If you live in the Kogelberg Biosphere, you’re no stranger to the remarkable natural world around us.
But you’ll also know of the many challenges that wildlife across our biosphere must navigate every single day. Devastating wildfires, snares, collisions with cars or even just an encounter with a household pet – animals experience the increasing impact of human activity all the time.
That’s why it became urgent to create a rescue centre for injured and displaced animals.
The Western Cape’s first permitted wildlife rescue centre
In December 2024, after two years of planning and work, the Kogelberg Biosphere Wildlife Rescue & Training Centre became the first permitted centre in the Western Cape. This centre is now providing critical care to vulnerable wildlife, with the aim of releasing the injured animals once they have recovered.
But now that we have the permit, the work really starts. It’s costly to run a wildlife centre, and we depend on the generosity of those who bring in injured animals, the Kogelberg community and philanthropists and other donors. Your help is vital to help this centre serve our wildlife.
Here’s how our Kogelberg Biosphere Wildlife Rescue & Training Centre came about.
IT ALL STARTED WITH A DEVASTATING WILDFIRE.
In 2022, wildfires in Kleinmond highlighted the need for a rehabilitation centre for animals. During the fires, a team of volunteers worked tirelessly to save tortoises, chameleons and other vulnerable animals caught in the flames.
After the fires, Kogelberg Biosphere Coordinator, Corlie Hugo, reached out to Michelle Watson, a certified wildlife rehabilitator and one of the first South Africans accredited by the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council. Together they recognised the urgent need for a dedicated centre in the Western Cape.
The next step was to find a suitable location for the centre. The breakthrough came when Liezl de Villiers, Divisional Manager of the Overstrand Municipality, offered them the opportunity to lease an old building just outside Betty’s Bay. With the help of volunteers and through wonderful donations, the facility was renovated – with a fully operational emergency clinic, patient recovery room and a dedicated kitchen for preparing meals for the animals put in place. Flight enclosures were also constructed to aid in rehabilitation.
Then the process started to obtain the necessary permits – and CapeNature worked closely with the Kogelberg Biosphere team to secure the permits for the centre, the first of its kind in the province.
The principles our rescue centre lives by
For our centre, no animal is considered too small or insignificant to deserve care. From mice and goslings, to snakes and porcupines, all animals have a place here to recover. But a key focus for our centre is providing a place of care for injured blue cranes. Our national birds are frequently affected by human activities – from fences to bailing twine and powerlines. That’s why we can now serve as a sanctuary for orphaned or injured cranes, before releasing them back into the wild.
Now we need help to make this centre a lasting success.
The financial demands of running a centre like ours are extensive. There are not only the costs of maintaining the facility and where possible, paying a team to manage the centre. But we also need to cover the costs of the food for the animals, transport to the centre and to cover veterinary expenses.
That’s why we need YOUR help.
Become a volunteer at the centre. Or support by donating much-needed food and other essential goods. Contact Michelle Watson on 073 314 0674.
Or you can give via PayFast. We’ve got more here.
We need your help – please get involved:
GET INVOLVED AND DONATE
Donate to this rescue unit. All funds raised are used to acquire the necessary equipment and to run rescue operations.
| EMERGENCY WILDLIFE CONTACT LIST | ||
| Wildlife and Birds | ||
| Kogelberg Biosphere Wildlife Rescue Team | Corlie Hugo | 082 380 9071 |
| Kogelberg Biosphere Wildlife Rescue Team | Michelle Watson | 073 314 0674 |
| Snakes | ||
| Snake Catcher | Kleinmond | 082 385 1589 |
| Kleinmond Michael Green | 082 212 5116 | |
| Betty’s Bay Johan Cloete | 083 460 2123 | |
| Pringle Bay Francois van Zyl | 083 271 8809 | |
| Pringle Bay Dan | 083 463 9178 | |
| Poison Information Center | Snake Bites | 021 931 6129 |
| Poison Information Helpline | 0861 555 777 | |
| African SnakeBite Institute | Snake & Snake Bites | 082 494 2039 |
| Netcare Ambulance | 082 911 | |
| ER24 Ambulance | 084 124 | |
| Marine Mammals | ||
| S.A National Strandings Network | All Marine Mammals (Meredith Thornton) | 082 746 5579 |
| Overstrand Municipality | Office Hours | 028 316 3724 |
| Control Room | 028 313 8000/8111 | |
| South African Shark Conservancy | Hermanus | 028 312 3029 |
| Sea Turtles | ||
| Two Oceans Aquarium | 021 418 3823 | |
| Seabirds (Marine) | ||
| SANCCOB | CapeTown | 021 557 6156 |
| APSS | Hermanus/Gansbaai | 072 598 7117 |
| Bees | ||
| Gys Boonzaier | Kleinmond | 083 225 5695 |
| Animal Welfare (Domestic) | ||
| KAWS | Kleinmond | 028 271 5004 083 516 5535 |
| Rooisand Wild Horses | ||
| Rooisand Horse Watch | Leanne Dryburgh | 083 293 7208 |
| Prof. F van der Merwe | 082 959 8787 | |
JOIN THE TEAM
You can become a volunteer. Please download and fill in the volunteer form.
We’re also a Public Benefit Organisation with SARS. Our number is PBO: 930029352.
The KBRC can therefore issue Section 18A tax exemption certificates to our donors.
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Biosphere Living
If you live in the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve region, you’re already enjoying Biosphere Life. That means you can already enjoy all that Mother Nature offers you here, in this incredibly special part of the world.
You can take the next step, to become even more involved in the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve.
And remember to include us in your social media posts, by using the hashtag: #BiosphereLiving.