Game Ranger Sean Harris has recently joined the ranger’s team and has fitted in well. He is a friendly, enthusiastic and passionate member of the team and has loved every minute of guiding at Shamwari thus far.

Name: Sean Harris
Title: Game Ranger
Started at Shamwari: 01 November 2018
Hometown: Johannesburg
Previous roles: I worked in and around the Kruger National Park in the surrounding area for about a year at various game reserves. I then worked at Return Africa in the Kruger National Park before starting at Shamwari.

Qualification:

FGASA Field Guide
Full Trails
Track & Sign level 2

Hobbies:

Photography and golf.

Passion:

I am passionate about giving my guests the best safari experience whilst enlightening them about wildlife and conservation. By doing this I hope to encourage them to become wildlife enthusiasts who will return to Shamwari and in turn support conservation as a whole and ultimately species preservation.

Favourite part of the job:

I really enjoy seeing the interaction between animals when on drive and the look on my guests faces when they see wildlife for the first time.

Quote:

“You cannot protect the environment unless you empower people, you inform them, and you help them understand that these resources are their own, that they must protect them.” –  Professor Wangari Maathai

Favourite animal:

Honey badger.
For such a small creature they are very feisty, they have no problem standing up to larger predators.

Favourite animal in a sighting:

Elephant.
The emotional bonds that elephants share is something us as humans can relate to. I thoroughly enjoy watching the interaction between elephants.

shamwari blog view

Most exciting encounter while on game drive:

I was guiding out of Explorer Camp with my colleague, Leon Strauss. We were on our way to do a walk when we came around a corner and saw a secretary bird next to the road. As we approached, the bird was looking around. It surprisingly wasn’t fazed by our presence.

Our guests were delighted as it was their first sighting of this spectacular bird. As Leon and I were explaining the hunting methods of the bird, we turned to look back at it and something had caught the bird’s attention. We watched as it stared intently at a flattened nest of grass belonging to a scrub hare. Suddenly, the scrub hare popped up out of the nest and the secretary bird went in for the kill.

Secretary birds usually hunt snakes and small birds, so this was an incredibly rare sighting!

They stomp on their prey and then use their break to break the pieces into manageable portions. Our guests were in awe of this amazing act of nature. We then left the sighting and stopped to take a walk where we approached giraffe and their youngsters. We also saw three jackal pups playing in their den. An amazing way to end off an unbelievable weekend at the Explorer Camp. It certainly will be a memory I will always cherish as a guide.