In the third quarter of 2011 The Bateleurs flew twelve missions. These included the first four of our Zululand Anti Poaching Patrols, aimed (primarily) at countering the number of rhino deaths and/or de-hornings in KwaZulu-Natal, each of these patrols requires the services of two micro-light pilots who give up two days of their time to these surveillance flights. Bateleurs pilots also undertook a flight to re-locate four cheetahs to Mozambique; two flights to give conservation students at UCT the experience of an aerial perspective; another of our annual flights to recognise the achievements of successful students within the EWT Conservation Leadership Programme; a mission to track Wild Dogs in the Waterberg; a flight to assess the damage caused by Acid Mine Drainage in the goldfields of the Witwatersrand; a mission to relocate two Wild Dogs from a reserve in KZN to a reserve in the North West; and a flight to assess land use changes and the impact this has on birdlife.

Five of these missions were flown for beneficiaries well-known to us and who have made use of our services in the past, while seven were for beneficiaries who are newcomers to our ‘stable’.

Please read the post-flight reports from the pilots and passengers, and have a look at the accompanying photos, by clicking on each mission title in the list below.