Flying in aid of nature conservation for more than 25 years, the Bateleurs volunteer pilots’ organisation is busier than ever and urgently need an increase in volunteers to meet demands.
Across the Eastern Cape, there are only 11 volunteer pilots available and this figure is disproportionate to the number of requests the Bateleurs receive.
Representative from the organisation, Steve McCurrach said that Eastern Cape is under-utilised in terms of eco-tourism and in recent years, growing interest in this prospect has made aviation assistance vital.
“The Eastern Cape is a great area for disease-free buffalo, there is no malaria, low rates of crime and comparatively low population density contributes to the growing interest in the province.
“There is a small pilot population in the Eastern Cape, in comparison to Gauteng because people there have more income to own an aircraft.”
McCurrach visited aviation schools and clubs across the province, including Border Aviation Club.
The Bateleurs hope increased local support will enable them to field more requests and develop their member base in the region.
Aviation services provided by the Bateleurs are essential for transportation of animals and providing aerial perspectives of a terrain which is important when doing herd counts or assessing the health of a habitat.
Recently they have enabled the reintroduction of wild dogs into the province.
This year, the Bateleurs also flew 10 leopard tortoises back to the Eastern Cape, which were illegally removed from the area and criminally confined to private residences.
Bateleur pilots are also important for enforcing legislation in areas such as the Transkei Wild Coast that has seen an increase in the illegal establishment of cottages and homes in the inter-tidal zone on the dunes.
They have transported ground inspectors via air to view and locate cottages and to collate evidence that can be used to prosecute law breakers.
McCurrach said, “most notably, Bateleurs contributed towards saving the wattled crane bird from extinction.
The Environmental Wildlife Trust used aviation to harvest eggs to build up breeding capacity and this enabled the wattled crane to be scrapped from the endangered list.
“This feat would never have been accomplished without the aviation support from Bateleurs.”
Environmental management officials believe that the importance of aviation in pursuit of nature conservation will never diminish. Learning how to transport living cargo and travelling to remote and secluded parts of the national terrain is a sought-after skill.
McCurrach said that the Bateleurs are currently in talks with a US media production company about the possibility of developing a series based on their missions.
“We hope this year to launch our television series because this could change our funding model. Like any other non-profit organisation we are in need of constant funding so we encourage people to share our story as far and wide as they can,” McCurrach said.
For more information please visit: info@bateleurs.org
