Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre

Hoedspruit – Activities & Camping

Profile

The Hoedspruit Endangered Specvies Centre(HESC) has established itself as one of the leading private research and breeding facilities for endangered species in the country. The centre developed from a cheetah breeding centre established by Lente Roode in the late 1980s to the world renowned research and breeding establishment for various Southern African endangered species that opened its doors to the public in 1990.

The main objective of the breeding programme is to help create a broader gene pool within the Southern Africa cheetah meta-population, an essential function of captive breeding programmes. Extreme care is taken to ensure suitable breeding environments.

The HESC aims to make an important contribution to the conservation of Southern Africa`s endangered wildlife for future generations. This is done by:

• Promoting, co-ordination and conducting conservation research and educational programmes relating to all endangered species to ensure thier long-term survival
• Developing conservation strategies which are beneficial to both wildlife and tourism
• Creating awareness among the public, particularly the youth, about the importance of wildlife and the need to conserve it.
• The centre`s veterinarian operates an animal hospital that compreses a fully equipped operating theatre, quaratine section and various monitoring facilities. The hospital facility is regularly is regularly utilised to assist in the rehabilitation of injured or disabled animals.
• All veterinary services and the breeding programme at the HESC are managed by a qualified veterinarian and manager of the animal-breeding programme, Professor Dave Meltzer, an emeritus professor of the Department of wildlife of the University of Pretoria`s Faculty of Veterinary Sciences.
• The HESC comprises in excess of 100 ha of natural bush 23 km from Hoedspruit in the Limpopo province.