Timbavati Private Nature Reserve (TPNR) employs only strong, well-trained and dedicated men and women who have passed a stringent selection process. Our rangers put their lives on the line by patrolling and protecting our wildlife & natural heritage.

Field rangers have been successfully equipped with state-of-the-art equipment thanks to donors which has supported their very successful fight against rhino poaching and wildlife crime. 

In addition to boots on the ground, the TPNR has a central control room which operators 24 hours, 7 days a week and 365 days of the year, ensuring that the reserve is monitored and at every moment. This central control room not only is a communication point for the entire reserve but also monitors visible and hidden cameras which are scattered throughout the TPNR.

The TPNR encourages your support for our anti-poaching efforts, read further to see how you can make a difference to our wildlife and their guardians.

Timbavati Traverse

SAVE THE DATE: 21 SEPTEMBER 2024

"With the Wildlife, For the Wildlife"

With such huge successes of the 2023 event, we are thrilled to once again be hosting another tough ultra-marathon run and comfortable half-marathon run and walk within the beautiful Timbavati Private Nature Reserve. 53 000ha of pristine wilderness which boasts great sightings of wildlife as well as home to the big five.

This year runners & walkers alike will not only be running to help protect Timbavati’s wildlife and their guardians but also to raise funds to support The Timbavati Foundation which does incredible work for the Timbavati’s neighbouring rural communities.

Only 40 running spots and 20 walking spots are available so secure your spot before it is too late.

• R10 000 per Ultra-marathon runner
• R 8 000 per Half-marathon runner
• R 8 000 per Half-marathon walker

Loads to look forward to once again!

We hope to see you in 2024 for this exciting event!

Check out the website to book your spot - TIMBAVATI TRAVERSE

Watch & read our highlights from the 2023 event:

TWPP/Rhino Anti-Poaching Unit

The Timbavati Wildlife Protection Programme’s anti-rhino poaching initiative is focused on effectively detecting and deterring incursions. We thank our continued supporters who make it possible for us to save our wildlife. The TPNR now has a fully functional 24/7 operations control room that monitors and scans the reserve day and night. Technology includes CCTV cameras along the perimeter boundaries as well as full surveillance of all our gates. 

Ever wondered what it is like to be a field ranger? Why not watch this video clip: “Heart of a Ranger”.

CANINE HEROES

The Timbavati stretches 40kms from North to South and 24kms from East to West. Ensuring that the fauna and flora of this vast area enjoy protection from the ever-increasing demand for certain species, mainly from eastern countries is an expensive and dangerous job.

It’s a job that demands high levels of training, dedication, equipping and commitment.

To this end, the reserve employs a force of highly trained men and women, who have passed a stringent selection process.

Each day, this force literally put their lives on the line by protecting and patrolling the reserve. Poachers are heavily armed with weapons and use them without any discretion. 

Dodging bullets, deterring poachers and avoiding black mambas: it’s all in a day’s work for these canines of the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve. 

Currently the Timbavati has five highly skilled & trained dogs; some are German Shepherds, and some Malinois, a Belgian breed. All the TPNR Canines are trained to track humans, and their responsibility is to help detect and track down rhino poachers who may enter the reserve. Each of the dogs has undertaken rigorous, sophisticated training lasting altogether one and a half years. Their handlers act in unison with their dogs as a team to take a stand against rhino poaching; They have trained extensively together to learn to search for suspects in open areas and in buildings, attack suspects on-leash at close quarters as well as tracking and apprehension of a suspect over long distances.  The most important training of all ensures that dog and handler can work as an effective team. Instilling a bond & creating that lifetime friendship and working relationship which is vitally important for their work and in the end, they become virtually inseparable.

Here are our current Canine Rangers:

Giving Akhal and his canine partners the upkeep, nutrition and training they need to protect our wildlife, comes at a price. His food alone costs about R40 000.00 a year; fortunately, with the kind support of ProVet Wildlife Services, all dog food is donated to keep these working dogs in peak condition.  

If you’d like to sponsor Akhal or any one of his workmates, or just make a general donation towards their upkeep, please follow the link  - Timbavati Canine Ranger Campaign

OUR SUPPORTERS & DONORS

A big thank you to our faithful donors and sponsors who make our work possible: