Fees and Dates:

Start Dates (2008): Jan 15th, Feb 15th, Mar 17th, Apr 16th, May 16th, Jun 15th, Jul 16th, Aug 15th, Sep 14th, Oct 14th, Nov 14th, Dec 15th

Please note that you can join any project for any length of time, however we recommend (from experience) that you should not stay longer than 4-6 weeks at a project. Should you wish to stay for more weeks, we suggest you to select a few projects and even try different regions in Africa ( Kenya , South Africa and Namibia ). This allows you to enjoy the different cultures and people in these areas.

What program fee covers:

•  Airport reception
•  One night of hotel stay in tourist hotel (not food)
•  Transfer to project (mostly by local city liner or project vehicle)
•  Introductory training before the start of project
•  Accommodation
•  Food
•  Transfer back to airport
•  Insurance

Additional cost to volunteer

•  All room/food before and after program
•  Personal expenses
•  International airfare
•  Visa
•  Immunization
•  Laundry
•  Communication

More About African Elephant:

The African elephant is the largest living land animal and weighs up to 5,400 kg. As vegetarians, elephants require much food, sometimes consuming more than 225 kg of plant matter a day. Their trunk is employed to pull branches off trees, uproot grass, pluck fruit, and to place food in their mouths. The trunk is also used for smell, touch and in drinking, greeting or throwing dust for dust baths. In both sexes, the two incisor teeth of the upper jaw grow to form tusks, and it is for this ivory, used at one time in the manufacture of piano keys, billiard balls, and other objects, that hunters have slaughtered thousands of these magnificent animals. 

Habitats:

African elephants are native to a wide variety of habitats including semi-desert scrub, open savannas and dense forest regions. Their habitat ranges from sea level to 16,000 feet (4,877 m). The African elephant is the largest living land animal and weighs up to 5,400 kg. It inhabits the Savannah , brush, forest, river valleys, and semi-desert regions of Africa south of the Sahara Desert .  Besides its greater size, it differs from the Asian elephant in having larger ears and tusks, a sloping forehead, and two "fingers" at the tip of its trunk, compared to only one in the Asian species. African elephants are capable of making a wide variety of vocal sounds, such as grunts, purrs, bellows, whistles, and the obvious trumpeting.  Elephants and people have always had an interesting relationship.

People have had to contend with elephants destroying their crops.  However, it is the elephants who have had the greatest burden.  They have been hunted and poached for their ivory tusks, been prevented from migrating between feeding and water sites due to conversion into agricultural areas and human dwellings.  While the whole elephant population throughout Africa is declining, some countries in southern Africa have the opposite problem: too many elephants.  The future of the elephant in Africa is a complex issue that will need to resolve overpopulation in some areas and under population in others.

The African elephant can be quickly distinguished from the Indian elephant by its greater size and its larger ears, which may reach a length of about 5 ft from top to bottom. The African elephant is tallest at the shoulders, has more wrinkled skin, and bears tusks in both male and female. The Indian elephant is tallest at the arch of the back, bears tusks in the male only, and has one lobe instead of two on its trunk.

Despite their great weight, which in African elephants reaches 15,400 pounds and in Indian elephants reaches 11,000 pounds, elephants walk almost noiselessly and with exceptional grace - their columnar legs keeping their bulk moving forward in smooth, rhythmic strides. A thick cushion of resilient tissue grows on the base of the foot, absorbing the shock of the weight and enabling the animal to walk high on its hoof-like toes. Elephants normally walk about 4 mph and can charge at up to 25 mph.

Behavior:

Elephants are generally gregarious and form small family groups consisting of an older matriarch and three or four offspring, along with their young. It was once thought that family groups were led by old bull elephants, but these males are most often solitary. The female family groups are often visited by mature males checking for females in estrus. Several interrelated family groups may inhabit an area and know each other well. When they meet at watering holes and feeding places, they greet each other affectionately.

Females mature at about 11 years and stay in the group, while the males, which mature between 12 and 15, are usually expelled from the maternal herd. Even though these young males are sexually mature, they do not breed until they are in their mid- or late 20s (or even older) and have moved up in the social hierarchy. Mature male elephants in peak condition experience an annual period of heightened sexual and aggressive activity called musth. During this period, which may last a week or even up to three to four months, the male produces secretions from swollen temporal glands, continuously dribbles a trail of strong-smelling urine and makes frequent mating calls. Females are attracted to these males and prefer to mate with them rather than with males not in musth.

Smell is the most highly developed sense, but sound - deep growling or rumbling noises - is the principle means of communication. Some researchers think that each individual has its signature growl by which it can be distinguished. Sometimes, elephants communicate with an ear-splitting blast when in danger or alarmed, causing others to form a protective circle around the younger members of the family group. Elephants make low-frequency calls, many of which, though loud, are too low for humans to hear. These sounds allow elephants to communicate with one another at distances of five or six miles.

Diet:

An elephant's day is spent eating (about 16 hours), drinking, and bathing, dusting, wallowing, playing and resting (about three to five hours). As an elephant only digests some 40 percent of what it eats, it needs tremendous amounts of vegetation (approximately 5 percent of its body weight per day) and about 30 to 50 gallons of water. A young elephant must learn how to draw water up into its trunk and then pour it into its mouth. Elephants eat an extremely varied vegetarian diet, including grass, leaves, twigs, bark, fruits and seed pods. The fibrous content of their food and the great quantities consumed makes for large volumes of dung.

Caring for the young:

Usually only one calf is born to a pregnant female. An orphaned calf will usually be adopted by one of the family's lactating females or suckled by various females. Elephants are very attentive mothers, and because most elephant behavior has to be learned, they keep their offspring with them for many years. Tusks erupt at 16 months but do not show externally until 30 months. The calf suckles with its mouth (the trunk is held over its head); when its tusks are 5 or 6 inches long, they begin to disturb the mother resulting in her weaning the calf. Once weaned, usually at age 4 or 5, the calf still remains in the maternal group.

Predator:

Elephants once were common throughout Africa, even in northern Africa as late as Roman times. They have since disappeared from that area due to over-hunting and the spread of the desert. Even though they are remarkably adaptable creatures, living in habitats ranging from lush rain forest to semi-desert, there has been much speculation about their future. Surviving populations are pressured by poachers who slaughter elephants for their tusks and by rapidly increasing human settlements, which restrict elephants' movements and reduce the size of their habitat. Today it would be difficult for elephants to survive for long periods of time outside protected parks and reserves. But, confining them also causes problems. With limited access to other areas, they may harm their own habitat by overfeeding and overuse. Sometimes, elephants go out of protected areas and raid nearby farms.