vision and mission academy_original.pdf · cathsseta and the national department of education do...

Tracker Academy

Division of SA College for Tourism

049 – 892 2244 or 082 921 9574

Email: [email protected]

The Tracker Academy is a division of the SA College for Tourism which operates under the auspices of

the Peace Parks Foundation. Samara and Londolozi game reserves have made their land and facilities

available to the Academy free of charge for training purposes. Our one year full-time intensive tracking

course, lead by three highly experienced trainers, is the first school of its kind in southern Africa. The

course focuses on developing the traditional skills of tracking amongst rural people who live adjacent to

wildlife areas in the country.

Some 88% of our tracker graduates have found permanent employment.

VISION and MISSION The Tracker Academy’s overarching vision is to restore indigenous knowledge in Africa.

We aim to empower our tracker graduates to become ambassadors for the African wildlife industry by

bringing authenticity and accuracy to environmental education, wildlife protection, eco-tourism,

monitoring and research.

It is our absolute focus to continually improve the standards of our training and the related

achievements of our graduates.

The Academy places much importance on the life skills of our students; their ability to conduct

themselves in a professional, respectful and enthusiastic manner is particularly significant to us.

We aim to create a culture of curiosity among our students by

constantly encouraging them to question and learn new aspects of

tracking, and therefore to advance tracking as a profession.

The Tracker Academy aims to contribute significantly to the current

knowledge of tracking by unearthing new discoveries in the subject

of tracking.

Tracker Academy


049 – 892 2244 or 082 921 9574


TRACKING SKILLS:

The Art of Tracking may well be the origin of science. After hundreds of thousands of years,

traditional tracking skills may soon be lost. Yet tracking can be developed into a new science

with far-reaching implications for nature conservation. Louis Liebenberg, Cybertracker (Pty) Ltd,

Author of “The Art of Tracking”

The current state of tracking:

The current skills of traditional tracking are mostly limited to the identification and following (or

trailing) of an animal’s track. Historically however, tracking encompassed a far greater variety of signs,

calls, behaviour and skills in interpreting them. Successful tracking requires the combination of

experience, knowledge and patience. A talented tracker must employ physical

endurance and mental focus in often difficult environmental conditions over

extended time periods.

Traditional tracking skills have disappeared rapidly over the last two decades.

Trackers are poorly informed and as a result are not adequately remunerated.

Many trackers are facing serious social problems because of poor education and

health. Skilled trackers are the keepers of traditional knowledge and culture –

this is being lost.

Local trackers are employed in the eco-tourism, anti-poaching,

environmental education and research industries, earning an average wage of R1500 per

month.

Approximately 2500 trackers are employed in South Africa, but most are employed in name

only or as part of a marketing exercise.

Only 22 trackers working in South Africa are qualified as Senior Trackers, with a mere three

qualified as Master Trackers

CATHSSETA and the national department of education do not formally recognise advanced

levels of tracking.

Most trackers have very little formal education

Many older experienced trackers are facing serious health issues.

There is very little published information on the intrinsic

knowledge of experienced Senior or Master Trackers.

Many of the younger trackers have received only limited or no

training from their place of employment.

In most cases, the tracker provides the safety on a wildlife safari.

Tracker Academy


049 – 892 2244 or 082 921 9574


Few skilled trackers can be found in the anti-poaching industry.

Employed trackers remain in their jobs five times longer than their guide or research colleagues

do.

There is a severe lack of genuine tracking skills in the southern Africa.

Very few skilled San trackers remain. Talented trackers who posses these traditional skills of tracking are disappearing fast. “It would be an indictment on modern conservation to lose this important traditional knowledge.” Alex van den Heever

Course structure:

The first six-month semester of the course is conducted at Samara Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape

Karoo semi-desert biome. Thereafter the students move to Londolozi Game Reserve in the Kruger

National Park to complete the second semester in the traditional bushveld biome. As a result, our

students learn the diversity of wildlife and its behaviour on two extremely different environments.

Named the Tracker Skills Program our training curriculum is accredited by CATHSSETA. We also make

use of our own Tracker Academy assessments that are endorsed by FGASA (Field Guides Association of

South Africa).

FGASA tracking levels 1, 2, 3 and 4 are trained and evaluated. However, it is entirely dependent on the

student results as to whether these levels are achieved by the end of the course.

In addition, the course takes into consideration the knowledge of other nature related subjects which

do not currently exist in the national framework, such as hunter-gatherer abilities, nest-finding, life

skills, first aid and others. Please see below.

Curriculum: 12 Months, full-time study

Tracker Academy


049 – 892 2244 or 082 921 9574


Three CATHSSETA unit standards covered in the Tracker Skills Program include:

8460 - Track animals and identify spoor using easily recognisable spoor – 40 credits

8440 - Conduct a guided nature experience in a limited geographical area - 21 credits

252462 - Identify and monitor local wildlife – 8 credits

The Tracker Skills Program was designed to fulfill the industry needs in which tracking skills are

required. At 40 credits, tracking unit standard 8460 forms the core of the curriculum and indeed the

focus of the course. Unit standard 8440 gives the student a view into the guiding industry and covers

basic guiding theory. Unit standard 252462 provides the student with an understanding of the concept

of research and the principles of conservation. Therefore, with tracking as the core the student can

then choose between guiding/tourism or research/conservation as possible career paths.

