Selected Careers in Conservation

National Parks, Conservation Manager, Head Ranger Black Rhino Translocation & Monitoring Law enforcement

Cathy Dreyer – South Africa

Cathy came from humble roots and started at the bottom of the ladder, using perseverance to build her career. She illustrates that being disadvantaged is not a barrier to achieving great heights. When she was young Cathy used to go walking near her home in Cape Town and on Table Mountain - ‘I always knew I wanted to do something outside. I studied nature conservation at university for three years. It included two years of theory and one of practical. For the practical I chose to go as far away from Cape Town as possible. That’s how I ended up in Addo National Park and working for South Africa National Parks’.

Working with black rhino as a student was a turning point in Cathy’s life. She developed a passion, or slight obsession, for the species - it has shaped her career and earned her the nickname ‘rhino whisperer.’

Cathy was appointed Conservation Manager with Eastern Cape Parks and her hard work and ability to bring people in conservation together, resulted in rhinos returning to areas where they had been completely hunted out. She moved to become Black Rhino Surveillance & Monitoring Coordinator for Kruger National Park, something of a dream job for her. “Kruger is the largest National Park in South Africa. It is the size of Israel and almost 2 million hectares! Little was known about the Black Rhino there so I started trying to firstly find them, mark or notch them in order to monitor them and get an overall understanding of the population – how many males and females are there, what is the age structure of the population, where in the park do they mostly live? By knowing as much as we can, we are in a better position to protect them and Kruger is the area that is hardest hit by Rhino Poaching in the world, so they really need protecting.

I employed Field Rangers from the local communities to act as Rhino Guardians and to assist with monitoring in the field. We put together protocols (ways of working) for rescue of orphaned rhino calves from the bush.

Sadly, many rhinos are orphaned very young, when their mothers are killed by poachers. We rescued a number of Black and White Rhino calves and wanted to see how we could improve our efficiency and techniques. We also tried new ways to treat injured Rhino. Most of them have been shot by poachers trying to get their horns. As the number of rhino become smaller and smaller we need to try to save every single one!”

Cathy loves her work and is good at it. She was promoted in 2019, becoming Conservation Manager at Addo Elephant National Park in the Eastern Cape, where she was responsible for marine areas as well as the land mammals she was used to. Now in 2021, she has been promoted again, becoming Head Ranger, back in South Africa’s world-famous Kruger National Park. Cathy’s job is high level, organising law enforcement, strategies for patrols, use of sophisticated technology and working nationally and internationally to combat wildlife crime. But still, one of her priorities is that many more people are able to experience wild rhino in their natural habitat. She wants to teach as many people as possible about rhino and why they are