Elephant Reintegration trust (ERT) Trustee details

Brett Mitchell:

  • An elephant expert specialising in captive elephants (handling & training) and the re-integration of captive elephants into a wild system.

  • Has been working, handling & training with elephants for the past 20 years.

  • Developed a successful re-integration model for captive elephants.

  • Re-integrated over 17 captive elephants back into wild systems.

  • Managing and operating a business in the safari industry specifically elephant back safaris.

  • Chairman of the Elephant Reintegration Trust since 2016.

 

Dr Marion Garai:

  • 1984- 1989. Study of Zoology at the University of Zuerich, Switzerland, with specialisation in Ethology.

  • 1989 Diploma (MSc) on the Social behaviour of elephants in captivity (under

  • Professor Hans Kummer, University of Zuerich.

  • 1998 PhD with specialisation in Zoology on “The Development of Social and Stress Related Behaviours of Translocated Juvenile Elephants”, University of

  • Pretoria, South Africa. This included 4.5 years field work walking with

  • several groups of elephants on private reserves.

  • Member of the IUCN/SCC African Elephant Specialist Group since 1994

  • Elephant coordinator for the Rhino & Elephant Foundation during 1996.

  • Acting Chairperson of the Rhino, Elephant and Wildlife Foundation during 2000.

  • Vice Chair of the “Committee for the Training and Welfare of Elephants”. Chair of the Welfare subgroup, which compiled guidelines.

  • Founder of the Translocated Elephant Information Centre (TEIC) in 1992, which was incorporated into the Elephant Management & Owners Association -EMOA- in 1994.

  • Chairperson of EMOA (Elephant Management & Owners Association) since inauguration in 1994 until 2006. EMOA comprised over 70% of elephant owners and managers in SA, including official bodies such as the Provincial Nature Conservation authorities and National Parks Board. EMOA was instrumental in drawing up the National Elephant Norms & Standards.

  • Trustee of Space for Elephants Foundation – SEF since 2000. SEF endeavours to establish Wildlife corridors and integrate the communities that live around these.

  • Chairperson of SEF 2006 - 2015

  • Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Elephant Group in Germany

  • Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Elephant Specialist Advisory Group, South Africa. Since 2012

  • Trustee of the Elephant Reintegration Trust (ERT) since 2016

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Hanno Kilian:

  • B.Sc. Agric at the University of Pretoria

  • B.Sc. (Hons) (Wildlife Management) at the Centre for Wildlife Management (CWM) at University of Pretoria (UP); thesis focussing on habitat and space use of elephants in the Madimbo corridor

  • M.Sc (Wildlife Management) through the CWM at UP on the ecology of reintroduced lions.

  • Working as Conservation Ecologist since 1999 at Big 5 reserves in the Waterberg and Kalahari

  • Chairman of EMOA (Elephant Managers & Owners Association) from 2006 – 2009.

  • Member of the Board of Trustees of the Lion Management forum since 2016.

  • Trustee of the African Institute for Conservation Ecology & Genetics (AICEG) since 2016.

  • Trustee of the Elephant Reintegration Trust (ERT) since 2016

 

Dr Yolanda Pretorius:

  • BSc(Agric) Animal Science

  • BSc(Hons) Wildlife Management with thesis on feed supplement for African elephant on a fenced game reserve (2001), University of Pretoria, South Africa

  • MSc in Biology with thesis on stress in African elephant on a fenced game reserve (2002-2003), University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

  • PhD in Ecology with thesis on small scale foraging by large African herbivores (2005-2009), Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

  • Elephant monitor for Ezemvelo KZN parks at Ithala Game Reserve during 2004. Manager of Magudu Game Reserve’s disease-free buffalo breeding program and elephant and rhino monitoring project during 2010.

  • Research assistant at Mabula Private Game Reserve on cheetah re-introduction and human-elephant conflict resolution projects between 2011 and 2013.

  • Lecturer in Wildlife ecology and management at the Centre for Wildlife Management, University of Pretoria since 2013.

  • Qualifications manager of the Higher Education Training Program in Natural Resource Management at the Southern African Wildlife College since July 2017

  • Vice Chairperson of the Elephant Specialist Advisory Group, South Africa

  • Trustee of the Elephant Reintegration Trust (ERT) since 2016