It is important to note that the unit standards above provide the student with the basic minimum

accreditation. The Tracker Academy far exceeds the standards required over its one-year course.

In addition to the CATHSSETA curriculum, students will cover the following additional subjects:

The Academy trains students to correctly identify the tracks and signs of all mammals including insects,

birds and amphibians. It teaches students how to analyse the tiny details contained within each

animal’s track.

Students spend several months practising the ‘following’ or ‘trailing’ of an animal’s track. This is the

ability to find and then follow an animal’s trail, while simultaneously displaying peripheral awareness,

until it is found. This is a critical component of the course.

The following component is particularly challenging for students: Ancient hunter-gatherer techniques,

nest-finding and medicinal purposes, which form part of the tracker curriculum.

Students also receive lessons in conservation ethics, ancient culture and personal leadership by Dr Ian

McCallum.

Tracker Academy


049 – 892 2244 or 082 921 9574


Tracking Skills – Subjects covered:

Track and sign identification

Trailing/following spoor

Hunter-gatherer techniques

Birds and alarm calls

Tree and plant identification

Medicinal purposes

Situational awareness

Physical fitness

Other subjects covered (non-accredited):

Life Skills

Conservation ethics

Positive health

HIV awareness

Basic English and financial literacy

Emotional intelligence

Individual counselling

Personal leadership

Basic service and hospitality

Guide training, basic ecology, geography, astronomy and animal behaviour

Presentation skills

Cybertracker data collection – research

Other Certificates:

Tracker Academy tracking certificate

Level 1 First Aid training

LobsterInk online guide service qualification

Tracker Academy


049 – 892 2244 or 082 921 9574


Each student maintains a daily logbook of his practical experience in the field. The number of species

seen, encounters with animals on foot and knowledge learnt are recorded each day.

Finally, students are given the opportunity to gain ‘real-time’ work experience at Samara and Londolozi

private game reserves.

Costs:

The Tracker Academy sponsors 16 students per year in two groups of eight on each course. Courses run

concurrently. However, as a not-for-profit organisation we would welcome contributions to the training

costs.

The cost per student is R75 000.

Included in this cost is all training, food, accommodation, learning materials and field trips.

Students are expected to fund their own passage to and from the Tracker Academy. In addition,

students are required to pay for their own personal items while on the course. The total student

contribution is approximately R3000.

ACADEMY STRUCTURE: SA College for Tourism – Mrs Gaynor Rupert and Mr Andre Kilian

Fund raising

Quality assurer

Administration Tracker Academy

Alex van den Heever – General manager and Senior tracker

Renias Mhlongo - Senior Tracker/ trainer

Tracker Academy


049 – 892 2244 or 082 921 9574


Karel Benadie – Master Tracker/ trainer Samara Private Game Reserve – Mrs Sarah Tompkins

Provide schooling facilities, accommodation and access to wildlife Londolozi Game Reserve – Mr David Varty

Provide schooling facilities, accommodation and access to wildlife

GENERAL: Formally, the Tracker Academy has its origin in a meeting between Mrs Gaynor Rupert and me at a

lunch in the Karoo, at Samara Game Reserve. Mrs Rupert’s positive response to my plea for a place

where a new lineage of custodians of the continents wilderness could receive formal tracker training

became a reality in January 2010.

The mission of the Tracker Academy is simple – we aim to contribute to the restoration of indigenous

knowledge (traditional skills of tracking) in South Africa.

The Tracker Academy has two bases of training – Samara Game Reserve in the Karoo and Londolozi

Game Reserve in the Sabi Sands. Students are recruited from poor rural communities living adjacent to

wildlife areas all over South Africa. Trainers Karel Benadie (Master Tracker) and Renias Mhlongo (Senior

Tracker) are two of the top trackers in South Africa. The learner trackers are exposed to both the arid

Karoo biome as well as the traditional bushveld (savannah biome) of the Kruger Park. This shifting of

training bases forces the students to pay attention to new fauna and flora – it creates a sense of

curiosity which is a vital feature of any successful tracker.

On an average day the students spend 6 to 8 hours on foot learning tracking with Renias and Pokkie. It

is intensive tracker training. Our one year full time course gives students a solid foundation in tracking.

Monthly assessments of ‘track & sign identification’ and ‘trailing’ are conducted to ensure continuous

improvement. In addition to the tracker training students are required to learn over 100 species of

trees and plants, and their uses. Bird identification and particularly bird calls forms a vital part of the

training. Attention is also paid to the alarm calls of all species – an essential component of a tracker’s

Tracker Academy


049 – 892 2244 or 082 921 9574


knowledge base. As a way of restoring its authenticity the learners are also exposed to some of the

original hunter-gatherer techniques by Renias and Pokkie.

At the Tracker Academy we endeavour to create a culture of respect – for humankind and nature. The

Academy strives to be a centre of excellence in the art of tracking. Our holistic approach intends to

promote emotional maturity amongst the students. It allows the students to gain skills which can be

used for the benefit of both wildlife and its human communities. It is vital that our students leave the

Academy with a sense of humility, discipline and respect. Students cook and clean for themselves at the

Academy. Issues of neatness, punctuality and general conduct are taken very seriously at the Tracker

Academy.

The Tracker Academy course is recognised and endorsed by the following institutions;

vision and mission academy_original.pdf · cathsseta and the national department of education do...

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