This book is made up of short stories and photo essays from previous volunteers, friends and the directors of Daktari.



Daktari is a refuge for orphaned and injured animals from local game reserves. These animals are examined by a vet and recover at Daktari before being rehabilitated into their natural habitat. However, if they are unable to be rehabilitated then they are kept at Daktari where they will be looked after and will play an essential role in education of the local underprivileged children and many other people.



Then, Daktari is an environmental educational centre. It targets underprivileged children. Most of the local children have never seen a giraffe or a lion, and have not developed an emotional reaction towards animal welfare. They live in rural areas where wildlife has disappeared many years ago, and although they live near the Kruger National Park and many private nature reserves, access to these places is out of their reach.



Every Monday we welcome a new group of 8 local underprivileged children and 1 local youth for a week and give them the opportunity to discover, learn and become passionate about wildlife and conservation, their heritage. We also supplement their school curriculum in English, math, sciences, geography, life skills and social issues. Our goal is to enable today’s local underprivileged children to eventually be able to secure good employment in nature reserves, thereby improving their future quality of life.