World Wildlife Fund

Robin Naidoo
© Greg Stuart-Hill, WWF-LIFE

Robin Naidoo, a conservation scientist in WWF's Conservation Science program, returned from two weeks in the wilderness of Namibia's Caprivi Strip - a long, narrow band of Namibia that runs east-west between Botswana, Angola and Zambia. Get a first-person account of what it takes to capture, collar and release large African mammals - including buffalo, sable and impala. Read about his near-misses, helicopter chases and other adventures in conservation science.

Part 10: Homecoming

Buffalos have few natural predators, and can even defend themselves against lion attacks.
© WWF / Robin Naidoo

We're all quite tired after an intense few days of working, but very satisfied as we head our separate ways. It's hard to believe that we darted 50 buffalo and attached collars to 19 of them, in just 10 days. Of the 19 collars, 10 of them are GPS and once I get home it will be exciting to see the movement data coming in every week from the web. The restored populations of these animals are the fruits of 15 years of collaborations between WWF and organizations like the Namibia Ministry of Environment and Tourism, its Integrated Community-Based Ecosystem Management project and locally managed conservancies.

In Namibia, conservation is a national priority.
© WWF / Robin Naidoo

Buffalo are renowned among African hunters as being the most dangerous of big game animals to hunt, and so we are quite fortunate that no one was injured in the capture operation. More importantly, we are now well on our way to a better understanding of how and why animals move across a landscape like the Caprivi Strip. With its commitment to ensuring that people and wildlife continue to coexist together, Namibia is truly a wonderful country in which to do conservation work, and I have been exceptionally lucky to have played a small part in this work over the last few weeks.