Crocodile lover to sink his teeth into his new CROW role

LUSH grasslands, biodiverse wetlands and wildlife roaming freely are what drive self-proclaimed crocodile lover Clint Halkett-Siddall, who has recently taken the reins as the new director at Yellowwood Park’s Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW).

Halkett-Siddall has been passionate about wildlife since the age of 12 and aims to make it his mission to ensure the continued rehabilitation of wildlife as well as spread the message of nature conservation.

After finishing his diploma in nature conservation, he had the opportunity to go to Disney World in the United States as a nature representative in animal programmes where he educated tourists in America on the significance of conservation in Africa.

“I went on to mould my career in nature conservation where I worked at Thembe Elephant Park, a game reserve in KZN’s Maputaland, as a research technician for about nine months. I was later appointed as conservation manager for the Usuthu Gorge community conservation area, where my role was to establish a community conservation area. Through that project, my team and I basically built and established reserves to connect Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Reserves to each other for the Thembi Usuthu Futhi Transfrontier conservation area for the primary focus of wildlife conservation. I also became the conservation co-ordinator for the Bhekula and Tshanini community conservation areas just below Thembe Elephant Park. I did that for about six years and it was a great experience to learn about the intricacy of working with community conservation, tribal authority structures and involving myself in different non-governmental organisations aligned with my passion,” explained Halkett-Siddall.

READ: Outgoing CROW wildlife warrior director bids farewell

Having worked closely with communities and tribal authorities he got to gain the trust of the people, educate them about the environment as well as demonstrate the economic and social advantages which can be achieved through partnerships in wildlife conservation, therefore improving the lives of rural communities. This, in turn, contributed to biodiversity conservation.

Halkett-Siddall has sunk his teeth into several other wildlife conservation projects, completed his BTech in conservation and also started his own company which deals with problem reptiles in built-up areas and reptile breeding import-export in Johannesburg.

READ: CROW laments festive season firework effect on wildlife

“I eventually got to a point in my life where I really wanted to turn my business back into a hobby and I happened to come across an advert about the CROW vacancy,” said Halkett-Siddall. He is excited about this new opportunity and that reaching out to schools and educating the communities of Yellowwood Park, Montclair, Woodlands and Clairwood about animals and wildlife conservation form part of his goals as director.

“I look forward to working with the great team here at CROW and keeping with the centre’s core function of rescuing injured and orphaned animals and getting them back to health and safe release. Growing our volunteer programme from strength to strength is also key,” he said.

Other recent newcomers at CROW are the husband and wife team of Edward and Lana Bartholomew. Edward is the new volunteer co-ordinator at the centre, responsible for managing the day-to-day activities of volunteers. He has a wealth of experience in education, having taught in schools all over the province and imparting his knowledge as a graduate from the University of KZN with an honours degree in conservation genetics.

Lana is the new marketing and communications officer and she hopes to grow CROW’s brand while increasing its exposure to more people through press releases, social media, fundraising and social events. “There are still many people who aren’t fully aware of what CROW does and I want to work towards bridging that gap of being misinformed about the services we offer as well as the role we play in rehabilitating wildlife by hosting seminars and presentations at local schools and businesses,” said Lana.

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