be part of conservation while it is still being shaped, rather than looking back once the story is finished, this is that moment.

This is not about seeing conservation. It is about being part of its beginning.

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