News

Our first volunteers

May 13, 2024

ERT’s team is flourishing with remarkable individuals who are instrumental in advancing our research objectives and beyond. Its been a delight having our first field volunteers, Freya and Immy, form a part of the team.

Freya Bellew and Imogen Vieten, filled with passion and skill, travelled from the UK to lend their support as volunteers to our field research collection. Their dedication shines through as they diligently gather data on elephant behaviour for our Greater Welfare Research Project, spanning various sites throughout South Africa.

Beyond their adeptness in research, they also excel in disseminating their knowledge and experiences to guides, guests, and fellow volunteer coordinators during game drives and reserve programs. Their efforts in raising awareness about elephant welfare within fenced reserves is great to see.

We take immense pride in showcasing our breathtaking landscapes and elephant populations residing across wildlife reserves we’re privileged to research on. We eagerly look forward to promising developments the future will bring.

We are bringing a remarkable chapter of a successful rewilding story to a close

2025 marks the 10th anniversary of our incredible story of the rewilded African elephant on !Khamab Kalahari reserve. We will be celebrating this success story by removing the GPS collars

New project: Understanding elephant well-being in National Parks in South Africa

We begin our study looking at the interactions between tourists and elephants in National parks in an effort to understand the rise in reported incidences of human elephant conflict instances.

ERT presents at the PAWS (Performing Animal Welfare Society) conference in Los Angeles

The conference provided an opportunity to highlight some valuable findings that we have noted over the last 5 years of studying these elephants, reiterating elephants don't thrive in captivity and

Publication: ERT continues to debunk misconceptions regarding elephants in captivity

Publication on our research on the welfare of Rewilded Elephants in South Africa. The study explores how elephants’ behavioural repertoires and frequencies change throughout a reintegration operation in comparison to

Publication: Rewilding-proof of success!

Our study on the movement patterns of two rewilded herds has continued to amaze us. This study underpins the potential of captive elephants to successfully adapt to a free-living

Sibuya Game Reserve Joins our GWRP

Researching a new elephant population in the Eastern Cape gives us the opportunity to continue learning more about the unique behavioural cultures present in each reserve.

Study of epigenetics of African elephants.

With the support of Humane World for Animals, we are collaborating to understand the effect of large impact events on the epigenetics (the study of how the environment and lifestyle

New calves, new beginnings

Since 2021, the Reintegrated herd on !Khamab Kalahari Reserve welcomed one new calf in 2021 and the Wild herd was blessed with two new calves in 2023. These two herds

GPS collared study animals continue to give us insight into elephant movements

Throughout the course of 2022-2023, we have collared seven elephants and continue to monitor them. Movement patterns of elephants on fenced reserves forms an essential part of our long-term research

Harry and Layla got new accessories.

We were privileged enough to replace Harry and Layla’s collars on Mount Camdeboo with the generous support from Humane World for Animals. This was a very important operation as we