The Front Lines: From Afghanistan to Rhino Poaching
Veterans are bringing their expertise gathered from war zones and using it to save rhinos. Stemming from his love for Africa’s wildlife and the rapid increase in wildlife crime, ex-marine, Wesley Thomson founded Veterans for Wildlife which sends voluntary ex-servicemen and women to Africa to provide expert training and support to anti-poaching groups in an effort to decrease the number of rangers and rhinos dying at the hands of poachers.
What’s your story?
I am the founder and current Chief Executive of the international charity Veterans for Wildlife. Ever since I was a child I have been visiting the Greater Kruger National Park, where my family owns a holiday home. I have thus grown up with a love of the African bush and the animals that call it home. When I finished school in South Africa I moved to the United Kingdom and joined the British Royal Marines, where I spent four years at various units. It was this crossroads of a passion for Africa and its’ wildlife and military mentality, coupled with the rapid increase in wildlife crime, that led me to creating Veterans for Wildlife.
Veterans for Wildlife is committed to the protection of wildlife and the world’s critically endangered species. By deploying highly skilled and experienced former service personnel, Veterans for Wildlife aims to play a key role in conservation and the prevention of wildlife crime.
As a people-focused organisation, Veterans for Wildlife has two primary objectives:
- Supporting conservation entities and rangers at grass root levels.
- Empowerment and development of veterans.
Veterans for Wildlife has adopted a multi-pronged approach to making a positive difference on a truly global scale. Our overarching vision can best be encapsulated in the phrase: veterans for wildlife and wildlife for veterans. What does this mean?
Simply put, at the outset we recognised the positive impact that former service personnel could play in the conservation sector in Africa. Through embedding highly-skilled and experienced individuals into existing organisations and programmes, Veterans for Wildlife is able to improve the operational effectiveness and efficiency of these ground-level initiatives.
But the benefit doesn’t stop there. It isn’t a one-way process. Through time spent in the African bushveld, interacting with individuals from different cultures and with different life experiences, coming face-to-face with Africa’s magnificent wildlife, and ultimately committing themselves to a positive calling, our volunteers benefit too.
Working together, for the common good, everybody wins. Especially, the vulnerable and voiceless animals at the heart of what we do.
As a veteran myself I fully understand and recognise the variety of useful skills and knowledge veterans possess from their training and time in the services. It is these valuable skills that the charity draws upon to not only aid in the prevention of wildlife crime, but in doing so empowering the veterans.
The hardest thing
Those who have run and founded a charity will know that there are many challenges to the creation and sustainable maintenance of that charity, from fundraising challenges through to regulatory challenges. The biggest personal hurdle I have been faced with are the long hours and amount of energy required to successfully administer the charity. It takes up much of my personal and free time. Thankfully I care deeply about the preservation of wildlife as well as veteran wellbeing which makes the hard work that bit easier. It is also great to have a very able and supportive team working for Veterans for Wildlife.
Your most memorable experience
I would have to say that my most memorable and proudest moment since starting the charity would have to be the charity’s first project. It was great to see all the hard work forming the charity come to fruition. In this project, which was carried out to help the South African based organisation Thula Thula, an ex-British Royal Marine Sergeant spent four weeks at Thula Thula training and mentoring their 13 anti-poaching rangers. The project was a great success with Thula Thula learning a great deal on how to improve their anti-poaching operations as well as our veteran volunteer gaining great personal and professional experiences.
The biggest reward
As we are a people focussed charity there have been two areas that have been rewarding for me:
The first thing that always makes me smile is seeing the difference the training makes to the anti-poaching rangers. This difference can be seen in many different forms, from the development of the rangers skills through to the morale boost the training gives the rangers.
The second area that is rewarding for me is hearing our volunteer’s stories. Many of our volunteers report back that the projects they have assisted with have given them invaluable personal and professional experience, and most our volunteers are very eager to do another project with the charity. It is the ability of the charity to be able to give these service men and women these unique life experience that makes me happy.
The changes we must see for poaching to decrease
For me, I would like to see more collaboration between the different entities on the ground. There are many different organisations, all with the same aim working to keep the animals safe, from large non –profit organisations through to governmental entities. I believe that in order to see a decrease in wildlife crime all these entities need to work together, share information, and collaborate on what’s working and what’s not. It is only through this type of collaboration will we see a truly positive impact.
If you would like more information on how you can get involved please go to
Follow Veterans for Wildlife on Facebook: @veteransforwildlife
Follow Veterans for Wildlife on Instagram: @veterans4wildlife
Twitter: @Veterans4Wild
